Bus Full..and a hour to wait for the next one

HydeRoad

Don't be put off by me, I'm not trying to 'get' at you. I just get annoyed when I see comments that suggest private operators trying to 'cream' everything are the entire cause of everything that's wrong.

There are an awful lot of things that could be wrong with private operation, too. That is where an independent regulator would step in. At least there is basically a clean sheet with private bus operation in the city, as up to now there hasn't been much impact, with the niche business of Aircoach probably being the most successful. That should be a good thing. It means there wouldn't be too much 'baggage' to deal with, when instituting any kind of tendering or subsidy arrangement for private operators to run bus services across the city.

Dealing with a stagnated, old, bloated, dyed-in-the-wool, unionised, management heavy bus company with 1950s operating procedures and self-perceived squatter's rights on the city, now that's a whole other kettle of fish. There are some very good, visionary people in Dublin Bus, who would like to do things a lot better. Unfortunately, the company in it's present form is bound to break them. Political interference plays a large part too, as well as the intransigence of the city authorities to co-operate properly with them.

There are no private operators on the 18, to take an example, and there is unlikely to ever be under the current arrangements. That is where tendering and subsidy would come in, under an independent regulator. A private operator would be expected to perform to a standard for their subsidy, and failing to do so, would lose the contract. As things stand, Dublin Bus bows to no regulator, and has little to fear from competition on anything other than a couple of lucrative main corridors into the city. That bodes ill for any route that is anyway uneconomical to run, as there is no incentive on Dublin Bus to improve the 1950s standard of service. Route 18 is basically the same route that took over from the trams in 1940, albeit a little bit added on here, and a little bit added on there, loads more traffic congestion, slower running times, and the loss of a conductor to keep things moving. So what if there's a two hour gap an odd evening, who cares? Let them eat cake.

Alas, I despair to think what kind of regulatory regime a Fianna Fáil government would put in place...

KC61

Hyde Road, your basic point in favour of an independent regulator is one that I fully support. Dublin needs such a body to dictate levels of service, vehicle standards, and to co-ordinate the design of the bus route network. The days of individual operators designing the network needs to stop, and some integrated thinking needs to start.

For all of the bad things Dublin Bus have done, there have been significant improvements in recent years. There have been several high frequency direct routes introduced along QBCs (4/4A, 128, 140, 145, 151, and one imminent in Blanchardstown), huge improvements in the Templeogue QBC (15/A/B, 74/A), a vastly superior route 75 schedule (despite your comment above) and a slow but steady move to clockface scheduling. It has taken a long time to get to this, but there is finally some movement happening. As someone who uses a lot of buses every week, I do think that the practices that were alluded to above, such as evening duties not being covered, has been eradicated. Don't get me wrong there are huge improvements still needed, but to suggest that nothing is happening is somewhat disingenuous. You are quite correct to suggest that political interference has played its part in how DB is run - the fact that the 48A, 51A and 172 are still running is testament to that.

DB did play a dirty tricks campaign against Mortons in 1988 and the early 1990s when their service commenced, and it was completely unjustified. However, to suggest that the lack of success in the enhanced Circle Line service introduced last year was down to Dublin Bus is not true. Since 2002 the Department has regulated the city bus network with a very tight rein. Three additional unlicensed buses were added by DB in the morning and evening peak by Dublin Bus, but these were promptly withdrawn when the Department instructed them to do so. DB were not adding lots of buses to the Lucan QBC in 2007, despite private claims that they were.

Private operators are finding that operating a service is not as easy as it may seem. Circle Line withdrew their off-peak evening services, Swords Express have increased their fares by 33 1/3%, Locolink vanished after several months operating a totally unviable service in south Dublin (while still leaving all the bus stops in place to this day). None of this is down to Dublin Bus, as all of their services in these areas have remained unchanged during the periods of operation by the private operators.

As for both the Lucan and Swords QBCs, it is nothing short of a disgrace that these large areas of Dublin cannot be given any improvement in service lest it potentially have an impact on a private operator. It is a nonsense. The 141 was to operate via the Swords Road and Drumcondra to the south city, but yet the Department will not sanction it lest it affects Swords Express. Several proposed 41X routings that avoided the Swords Express service later, and the Department will not sanction it. The Lucan Road was to see enhanced services on all the routes. Yet there are people in Maynooth, Celbridge, Lucan, Palmerstown, Chapelizod, Islandbridge, and in Swords, Cloghran, Santry, Whitehall and Drumcondra, for whom Departmental approval was obtained to purchase additional buses, and who are now deprived of these services, and left standing at stops (such as Propellerhead) because the other part of the same Department says no!

There is a lot of work to do here, but some common sense is needed above all else. At the end of the day the most important person here is the customer at the stop. The sooner that the Department, the private operators, and Dublin Bus all realise this the better.

HydeRoad

Very fair argument. I have to temper my own comments about Dublin Bus, as it is nearly eight years since I worked for them, and of course things have vastly improved in some areas. They are still crippled by the unions, something I fail to understand. If the unions were really interested in protecting their member's jobs, they would co-operate in making Dublin Bus the most progressive bus company this side of the continent, something it has every opportunity to be. If Dublin Bus were as efficient as it could be, no private operator could touch them on service provision, and there would be no need for private competition at all.

I couldn't begin to stand over some of the decisions an unregulated private sector make in regard to bus service provision. I can say that Mortons did a survey in early 2007, where, like Dublin Bus did on a constant basis, people were sent out to physically count the buses. And based on their advertised services, I can't remember the exact figures, but there were something like 10 to 15% more buses than scheduled. Many of these buses were running half empty or entirely empty. That is based on actual observation in the morning peak, at various points along the corridor. And parking of empty buses at Mortons bus stops continued regularly, as well as verbal abuse from Dublin Bus staff, drivers and inspectors.

There is very bad blood on both sides. It makes it very difficult for genuinely visionary people to make any progress, bound as they are to outdated working practices, rivalries, and both real and perceived grievances.

Dublin Bus made an offer some years ago, that private buses would be allowed, as long as they painted their buses in Dublin Bus livery, and answered the instructions of Dublin Bus inspectors. Can you just imagine the kind of bullying and abuse that would be meted out by pompous and inflated inspectors to 'hackers' as they are condescendingly known? It happens to private bus drivers on sub contract to Bus Éireann. They are bad enough as it is, SOME of them, without being given any real regulatory authority.

I have to temper that by saying there are some absolute gentlemen inspectors, and staff of all grades, who are nothing but polite and respectful at all times, and it must sicken them to see the repulsive and childish behaviour of some of their colleagues.

How can it take so long for the government to consider regulation of the industry? Alas, as I say, if the taxi regulator, Kathleen Doyle, is any example, we will replace one unsustainable situation with God knows what kind of an unmitigated mess...