Electronic bus stop timetables

L1011

...this still doesn't explain why IE were so remiss as to not fit the kit that clearly the central CTC had when they resignalled the line in the 1990s...

LXFlyer

It boiled down to funding from government at the time (or lack of it), as most capital projects have done.

Solair

I thought this thread was about electronic BUS timetable displays, not trains!

dowlingm

Can someone explain to me why rtpi.ie needs a ticker on the top of the bleedin' page to tell me about the HIQA criticising fostering in Dublin????

Wild Bill

Solair wrote: »

I thought this thread was about electronic BUS timetable displays, not trains!

Well spotted! We are easily distracted around here.

Are new displays still being installed? Stop 614 (Fairview footbridge inbound) has had the pole installed for months now and still no display on it yet.

LXFlyer

Yep there's still new ones appearing - I'd just say you'll have to be patient!

Wild Bill

Karsini wrote: »

Are new displays still being installed? Stop 614 (Fairview footbridge inbound) has had the pole installed for months now and still no display on it yet.

There are 5,000 Dublin bus stops and 450 of them are to get roadside electronic timetables.

According to the website the full 450 will be operational before the end of the year.

That appears to be the plan anyway.

Saw something today which might be a blip but who knows...

As you probably know the 20B bowed out yesterday, replaced with an extended 14. Saw AV327 on the 14 today so must still be running from Donnybrook. The RTPI displays in Fairview didn't show the 14s. Have heard similar reports of other Donnybrook routes not appearing on the displays either.

BrianD

I presume that each new route has to be programmed into the system? The extended 14 would be a new route as far the system is concerned. I also recall that not all depots are covered by the system yet - could that be the reason?

paddyandy

Great idea they are.

teol

In the central city centre bus stops, Aston Quay for example, it is very annoying seeing a real time display that only serves the the one bus stop. Even though the they're might be 2 or 3 different bus stops right beside each other. It seems an awful waste of resources.

teol

teol wrote: »

In the central city centre bus stops, Aston Quay for example, it is very annoying seeing a real time display that only serves the the one bus stop. Even though the they're might be 2 or 3 different bus stops right beside each other. It seems an awful waste of resources.

There's also displays on some stops that are currently set-down only stops (outside the Central Bank for example). Unless they're changed to regular stops then this is as wasteful as you can get.

LXFlyer

Karsini wrote: »

There's also displays on some stops that are currently set-down only stops (outside the Central Bank for example). Unless they're changed to regular stops then this is as wasteful as you can get.

Given that the 78a and 40 are to merge and the 13 and 51 are to merge I would imagine this stop will switch to being a normal stop.

A little bit of advance planning perhaps?

BrianD

BrianD wrote: »

I presume that each new route has to be programmed into the system? The extended 14 would be a new route as far the system is concerned. I also recall that not all depots are covered by the system yet - could that be the reason?

Saw something different this morning. AV113 was on the 14, this was a regular bus on the 20B along with the others in the 109-115 range. The displays did show this 14. In fact, any 14 I saw today was a Summerhill bus. So I can only guess that the route utilises buses from both garages.

Jayuu

The new 14 route was being displayed on the stop at Donneycarney Church this morning.

starviewadams

Still no sign of them out in Clondalkin,that's if they're going to give us any at all!

markpb

starviewadams wrote: »

Still no sign of them out in Clondalkin,that's if they're going to give us any at all!

The initial pilot is between the NTA and DCC so anyone living in the other three counties won't aee signs until a later phase.

LXFlyer

Karsini wrote: »

BrianD wrote: »

I presume that each new route has to be programmed into the system? The extended 14 would be a new route as far the system is concerned. I also recall that not all depots are covered by the system yet - could that be the reason?

Saw something different this morning. AV113 was on the 14, this was a regular bus on the 20B along with the others in the 109-115 range. The displays did show this 14. In fact, any 14 I saw today was a Summerhill bus. So I can only guess that the route utilises buses from both garages.

Correct - the 14 is now split between Donnybrook and Summerhill.

The same will apply to the other merged routes when they are implemented.

LXFlyer

markpb wrote: »

starviewadams wrote: »

Still no sign of them out in Clondalkin,that's if they're going to give us any at all!

The initial pilot is between the NTA and DCC so anyone living in the other three counties won't aee signs until a later phase.

Incorrect. DCC are co-ordinating the rollout across the entire greater Dublin area.

Some poles have started to be erected in the DLR CoCo area.

I wouldn't be too concerned about the fact that no displays have appeared in Clondalkin yet - they are not even half way through erecting them yet.

As I said above - patience!!

Wild Bill

lxflyer wrote: »

Incorrect. DCC are co-ordinating the rollout across the entire greater Dublin area.
Some poles have started to be erected in the DLR CoCo area.

There is one already working outside Dun Laoghaire DART station. I think it may be the only one currently live in DLR.

Carawaystick

Why are the NATIONAL transport authority letting Dublin corpo do this? When the system is rolled out to other parts of the country, are they gonna get the corpo to do that too?

LXFlyer

DCC were involved in this before the NTA even came into existence and were the body that issued the tender for the equipment in April of 2010.

http://www.etenders.gov.ie/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=APR147815

The reason being that the DoT wanted an independent body to co-ordinate the system so that it could encompass public and private operators.

http://www.dublincity.ie/RoadsandTraffic/Pages/Roads.aspx

Real Time Passenger Information Service (RTPI)
Real time passenger information was launched on Friday 11th February 2011 for bus customers in Dublin. On-Street Display Signs showing the arrival time of the next bus are being installed at various bus stops across the capital.

The project is being delivered by Dublin City Council, on behalf of the National Transport Authority. Dublin City Council are installing the on-street display signs that will show the expected arrival times of the next number of buses. Larger display units are envisaged for key interchanges such as Connolly, Heuston and Pearse railway stations.

Open technology is behind the system, meaning private operators with suitable AVL systems will be able to feed in bus time data along with Dublin Bus and Bus Eireann. As an independent body, Dublin City Council will be hosting technology platform for the web service, the SMS service, and for the service/network infrastructure for communications to the On-Street Displays. All four local areas in the Greater Dublin Area are covered and it is also planned to provide the services to other cities such as Cork, Waterford, Limerick and Galway.

This new service is welcomed by bus customers and is in line with the City Council and the County Council’s plans for promoting sustainable transport. To send your feedback on the service and for more information visit www.transportforireland.ie

monument

Carawaystick wrote: »

Why are the NATIONAL transport authority letting Dublin corpo do this? When the system is rolled out to other parts of the country, are they gonna get the corpo to do that too?

DCC does a few things on behalf of other councils in the GDA -- water supply, the planned incinerator, and they used to have the QBN office under their wing before it was moved to the NTA.

thomasj

according to varadkar: (posted july 21st)

These signs are already in place across the city centre and have proved very popular, and very useful. Contracts will be signed next month to install them throughout Fingal, including Dublin 15, and the signs should be in place by the end of the year

http://www.leovaradkar.ie/?p=1368

Wild Bill

thomasj wrote: »

according to varadkar: (posted july 21st)



http://www.leovaradkar.ie/?p=1368

I wonder at the effectiveness of this policy of putting the real-time signs in the City Centre and other major centres like Dun Laoghaire centre etc.

Before the recent arrival of the luas, we here in Sandyford (south of the Industrial Estate) had a variety of low-frequency buses criss-crossing the area in various directions.

The 44 and 44b; the 63; the bizarre one service per day 114s 115s 117s 118s (can't remember the exact details) and the new 47.

Even before luas arrived you could see these behemoths lumbering the roads and lane-ways of the area all day, all empty bar a few half-filled peak-hour runs. The cost of driving this brand-new double deckers around empty must be humongous.

Why does nobody use them? Because their timing isn't very reliable, and while there are many routes each on it's own is low-frequency. So you could pop along to the local 44 stop and wait.

If there weren't many people there you'd find folk anxiously asking "did it leave early" - 'cos the next would be in half an hour - late for work again! Sometimes there was a considerable number at a stop and you'd discover there hadn't been a bus for 45 minutes. Why? When was one coming?

You wait, or wander off.

Then they opened the 46A bus lane down on the N11 in 1999.
It was as the mother of all bus services!

Folk abandoned the buses up here and drove down to the N11 instead; causing amazing traffic congestion; and cars abandoned in housing estates bordering the N11, to the ire of thousands of residents.

So we got the 46A packed to the rafters coming every 3 minutes and since 2004 the luas at Sandyfird IE; all reached by car while the huge double-deckers rumbled around empty, as they still do.

And why? Because if I stand a the local 44 bus-stop I'm taking part in a lottery - I might get lucky, or not. I quit playing that game back in '99. As I drive past the few stalwarts still waiting for a 44 in the rain I realise that if they had cars they'd not be standing there either!

Surely the real-time signs at stops with a few low-frequency routes would get more folk out of their cars than any number in O'Connel Street?

markpb

Wild Bill wrote: »

I wonder at the effectiveness of this policy of putting the real-time signs in the City Centre and other major centres like Dun Laoghaire centre etc.

I guess there are two sides to it. The displays in the city centre are more visible to the public and will be used by more people. Displays in the suburbs would be more useful to individual customers but attract less publicity. People will say that the info will be available by SMS or online for all stops but that's not really point (of what I'm saying).

Of course, RTIS in the suburbs will just expose how poor the bus service is. When integrated ticketing comes in, DB need to prune the hell out of a lot of suburban bus routes and start proving Luas and Dart feeders. The 44 is a great example - it needlessly follows the Green Luas line for 2/3 of it's journey.

monument

Good points Wild Bill, and I see your logic, but the low-frequency buses (as well as mid-frequency ones) are also in the city centre and other centres, where you also have larger amounts of people.

Wild Bill

markpb wrote: »

The 44 is a great example - it needlessly follows the Green Luas line for 2/3 of it's journey.

In fact it pointlessly follows the luas route nowadays, 'cos now nobody uses it!

Why wait for half and hour for an unreliable bus when you can get a 10 minute interval tram that tells you when it's coming and arrives on the dot?

(Unless you live in Stepaside or Kilternan or Enniskerry of course; then it's the 44 or drive.

90% drive!

LXFlyer

Quite a few people still use the 44 in fact, despite what you're claiming - any of the 44s that I see generally have reasonable loadings.

The plan as part of the DB network direct project is that it will have a clockface hourly timetable going forward integrated with the 61 between Dundrum and the city centre to give a half-hourly service throughout the day on that section of the route which people asked for apparently during the consultations!!

Developing clockface frequencies is one way of improving the attractiveness of the bus - it will appear at about the same minutes past each hour.

To be fair the frequency of the 44 was reduced post-LUAS introduction as was the now defunct 48a (replaced by the new 61).