[Article] Motorists fume stuck beside empty unused bus corridors

Victor

Ah, silly season has arrived (if the bus lane hasn't been commissioned, the motorists need not 'fume beside empty bus lanes', they can use the bus lane).

http://home.eircom.net/content/unison/national/10480883?view=Eircomnet&cat=National

Motorists fume stuck beside empty unused bus corridors
From The Irish Independent
Monday, 28th May, 2007

SO MANY bus corridors, so few buses.

Over a dozen bus lanes and quality bus corridors in Dublin are finished and ready for use - but there are no buses to serve them.

Yesterday, it emerged that 13 bus lanes had been completed, but that a shortage of buses means they are not being used and motorists are being forced to sit in long tailbacks each day in single-lane traffic.

They include a two-kilometre 24-hour lane on one of the most heavily-congested roads in the capital - the N32 from the M50 junction to the Malahide Road - which has not been commissioned despite being finished two years ago.

Another QBC on the Rock Road linking the city centre to Blackrock is unused, and is not set to open until mid-summer.

The dedicated bus lanes which are finished, but not yet open for business, include the Pennyhill to Ballyowen Road in Clondalkin; Belgard Road; Leopardstown Road to Sandyford; Kingswood north to Ballyowen; Hole in the Wall to the north fringe, Clongriffin; Ongar Road, Dublin 15; Cherrywood Road; Enniskerry to Dundrum; Exit of Sandyford Industrial Estate to the Sandyford Road; Blackthorn Drive to Sandyford and another at Wyckham Way.

They are not being used because of the shortage of buses available to Dublin Bus and because of a spat between the Fianna Fail and Progressive Democrats government over opening new routes to private operators. Local authorities also required developers to install bus lanes when they received planning permission to build new homes, but many of these are unused.

Services

Dublin Bus said it expects to have more services operating later in the summer when 100 new buses go into service.

"We have half the 100 buses in place and by the end of the summer we should have them all in place," a spokesman said. "There would be a relatively limited number of sections unused."

The Dublin Transportation Office said that most bus lanes did not take away road space available to private motorists, and that there was an "overall plan" to roll-out more dedicated bus lanes.

"The Leopardstown Road to Sandyford lane is in place but not yet fully utilised. The QBC has been there for some time but is waiting for bus routes. A decision was taken not to wait until the physical buses were in place.

"There is an overall plan, but there will be some gaps in the service until buses come on stream."

But south Dublin residents could find themselves with a headache when the Rock Road QBC opens later this summer because one lane previously available to cars will be gone.

"The Rock Road QBC is a contentious scheme because there's less road space," a spokesman for Dun Laoghaire Rathdown county council said.

"That will be open after the Leaving Cert but it's been in a state of readiness for the last two or three months. Dublin Bus has said it will reorganise its number four route which will justify opening it, but it's likely to be quite difficult for people when the full force of traffic returns in September."

daymobrew

IMO one thing that is continuously overlooked is that an apparently empty bus lane is one that is operating well - because the buses aren't stuck in traffic.

Obviously this only applies to commissioned bus lanes.

Zoney

daymobrew wrote:

IMO one thing that is continuously overlooked is that an apparently empty bus lane is one that is operating well - because the buses aren't stuck in traffic.

Obviously this only applies to commissioned bus lanes.

There is some element of truth to what you say. If a bus lane were full of buses it would suggest a need for high-frequency trams or something higher capacity.

mickoneill30

How about another article.
Bus users fume metres away from beautiful bus lane but stuck behind idiots who insist on blocking the lanes.

I come in from Swords - City every morning. Theres one beautiful bottleneck in Santry where we have to sit for about 5 mins quite frequently because people turning left (to go our direction) queue across the buss lane so when we get the green lights we've got to sit waiting on the road ahead to clear so the idiots can move off it.

Stark

mickoneill30 wrote:

I come in from Swords - City every morning. Theres one beautiful bottleneck in Santry where we have to sit for about 5 mins quite frequently because people turning left (to go our direction) queue across the buss lane so when we get the green lights we've got to sit waiting on the road ahead to clear so the idiots can move off it.

Yup, that "it's okay to use the bus lane if you're turning left" nonsense really pisses me off. I wish the Gardaí would fine people more often for doing it until people get the hint that it's not okay.

Slice

The motorists are right to fume about sitting in traffic next to a dis-used bus lane. It should be reverted back to a hard-shoulder straight away!

_Kaiser_

Wrong.. if a Bus lane isn't commissioned it should revert to a driving lane just as it does when outside the normal hours of operation, especially as Dublin Bus themselves have admitted they don't have the buses (for whatever reason) to fill them yet.

24 hour bus lanes is another thing. Why have we 24 hour bus lanes when we don't have a 24 hour bus service???

People sitting in the bus lane to turn left is in general a no no, except that in many cases the council don't leave enough room for people to merge in advance thus making those who do abide by the markings have to force their way in at the lights/junction (because common courtesy is increasingly lacking on the roads) which is (imo) far more dangerous than delaying a bus by 20 seconds.

By the way, bus drivers are far from angels either. I overtook one of Clontarf's "finest" the other day and he decides (while I'm halfway past him - and he looked before he moved cause I saw him check the mirror) to pull out anyway and force me to cut him off at the junction 50m ahead so as not to be sitting in the oncoming lane. Then he starts flashing lights/beeping?? Ignorant Tosser! :mad:

John R

Kaiser2000 wrote:

24 hour bus lanes is another thing. Why have we 24 hour bus lanes when we don't have a 24 hour bus service???

I would love to know what roads with 24 hour bus lanes have traffic jams between 11pm and 7am.

Every time the topic of bus lanes appears someone brings that up as if it is some huge imposition on motorists to deny them the extra roadspace in the middle of the night.

peter1892

The Bus Lane on the N32 isn't 24 hour anymore, it's 07.00-19.00. It was 24 hour during the construction of the Port Tunnel to allow buses to avoid the N1 (i.e Old Swords Road/Port Tunnel Works). To be honest, most of the N32 isn't so busy that people would need the extra lane anyway (it's the on ramp for the M50/M1 & junction leading into Clonshaugh that sometimes backs up)

The Rock Road - there are signs up (on the outbound section beside Booterstown DART station anyway) saying 'Bus Lane Not In Use' so drivers can still use that section of road.

egan007

When this thread was last opened when this rehashed story came out before I was all in favour of opening the bus lanes.....Now I ride a bike so keep Em closed I say

p.s. it is funny to see the 'fumes'

Wishbone Ash

John R wrote:

I would love to know what roads with 24 hour bus lanes have traffic jams between 11pm and 7am

I could never understand the logic of that argument either John R.

cyclopath2001

egan007 wrote:

When this thread was last opened when this rehashed story came out before I was all in favour of opening the bus lanes.....Now I ride a bike so keep Em closed I say p.s. it is funny to see the 'fumes'

Somebody may be able to refresh my memory on this, but I believe that the bus lane on the N32 (towards the M50) was created by removing a cycle track and some of the car lane?

Stimpyone

Yup, they changed the light sequence on the M50/M1 roundabout to accommodate the trucks coming off the M50 and down to the Port Tunnel.

This results in almost a continuous tailback at the M50/N32 junction, which is no fun.:(

Stimpyone

cyclopath2001 wrote:

Somebody may be able to refresh my memory on this, but I believe that the bus lane on the N32 (towards the M50) was created by removing a cycle track and some of the car lane?

It used to be a hard shoulder, and as far as I know is going to be reverted to same.

Kadeshh

i think the initial statement is not entirely correct. certainly the rock road bus corridor is full of buses despite not being open. the 5, 7,7a, 8, 45 and the nitelinks all use this corridor.

between the two main routes, 7 and 45 there is around 10-15 mins frequency all day. i would count that as a validly used bus lane.

i would also doubt that this is the only bus lane in this situation of "un-use".

cyclopath2001

Stimpyone wrote:

It used to be a hard shoulder, and as far as I know is going to be reverted to same.

I was cycling in that Bus/Cycle lane there on Saturday, was passed by a silver Audi which was breaking the speed limit and overtook a stream of cars on the inside.

By my reckoning, in 5 seconds, he/she was half-way to losing his license.

There is some kind of cycle track near the roundabout at Bewleys but from what I've seen it's not usable.