Dublin Bus Drivers

littlejukka

Hi, first post to this forum

I have been having a few problems on the N11 (from UCD into town) with the ill-considered bicycle lanes.

One particular thing is the bus stop heading south out of town just north of the junction with Nutley Lane. The cycle lane carries along outside a dedicated bus pull in area (with bus A parked in it in the attached image) and the cycle lane continuin along past the bus shelter (marked in red). However every driver seems to think that they should stop where bus B is shown, blocking the cyclelane and creating an unnecessary need for a cyclist to stop or pass them on the outside.

On a few occasions i have been forced out of the cycle lane by busses which pull in across me to get to position B and stop for passengers. It's very annoying.

Does anyone else have this or a similar problem? Is there a facility to raise the problem with Dublin Bus?

Dirk Gently

very similar situation outside tesco in Finglas on my route home each night. Don't know if you would have much luck with dublin bus as it is individual drivers trying to save time by not having to pull off the road and then wait for an opening in traffic to get back on road. There will always be some drivers who do it.

Fortunetly for me the stop in Finglas is near the end on the bus route so only ever a couple of old people at the stop getting a lift up the road, never really a big load getting on. I usually just slow down a bit before the bus stop and by the time I get there the bus is on the move again. It wouldn't actually be practical for a bus driver to do it if he was going to hold up traffic more than a few seconds anyway. I wouldn't recommend over taking the bus tbh, it's not nice being left in the middle of the road with speeding oncoming traffic and then trying to work your way back left with cars coming from behind too. It's all part of the joys of cycling in the city, every road system is either designed or put into practice by other road users in such a way that cyclists are expected to compromise, not least cycle lanes at night outside apartments where people park their cars along the whole stretch of lane.

Victor

It might be useful to have a railing fitted to the kerb to prevent bus B loading / unloading.

Dirk Gently

A railing parallel at the kerb of the bus shelter would still result in people rounding the barrier and walking across the pull in location to get to the bus should the driver still decide to stop anywhere in line with position B. The problem is not with the bus passing from position A to position B while in motion, it is the bus not assuming position A in the first place while loading. At least that is my understanding based on my experience in Finglas which looks similar to the OP diagram.

The layout is acceptable as is, provided individual drivers pull in and pull out. An alternative would be to snake the cycle lane around the back of the shelter if there's enough room. If the shelter needed to be moved forward though it would mean motor traffic would still be held up while loading. This solution would work in finglas as there is enough room behind the stop but I don't know what the situation at your stop is.

I suppose the only thing you can do is ask dub bus to remind their drivers to pull into position A.

daymobrew

clown bag wrote:

I suppose the only thing you can do is ask dub bus to remind their drivers to pull into position A.

Maybe phone the appropriate garage and explain your issue and debate out a solution.

Ghost Rider

That is a "debate" I'd like to hear.

daymobrew wrote:

Maybe phone the appropriate garage and explain your issue and debate out a solution.

daymobrew

Ghost Rider wrote:

That is a "debate" I'd like to hear.

I meant that one shouldn't go in making sweeping accusations and complaints. Simply state the problem calmly and ask the DB people if they can help. If there is any safety issue for bus passengers be sure to mention that - they might be more concerned about that.

blorg

You are very fortunate if you cycle on the N11 and haven't had a Dublin Bus driver try to kill you yet- although admittedly this only happens if you are not using the cycle lane on one of the relatively few completely unusable stretches (e.g. downhill between Oatlands College and the Rise.) A small minority of drivers certainly although it has occured to more than just me.

Sorry, rant over. Give them a ring and see what they can do, but I suspect - much like the homicide attempts - it is individual drivers rather than DB policy that is the problem.