Frustrating Bus Lanes in Dublin

MJohnston · 30-04-2015 2:42pm #1

I like to rant about road problems without offering solutions, so here we are. Before you say that they're all frustrating, I'm talking here about bus lanes which either serve 0 bus routes, or lanes which cause additional traffic without much benefit.

Here are the ones that annoy the crap out of me on a regular basis (and I'm just *walking* past them!)

The Beckett Bridge has one, maybe two:

Going south, unless the bus is the solitary one that serves the Docklands, they don't bother using that lane, meanwhile people who legit want to travel into the Docklands have to queue with Macken Street traffic, even though the buslane is usually empty. Going north, the buslane seems to just serve as a shortcut for taxis to cut across the hatched area, drive the whole way up the buslane and then cut back into the traffic heading north off the bridge (thereby annoying everyone else). The aforementioned bus route (I think it's the 15A) doesn't *go* this way, and the turn is far too tight for any coaches to use that left turn.

Verdict: get rid of the north bound one, and probably the south bound one too.

Then, just around the corner we have this stunning mess:

This bus lane only starts a few hundred metres back east down the Quays, but it contributes so much to traffic imo. Every day, I see dozens of taxis using it (legally or illegally I don't measure), and then cutting in front of people who have queued patiently for the very short green light sequence. That's okay, thats what those lanes are supposed to do - provide public transport with a shortcut. But the problem is that as mentioned, that green light phase is extremely short - it favours traffic turning right from the quays onto the Beckett Bridge, and barely leaves 5-10 seconds of progress for westbound traffic. Put an awkward merge (usually featuring lumbering buses) together with a short green light sequence, and you get much more traffic than needs to be there. Throw in the fact that a lot of people turn left illegally onto the bridge (which is a slow movement because of the structure of the junction), that there's a sort of half speed bump just before the lights, and that pedestrians frequently jaywalk during the green phase. Mess.

Verdict: Merge the bus lane further away from the traffic light junction, increase the green light phase by another 10 or so seconds, fix the road surface so that it allows even speed, enforce that "no left turn" (or allow it and improve the turn).

This next one is so new that Google Maps doesn't have satellite photos of it yet but here's where it is:

If you don't know - that junction has now been redesigned to move the bus lane to the right hand lane, the left being for regular traffic, and the bus lane is *supposed to be* straight ahead only, and not for cross-river traffic. Unfortunately most taxi drivers, and some bus drivers, don't seem to have gotten the memo, and most of them use it to cross that bridge. I've actually followed the marked lines a few times and had taxis nearly drive into the side of me because they were making an illegal turn. This whole redesign (and the contra flow bus lane in front of Custom House) is really weird actually - a lot of people were obviously used to being able to turn south-bound coming east on the quays, a movement that was removed for the contra-flow bus lane, but those people still try to make the movement, which means they cut in front of traffic that has a full green light. Dangerous.

Verdict: Time will heal some of these wounds, but I think more effort could be done to indicate to taxis that they cannot use that westbound bus lane to turn left, and that it is for buses going straight ahead only. Maybe some more aggressive paint lines, or those flappy, thin, stick bollards? More advance signage is necessary too. Of course, plenty of taxis will try and ignore it anyway, but what can ye do?

lucernarian · 02-05-2015 1:18am

Ah here there's plenty of infrastructure that's been built for the benefit of the private motorist... If you want to use a bus lane, get on a bus like many people do already! It's great being able to take public transport and skip past queues of traffic on a dublin bike or a bus. Or indeed a taxi!

I think the north wall would benefit if those old drawbridges could be removed. They seem to have little function and look rather ugly but they're probably protected structures

MJohnston · 02-05-2015 11:16am

lucernarian wrote: »

Ah here there's plenty of infrastructure that's been built for the benefit of the private motorist... If you want to use a bus lane, get on a bus like many people do already! It's great being able to take public transport and skip past queues of traffic on a dublin bike or a bus. Or indeed a taxi!

Well my point wasn't that they be removed or changed solely for the benefit of drivers - I think in every case ALL traffic would benefit from some changes being made as most of these show things down for buses too

lucernarian · 02-05-2015 12:15pm

Merge the bus lane further away from the traffic light junction...

How would this work? To basically have one lane westbound approaching that junction for a greater distance? Firstly, there is a Dublin Bus stop across from the Convention Centre that if the bus lane running up to it were to be removed, buses (specifically Airlink buses) would have to wait for an extra phase of lights before they could actually reach the stop and allow passengers to disembark. And besides if the road capacity is for 2 lanes on that side, why would you reduce capacity in any way? I think the merge is sufficiently far back that traffic flow (and how quickly traffic merges or not) isn't really an issue. I have a feeling that the induction coils at that junction are not working properly as I've seen variable green light times in the same kind of heavy traffic.

The real solution there is to replace those awful drawbridges... And most of the bus lanes you've shown ARE used by buses and at least some of them I know are hugely beneficial, if not beneficial enough thanks to the stupid drawbridges.

MJohnston · 02-05-2015 12:42pm

I suspect, given how much work has gone on in that area in the last 10 years, that those Scherzer bridges are protected structures in some way, because there's no way they'd have been overlooked while putting the Beckett Bridge in, for example. So I suspect that they are not going away, and trying to think of solutions that work around that fact.

I think the merge is sufficiently far back that traffic flow (and how quickly traffic merges or not) isn't really an issue.

I genuinely don't think that is true, it certainly looks to be an issue most days when I walk past, and the odd time when I have to drive past it - the issue isn't the merge by itself, but the combination of it, the short green phase, the illegal awkward left turns, and the speed bump/uneven surface. These are all recipes for slow driving, and they combine to mean that only about 3 or 4 cars (or less if there are some coaches) get through on the green there. The problem has perhaps been exaggerated in recent months thanks to Upper Sheriff Street basically being out of action and forcing a lot more people down the quays.

There's another, somewhat unrelated issue at that junction that bugs me, and that's why the right turners over the bridge from the quays have only a short filter light phase, followed by a good 3/4 minute red light. IMO it should be a green filter light followed by the "no filter light, but turn if there's a gap" type of green.

hardCopy · 06-05-2015 2:27pm

MJohnston wrote: »

I suspect, given how much work has gone on in that area in the last 10 years, that those Scherzer bridges are protected structures in some way, because there's no way they'd have been overlooked while putting the Beckett Bridge in, for example. So I suspect that they are not going away, and trying to think of solutions that work around that fact.

I genuinely don't think that is true, it certainly looks to be an issue most days when I walk past, and the odd time when I have to drive past it - the issue isn't the merge by itself, but the combination of it, the short green phase, the illegal awkward left turns, and the speed bump/uneven surface. These are all recipes for slow driving, and they combine to mean that only about 3 or 4 cars (or less if there are some coaches) get through on the green there. The problem has perhaps been exaggerated in recent months thanks to Upper Sheriff Street basically being out of action and forcing a lot more people down the quays.

There's another, somewhat unrelated issue at that junction that bugs me, and that's why the right turners over the bridge from the quays have only a short filter light phase, followed by a good 3/4 minute red light. IMO it should be a green filter light followed by the "no filter light, but turn if there's a gap" type of green.

I think at this point anything that makes life easier for city centre motoring or encourages cars into the city would be counterproductive, even if it could be done for free.

MJohnston · 06-05-2015 2:47pm

I should have been more clear and less ranty initially perhaps - I think some of these issues cause more traffic for public transport itself, rather than simply just making things bad for cars. I think fixing them somehow would alleviate some bottlenecks for everyone.

stehyl15 · 07-05-2015 11:12pm

I cant understand why theres a bus lane on mount merrion avenue its not like the 17 is a high frequency route bus lanes should only be on high frequency routes where theres buses evey 5-20 minutes.

MJohnston · 07-05-2015 11:20pm

I wonder if someone is reading this thread - walked past the second example today, and it seemed like they'd extended the green light phase heading westwards!

Pete_Cavan · 06-06-2015 10:17am

I think all bus lanes are frustrating at certain times of the day and at weekends when they are no longer bus lanes. They are used for parking or facilitate driving at excessive speed or just being a dick and skipping past a few cars before shoving your way into the next lane when it suits. Dorset Street is particularly bad on the parking front, even in the middle of the day during the week, the bus lane becomes parking space for assholes going into Paddy Power, disrupting the high number of buses using that street - this should not be tolerated. I find cycling on the weekends can be more dangerous because some drivers use the largely empty bus lanes to drive at excessive speed with no regard for cyclists who may be in cycle lanes beside/within the bus lane. The idea that bus lanes are just for peak commuting hours during the week and the rest of the time that space is fair game seriously undermines the bus service.

There should be a core network of bus lanes which should remain bus lanes 24 hours and a day, 7 days a week. That way, there can be no excuse for being there and drivers who are there should be fined appropriately (for appropriately, read punitively). Buses should be prioritised and we should have a core network of bus lanes that has a special position with no grey areas. That way buses might start to be viewed as something other than the method those who can afford a car get to work.

A particular example of a frustrating bus lane is the bus lane on New Street/Patrick Street heading north, mainly because there is a chunk of it which is not a bus lane at all;
https://www.google.ie/maps/@53.3389458,-6.2722972,143m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en-GB

Coming from New Street north bound, the left lane loses its bus lane designation to facilitate traffic turning left towards the Coombe - fair enough you might think. Opposite St Patricks Cathedral, the left lane is not a bus lane to allow traffic coming from the Coombe to turn left onto Patrick Street and merge into the right lane - again seems reasonable. The problem is that drivers take advantage of this lack of bus lane designation and use it not for the purpose its intended but seemingly perfectly legal. Traffic coming from New Street north bound move into the left lane (now not a bus lane) to get through the junction, skip past traffic to St Patricks Cathedral and then sit in the bus lane to merge across where the bus lane starts again. With the number of people doing this, plus those using the road for the purpose intended (turning left onto Patrick Street), seriously disrupt the buses.

Traffic coming from the Coombe turning left onto Patrick Street should not be allowed to use the slip onto Patrick Street which should be reserved for buses to filter them into a bus lane beginning at the most southern point of Patrick Street. Normal traffic turning onto Patrick Street should have to make a hard left turn directly into the normal driving lane at this point. The left turn from New Street to the Coombe can remain but only buses should be allowed to use the left lane to go straight through to Patrick Street.

Frustrating Bus Lanes in Dublin

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