Wanted: Commuting advice!

OctavarIan

Right, so I'm faced with two godawful commutes and I'd like a bit of help with choosing the best one for those 9am lectures.*

Option 1: Bus into town, then bus from O'Connell up to DCU.

Option 2: Cycle 15 mins to train station, get train to Drumcondra, get bus to DCU.

I've been told that option one takes around an hour twenty minutes and that option two takes around an hour.

I'm thinking of going with option one, I'm just wondering if anyone else commutes through the city center like this and if it ever proves to be a bottleneck? I can't imagine the traffic will be perfect every morning... What's the average time from O'Connell to DCU?

And also importantly, cheap coffee in DCU, does it exist? :pac:

*I can't just 'not go' to them, for reasons I'm not getting into.

andrew163

Where exactly are you starting from?

Train to Drumcondra and bus isn't a bad commute. Not sure what the bike ride would add on to it though.

Bus into town and out again is always a bit crap

DCU has lots of coffee, of the cheap, moderate and expensive variety

slasher_65

I'm also gonna throw in a request for advice. How do you think somebody from Monkstown/Dun Laoghaire should get in? I hear there is some sort of feeder bus from a dart station? That would be wonderful...

markpb

slasher_65 wrote: »

I'm also gonna throw in a request for advice. How do you think somebody from Monkstown/Dun Laoghaire should get in? I hear there is some sort of feeder bus from a dart station? That would be wonderful...

You could get the Dart to Tara or Connolly and change onto a 3, 4, 11, 11a, 13a or 19a or get the Dart to Howth Junction DART station and get a 17A from there to the junction of Ballymun road & Glasnevin Avenue. It's a 2 minute walk from there to either entrance. The bus currently runs every 10-15 minutes at peak times and is supposed to get better soon. It will take about 20-25 minutes to do that trip.

OctavarIan wrote: »

Right, so I'm faced with two godawful commutes and I'd like a bit of help with choosing the best one for those 9am lectures.

I used to get the train to Drumcondra and get a bus from there. It's do-able but irritating. Some days you'll only wait 30 seconds for a bus, other days it'll be 10-15 minutes. Depending on where you're coming from, the 17a extension (due in a few weeks) might be of use. Currently it runs from Finglas to DCU but it's due to be extended west to Blanchardstown SC. Have a look here to see the proposed extension.

slasher_65

markpb wrote: »

You could get the Dart to Tara or Connolly and change onto a 3, 4, 11, 11a, 13a or 19a or get the Dart to Howth Junction DART station and get a 17A from there to the junction of Ballymun road & Glasnevin Avenue. It's a 2 minute walk from there to either entrance. The bus currently runs every 10-15 minutes at peak times and is supposed to get better soon. It will take about 20-25 minutes to do that trip.

Wow. OK then, that seems like it could be expensive. I'm off to investigate how much an unlimited monthly ticket would be.

Shiny

slasher_65 wrote: »

Wow. OK then, that seems like it could be expensive. I'm off to investigate how much an unlimited monthly ticket would be.

Perhaps get the 4 from Blackrock, just up the road kinda.

slasher_65

Shiny wrote: »

Perhaps get the 4 from Blackrock, just up the road kinda.

I hear that's extending out to Dun Laoghaire? My issue with that bus is that it takes for EVER to get to DCU.

OctavarIan

andrew163 wrote: »

Where exactly are you starting from?

Train to Drumcondra and bus isn't a bad commute. Not sure what the bike ride would add on to it though.

Bus into town and out again is always a bit crap

DCU has lots of coffee, of the cheap, moderate and expensive variety

Starting from Celbridge.

The bike ride would add 15-20 mins, probably less than 15 on a good day. I don't cycle often at that hour of the morning :pac:

Do you mean the bus in and out of town from DCU? Traffic bad? I commuted the last two years as far as Chapelizod which was grand, I'm just not sure how long it'd take to get through town. Gonna do a test run tomorrow and see, since I'm not in until Wednesday.

TheChrisD

OctavarIan wrote: »

Option 1: Bus into town, then bus from O'Connell up to DCU.

Option 2: Cycle 15 mins to train station, get train to Drumcondra, get bus to DCU.

OctavarIan wrote: »

Starting from Celbridge.

Presuming that you'd be getting the train from either Maynooth or either Leixlip station - just get the train.

I used to commute from Dunboyne to DCU via town and it was quite a pain, firstly with the bus schedule not being great, and then also the long journey and possible massive waiting in town.

Now that the train line has opened up here, I get that instead to town and for a few meetings I've had in DCU, and it made me realise that the bus was utter ****e.

carrie19

slasher_65 wrote: »

I hear that's extending out to Dun Laoghaire? My issue with that bus is that it takes for EVER to get to DCU.

I've gotten the 4a bus which leaves stradbrook ( near that Rockford secondary school).
takes bout 50mins and stops outside DCU..not bad

XxMCRxBabyxX

TheChrisD wrote: »

Presuming that you'd be getting the train from either Maynooth or either Leixlip station - just get the train.

I f you are coming from here I'd recommend the train for sure. I'm studying in maynooth but visit my boyfriend in DCU often and I've discovered that the train to drumcondra is way easier for me. I then walk to DCU but I know there are plenty of buses you can get.

Or try bring the bike and cycle from drumcondra to DCU?

Attol

slasher_65 wrote: »

I hear that's extending out to Dun Laoghaire? My issue with that bus is that it takes for EVER to get to DCU.

It extended out to near Bluepool afaik. The 4 and 4a became the one bus. I get it every day. As long as you try to avoid rush hour it takes less than an hour. At rush hour it can take a while though. Just bring some reading and you'll be grand.

4 Timetable

Sod'o swords

I know it might seem daunting, but It takes a bus for me around 45 minutes to and hour, at times more, to get to DCU. Where as cycling takes 25-30 minutes, always.

There's no waiting around for buses that decide not to arrive occasionally and you wouldn't have to be shifting around between DART's and buses.

Might be a fair journey but at least you only have to rely on yourself and it'll take the same time each trip, plus it's direct

markpb

Sod'o swords wrote: »

I know it might seem daunting, but It takes a bus for me around 45 minutes to and hour, at times more, to get to DCU. Where as cycling takes 25-30 minutes, always.

You'll also need to join the gym or befriend someone in res so you can have a shower. The hill up to the Ballymun road entrance aint pancake like at all.

FWIW I commuted across the city for two years and hated it. If you have any choice at all, move closer to DCU. It'll make your life easier, reduce your commuting costs, give you more time for projects, etc and you'll be able to go out to events in DCU without having to pay €40 for a taxi home.

Sod'o swords

markpb wrote: »

You'll also need to join the gym or befriend someone in res so you can have a shower. The hill up to the Ballymun road entrance aint pancake like at all.

Yeah i was going to say that's the only problem with that plan, though i got around that by being in a computer course. The smell was natural, plus there's communal showers in the Gym or just have a Ballymun shower, bit'a Lynx and you're sorted!

Across city commutes are a chore, so much so i know a few people who've dropped out of courses with the trip being a main factor. They couldn't afford accommodation so a 3 hour round trip for maybe an hour or two of lectures they felt wasn't worth it.

OctavarIan

markpb wrote: »

If you have any choice at all, move closer to DCU. It'll make your life easier, reduce your commuting costs, give you more time for projects, etc and you'll be able to go out to events in DCU without having to pay €40 for a taxi home.

I would definitely have moved closer by now but I can't afford it, especially since I have to pay full fees this year. Many nights out with the aul hip flask ahead :pac:

Ran the bus option this morning, took almost exactly an hour twenty minutes. It wasn't too bad though, plenty of time to sleep, read and work. I'll run the train tomorrow to Drumcondra and walk up from there to see how long that takes. Bitta variety!

TheChrisD

OctavarIan wrote: »

Ran the bus option this morning, took almost exactly an hour twenty minutes. It wasn't too bad though, plenty of time to sleep, read and work. I'll run the train tomorrow to Drumcondra and walk up from there to see how long that takes. Bitta variety!

Wow, 80 minutes is really not too bad for a cross-city journey. Then again you probably had different things to do in town and the connecting bus came quickly, as opposed to me having to get off halfway down Dame St. and then walking to Westmoreland St. and waiting for a bus.

Sephiroth_vg

Im getting on from the Leixlip Bridge train to drumcondra....and then a bus to DCU...there are like...6-7 buses servicing to DCU from Drumcondra...from leixlip station to DCU id say the commute time is approximately 1 Hour...and ull need to add the time to bike to the station as well..the bus timings are horrible...you cannot depend on them and they take AGES to get from leixlip to city centre in the afternoons (morning would be more busy i assume)