Cork City Bus Service Cuts

MLM

This has already been posted in the Cork forum, but I think it would be also worthwhile starting a thread on the subject here.

http://www.examiner.ie/ireland/bus-stopped-in-save-our-route-protest-94266.html

Chris_533976

TBH theres so few buses in Cork as it is, noone would really notice if a few disappeared.

Colm R

This is very disappointing. I would imagine if some people in BE got their way, all we'd have is a No. 8.

taram

The two northside routes are among several city and county routes being cut or curtailed as part of the cost-cutting measures Bus Éireann says are essential. The company has also outlined proposals to cut all services after 7pm on the: No 3 Ballyphehane to Farranree route; No 6 Grange to South Mall route; No 10 Mahon Point to Glasheen route; No 14 St Patrick’s Street to CUH route; and No 16 South Mall to Mount Oval route. There are also plans to curtail or reduce the frequency of services after 7pm on the: No 2 Knocknaheeny to Mahon route; No 5 Merchant’s Quay to Mallow Road route; No 7 Donnybrook to Ballyvolane route; and No 8 Mayfield to Bishopstown route.

Read more: http://www.examiner.ie/ireland/bus-stopped-in-save-our-route-protest-94266.html#ixzz0IojaLyUO&C

:O Seriously, after 7pm? Shops in town after clean up and such are often not finished until around 7, most Mahon Point closes at 7, so all these people would be stranded? 7 is miles too early!! I really hope this doesn't go through.

invincibleirish

Crazy but not surprising,why do BE even bother anymore in Cork i wonder? to not to be able to get a bus from Ballyphehane, Togher, Grange etc. into or out of the city after 7pm is madness.

jank

Crazy situation there. Sure why not go the whole hog and stop all buses!
Only in Ireland would this happen!

Colm R

I'm originally from a small village outside Cork. The village itself has grown and has a sizeable population now. Its got three buses a day and as far as I know, mainly carries pensioners. Which is great for them.

But its got zero flexibilty. Most people cannot use it because, if you get held up, work late, then you can't get home. There is no sense of, 'if you build it, they will come'.

For the city routes themselves, this is awful stuff. And Dan Boyle wants to build a tram. Cork has the potential for a great bus service and a car free city center. All it takes is a bit of thinking.

bk

The Cork City Bus service needs to be ripped out of the hands of BE and a Cork bus company created like Dublin Bus, with Cork City and County Councils part owners of it.

I've been saying for years that Corks bus service is dreadful, with infrequent, overcrowded buses and now they want to make it worse.

Cork actually has a pretty good road network and therefore a really good bus service could be run there. But instead it is left to the incompetents at BE.

This is just going to drive even more people into cars.

The No 3 bus service for example is a very busy bus route that serves a long chunk of the North side of the city and they are looking to remove services after 7pm, madness. How are the many people who work in shops supposed to get home? The taxi drivers will be delighted :mad:

I also notice that most of the routes being impacted are North side routes. There has always been the feeling in Cork, that certain south side areas of the city, get excellent frequent bus service, while equally populated North side of the city areas get a vastly inferior service.

munchkin_utd

why are people blaming Bus Eireann?

The problem is the way that transport is regulated/ organised rather than the bus company.
Bus Eireann (from what I understand) cannot cross subsidise routes as this would be detremental to private operators. So every route must pay its way.

So if the route is loss making then it has to be cut.

Like a lot of things in Ireland, it really boils down to politicians not doing their job, and people are still voting them blindly in election after election.

The transport/ planning/ infrastructure of Ireland could be so much better if the politicians had "making Ireland a better place" on their agenda.
Unfortunately, the cynical part of me, has to draw the conclusion that no votes are won by promising more parks/ playgrounds/ properly planned towns with schools and amenities. Politicians promise the world (and tax cuts and public service pay rises) before every election and longer term thinking has NO place in Irish politics and NO place in influencing how people vote.

The politicans need to grab the transport problem by the neck and throttle it into shape.

For example: Every city should have its own mini transport authority that decides locally what busses run. All fares go into a central kitty and you can cross subsidse as much as you want. This would reduce bus eireann to little more than a Large bus services contractor but whats wrong with that?

And apologies if it seems like I am on a tangent here.
But does anyone here think that Bus Eireann would have busses as shabby as they do if they had an overseeing authority in Cork that could pull their contract (as opposed to concession at the moment) for not being up to scratch?
And nor could they pull routes at all. If you went to a local transport authority commissioning routes then the anonymous heads in a bus company whether private or semi state, cant leave the people of an area in the lurch.

invincibleirish

bk wrote: »

I also notice that most of the routes being impacted are North side routes. There has always been the feeling in Cork, that certain south side areas of the city, get excellent frequent bus service, while equally populated North side of the city areas get a vastly inferior service.

I agree with the rest of your post but this last paragraph is only trying to inject a silly northside-southside debate into this topic, are you Mick Barry?. First acknowledge that most of the cities population is on the southside, then realise that the cuts in the 6/14/5/10/16 routes are all south of the river.

These cuts cripple the cities public transport options north or south, now i await with baited breath to see what happens to BEs commuter routes and IRs current & future services to Mallow/Cobh & Midleton.