Any update on the GLUAS?

pandamoanium

Anyone know if there's been any updates regarding the proposed GLUAS system?












Anyone?























ANYONE?!?! :pac:

Robbo

I'm sure we'll hear all about it in the run up to the local elections. They'll all be statements of wishful fantasy mind...

futura123

not a hope in these recessionary times

cranky bollix

forget about it , it was never gonna happen in the first place.Galway is way down fianna fails list of priorities.They spent all the money on champagne during "the good days"

Bass Cadet

Not gonna happen within the next 10 to 12 years at least and thats being optimistic about it

Zzippy

Robbo wrote: »

I'm sure we'll hear all about it in the run up to the local elections. They'll all be statements of wishful fantasy mind...

Nah, GLUAS will be old hat by then. They'll be promising us a monorail by then.

Monorail! Monorail! Monorail!

/end Simpsons flashback

Robbo

Zzippy wrote: »

Nah, GLUAS will be old hat by then. They'll be promising us a monorail by then.

Monorail! Monorail! Monorail!

/end Simpsons flashback

Don't laugh, a monorail would actually be a more pragmatic solution. At least the overhanging structure would provide some shelter for pedestrians once the thing breaks and starts circling the town at enormous speed with Padraic Conneely inside and Knacker Dwarf at the wheel...

I've sold monorails to Brockway, Ogdenville and North Haverbrook and by gum it put them on the map...

snubbleste

Anyone know if there's been any updates regarding the proposed GLUAS system?

The plan has been released to the public and can be found in the fairytales section of the bookstore.

cornbb

A complete and utter fantasy. Whatever politician admits this during the local elections will have my vote. Unfortunately they'll all pretend that they're gonna make it happen.

Lockstep

My friends who drive go on and on as if it's going to cause a collapse of Galway and that they;ll be held up by the construction.

Those who don't drive and are sick of the buses think it'll be the second coming.

Fey!

The people behind it are still pushing for it. They did an excellent presentation of it to the city business' 2 weeks ago, which was received very well.

Can anyone tell me what politicians are involved in GLUAS, or who from the corpo? As far as I'm aware, the concept is from a number of private individuals, and they then presented the package to the corpo.

Anyway, more at www.gluas.ie.

ambasite

like the Atlantic Corridor and Western Rail ideas - utter fantasy. Government priority is to develop Dublin/Belfast zone. The rest of the serfs can **** off.

Bass Cadet

Fey! wrote: »

The people behind it are still pushing for it. They did an excellent presentation of it to the city business' 2 weeks ago, which was received very well.

Fair play to them but they are wasting their time unfortunately. Wish I was wrong

KevR

Think I read somewhere a while back they the people behind it were saying they'd need 12,000 people per day using it so it could fund itself. Am I the only one who thinks they wouldn't get 12,000 users per day with the routes they have planned? 73,000 people living in the city. None of the planned routes go outside of the city to tap into populations of surrounding towns. So when you take the people living in Galway city who aren't on any of the lines out of the equation and think of the fact that not everyone located near the tram lines will actually use the trams (at least maybe not on a regular basis). Also take into consideration that there is always a chance of some people who use the trams evading fares (have witnessed this on the Luas in Dublin and the Metrolink in Manchester). Think they will struggle to get near 12,000 paying customers per day with the lines they are proposing.

I would have thought that two lines which go through the city and out to the commuter towns would be better than 3 lines just going through the city.
A West-East line starting from Barna, running East across the city (and through the city centre obviously) and continue on out to Oranmore and Athenry (where there would be an Interchange with Irish Rail services and where you could have a park and ride facility). And a Northern line which runs East from the city centre across to Ballybrit or somewhere (where there could be an interchange with the West-East line) and then swings up North off out to Claregalway and Tuam (again park and ride facilities and an interchange with Irish Rail services in Tuam when the WRC eventually re-opens).


I know, I know - very wishful thinking indeed!

ScumLord

Best you can hope for.

Fey!

Bass Cadet wrote: »

Fair play to them but they are wasting their time unfortunately. Wish I was wrong

I hope you're wrong, too! I think it's a great idea.

KevR wrote: »

Think I read somewhere a while back they the people behind it were saying.....when the WRC eventually re-opens).

I can't remember what their break even on passengers was.

I gather from the presentation I saw that they are looking at park and ride on either end. The reason for the routes they chose was after a feasability study.

If they go to the Western Distributor Road, I'm sure that the line can be expanded to reach Barna. Likewise at the Oranmore end; there could probably be something done in conjunction with Irish Rail around Oranmore, seeing as there's an existing "live" line just outside the town.

@KevR: I didn't think there was a need for to quote the whole lot seeing as it was one of the last posts before this one!!!

Wompa1

Robbo wrote: »

Don't laugh, a monorail would actually be a more pragmatic solution. At least the overhanging structure would provide some shelter for pedestrians once the thing breaks and starts circling the town at enormous speed with Padraic Conneely inside and Knacker Dwarf at the wheel...

I've sold monorails to Brockway, Ogdenville and North Haverbrook and by gum it put them on the map...

"Is there a chance the track could bend?"

Not on your life my Galweigan friend

I don't know if we're a monorail sort of town though..it might be better suited in I don't know say...Mayo...

Robbo

Wompa1 wrote: »

I don't know if we're a monorail sort of town though..it might be better suited in I don't know say...Mayo...

Monorail in Mayo? They'd call you a begrudging Westbrit for the very suggestion such a Pale-oriented plot to keep the West down. Then they'd mobilise all the parish priests from Belmullet to Ballinrobe to campaign for an orbital Maglev line with a spur to Clare Island.

Supermanscat

Well at least you all know what to ask santa for!

pinder

i cant believe this is still beng talked about,where would they put this gluas?am i the only one that sees its impossible.heres why it wont happen 1-streets too narrow,unless it goes around the square and thats it,somehow i dont think so 2-recession 3-it takes about ten minutes to walk from one end of the city to the other,its not a big city by any stretch of the imagination. and 4-the bus service here is grand.how bout spendin the money on the third world water system we have

leninbenjamin

pinder wrote: »

the bus service here is grand

are you for real? have you ever had to rely on a cross town service for work or that?

GLUAS I think is a great idea, if they were to get the implementation right. Living in Dublin right now it's an abso-f*cking-lute mare in terms of transport, facilities and the sheer number of people.

If our government had 2 brain cells about them, they'd realise Dublin's population levels are unsustainable given the existing infrastructure. They need to start providing better alternatives to this, the primary requirement for this being the infrastructure.

Galway's a great candidate for something like a light-rail system. Its population isn't too big to make building it a huge difficulty, yet should be large enough to make proper use of it. And what's more, given our state of development, it would ensure the future of the city isn't tied down to the car (and oil).

/daydreaming...

tbh, i'd be happy if we had more than one bus-lane in the city. Make the center of the city a no car zone (say a 1km radius in all directions, the only cars allowed being resident). widen Bishop O Donnel & western distributor roads, but make the additional lanes for buses only and put daylong parking facilities in one of those unfinished sites at the top of the western distributor. Widen the Barna road, but limit the additional lanes to buses only. wash rinse repeat at strategic locations for the rest of the city. wouldn't cost anything close to a GLUAS, but you'd have a very similar impact for a town of Galway's population.

kraggy

KevR wrote: »

Think I read somewhere a while back they the people behind it were saying they'd need 12,000 people per day using it so it could fund itself. Am I the only one who thinks they wouldn't get 12,000 users per day with the routes they have planned? 73,000 people living in the city. None of the planned routes go outside of the city to tap into populations of surrounding towns. So when you take the people living in Galway city who aren't on any of the lines out of the equation and think of the fact that not everyone located near the tram lines will actually use the trams (at least maybe not on a regular basis). Also take into consideration that there is always a chance of some people who use the trams evading fares (have witnessed this on the Luas in Dublin and the Metrolink in Manchester). Think they will struggle to get near 12,000 paying customers per day with the lines they are proposing.

I would have thought that two lines which go through the city and out to the commuter towns would be better than 3 lines just going through the city.
A West-East line starting from Barna, running East across the city (and through the city centre obviously) and continue on out to Oranmore and Athenry (where there would be an Interchange with Irish Rail services and where you could have a park and ride facility). And a Northern line which runs East from the city centre across to Ballybrit or somewhere (where there could be an interchange with the West-East line) and then swings up North off out to Claregalway and Tuam (again park and ride facilities and an interchange with Irish Rail services in Tuam when the WRC eventually re-opens).


I know, I know - very wishful thinking indeed!

Firstly, you'd be surprised. 12000 users could actually, hypothetically be as little as 6000 people (going to and coming from work). 6000 people isn't that much. The only reason more people don't use public transport in this country is because the services isn't there. As the saying goes, build it and they will come.

Also, the idea of building a tram line out to Athenry would multiply the cost of building the thing by many times. It's quite a distance to go digging up road and laying track.

leninbenjamin

kraggy wrote: »

Also, the idea of building a tram line out to Athenry would multiply the cost of building the thing by many times. It's quite a distance to go digging up road and laying track.

to add to that, why is a tram to Athenry needed when there's a trainline there anyway? lay down an additional track on the land there so more than one train can use the line at a time and then introduce special local carriages only that operate from Galway to Athenry. just have a transfer point in the centre of town and another then build another out near Oranmore (or even better, Galway airport, kill two birds with one stone) with another tram connecting the business parks.

bat boy

I think the idea is totally unsuited to galway city. Its a complete keeping up with the Jones concept. It works in Dublin but it wont here. It'll cost a couple of hundred million, cause traffic chaos during construction and the routes wont even serve a huge proportion of the city.

What should be done is spend a fraction of that money on improving the bus service. More buses, more routes, more bus shelters and put gps tracking in the buses and estimated time readouts at the stops so ya can actually rely on the buses. Also setup some system or incentives for people who are working in the industrial estates to carpool.

Bass Cadet

bat boy wrote: »

What should be done is spend a fraction of that money on improving the bus service. More buses, more routes, more bus shelters and put gps tracking in the buses and estimated time readouts at the stops so ya can actually rely on the buses. Also setup some system or incentives for people who are working in the industrial estates to carpool.

What use are more buses when the roads are choked with traffic anyway? Same delays. The city needs an outer bypass. Only then can an effective city bus service be put in place

Bass Cadet

Fey! wrote: »

I hope you're wrong, too! I think it's a great idea.

I didn't say it was a bad idea

Lockstep

pinder wrote: »

1-streets too narrow,unless it goes around the square and thats it,somehow i dont think so

The main streets are not narrow by any means.

pinder wrote: »

2-recession

Hmm, creation of new jobs, furthering trade and development within the city,commitment to developing an infrastructure.... Yeah, it wouldn't be a help in the recession at all.

pinder wrote: »

3-it takes about ten minutes to walk from one end of the city to the other,its not a big city by any stretch of the imagination.

I'm guessing you live within the city itself.
The proposed Gluas line is going out to Cappagh Road. As someone who lives In Barna and has to cycle 50 minutes into town, I can definetely see the benefits here.

pinder wrote: »

and 4-the bus service here is grand.

I'm curious...how often do you take the bus? I use it reguleraly and it is not grand at all. THe only bus out to Barna is those red privatised buses which only operate properly during peak times and manys the time last year when I'd be waiting for an hour and a half at a freezing cold bus stop.
These days I just take the Bús Eireann buses to Knocknacarra and walk up from there. Not grand by any means.

PopeBuckfastXVI

I think Galway is uniquely suited to a tram/rail system.

The town is split in two by the corrib with only a handful of crossing points. A rail system that provided it's own crossing with none of the delays experienced on any of the road bridges would certainly get my custom.

kickoutthejams

kickoutthejams wrote: »

The main streets are not narrow by any means.

For a tram to have dedicated use of a bridge like Wolfe Tone or the Salmon Weir bridge would involve closing the headford road, merchants road and eglinton street (and bohermore) to car traffic.

On the website the say that they will share the road with cars in someplaces but then how is that different from buslanes on different routes into / around town?

I lived in one of the cities listed as an example and I have to say that there is no comparison. That city had a direct population about 3 to 4 times the size of Galway, it already had nice broad boulevards into and around the city centre and had a much denser population.

For Galway to have the same population + density everyone in Galway county would have to move inside the existing city boundaries.

Bass Cadet

I don't know what people are arguing about...it is possible, it can be done but it wont be done because this is Ireland. A problem has to be a critical/at breaking point before action is done to fix or implement anything

It would be a remarkable piece of forward thinking to get the GLUAS up and running but its not going to happen

PopeBuckfastXVI

No offence intended pg but that's a very 'Irish' way of looking at things.

There's no point in doing something until it's a few years after it's needed?

Did it ever occur to you that Galway's growth is being held back by its terrible infrastructure?

This is not really personally directed at you, but it seems we can't shake this mentality in Ireland. We should be developing world class infrastructure before it's needed, not doing crappy little patch jobs every couple of years to get infrastructure up to the capacity that was needed 2 years ago, cf. the M50 debacle.

PopeBuckfastXVI

PopeBuckfastXVI wrote: »

No offence intended pg

None taken. You'd have very thin skin if you took stuff said on the internet personally.

Going back to Clermont-Ferrand the city I lived in for nine months.
They didn't just decide to go out and spend a few hundred million putting down tramlines because the traffic was bad.

They had quality bus corridors with traffic lights that gave the bus priority.
They had airconditioned bendy busses etc. This meant that the routes were well establised and developed, so when they decided to put trams on the busiest / most important routes it was a matter of upgrading the existing routes.

We have limited funds to invest.

My preference for using this is:
1. Build a well engineered outer bypass, with no roundabouts or traffic lights.
This would take alot of the congestion away at peak times.

2. Widen the main arteries into the city with the extra space being used for QBCs and shelters. This could be done relatively quickly and at low cost.

3. Tram - if there was an outer bypass and existing dedicated routes it would be much easier to justify closing bridges / city centre roads to traffic both for the build period and if we wanted for ever.

Lockstep

Deleted User wrote: »

For a tram to have dedicated use of a bridge like Wolfe Tone or the Salmon Weir bridge would involve closing the headford road, merchants road and eglinton street (and bohermore) to car traffic.

On the website the say that they will share the road with cars in someplaces but then how is that different from buslanes on different routes into / around town?

It would not need "dedicated" use of roads. Trams in other countries share the roads.

Buses are far more difficult to track given the fact they are much bigger cars. THat's about it. People are very willing to park in one way streets and block traffic (As happens in Shantallagh) but would be far less willing to


I'd be more in favor of making the city centre pedestrianised except for special reasons (residency etc) and creating a tramline stopping off at the city boundaries.
THe congestion in the city centre is horrendous.

Deleted User wrote: »

I lived in one of the cities listed as an example and I have to say that there is no comparison. That city had a direct population about 3 to 4 times the size of Galway, it already had nice broad boulevards into and around the city centre and had a much denser population.

For Galway to have the same population + density everyone in Galway county would have to move inside the existing city boundaries.

I've lived in a fair few (Brussels, Strasbourg)
We need the infrastructure to see the place develop. How many hours do we spend caught up in heavy traffic every week? This certainly hurts Galway's economy/environment.
Having a decent public transport service would go a nice way towards developing and growing Galway.

kickoutthejams

kickoutthejams wrote: »

It would not need "dedicated" use of roads. Trams in other countries share the roads.

I agree but as the city is congested as it is with people driving from as far away as Mayo and Clare each day, trams would just get caught in that congestion.

kickoutthejams wrote: »

People are very willing to park in one way streets and block traffic (As happens in Shantallagh) but would be far less willing to

I am not familiar with that. Is it legal to park there?

kickoutthejams wrote: »

I'd be more in favor of making the city centre pedestrianised except for special reasons (residency etc) and creating a tramline stopping off at the city boundaries.

I have no objections to more pedestrianisation but trams stopping at the city centre boundaries would be pretty pointless given the amount of cross town traffic between the housing estates on the west and the industrial ones in the east.

pinder

kickoutthejams,i take your point about jobs.disagree with you about the roads,and i live in westside.it takes me 10 to 15 minutes to walk through town to the top of prospect hill.in that regard we dont need one.no i dont actually use buses much because i can walk everywhere,galway is too small for something like this.in relation to the recession,the proposed cost is 200million,as we all know if it was done it would probably go well over that.are you telling me that a government that wont spend 10million on a cervical cancer treatment for 12year old girls will spend upwards off 200million on something we dont really need?i go back to my earlier point on sorting out the water system,something we actually need.maybe the bus system is bad,how about spending a fraction of the money to make it top class?how about spending the money to save the cancer services in the northwest.there are a massive amount of things that should take priority over this

PopeBuckfastXVI

Well Pinder would you be against a private company doing it, with permission from the council?

I would be very much in favour of that, rather than another cushy semi state beurocratic mess.

leninbenjamin

Deleted User wrote: »

I am not familiar with that. Is it legal to park there?

no. and it happens every day. it's quite often the Knocknacarra buses get delayed around there. especially at the school, people just park in the middle of the road there and get out to collect their kids and have a leisurely chat with the other mammies and daddies.

It's also ridiculous that despite the rapid huge amount of growth in Knocknacarra over the last decade we still rely on the one bus route that practically goes everywhere on the westside and seems to serve Knocknacarra as an afterthought.

more roads won't solve the problem either. Yes, a bypass would be f*cking fantastic But this country has shown time and time again that simply adding to the road network does nothing to relieve traffic over time. I personally cannot understand why someone wouldn't be in favour of restricting the likes of Eglington street and a maybe one of the bridges to buses only if it would result in a better service and more people availing of it. Why reduce the amount of time sitting in traffic instead of having a public transport system that's constantly moving?

Not only that, it would be great for the cities image to pedestrianise more of the place and build up the infrastructure. We are a city that relies heavily on tourism afterall. And cities with good public transport systems are cleaner and much more pleasant places

Chris_533976

I havent heard anything about GLUAS recently and I hope I never hear any more about it. Its a useless, wasteful pile of ill thought out nonsense.

leninbenjamin

pinder wrote: »

and i live in westside.it takes me 10 to 15 minutes to walk through town to the top of prospect hill.in that regard we dont need one.no i dont actually use buses much because i can walk everywhere,galway is too small for something like this.

get real. fair enough you live in Westside. over 10,000 people live in Kocknacarra. that's the guts of a 45 minute walk to the centre of town for most people. Are you suggesting Galway is actually small enough for people to walk everywhere?

seeing as you live in Westside and obviously have never experienced the problems most people in Galway face on a daily basis, what makes you think you're in a position to comment on what is or isn't needed here?

biko

They should rename it GSPEED

happyoutscan

I think it's a great idea but wouldn't trust any of the blundering idiots in charge to ensure it was properly designed and constructed etc.

Lockstep

Deleted User wrote: »

I agree but as the city is congested as it is with people driving from as far away as Mayo and Clare each day, trams would just get caught in that congestion.

Hence the need for pedestrianisation of the city centre. Also, traffic would be cut down from people within Galway itself.

Deleted User wrote: »

I am not familiar with that. Is it legal to park there?

Not in some of the narrow streets which parents seem to live parking their arses on,

Deleted User wrote: »

I have no objections to more pedestrianisation but trams stopping at the city centre boundaries would be pretty pointless given the amount of cross town traffic between the housing estates on the west and the industrial ones in the east.

I don;'t get it.
Why would it be pointless?

pinder wrote: »

kickoutthejams,i take your point about jobs.disagree with you about the roads,and i live in westside.it takes me 10 to 15 minutes to walk through town to the top of prospect hill.in that regard we dont need one.

That's very nice for you.
Sadly, not everyone lives that close.

pinder wrote: »

no i dont actually use buses much because i can walk everywhere,galway is too small for something like this.

It is for those living in town.
Again, not everyone does.

pinder wrote: »

in relation to the recession,the proposed cost is 200million,as we all know if it was done it would probably go well over that.

The government needs to spend money to increase infrastructure (leading to trade and son on)
As I previously pointed out, this increases trade, growth, more jobs in the construction and running of Luas etc.

pinder wrote: »

are you telling me that a government that wont spend 10million on a cervical cancer treatment for 12year old girls will spend upwards off 200million on something we dont really need?

SInce when has this government ever done what seemed logical?

pinder wrote: »

i go back to my earlier point on sorting out the water system,something we actually need.maybe the bus system is bad,how about spending a fraction of the money to make it top class?how about spending the money to save the cancer services in the northwest.there are a massive amount of things that should take priority over this

You seem to be under the assumptuon that the government lacks the resources for all this.

leninbenjamin

kickoutthejams wrote: »

I don;'t get it.
Why would it be pointless?

because a huge amount of the traffic comes from people going cross town. currently it's catering for this crosstown traffic that is what represents the weakest* aspect of our public transport system in Galway. so to have the service stop at the boundaries makes no sense imo.






*by weakest i mean virtually non existent.

pinder

saying when has the government thought logicaly isnt the brightest comment.the fact is the backlash from the rest of the country if this was to go ahead would be massive.if a company was to come in and do it that would solve that problem,your right.when you moved wherever you did ,did you put all your hope for getting into town on the gluas?stupid question,but you knew how far it was from town when you moved there,so that point is gone.with the imminent bank bailouts and budget cutbacks we cant be throughing money into something we dont really need,thats exactly what im saying.the fact is we dont need one,we wont be able to get the money for one,we dont have the population for one.if we were to even put 50million into developing the bus system.how can you talk about improving infrastructure when we need to improve even the basics of our infrastructure,a lot of people would like some money spent on the claregalway and tuam fiasco.there is a long list of things more worthy than something that will make getting into town easier for a few thousand people

leninbenjamin

pinder wrote: »

but you knew how far it was from town when you moved there,

seriously man, you haven't a clue. When we moved here it took about 5 to 10 minutes to get into town and get parked. now it takes the guts of half an hour, off peak, to do that. please stop commenting on that which you know nothing about.

it's not just about making life easier either. You do realise that the shambolic infrastructure is one of biggest impediments to industry in this country? improve the infrastructure, make Galway a more attractive and more importantly productive place to work. relieve pressure on the other over developed urban centres in this country, attract investment and thus more income for all and sundry, to spend on your stupid and pointless things like keeping the cancer care services (if they can even be called that) in the northwest.

it's called seeing the bigger picture. Education and infrastructure are the two most important things we need to be spending on right now in this country. only then should piss our money away down the black-holes like our health system**, if that's how your so inclined.

**just for the record and to clear up any potential confusion/hostility, the health system is the biggest drain on our countries resources. if we compare spending to returns we have probably the worst health care system in Europe. there's no point pissing more money down the drain keeping open facilities that barely have the expertise and equipment to make effective diagnosis, that's not going to solve anybodies problems in the long run.

My main objection to this is that the money could go a lot further if used on dedicated quality bus corridors, new busses, shelters, realtime schedules, electronic ticketing, cameras on the busses both to protect the drivers, passengers and to catch people driving in the bus lanes.

@ leninbenjamin - the Gluas only proposes one route to Knocknacarragh

If people don't obey the parking laws now why would they do it on streets they share with a tram. I saw a car parked with about a foot going into a dedicated way blocking traffic. The driver sounded his bell a couple of times, noone showed up so he pushed it out of the way with the tram.

I would really like a tram in this city and think it would be possible to upgrade to one in the future but at the moment I think there are better ways of spending the money.

Lockstep

pinder wrote: »

when you moved wherever you did ,did you put all your hope for getting into town on the gluas?stupid question,but you knew how far it was from town when you moved there,so that point is gone

That is a terrible argument.
Because I moved out where I did, I can't use the point that better public transport is needed to get from there into town?

I really wished I lived in a world as simple as yours.
You don't seem to understand the myriad of things that feed into where people live.

When I first moved to this country I was sick and saw how crappy the healthcare system is. Does that mean I can't complain about the Irish healthcare system?

pinder wrote: »

saying when has the government thought logicaly isnt the brightest comment.

Oh sweet irony...

pinder wrote: »

the fact is the backlash from the rest of the country if this was to go ahead would be massive.if a company was to come in and do it that would solve that problem,your right.

Yes, God forbid that extra money is put into developing the West.
I was at a conference a few weeks ago where most of the crowd from Dublin were late. When they eventually turned up they sheepishly admitted they didn't realise how terrible the transport was out in ths sticks.

pinder wrote: »

with the imminent bank bailouts and budget cutbacks we cant be throughing money into something we dont really need,thats exactly what im saying.the fact is we dont need one,we wont be able to get the money for one,we dont have the population for one.

YOu do realise that getting out of a recession doesn't involve frantically saving money in any way possible? How many times has that been tried only to end in disaster.
It's far more about investing in the right areas (such as developing infrastructures)

pinder wrote: »

if we were to even put 50million into developing the bus system.how can you talk about improving infrastructure when we need to improve even the basics of our infrastructure,a lot of people would like some money spent on the claregalway and tuam fiasco.

Creating a public mass transit system, helping the environment and reducing the terrible traffic congestion is something that doesnt need improving?

pinder wrote: »

there is a long list of things more worthy than something that will make getting into town easier for a few thousand people

It's very nice for you living in Westside. maybe take the time to consider what it might be like for people living further out.

kraggy

Deleted User wrote: »

My main objection to this is that the money could go a lot further if used on dedicated quality bus corridors, new busses, shelters, realtime schedules, electronic ticketing, cameras on the busses both to protect the drivers, passengers and to catch people driving in the bus lanes.

@ leninbenjamin - the Gluas only proposes one route to Knocknacarragh

If people don't obey the parking laws now why would they do it on streets they share with a tram. I saw a car parked with about a foot going into a dedicated way blocking traffic. The driver sounded his bell a couple of times, noone showed up so he pushed it out of the way with the tram.

I would really like a tram in this city and think it would be possible to upgrade to one in the future but at the moment I think there are better ways of spending the money.

Two major obstacles and shortcomings to and of having dedicated bus lanes in Galway are:

a. The narrow streets make it almost pointless

b. The size of the buses they're using at the moment. They just hold up traffic for those who have no choice but to use their cars because they're not living on bus routes in the first place.

kraggy

kraggy wrote: »

a. The narrow streets make it almost pointless

I agree but was thinking more of in the suburbs and main arteries into and around the city rather than along bohermore or dominic street

Mrs OBumble

Deleted User wrote: »

My main objection to this is that the money could go a lot further if used on dedicated quality bus corridors, new busses, shelters, realtime schedules, electronic ticketing, cameras on the busses both to protect the drivers, passengers and to catch people driving in the bus lanes.

I would really like a tram in this city and think it would be possible to upgrade to one in the future but at the moment I think there are better ways of spending the money.

Sady, I think you're right: I'd love an effective tram system, but given the geography (sprawled in various directions, low population density in each one), I don't think there will be enough passengers to justify a service that runs frequently enough to really get people out of their cars.

However some relatively low-cost spending on the bus network (just how much can a bus-shelter cost???) would make a difference. However I'm convinced that service-frequency is the key: it doesn't matter so much if a bus is missing if the next one is only 10-15 minutes behind it, but 30 minutes later is a long time.

Today's Galway Worst ... sorry First ... says that following a review of the Salthill/Knocknacarra service, a revised service is planned with 10-15 minute frequency. About time. Fingers crossed they get it right, like they did with route 9.

(I'm thinking that the local Bus Eireann guys know full well what is needed, but have to go through a political process to get funding to buy more buses - just a guess, but it seems that the network is run very tightly: at times they have to borrow long-distance buses for the city routes)

Someone earlier on mentioned pedestrian-ising the city centre. I'm not sure this would be practical:

• all cross river traffic would have to go over the Qunicentennial bridge ('cos the other bridges are all in the centre)
• a lot of people live in the centre (policy is that all new buildings here must be mixed use and include accommodation). We need to get our groceries home, rubbish collected, elderly relatives dropped off at the front door etc. I live very happily without a car, but even so I hire one (or a taxi) every few weeks for this and that. I'm also a lot younger and fitter than some of the elderly folks who are in some of the houses/flats here.
• they encourage anti-social behaviour: the thought that a car might come along the road and see what's happening seems to discourage a certain class of thug, while a pedestrian-only street seems to encourage the street-drinkers to hang out.

It's not low-cost, but I do think that moving a couple of secondary schools from the west to the east side would make a big difference too.

pinder

kick out the jams,you dont seem to be listening to me,all my points are valid.your saying developing infrastructure is what should be done in a recession,thats fair enough.but if you dont have the population and if we have better things to spend it on it is not the answer.you cannot say develop the west and thats it.companies and/or the government will not spend upwards of 200million if we dont have the population.i mean,i really dont know how to make it any simpler for you so here it goes:if cost of building +cost of running>money from passengers =no gluas.do you understand now??