Bus Service

Average-Ro

How does the city bus service get away with such crappy service? The girlfriend and I had to be somewhere very important tonight at 9 o clock. We were in Ballybane and we looked at the timetable. "A bus at 19.50, perfect, that'll give us plenty of time". We got there at 19.45. Ten minutes passed and no bus. 8 o clock came, no bus. "Sure there's supposed to be one here for 20.15 or so, we'll just wait". 20.20 came, no bus. "The next one is at 20.25, right?". 20.30 came and a bus finally arrived.

This hasn't been the first time I've been screwed about by the shoddy bus service. Waiting 45 minutes for a bus when there were supposed to be 3 stopping by in that time period is ridiculous, and it's happened so many times. What's the story? Do the bus drivers just decide not to go on a run? Do they drive off somewhere else instead?

I'm usually not one to complain but it's happened to me so much recently I just can't keep it in anymore.

End rant.

What does anyone else think?

leninbenjamin

see my post in the thread on traffic management.

Frankly the big problem is because in Irish society it's acceptable to be late it seems. that and the unpredictable nature of the traffic.

I remember in 2003 or 4 i got the bus home from Eyre Square. it arrived on time, i thought 'great' and hopped on. 40-50 minutes later we were only arriving at the bottom of Eglington street, i would have walked home by that stage. that's the worst experience i've ever had on a bus mind in Galway.

nowadays, rain, hail or shine if the journey takes less than an hour to walk i will always walk instead of get a bus.

galwaybabe

The buses in Galway are nothing short of a disgrace. There is more chance of winning the lotto than there is of a bus showing up on time. I live right beside a bus stop but have no incentive whatsoever to use it. There is no shelter, no timetable and no chance of the damn thing actually showing up.

I think that people need to stand up to this and bend the ears of their local councillors to breaking point about this. I have been doing this for a long time but it is no good without a critical mass.

Average-Ro

Anyone have any e-mails or adresses I could send my complaints to? It's too much of a clown service to put up with, and I'd like to vent to the people actually responsible.

galwaybabe

Average-Ro wrote: »

Anyone have any e-mails or adresses I could send my complaints to? It's too much of a clown service to put up with, and I'd like to vent to the people actually responsible.

Any or all of this lot of imcompetants - http://www.galwaycity.ie/AllServices/YourCouncil/

Average-Ro

Nice:). I'm gonna have fun writing to them...

Das Kitty

Bus Eireann are just "Eyre Square, Galway."

If you want to rant in person, go to the train station and near the end of the platform there are offices in to the right where the Galway Bus Eireann heads work. You could throw a bit of furniture around.

It'd be falling on deaf ears though (the complaint, not the furniture). Maybe try your local counsellor or there's always Joe Duffy!

I had some horrendous experiences with buses before I got my car. From bus drivers not stopping, to pretending they were full, to taking a route that didn't include my stop because of traffic (grand for those who are getting to the end of the route but it seriously annoyed me having to trek for 25minutes after paying bus fare).

I'm stopping now as I'm coming out in hives.

biko

If it's these guys

Galway City Direct
Phone +353 (0)91 860 814
Fax +353 (0)91 860 815
Email citydirect@eircom.net.
http://www.citydirectgalway.com/

galwaybabe

A word in the ear of these guys probably wouldn't go amiss either - buslicensing@transport.ie

Mrs OBumble

galwaybabe wrote: »

The buses in Galway are nothing short of a disgrace. There is more chance of winning the lotto than there is of a bus showing up on time. I live right beside a bus stop but have no incentive whatsoever to use it. There is no shelter, no timetable and no chance of the damn thing actually showing up.

I use buses quite a bit, and think you're maybe a little harsh here.

Route 9 is now very reliable, except when traffic goes mental (one of the nice fruits of recession: less traffic jams!) Agreed that other routes aren't as good though.

It particularly upsets me that there are still old timetables at some bus-stops around the town. Some of these are quite out of date. That said, I've just looked up http://www.buseireann.ie/bubble.php?id=59#galway and the times that the OP quoted are (apparently!) still current.

Re complaining: you may get further if you ring up or go in and politely ask why the particular services didn't run. If you throw your toys, they'll just dismiss you as a nutter and do nothing about it. If you're mature, they might just investigate and fix the source of the problem. (No promises ... but the furniture-throwing approach is guaranteed to fail!)

Average-Ro

I suppose you're right. I'll let myself calm down a bit before giving a mature, balanced enquiry. Defo more likely to get a reply, if not a proper answer.

snubbleste

Average-Ro wrote: »

I suppose you're right. I'll let myself calm down a bit before giving a mature, balanced enquiry. Defo more likely to get a reply, if not a proper answer.

Let us know how you get on.

LadyMayBelle

JustMary wrote: »

I use buses quite a bit, and think you're maybe a little harsh here.

Route 9 is now very reliable, except when traffic goes mental (one of the nice fruits of recession: less traffic jams!)

Yeah, the 9 route is great, correct me if i'm wrong but it runs every 15mins (according to the timetable) and every half hour after half six and on Sundays....HOWEVER...in order to have such a great service they nicked the bus off the 3 route, which now only has a service every half hour, and after 6 well you may as well walk...the 3 has to serve Ballybrit, Castlepark, Ballybane, Monivea Road and Riverside...it's appalling..ranting about buses makes me antsy!!

Good luck giving them an earful!!

Average-Ro

I just sent a firm but polite e-mail. Hopefully get an answer soon!

Redhairedguy

Booyah! Stick it to "the man"!

galwaybabe

I emailed City Direct to see if they were considering extending their services to the East of the city. I got a very short reply saying no. I wrote back asking was this a licencing issue and the reply was that "in a nutshell" it was. Hmmmmph!

Sea Devils

galwaybabe wrote: »

I emailed City Direct to see if they were considering extending their services to the East of the city. I got a very short reply saying no. I wrote back asking was this a licencing issue and the reply was that "in a nutshell" it was. Hmmmmph!

In fairness you were dealing with City Direct a comapny renowned for bad customer service...

galwaybabe

Sea Devils wrote: »

In fairness you were dealing with City Direct a comapny renowned for bad customer service...

I wouldn't know as I live on the East side so never use their service. To be fair they got back to me really quickly by email.

Average-Ro

I suppose if it was a short "no" answer, it wasn't gonna take too long to write back. Still though, they didn't sound too friendly.

Got a reply today acknowledging my email and saying that they've fowarded my email on to the correct department for their attention. Will hopefully hear what they have to say soon.