[Article] Bus lane plan for quays set to hit cars

Zebra3

http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=1746746&issue_id=15043

Bus lane plan for quays set to hit cars

PLANS are under way to put dedicated bus lanes almost the full length of Dublin city centre quays, reducing road space for cars, writes Treacy Hogan.

The opening of the Port Tunnel has cleared the way for the narrowing of car lanes along the key arteries.

Currently, there are quality bus corridors (QBCs) on only some sections of the quays, and buses typically face long delays negotiating the busy route. However, a dedicated QBC from Heuston Station to O'Connell Bridge is bound to hit cars.

A top level report from Dublin Bus puts the cost of gridlock to their services at €60m a year, with buses seriously slowed down by the worsening congestion.

Bus speeds in Dublin are now 13pc slower than in 2001 and 36pc slower than the international average.

The report highlighted other "blackspots":

* Journeys from west Blanchardstown and Clondalkin to the city now frequently take two hours.

* Journeys of 45 to 60 minutes to cross from Parnell Square to Leeson Street or Camden Street are not uncommon.

Dublin Bus managing director Joe Meagher said gridlock was hampering their efforts to provide a reliable service.

The provision of continuous priority for buses along the quays was one immediate measure that could help, and with the opening of the Port Tunnel they were now pressing for this.

The company carries up to 25 million customers along the quays every year.

About time!!! The bus can take an age getting from Heuston to O'Connell Bridge. You have to laugh at "there are quality bus corridors (QBCs) on only some sections of the quays". How does that make it a quality bus corridor? :rolleyes:

seamus

Oh look, another transport plan that fails to interact with the other transport plans.... :rolleyes:

I don't see why they don't plan these things properly, i.e.

12/2006: Port Tunnel opens to HGVs
6/2007: Inital M50 upgrade completed
8/2007: HGVs tolled €12 a pop for using the quays.
9-12/2007: 7am - 7pm Bus Lanes created from Heuston Station to Busaras.
6/2008: 3 tonne weight limit imposed on quays (except for busses).

etc

Tom Dunne

seamus wrote:

I don't see why they don't plan these things properly, i.e.

But isn't that the general problem in this country? Nothing is planned within the context of the overall bigger picture.

My personal favourite is in Maynooth on the Straffan road. They put up extra traffic lights at the Glenroyal hotel/shopping center and took them down within a week as they caused incredible backups through the main street.

Now I am no town/traffic planner, but any twit could see putting a set of traffic lights within 100m of another at a busy road was going to cause mayhem. And it did. They have another set at the LIDL but have not switched them on yet - I wonder if they are busy with their traffic modelling software trying to figure out how much chaos it will cause?

dowlingm

the problem is that if they announced it as a plan there'd be riots so instead they have to sneak them out one at a time.

Victor

seamus wrote:

8/2007: HGVs tolled €12 a pop for using the quays.

Interesting idea.

_Kaiser_

Once again the powers that be think the quick and easy solution to gridlock is to add yet more bus lanes. :rolleyes:

Well it's not. And why is that?

- Unreliable bus services even at off-peak hours (drivers "going sharp", buses not running at all, large gaps in the timetable etc) leading to frustration as people wait (in the cold and wet weather) for buses that may or may not even show. The lack of real-time info at bus stops (or even timetables for that stop - something they had in Holland in the 80's!!) doesn't help either.

- Not enough buses to meet demand, not helped by the one out, one in policy, resulting in people having to stand for most of their 60-90 minute journey at peak hours.

- DB staff "issues" ranging from rude/unhelpful drivers, inspectors and depot staff to general lack of accountability (at least from joe public's perspective).
No it's not all staff, but there's enough there to sour peoople on the rest.

- The lack of a "quality" bus service.
By this I mean poor ride quality (not helped by our roads I know), antisocial behaviour, the aforementioned overcrowding, cold/wet buses etc

- Overcomplicated fare structures with no perceived value for money on shorter journeys.
Eg: I travelled from the Castleknock roundabout on the Navan Road to Blanch and was charged about €1.35 (this was a while ago admittedly and fares may have changed?). The full fare from the City was €1.75 or thereabouts at the time (and that's to Ongar). €0.90 seems like it would've been a fairer price to me.

- Buses not going where the public wants to go.
I've used this example before.. if I want to go from Blanch to Coolock, why should I HAVE to go through the city centre or get 3 buses at a journey time of 90 mins (on a good day), when I can make the same trip in 20 mins by car.

- "Image" problems.
By this I mean that public transport is considered as an option only where there are no alternatives. This is influenced of course by the above factors, but also by what I like to call the "Irish" mentality. It's the same mindset that says you've somehow failed in life if you rent rather than own a house.
Similarly, even when people don't NEED a car, they still buy one so as to keep up with the Joneses I suppose.


Speaking purely for myself as a former long-time bus user and now car owner (I do actually need one in my job anyway), I can say that there's no way I'll give up being able to travel where (and when) *I* want to go in a comfortable, warm, dry car where I'm guaranteed a seat and don't have to listen to the driver's choice of radio or Anto and Deco shouting and roaring down the back.

Until DB can offer me a viable alternative I'll stick with my car thanks, because ironically, unlike them, I can "change with the city" and just take an alternative route to where I want to go. It's very rare I get stuck in traffic tbh.

So let's see if DB can lure me back out of my car then.. I won't hold my breath tho.

murphaph

I think you're being a little unfair blaming all those things on DB. Antisocial behaviour is a much wider problem, for instance. Anyway, I thoroughly support more bus lanes. As a D15 resident it is well known that the problems with the 39 are mostly the "fault" of DCC and its reluctance to allow proper QBCs be deployed in and around Hanlon's Corner/The Quays. Maybe this Quays bus lane will be a start in the improvement of services to D15 as a whole.

Victor

Kaiser2000, why did bus ridership triple when the Stillorgan QBC was introduced?

jimmycrackcorm

A proper system of QBC's and matching bus resources would go along way to solving the traffic problem. It will only be solved when we recognize that the solution is better public transport to the detriment of car use.

It's a brave person who wants to restrict the traffic flow on the quays but it has to be done.

The money spent on Luas would have in my mind been put to much better use in creating more QBC'sIMHO.

Also the lack of any radial bus routes is perplexing.

afatbollix

they should close off streets just for buses... was in belgium over the summer.. and used a hollond airport to get out of the place... and in the middle of teh road was bus lanes closed off and had traffic lights for them.. like the lusas... great idea....