I hate Bus Éireann

OneArt

The distance from where I live to our local town is roughly the distance from Whitehall to Dublin city centre. In Dublin, a single bus fare is 1.60. Where I live, a single fare has now been hiked to FOUR FRICKEN EURO. A return is eight euro, and a bus to Dublin from my area is twelve return. It's easier for me to get to Dublin which is 50 km away than it is to my local town down the road. And in the long run, cheaper. Plus Bus Eireann stops at 7pm. The bus to Dublin goes until midnight.

How in the name of God are they able to get away with this? And on top of all that, the government is trying to encourage the use of public transport?

Give us proper transport first!!

ball

Get a bike

OneArt

ball wrote: »

Get a bike

I use that sometimes. Only trouble is the roads are in no way bike-friendly.

Don't tell me to get a car I might as well sell a kidney.

PCPhoto

not trying to rub it in .... but heard on the news today that Bus Eireann voted for strike action - to happen in the next couple of weeks sometime.

PCPhoto

if I was to be cheeky I would suggest you buy a scooter. (cheaper than a car but can get you to and from work in a reasonable amount of time at a cheap price) ...plenty of secondhand scooters out there.

Max Power1

lol ranting and raving forum is >>>>>>>that way

carlmango11

mikemac wrote: »

Where do you live?
You have a bus service until midnight?

Hey, try living in rural Munster and there is one bus a week
And that's because they shut down the post office.
Yep, one bus every Tuesday, leaves the village at 10am and returns at 3:00pm.
Free for the pensioners, 4 euro for everyone else.

Lol, you have Bus Eireann until 7pm, quit your moaning

I see your point but people shouldnt settle for poor standards just because there are poorer elsewhere.

JayeL

BE in the Dublin area are rip-off merchants too: 10 journey (5 return journeys) Ashbourne to Dublin - a 20km journey - is 31.50.

5 days of unlimited Dublin Bus travel - extending 33km north to Balbriggan, 30km west to Kilcock and 40km+ south into Co. Wicklow - costs a tenner LESS!

I hate BE too!

Colm R

JayeL wrote: »

BE in the Dublin area are rip-off merchants too: 10 journey (5 return journeys) Ashbourne to Dublin - a 20km journey - is 31.50.

5 days of unlimited Dublin Bus travel - extending 33km north to Balbriggan, 30km west to Kilcock and 40km+ south into Co. Wicklow - costs a tenner LESS!

I hate BE too!

This really gets up my skin. I use this bus and have to use an onward journey on the Dart once I get into town. So unlike people from other towns have the same or greater distance from O'Connell bridge, I cannot one ticket.

BE do not even operate in the tax saver scheme on taxsaver.ie. They operate their own scheme which is not integrated with their sister companies.

KC61

Colm R wrote: »

This really gets up my skin. I use this bus and have to use an onward journey on the Dart once I get into town. So unlike people from other towns have the same or greater distance from O'Connell bridge, I cannot one ticket.

BE do not even operate in the tax saver scheme on taxsaver.ie. They operate their own scheme which is not integrated with their sister companies.

While the general comment regarding fares is true, the comment regarding integrated ticketing is not quite true.

The Medium Hop, Long Hop and Giant Hop weekly tickets offer unlimited travel on Bus Eireann, Dublin Bus and Iarnrod Eireann within the relevant zones.

http://www.buseireann.ie/bubble.php?id=94 shows the map

Fares are:
Medium Hop EUR 52.50
Long Hop EUR 73.00
Giant Hop EUR 80.00

There are also two annual tickets that offer integrated travel and which can be bought under the taxsaver scheme:

Bus Eireann and Iarnrod Eireann EUR 3,800
CIE All services (BE, DB and IE) EUR 4,500

Colm R

KC61 wrote: »

While the general comment regarding fares is true, the comment regarding integrated ticketing is not quite true.

The Medium Hop, Long Hop and Giant Hop weekly tickets offer unlimited travel on Bus Eireann, Dublin Bus and Iarnrod Eireann within the relevant zones.

http://www.buseireann.ie/bubble.php?id=94 shows the map

Fares are:
Medium Hop EUR 52.50
Long Hop EUR 73.00
Giant Hop EUR 80.00

There are also two annual tickets that offer integrated travel and which can be bought under the taxsaver scheme:

Bus Eireann and Iarnrod Eireann EUR 3,800
CIE All services (BE, DB and IE) EUR 4,500

I must be having a bad day. I did not know about this.

Its the weekly ticket I would like to buy, as I am not working all the time in Dublin so the tax saver ticket just wouldn't be justified.

But how do I get it. That page is just a map. In fact, when I go back to the BE Homepage, I cannot find a link to get to it, other than searching.

Then Ashbourne is not listed, so its difficult to figure out if its shorrt or medium hop.

Where did you find the above prices?

When I google it, I can see from Dublin Bus, that the medium hop ticket is priced coincidently at 52.50, but does not say it covers Bus Eireann.

And anyway, my full weeks journeys cost slightly less than the 52.50 at the moment. So only if Ashbourne falls into the short hop zone, will I consider it worthwhile.

But the questions remains, how do I get it?

munchkin_utd

But the questions remains, how do I get it?

its the same as any other reasonable travel question.

Despite 100s of millions of euros of subsidies and investments in public transport, the only place you will reliably find the information is on boards.ie!!

just try and get information of the ACTUAL route of where busses go in Dublin.
Online it doesnt exist but at least boards.ie members will come to your aide.

KC61

Colm R wrote: »

I must be having a bad day. I did not know about this.

Its the weekly ticket I would like to buy, as I am not working all the time in Dublin so the tax saver ticket just wouldn't be justified.

But how do I get it. That page is just a map. In fact, when I go back to the BE Homepage, I cannot find a link to get to it, other than searching.

Then Ashbourne is not listed, so its difficult to figure out if its shorrt or medium hop.

Where did you find the above prices?

When I google it, I can see from Dublin Bus, that the medium hop ticket is priced coincidently at 52.50, but does not say it covers Bus Eireann.

And anyway, my full weeks journeys cost slightly less than the 52.50 at the moment. So only if Ashbourne falls into the short hop zone, will I consider it worthwhile.

But the questions remains, how do I get it?

The weekly Medium Hop, Long Hop and Giant Hop tickets can be bought from the Dublin Bus head office at 59 Upper O'Connell Street, any Irish Rail station, or from Bus Eireann in Busaras. They are valid Sunday to Saturday. And yes you can buy them in advance (usually up to two weeks I think).

The Medium Hop goes as far as Balrath Cross on the N2 which is where the road to Navan/Duleek diverges from the N2, so that ticket is appropriate for Ashbourne.

The Short Hop tickets do not cover Bus Eireann services.

KC61

munchkin_utd wrote: »

its the same as any other reasonable travel question.

Despite 100s of millions of euros of subsidies and investments in public transport, the only place you will reliably find the information is on boards.ie!!

just try and get information of the ACTUAL route of where busses go in Dublin.
Online it doesnt exist but at least boards.ie members will come to your aide.

It is a real shortcoming - I know about these things as I've had a long interest in public transport...

Maybe I should set up a pay per answer website!!!

lucernarian

The OP has my fullest sympathy, over having to deal with BÉ like that. I'm in a similar situation. Cycling is okay but obviously doesn't suit every situation, and I don't like cycling 4 miles to a meeting with family, friends and whatnot when I end up sweating profusely just to get there, or getting soaked from rain instead.

Munchkin-utd, I think he asked that question in the expectation that a boards member was going to answer that! I think you're telling him what he already knows:D.

And doesn't the taxsaver thing only make a difference if you actually earn enough to pay tax in the first place??

fh041205

munchkin_utd wrote: »

its the same as any other reasonable travel question.

Despite 100s of millions of euros of subsidies and investments in public transport, the only place you will reliably find the information is on boards.ie!!

just try and get information of the ACTUAL route of where busses go in Dublin.
Online it doesnt exist but at least boards.ie members will come to your aide.

Why have people become allergic to all things non-internet? Either pick up a phone or go and drop into them. Whether its Dublin Bus or Bus Eireann or Irish Rail you'll find that they tend to know more than most of the people on here.

antoinolachtnai

There is no single source for public transport information, or even anything close. This is a big shortcoming.

Colm R

fh041205 wrote: »

Why have people become allergic to all things non-internet? Either pick up a phone or go and drop into them. Whether its Dublin Bus or Bus Eireann or Irish Rail you'll find that they tend to know more than most of the people on here.

I've just tried to phone them twice today. No answer!!!

fh041205

Colm R wrote: »

I've just tried to phone them twice today. No answer!!!

Who? BE?

My experience with them is limited, but certainly when it comes to IR you get all the answers you cud ever want by ringing or asking. I somewhat foolishly assumed the same of BE.

fh041205

antoinolachtnai wrote: »

There is no single source for public transport information, or even anything close. This is a big shortcoming.

Thats true. But theres not much point complaining about the lack of information online when there are other ways of getting it. To say that its impossible to find information would be unfair.

markpb

fh041205 wrote: »

Why have people become allergic to all things non-internet? Either pick up a phone or go and drop into them. Whether its Dublin Bus or Bus Eireann or Irish Rail you'll find that they tend to know more than most of the people on here.

Because it's 2009?

Edit: I just realised that was extremely flippant. What I should have said was that it's 2009 and totally unacceptable for the Dublin Bus website to lack a journey planner, for the Irish Rail website to make hard to find fares and impossible to find fares to suburban routes, for the ticket information being disparate and badly explained and for the three companies to even have separate websites in the first place!

If you want to get route information in Dublin, the information desk may be able to help you if you can ring during their extremely limited opening hours. If you ring the depot, you have to a) already know which depot to ring which means already knowing the bus and b) only want information about buses operating out of their depot. That's assuming they even answer the phone which they don't always.

fh041205

markpb wrote: »

Because it's 2009?

Edit: I just realised that was extremely flippant. What I should have said was that it's 2009 and totally unacceptable for the Dublin Bus website to lack a journey planner, for the Irish Rail website to make hard to find fares and impossible to find fares to suburban routes, for the ticket information being disparate and badly explained and for the three companies to even have separate websites in the first place!

I agree with that. I think the translink site for Northern Ireland is something that we could do with down here.

MOH

fh041205 wrote: »

Who? BE?

My experience with them is limited, but certainly when it comes to IR you get all the answers you cud ever want by ringing or asking. I somewhat foolishly assumed the same of BE.

You generally tend to get an answer from IR. That answer may not always be correct.

Carawaystick

KC61 wrote: »

The weekly Medium Hop, Long Hop and Giant Hop tickets can be bought from the Dublin Bus head office at 59 Upper O'Connell Street, any Irish Rail station, or from Bus Eireann in Busaras. They are valid Sunday to Saturday. And yes you can buy them in advance (usually up to two weeks I think).

but they involve you travelling to Dublin 1 or a train station to buy a ticket for a bus......

I agree with Markpb's flippant comment, If the transport company has information, it can be digitised* and placed online. it's Like DB's website telling you to ring up a phone line that's only open certain hours to find out how much outer suburban fares are. why not publish the information the person on the phone has online and make that person redundant not bus drivers whose service can't be replaced by a website....


*I'm assuming the information was only typed or handwritten in the first place, no need for these modren computer thingyamijigs, sher 'twill never catch on...

KC61

Carawaystick wrote: »

but they involve you travelling to Dublin 1 or a train station to buy a ticket for a bus......

I agree with Markpb's flippant comment, If the transport company has information, it can be digitised* and placed online. it's Like DB's website telling you to ring up a phone line that's only open certain hours to find out how much outer suburban fares are. why not publish the information the person on the phone has online and make that person redundant not bus drivers whose service can't be replaced by a website....


*I'm assuming the information was only typed or handwritten in the first place, no need for these modren computer thingyamijigs, sher 'twill never catch on...

Well the individual who asked was using DART on a daily basis, so visiting a rail station wouldn't be that difficult.

Colm R

KC61 wrote: »

Well the individual who asked was using DART on a daily basis, so visiting a rail station wouldn't be that difficult.

Thats a fair point. However I am not going to buy this ticket as it is still slightly cheaper for me to buy seperate tickets. The only way this would pay for me would be if I regurarly use the bus at weekend, which I don;t.

However my problem with this is the BE website, and the other CIE websites are very poor. When I moved to this job, I did enquire from BE over the phone what my options are. Nobody mentioned the Hop Ticket, and I was advised that the 10 Journey ticket is the best option.

Thanks to a poster here, I was able to see information regarding the hop ticket on the website, but essentially its just a map, with no pricing information. The corresponding information on the Dublin Bus website explicitly states Dublin Bus and Irish Rail. This implies that Bus Eireann is not included.

So going back to the original OP - I do agree - I hate BE. There is explicit price gouging and unfairness in their system.

KC61

Colm R wrote: »

Thats a fair point. However I am not going to buy this ticket as it is still slightly cheaper for me to buy seperate tickets. The only way this would pay for me would be if I regurarly use the bus at weekend, which I don;t.

However my problem with this is the BE website, and the other CIE websites are very poor. When I moved to this job, I did enquire from BE over the phone what my options are. Nobody mentioned the Hop Ticket, and I was advised that the 10 Journey ticket is the best option.

Thanks to a poster here, I was able to see information regarding the hop ticket on the website, but essentially its just a map, with no pricing information. The corresponding information on the Dublin Bus website explicitly states Dublin Bus and Irish Rail. This implies that Bus Eireann is not included.

So going back to the original OP - I do agree - I hate BE. There is explicit price gouging and unfairness in their system.

All fair points - this is something that CIE have been singularly poor at - and it badly needs addressing.

Carawaystick

KC61 wrote: »

Well the individual who asked was using DART on a daily basis, so visiting a rail station wouldn't be that difficult.

you are assuming the station is staffed/open when the OP was getting a dart....

Run_to_da_hills

Whats the story the rail service is down, dose IR /Dart have to "wet lease" several charter busses from Bus Eireann/DB?

I can imagine all being separate companies would have independent accounts etc and would have to put everything through the books.

So the OP's "little inconvenience" would be rather an expensive inconvenience to the main carrier which is in turn the taxpayer.

KC61

Carawaystick wrote: »

you are assuming the station is staffed/open when the OP was getting a dart....

Well given one leg was on a Bus Eireann service, it would be a fair bet that he's using one of Pearse, Tara Street or Connolly which are all staffed!!

Colm R

KC61 wrote: »

Well given one leg was on a Bus Eireann service, it would be a fair bet that he's using one of Pearse, Tara Street or Connolly which are all staffed!!

Yeah I am. God I hope nobody wants to stalk me. Ye guys are getting a real insight into my life. I'd tell ye how much I need to pay for my Dart ticket, but then ye would know where I work.