[PR] Bus Éireann Outlines Vision for Future of Bus Services in Waterford

Victor

http://www.buseireann.ie/site/news_centre/press_centre.asp?action=view&news_id=523

Bus Éireann Outlines Vision for Future of Bus Services in Waterford

‘Streetcar’ concept – a Tram at one tenth of the cost - also unveiled

Bus Éireann today unveiled an ambitious plan for the future of public transport in Waterford into the 21st century.

At a keynote briefing session in the city, attended by the Minister for Transport, Martin Cullen T.D, the Chairman of Bus Éireann and CIÉ, Dr John Lynch and Bus Éireann Chief Executive Tim Hayes, the company outlined how the existing network of bus services in Waterford could be transformed in just under three years, to cater for the increasing demand for transport in the city, which is rapidly developing.

The Bus Éireann Waterford Development Plan 2007-2009 was outlined by Mr Tim Daly, Manager, Bus Éireann, Waterford, to an audience including local Councillors, T.Ds, Local Authority management, officials from the Chamber of Commerce and local business people.

The plan envisages a dramatic increase in the number of buses, services, routes and departures, and will change the face of public transport in Waterford.

Speaking at the event Bus Éireann and CIÉ Chairman Dr John Lynch said: “A major bus service expansion programme is planned for Waterford. We aim to deliver, in a very short time frame, dramatic improvements for customers – new high-frequency services on the main City routes, additional routes to developing parts of the city, more Commuter services, and a new, low floor wheelchair accessible fleet. This plan, which is underpinned by Transport 21, is about providing for the future public transport needs of Waterford, which is a growing city and a strategic hub for the South East region.”

The plan was also endorsed by the Minister for Transport, Martin Cullen T.D who said: “Under Transport 21, the Government's investment programme for transport, major upgrade projects on road, bus and rail services are either in progress or in planning in Waterford and will ensure that the county is well placed to continue to thrive as a national gateway driving development in the region. Bus Éireann currently operates a wide range of city, rural and local, and expressway public transport services in Waterford. Bus Éireann's development proposals which aim to provide more widespread and better quality services for the customer are timely and I welcome the ambition underpinning them".

The Bus Éireann Waterford Development Plan: Delivery Potential

The Bus Éireann Waterford Development Plan is underpinned by additional and new fleet to be provided under Transport 21, the government’s 10 year transport and infrastructure investment programme.

The keys improvements planned for Waterford:
• The introduction of a new low floor wheelchair accessible city fleet
• Additional buses to facilitate an expansion in services for customers
• The upgrading of frequencies on key City routes to every 12/15 minutes
• More departures
• More services
• New routes

New Buses – replacement and additional
Under Transport 21, a new fleet of 13 low floor wheelchair accessible city buses is to be provided in 2007/2008, replacing the existing Waterford city fleet.

Subject to funding being approved, a further 22 buses are due to come into service in 2008-2009, and will enable Bus Éireann to deliver on its service expansion plan.

The Bus Éireann service expansion plan will also deliver improved frequencies on city routes:
A new 12/15 minute service frequency is planned for the: 2c St John’s Park/Patrick Street route 4c the Logloss/Clock Tower route 5c Hillview/Farran Park route The 360 service Waterford/Tramore will be upgraded to a 20 minute service frequency.

New Sunday services
Under the terms of the plan Sunday services could be introduced for the first time on all city routes, operating every 30 minutes. The Waterford/Tramore route would get additional Sunday services.

Plans for Park n Ride and High Frequency Corridors:
A Park & Ride site (linking WIT, Whitfield Clinic and the City Centre) is also under consideration by Bus Éireann along with a High frequency transport corridor (N25 Cork Rd to the Quays).

New City and Commuter Routes and Services
New routes and services are also to be introduced in Waterford.
• In the city, two new orbital bus routes are planned.
• The existing 5c Hillview/Farran Park route will be split and expanded to create a dedicated service for both Hillview and for Farran Park.
• Furthermore, the Farran Park service will be extended to Williamstown to cater for increased demand in the area.
• Commuter services will also be enhanced. Three new services will be provided including 8 new services to operate between Waterford and Kilkenny each way, linking the two major centres of population in the South-East, 8 new services will operate each way between Waterford/ Mooncain / Fiddown /Portlaw and Kilmeaden and 6 new services each way for Waterford/Mullinvat/New Ross.

In summary, the Bus Éireann Waterford Development plan can deliver:
• 278 extra departures on existing routes
• 136 extra departures on new routes
• A total increase in departures of nearly 200%

Bus Rapid Transit - Could ‘Bus Trams’ be the Future for Public Transport in Irish Cities?

Bus Éireann has also revealed it is currently examining the potential for the introduction of ‘BRT’ (Bus Rapid Transit), a system of “bus trams” or streetcars popular in the US, Canada and in a growing number of European cities.

The company is at present exploring the feasibility of operating bus trams in Irish cities including Waterford.

A 12 metre streetcar, manufactured by Wrights of Ballymena, Co Antrim, was unveiled at the event. Wrights is one of Europe’s leading providers of passenger transport solutions.

What are ‘bus trams’ and what can they deliver?

Streetcars or ‘bus trams’ are a bus/tram hybrid vehicle capable of delivering a high quality tram-style service in terms of capacity and reliability, coupled with the far lower costs associated with manufacturing and running buses.

The attractiveness of Bus Rapid Transit lies in its potential to deliver a very high frequency service at a fraction of the cost of designing building and maintaining a full-scale tram system.

Quality stations and ‘bus stops’ are provided at frequent intervals along the route featuring Real Time Passenger Information (RTPI), so customers know what time the next service is due.

Bus Trams: the Benefits

• Cost-effective – Bus trams have the carrying capacity of traditional trams at a fraction of the cost. BRT enables communities to address transportation needs quickly while leaving resources for other important priorities, like schools and parks. The high cost of traditional trams typically limits the amount that can be provided. Because of the cost effectiveness of BRT, many more services can be provided – to ensure wide-ranging provision.
• High capacity - Ottowa, Ontario, operates one of the largest BRT systems in North America, with over 200,000 daily riders on the Ottowa Transitway, achieving peak capacities of 10,000 passengers per hour per direction. This has been cited as an example of the efficiency of BRT systems.
• Quick and simple solution – Bus trams can operate on ordinary road space thus saving the lengthy time periods associated with constructing tram systems, delivering important benefits in a short time frame
• Eco-friendly - Bus trams are capable of running on alternative, more environmentally-friendly fuels making them cleaner and quieter than traditional diesel buses. By relieving congestion on streets, they reduce emissions, noise levels and improve the air quality.
• High quality design - Bus trams are low floor, wheelchair-accessible and are contemporary in design with comparatively spacious interiors.
• Fast, high quality service - Because bus trams typically operate on dedicated bus way, the punctuality of service and reliability is significantly improved. The provision of real time passenger information also tells customers what time the next service is due.
• High frequency service - A high-frequency, all day service can be provided with stops at frequent intervals to facilitate a large number of users.

The cost of bus trams versus conventional trams systems is impressive
Low construction costs, low maintenance costs
• Infrastructure costs 10%
• Vehicle costs 75%
• Vehicle operating costs 80%
• Infrastructure operating costs 0.5%

Bus trams – ideal for medium sized cities

BRT is regarded by transport experts as the ideal public transport solution for small to medium sized cities. The system is currently in operation in Eindhoven in the Netherlands which has a population of 550,000.
BRT is being successfully introduced in a growing number of cities internationally including Edinburgh in Scotland, Ottowa in Canada and Brisbane in Australia.

Issued by:
Media and Public Relations, Bus Éireann

Victor

http://www.transport.ie/viewitem.asp?id=8847&lang=ENG&loc=2126

Cullen announces new buses for Waterford as part of Bus Éireann's plans for the area and commits to a sustainable transport action plan
19 February 2007

Transport Minister, Martin Cullen TD today (Monday 19 February 2007) announced details, together with Bus Éireann officials, including CIÉ Chairman Dr. John Lynch, of the company's proposals for new and improved bus services in the Waterford area. Plans for the future development at Waterford Train Station were also outlined.

Under its planned developments for Waterford for the period 2007 2009, Bus Éireann wishes to increase passenger numbers by 3.4 million and bring new and additional buses on to its service routes.

The company is planning improvements over a three-year period in a number of cities around the country including Galway, Limerick and Cork.

Bus Éireann currently operates a wide range of city, rural, local and expressway services in Waterford. From 2000 to 2006, there has been a 17% increase in its departure services. Bus Éireann's current fleet at Waterford comprises nearly 60 buses serving six routes in Waterford City; 24 routes in the Waterford area and seven expressway routes from Waterford to Cork/Tralee, Limerick and Galway, Dublin via Carlow, Dublin via Gorey and Athlone via Carlow/Kilkenny. Twenty thousand students are catered for each day under the school transport scheme.

Railway services to and from Waterford have also improved in recent years with over €40 million in Government funding invested in the route by Irish Rail over the past decade. Services on the Waterford/Dublin route have increased from four to six each way in the past three years. Irish Rail intend to provide two-hourly services on the route when the 150 new rail cars, (which will service the country's main intercity routes) begin to arrive in March. Plunkett Train Station in Waterford is also to be developed.

Speaking today, Minister Martin Cullen said: "The Bus Éireann Waterford development proposals i.e. - for 35 replacement and additional buses; to extend the range of city services and commuter services and for extensive bus priority measures, - are wide-ranging and I welcome the ambition underpinning them. They rightly reflect the Waterford Planning, Land Use and Transport Study and the Waterford City Development plan.

"Bus services are and will remain a vital part of this country's overall transport system. This is recognised in Transport 21 which provides for major investment in bus services, bus priority measures and park and ride facilities over the lifetime of Transport 21 (2006-2015). This year alone, the Government is investing €777 million in public transport a 58% increase on last year's estimate".

The Minister announced today that exchequer funding has been approved for the new and additional buses proposed for Waterford by Bus Éireann as part of the funding package approved by Government for the purchase of new buses by Bus Éireann for deployment throughout the country.

Minister Cullen also viewed on Waterford's quays, a 12-metre "streetcar", provided by Bus Éireann, which has been manufactured by Wrights in Ballymena, Co Antrim. Bus Éireann is currently examining the potential for the introduction in cities, of 'BRT' (Bus Rapid Transit), a system of "bus trams" or "streetcars" popular in the US, Canada and in a number of European cities. Minister Cullen said: "The attractiveness of Bus Rapid Transit lies in its potential to deliver a very high frequency service at a fraction of the cost of designing, building and maintaining a full-scale tram system".

Bus trams can operate on ordinary road space and are capable of running on alternative, more environmentally friendly fuels, making them cleaner and quieter than traditional diesel buses.

Speaking about sustainable public transport at today's Bus Éireann event, the Minister said: "The Government's Ministerial Task Force, of which I am a member, will be preparing a new climate change strategy before Easter. This will be a comprehensive plan demanding ambition and action across the economy.

"A sustainable transport action plan will be prepared as part of this overall strategy. It will address a range of issues and forecast how the transport sector will significantly contribute to reductions in carbon emissions by 2020. The public transport sector will be expected to show strong leadership in this regard and I am prepared to support proposals to move the public transport fleet to a more sustainable basis as speedily as it is feasible. I have asked Dr. Lynch, Chairman of CIE, as An Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, TD, announced on Saturday in Galway, to move all Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus existing fleet to a 5% bio-diesel blend and to plan to achieve a 30% bio-diesel blend in all new buses".

Also today in Dublin, the German-Irish Chamber of Industry and Commerce is holding an information seminar on a new pilot initiative - Biofuels for Transport. This is the first pilot project of its kind between the Department of Transport and the German-Irish Chamber of Industry and Commerce. The project, which has received funding under Transport 21, will involve practical use of pure plant oil among key transport users, such as road hauliers. The intention of the pilot is to demonstrate a viable, replicable green transport model for Ireland.

The Minister concluded: "We need to promote and facilitate a switch in transport mode from the private car to public transport, thereby reducing fossil fuel consumption and green house gas emissions in the transport sector".

www.transport.ie

www.buseireann.ie

www.biofuelsfortransport.ie

Propellerhead

A few questions need to be asked about the implementation of "Bus Rapid Transit".

1. Will the Bus "Trams" have a dedicated right of way without having to mix it with other traffic?

2. Will the stops be adequately furnished?

3. Will there be any guided busway sections?

4. Will service levels be frequent and predictable, ie at least five minute intervals?

5. Will ticketing be "off bus" to prevent queues at single door entries to buses?


If these are missing then it is purely window dressing and not a comprehensive plan - and should be shown to be such.

Zoney

This reminds me, I need to express my outrage officially to someone responsible for the shambolic services between Limerick city centre and University of Limerick. Someone out of their mind seems to think a single deck bus "theoretically" every 15 minutes is remotely high enough capacity to serve a University of 10,000 as well as a significant amount of suburban/urban housing.

The same individual seems to think that randomly shuttling buses backwards and forwards between the two locations will result in them magically adhering to an every 15 minute schedule even at rush hour. Needless to say, there are often gaps of 45 mins or more! As if a clockface "every 15 mins" service would be sensible anyway given peaks in demand co-inciding with heavy traffic. Duh.

They manage to have people left at bus stops even given that the service is a special form of hell that could only be attracting customers who are desperate enough and have no other means of travel between the city and UL. Oh - and Bus Éireann also have no shortage of customers because there are more cars arriving at UL than there are parking spaces, so car travel has its own host of joys.

Honestly, if a decent attractive dependable service were offered, I'm not convinced that double-deck buses or even these fabled "bus trams" would be sufficient.

Anyways - where should I express my outrage and how?

bk

Yes, can Cork also get improved bus services, it is a disgrace at the moment.

MLM

This bus service upgrade is also very badly needed in Cork, Limerick, and Galway. Cork needs a Luas to serve the docklands development. BRT sounds like a good idea, but I wouldn't trust anything that can use ordinary road space. Anything that uses ordinary road space can get stuck for hours in ordinary nightmare traffic congestion, Irish style. BRT? Yellow pack LUAS?

dowlingm

Ottawa Transitway runs in Right of Way for most of its length.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottawa_Rapid_Transit

AlekSmart

There is always an ever-present danger when PR and a Politician seeking re-election manage to mix in the same (sugar) bowl.

In this case Bus Eireann have a middling PR piece of good news about a much needed upgrade of Waterfords Bus Services.
Add to this an opportunity to borrow a futuristic "Looking" kindofa Bus thing from Wrights of Ballymena.
The resultant mix then allows for some deft airbrushing and fudging in order to convince the long standing Waterford Bus Travelling public that salvation is at hand.

The lack of effective local media with sufficient actual investgative interest then allows this little circus to outperform Fossets.

Even Bus Eireann`s own intial Press Release managed to twist its own elastic as it initially referred to the cost effectivity of the hybrid concept due to its ability to utilise existing on-street infrastructure,then almost in the same breath the same PR person waxed lyrical about the Bus/Trams use of dedicated reserved routings.

Worse still was how BE managed to avoid any informed media questioning regarding the performance of the Streetcar in its initial outing in the UK with First group in York.

Its fair to say that the introduction of the Streetcar concept in York was intended to be a high profile roll-out of a system which cash-strapped UK cities could actually install as an affordable alternative to LRT systems which had just been frimly booted off the UK Public Transport stage by Her Majestys Treasury who have bluntly refused to fund any more new large scale Tram mallarkey.

What ACTUALLY occurred in York in mid 2006 was one of the worst PR fiasco`s ever seen in UK public transport and one from which FirstYork is still struggling to recover.

It`s important to underline that the Wrights Streetcar currently being flashed around by Bus Eireann is,to put it bluntly,a Volvo Articulated Bus largely identical to the 20 already in operation in Dublin City with Dublin Bus.

The Dublin experiment with the Artic Bus concept predated the York situation but was no less of a disaster for that.
Both Dublin and York City Management teams singularly failed to grasp the great potential of a fleet of hi-capacity low-floor multi-doored buses to move large numbers of people Rapidly.
Dublins initial attempts to utilize the artics on the 10 route whilst refusing to impliment any specific access measures to allow an 18mtr long articulated vehicle operate safely led to their equally swift withdrawal.

It was apparent that no senior Dublin Bus manager had examined the consequences of maintaining the age-old cash transaction,single door boarding arrangement in the context of an 18mtr long artic unable to access the busiest stop on O Connell St and thus completely blocking the streets traffic flow with the "Trailer" section kicked out at a 30 deg angle as the time honoured cash counting went on somewhere up front.

In a prime example of why Privatization does not of itself bring any great improvements,First Yorks senior management made a total hash of their Artic ftr Route no4 also.
This route was eerily reminiscent of Dublins No10 serving as it does the City Centre and Yorks busy university campus and halls of residence.
Indeed Yorks city centre is somewhat similar to Dublin from a Bus Driving perspective with all of the domestic mess we are so familiar with here coupled with a reluctant City Authority.

FirstYorks single biggest error was to introduce an on-board ticket machine behind the drivers cab (The ftr Driver being totally isolated from the passenger).
This machine turned out to be spectularly slow and complex in operation and remains so to this day.
Equally incredibly,holders of day passes bought off the bus had to queue behind the janglers and validate their passes as they boarded !!
The system collapsed and the acrimony between First Group and the Ticket Machine manufacturer continues to rumble on.

The present situation in York has the company utilising "Customer Service Hosts" (Conductors ?) on board to give information SELL TICKETS and GIVE CHANGE.
Thsi has to be the single greatest climb down in UK public Transport since deregulation.
First Group had to accept that the Streetcar,as designed,was incapable of operating in "normal" OPO mode and as a result it was either put them to the torch or.......go back to basics......

There`s more too,centreing on the total lack of cooperation and good will between Civic Authority and Bus Company...but we`re already well used to that here.....
Now lets see .........what Waterford route will we choose for the New Dawn of Streetcar transit......Hybrid my A***

penexpers

Interesting. They use those Bus Trams in Lyon where I used to live. They seem to work really well there, but they do get right of way at traffic junctions etc and they do get dedicated road space too, so I imagine the implementation will be different in Ireland cos people are too afraid to take on the drivers.

Zoney

penexpers wrote:

Interesting. They use those Bus Trams in Lyon where I used to live. They seem to work really well there, but they do get right of way at traffic junctions etc and they do get dedicated road space too, so I imagine the implementation will be different in Ireland cos people are too afraid to take on the drivers.

HAH! Even the Luas does not get priority, what hope for buses or "bustrams". Outrageously a packed tram is held up at *traffic lights* while at most, a couple dozen people go through the lights in cars (that was my experience on Abbey Street, delaying the Luas service by a minute or two).

It's not remotely acceptable, and things are of course immensely worse for buses, even more so outside Dublin. It's not just the attitude of authorities. People in single occupant vehicles have the ignorance not to allow buses to pull out (mind you this leads to the "delightful" situation of buses not pulling in at all!) Hey, people have even tried to cut in front of the Luas! HGV drivers insist on trying to take shortcuts and knocking down railway bridges.

Public transport is not taken seriously in this country as being more important than roads. Unless this changes, we're doomed (especially Dublin, which really, is completely dysfunctional even today).

Calina

Speaking personally, I always let buses pull out but that could be because I've lived in places with functional public transport.

that being said, Dublin is hampered by the problem that even those who have an interest in public transport have issues with the idea of actually paying for it. This is why we have a Luas now and not a Metro. This is why Luas systems are not being built in Cork and Limerick. It's because the mindset in Ireland is to do as little as you can conceivably get away with doing.

It doesn't just affect public transport, it affects local authorities, roadbuilding, health systems, election systems, you name it. We want everything on the cheap.

And then we have the nerve to complain when it's not quite up to scratch.

dowlingm

In Ontario, it has recently been made a road traffic offence not to allow a bus pull out (assuming you're not already alongside obviously).

Zoney

Calina wrote:

It's because the mindset in Ireland is to do as little as you can conceivably get away with doing.

It doesn't just affect public transport, it affects local authorities, roadbuilding, health systems, election systems, you name it. We want everything on the cheap.

And then we have the nerve to complain when it's not quite up to scratch.

SPOT ON!

It begs the question as to where all the money goes though.

fricatus

AlekSmart wrote:

The lack of effective local media with sufficient actual investgative interest then allows this little circus to outperform Fossets.

Good point... the local papers in Waterford are not exactly known for challenging such stories. Especially where local infrastructure is concerned, they just regurgitate the entire press release. In fairness, it's exactly the same all over the country.

AlekSmart wrote:

Now lets see .........what Waterford route will we choose for the New Dawn of Streetcar transit......Hybrid my A***

Yeah, exactly! The trouble with Waterford is that there is only one wide, level street that runs right through the city and curves around the central shopping/pedestrian area (i.e. the N25 Cork Road-Manor-Parnell St-Mall-Quay). Lots of bus routes (Ballybeg, Lisduggan, Tramore) basically follow this route along half of their length, with the other half running through a tangle of streets off the Quays, up towards Ballybricken and back over below Barrack St.

There is no way even a "bendy bus" could go on some of these routes, never mind say an on-street tram. In fact, the ideal solution is the fleet of small buses that is already run at high frequency on some of these routes. They are able to manoeuvre through the congested streets and offer a 10-15-minute frequency.

If they wanted to improve services in Waterford, there are less spectacular things they could do: extend the fleet of small buses to give a high-frequency service; advertise the bus routes more at stops; introduce more commonsense routes (e.g. stopping within Waterford Regional Hospital, which I see they've begun, and in WIT, due to start soon). How about real-time information? Bus lanes?

merlante

I would say there are 3/4 routes in Waterford that might be apt for this transport:
1. N25 Cork Road-Manor-Parnell St-Mall-Quay.
2. Dunmore Rd.-Newtown Rd.-William St.-Quay.-Ferrybank
3. Outer Ring Road: Ardkeen-Cork Rd.
4. Tramore-Tramore Rd.-Cork Rd.-Manor-Parnell St.-Mall-Quay.

I include 4. because Tramore is effectively part of the city for transport purposes.

Waterford's streets are not super-wide though, even on parts of these main arteries.