Cork to get Operation free-flow, but only on Wednesdays

dmeehan

http://www.examiner.ie/story/ireland/qlgbeymhey/rss2/

Project to speed up bus service
By Eoin English

A FREE-FLOW style pilot project to speed up the bus service on two of Cork city’s busiest routes will be launched tomorrow.

Extra buses will be introduced on the number six and eight routes during peak hours on Wednesdays only, throughout the month of November.

Extra gardaí will be on duty along the routes between 7.30am and 9.30am and 4.30pm to 6.30pm to ensure free-flow of traffic.

It is hoped the Bus Wednesday initiative will encourage more people to use public transport.

It will continue on November 12, 19 and 26.

why only on Wednesdays???

Wibbler

dmeehan wrote: »

why only on Wednesdays???

It's probably down to cost and available resources. It's only a pilot scheme after all - they probably just want some data points.

invincibleirish

Looking at the times it seems clear the Gardai shall be policing the bus lanes seemingly. The bus lane coming down the Western Rd. from Wilton is always used and blocked by commuters in cars and uppity parents.

Stark

dmeehan wrote: »

http://www.examiner.ie/story/ireland/qlgbeymhey/rss2/



why only on Wednesdays???

So most people won't realise the improvements are in effect, won't avail of them and Bus Éireann can cite that there's not enough demand for the new services. Or so my cynical mind would presume.

Colm R

Stark wrote: »

So most people won't realise the improvements are in effect, won't avail of them and Bus Éireann can cite that there's not enough demand for the new services. Or so my cynical mind would presume.

Sadly true. We all know that when it comes to Cork and all our cities bar Dublin, some of the cheapest and simplest solutions would do wonders. Dan Boyle can work away on his feasibilty study for a luas, but at the end of day, Cork could easily become a car free city center and the impact on Corkionans would be better rather than worse.

And to be honest, simple cheap solutions would go a long way in Dublin too.

Rebeller

Stark wrote: »

So most people won't realise the improvements are in effect, won't avail of them and Bus Éireann can cite that there's not enough demand for the new services. Or so my cynical mind would presume.

Indeed. Just like the late night bus services that were trialled around Christmas a few years ago. The only promotion of the service was a tiny 2 inch advertisement buried deep within the Examiner newspaper.

The service was predictably discontinued by Bus Eireann due to "lack of interest" (they never specified whether the interest was lacking in the public or Bus Eireann though!)

Colm R wrote:

Sadly true. We all know that when it comes to Cork and all our cities bar Dublin, some of the cheapest and simplest solutions would do wonders. Dan Boyle can work away on his feasibilty study for a luas, but at the end of day, Cork could easily become a car free city center and the impact on Corkionans would be better rather than worse.

The so-called "green routes" are nothing of the sort. For example, the number 6 route simply consists of a white line denoting a bus lane wherever the road is wide enough and nothing where it isn't. In other words, there is no unbroken priority bus corridor enabling buses to bypass traffic bottlenecks (e.g. Douglas village) which surely is the whole point of these "green routes" in the first place?

There was no attempt made to give priority to buses at junctions.

I don't think it's even possible to implement any effective QBCs or "green routes" in the already sprawling, unplanned, overcrowded suburbs.

Road space needs to be allocated to public transport early on in the development of an area, before the sprawling estates and commercial centres are built.

However, we all know that our public "servants" only serve their true masters such as Mr. Soviet Tower Block himself: Owen O' Callaghan

Public transport in Cork will continue to be the third world disaster that it currently is as long as the electorate of Cork continue to fawn over the corrupt, ineffectual gombeen idiots that maintain a stranglehold over the city's business and political life.

parsi

Colm R wrote: »

Sadly true. We all know that when it comes to Cork and all our cities bar Dublin, some of the cheapest and simplest solutions would do wonders. Dan Boyle can work away on his feasibilty study for a luas, but at the end of day, Cork could easily become a car free city center and the impact on Corkionans would be better rather than worse.

And to be honest, simple cheap solutions would go a long way in Dublin too.

But but but...the politicos don't get any publicity for cheap/simple/incremental solutions.

Colm R

Any reports on how things went today in Cork?