Switching Drivers on Dublin Bus

littlejp

Is it really necessary to do this mid journey with a bus full of people wanting to get to wherever they are going?
I was on the 122 yesterday evening and was in a bit of a hurry. It stopped on Parnell Square and a new driver got on. The 2 drivers spent a good 5 minutes chatting and took their sweet time getting in and out of the cab. It's seriously annoying and quite disrespectful to paying customers.
Could this type of change over not be done in the depots at the end of the routes?
Has it always been this way?

jossnjuice

OP, i feel your pain.

Im also on the same route, but the main bug bearer of mine is not the whole chatting thing, but the fact that at the changeover at the rotunda, on a regular basis, the driver isnt there, sometimes 5-10 mins late, and then as happened a couple of times in the last month, not there at all.......just didnt bother turning up for work.

Also, I think their changeover times are rediculous.......they always schedule them for exactly peak times, rather than an hour before or after.

They should sort it out, but going on Dublin Bus's record, they wont.

/rant.

AlekSmart

jossnjuice wrote: »

OP, i feel your pain.

Also, I think their changeover times are rediculous.......they always schedule them for exactly peak times, rather than an hour before or after.

They should sort it out, but going on Dublin Bus's record, they wont.

/rant.

I agree...

Now,bearing in mind the silly old regulatory stuff about legal breaks,driving time,and most Busdrivers being human rather than integrated with the actual vehicle lets have some suggestions......:)

My personal favorite is to encourage more Little Old Ladies (LOL's) to leave small pieces of fruit & veg on the dashboard which would allow Drivers to dispense with the rather old fashioned carry-on of meal-breaks an the likes

foggy_lad

AlekSmart wrote: »

I agree...

Now,bearing in mind the silly old regulatory stuff about legal breaks,driving time,and most Busdrivers being human rather than integrated with the actual vehicle lets have some suggestions......:)

My personal favorite is to encourage more Little Old Ladies (LOL's) to leave small pieces of fruit & veg on the dashboard which would allow Drivers to dispense with the rather old fashioned carry-on of meal-breaks an the likes

My own favourite involves passengers(little or large, old or young etc) taking out their phones and recording the switchover if they havve enough memory in their phone:) then post to youtube at their earliest convenience and forward the youtube link to dublin bus management:)

it is a real shame this type of wasteful chatter still goes on when even third world bus companies can manage much faster driver changes.

Losty Dublin

foggy_lad wrote: »

My own favourite involves passengers(little or large, old or young etc) taking out their phones and recording the switchover if they havve enough memory in their phone then post to youtube at their earliest convenience and forward the youtube link to dublin bus management

Do that to the average bus driver and you can expect to remove said phone from your anal cavity.

Bazzer2

foggy_lad wrote: »

it is a real shame this type of wasteful chatter still goes on when even third world bus companies can manage much faster driver changes.

Give us an example then.

clunked

Losty Dublin wrote: »

Do that to the average bus driver and you can expect to remove said phone from your anal cavity.

May not be a bad idea Losty:D:D:D.

Dyr

littlejp wrote: »

Is it really necessary to do this mid journey with a bus full of people wanting to get to wherever they are going?
I was on the 122 yesterday evening and was in a bit of a hurry. It stopped on Parnell Square and a new driver got on. The 2 drivers spent a good 5 minutes chatting and took their sweet time getting in and out of the cab. It's seriously annoying and quite disrespectful to paying customers.
Could this type of change over not be done in the depots at the end of the routes?
Has it always been this way?

Ah its still better than the old 19A change over where you'd be sitting in parnell square for 10-15 minutes waiting on a driver to show up. Dublin bus in the rare ould times

Baron de Robeck

It is no different to staff changes at the GPO counters or Tesco etc, frustrating but part of life. Drivers on cross-city routes especially need to change somewhere and very few of them terminate in a depot at either end. While there is no excuse for staff turning up late, if a bus arrives at it's changeover point early it's unrealistic to expect the relief driver to be there. Drivers also need to check the bus they are taking over and adjust driving positions to their own needs.......

foggy_lad

Baron de Robeck wrote: »

It is no different to staff changes at the GPO counters or Tesco etc, frustrating but part of life. Drivers on cross-city routes especially need to change somewhere and very few of them terminate in a depot at either end. While there is no excuse for staff turning up late, if a bus arrives at it's changeover point early it's unrealistic to expect the relief driver to be there. Drivers also need to check the bus they are taking over and adjust driving positions to their own needs.......

I agree but all too often the drivers start chatting about work related matters or union issues or the match on saturday etc and end up delaying the bus and all passengers, in other countries the handover is a lot smoother but that is probably due to the people having a better work ethic while Irish state/semi state workers are seen as lazy around the world.

murphaph

Baron de Robeck wrote: »

It is no different to staff changes at the GPO counters or Tesco etc, frustrating but part of life. Drivers on cross-city routes especially need to change somewhere and very few of them terminate in a depot at either end. While there is no excuse for staff turning up late, if a bus arrives at it's changeover point early it's unrealistic to expect the relief driver to be there. Drivers also need to check the bus they are taking over and adjust driving positions to their own needs.......

All fair points. Still, perhaps there is room for improvement in Dublin. A driver change on a bus here in Berlin takes literally seconds-max one minute I would say. That includes taking their money out and the other driver putting his money in, which doesn't happen in Dublin at all.

-Chris-

foggy_lad wrote: »

but that is probably due to the people having a better work ethic while Irish state/semi state workers are seen as lazy around the world.

Unless you retract that astonishing statement with an apology, or post a link to a reputable source supporting the opinion, I'm considering you to be Trolling.

Your move...

foggy_lad

I apologise for the remark about Irish state/semi-state workers in post #10 above and accept that their work ethic is most likely equal to that of similar workers in other countries, I also retract the statement made about them being seen as lazy throughout the world.

Losty Dublin

foggy_lad wrote: »

I apologise for the remark about Irish semi state workers in post #10 above and accept that their work ethic is most likely equal to that of similar workers in other countries, I also retract the statement made about them being seen as lazy throughout the world.

Whereas State workers aren't? :mad:

liger

Baron de Robeck wrote: »

if a bus arrives at it's changeover point early it's unrealistic to expect the relief driver to be there. ..

Has the AVL system not been successful in regulating buses so they dont turn up 25mins early for a hand over? The 145 at donnybrook was the worst for that.

bk

Losty Dublin wrote: »

Do that to the average bus driver and you can expect to remove said phone from your anal cavity.

I would expect if a driver did that, they would end up locked up for assault.

teol

Well out of 115 Irish Companies, Dublin Bus are ranked 100, Irish Rail 99, CIE 103.

http://www.corporatereputations.ie/tools/Ireland_RepTrak_2010_Corporate_Reputations.pdf

Losty Dublin

bk wrote: »

I would expect if a driver did that, they would end up locked up for assault.

I didn't really mean it literally, you know

foggy_lad

teol wrote: »

Well out of 115 Irish Companies, Dublin Bus are ranked 100, Irish Rail 99, CIE 103.

http://www.corporatereputations.ie/tools/Ireland_RepTrak_2010_Corporate_Reputations.pdf

with 115 being the best and 1 being the worst?

teol

foggy_lad wrote: »

with 115 being the best and 1 being the worst?

Well Google is number 1, Anglo Irish Bank is 115!

LXFlyer

liger wrote: »

Has the AVL system not been successful in regulating buses so they dont turn up 25mins early for a hand over? The 145 at donnybrook was the worst for that.

It has definitely improved things on the routes that have been retimetabled, in that schedulers now have very accurate information to utilise.

TheChrisD

Bambi wrote: »

Ah its still better than the old 19A change over where you'd be sitting in parnell square for 10-15 minutes waiting on a driver to show up. Dublin bus in the rare ould times

That still happens these days, same with the 11 sometimes, I've been waiting nearly 25 minutes there before :mad:

LXFlyer

Since the new timetable change????

I'd find that somewhat unlikely given the cut in running times.

i71jskz5xu42pb

-Chris- wrote: »

Unless you retract that astonishing statement with an apology, or post a link to a reputable source supporting the opinion, I'm considering you to be Trolling.

Your move...

Just so as we are clear, does every opinion expressed now need a link to a reputable source supporting the opinion? Or is it just opinions you disagree with?

I didn't realise that this place had turned into Wikipedia all of a sudden.

KD345

lxflyer wrote: »

It has definitely improved things on the routes that have been retimetabled, in that schedulers now have very accurate information to utilise.

There are still problems unfortunately, I still notice lots of buses from Blanchardstown and Lucan parked with passengers on College Green waiting for a driver despite new schedules.

-Chris-

Malachi Tiny Flannel wrote: »

Just so as we are clear, does every opinion expressed now need a link to a reputable source supporting the opinion? Or is it just opinions you disagree with? .

Nope, just the ones that are 'controversial' enough that they may be deliberately trying to provoke an negative reaction in others (I.e. Trolling).

If it's backed up by fact, then it's not trolling IMHO.

Therefore I asked for supporting evidence or retraction. I think that's reasonable.

Any further criticims of moderation should be dome by PM as per the Charter.

Dyr

Baron de Robeck wrote: »

It is no different to staff changes at the GPO counters or Tesco etc, frustrating but part of life.

Not really..If I'm having stuff scanned through the checkout the nice lady does'nt get up and quit half way through leaving me standing there for ten minutes, waiting on her replacement looking at all the other checkouts moving along.

foggy_lad

Bambi wrote: »

Not really..If I'm having stuff scanned through the checkout the nice lady does'nt get up and quit half way through leaving me standing there for ten minutes, waiting on her replacement looking at all the other checkouts moving along.

Also when they do switch over in the supermarket the process is usually very efficient(especially in Aldi and Lidl stores) and the staff do not use the occasion as an excuse to have a chat or an unofficial break.

AlekSmart

foggy_lad wrote: »

Also when they do switch over in the supermarket the process is usually very efficient(especially in Aldi and Lidl stores) and the staff do not use the occasion as an excuse to have a chat or an unofficial break.

Hmmmm,thats true enough,but then in my local Aldi,I've yet to see more than 2 of the 5 checkouts ever open simultaneously.....;)

Foggy,my good man,do you remember General Jumbo in (I think) The Victor.....?

He had little robot soldiers which he controlled with a wrist worn button pad...I was mad keen to get one and I reckon having an army of robotic Public Servants,State and Semi State Employees and the odd Private Sector Coach Driver would simply ice your life-cake for ever.

Essentially,it appears that the Human Factor continually provides you with endless opportunity for suffering and angst,particularly on Public Transport.....how can we strive to placate this ever increasing need for compliance ??

stop

Baron de Robeck wrote: »

It is no different to staff changes at the GPO counters or Tesco etc, frustrating but part of life. Drivers on cross-city routes especially need to change somewhere and very few of them terminate in a depot at either end. While there is no excuse for staff turning up late, if a bus arrives at it's changeover point early it's unrealistic to expect the relief driver to be there. Drivers also need to check the bus they are taking over and adjust driving positions to their own needs.......

Buses arriving early should just do a go slow for the section approaching the changeover point, though overall journey time won't change, peoples perception of it will, keep em in the dark, keep em happy.

bk

stop wrote: »

Buses arriving early should just do a go slow for the section approaching the changeover point, though overall journey time won't change, peoples perception of it will, keep em in the dark, keep em happy.

I think most regular passengers would notice, I certainly would.

littlejp

AlekSmart wrote: »

Hmmmm,thats true enough,but then in my local Aldi,I've yet to see more than 2 of the 5 checkouts ever open simultaneously.....;)

Foggy,my good man,do you remember General Jumbo in (I think) The Victor.....?

He had little robot soldiers which he controlled with a wrist worn button pad...I was mad keen to get one and I reckon having an army of robotic Public Servants,State and Semi State Employees and the odd Private Sector Coach Driver would simply ice your life-cake for ever.

Essentially,it appears that the Human Factor continually provides you with endless opportunity for suffering and angst,particularly on Public Transport.....how can we strive to placate this ever increasing need for compliance ??

You seem to be justifying laziness and a poor system by saying that they're only human.
I'm not saying we need robots driving our buses but a little bit of cop on would go a long way. The passengers should be the priority. Not having a laugh with your colleague.
Changing drivers mid route has nothing to do with a human factor. It's simply bad planning. Do it at the start or end of a route or is their some reason why this can't happen?

munchkin_utd

its not just a dublin thing.
In belfast cross town busses can have a driver change. They have a wee staff office there by city hall and all for this purpose.
And in Munich where I am now its very common to have a changeover mid route for the bus drivers.

The only thing though is that in Belfast or Munich youre never delayed more than a couple of minutes. And the new driver is always there.
This doesn't seem to be the case in Dublin.

It does help though that Belfast and Munich have this novel new fangled gimmic called a timetable!
If busses are early, they do drive slow and pause at stops to keep to the scheduled time.
So when they are supposed to meet for a driver change, they'll be there on time or late but NEVER early. So the passengers will not have to wait unduely.

LXFlyer

littlejp wrote: »

You seem to be justifying laziness and a poor system by saying that they're only human.
I'm not saying we need robots driving our buses but a little bit of cop on would go a long way. The passengers should be the priority. Not having a laugh with your colleague.
Changing drivers mid route has nothing to do with a human factor. It's simply bad planning. Do it at the start or end of a route or is their some reason why this can't happen?

Quite simply it would become totally inefficient. Changing drivers at the start or end of a route would require dead running numerous buses from the depot to that terminus. Most termini are nowhere near any depot. Drivers changing in the city centre is the most efficient and cost effective way of operating the service.

The 122 operates to/from Phibsboro depot - driver changes take place at Parnell Square. If they happened at the termini you would have to have dead running to/from Cabra or Drimnagh all day long which would cost an arm and a leg.

Also, where would drivers spend their breaks? The termini are often in housing estates nowhere near depots. The company provides facilities at the depots and at the canteen behind Clerys.

Certain routes which terminate at or near depots do have driver changes there (e.g. 4 and 83 at Harristown, 50/77/77a at Ringsend) but they are very much in the minority.

The other constraint is that there are serious legal restrictions as Alek points out on the number of hours that drivers can actually work. This causes serious implications for how the company can roster their staff and would certainly not allow for lots and lots of dead running through the day. There is enough of that already in the early morning and evening.

The key to all of this is getting the changeover times correct so that the bus is not waiting lengthy periods - however during holidays this can go awry as traffic is lighter. The AVLC system should provide accurate data that allows this to work as all of the schedules are recast.

LXFlyer

munchkin_utd wrote: »

its not just a dublin thing.
In belfast cross town busses can have a driver change. They have a wee staff office there by city hall and all for this purpose.
And in Munich where I am now its very common to have a changeover mid route for the bus drivers.

The only thing though is that in Belfast or Munich youre never delayed more than a couple of minutes. And the new driver is always there.
This doesn't seem to be the case in Dublin.

It does help though that Belfast and Munich have this novel new fangled gimmic called a timetable!
If busses are early, they do drive slow and pause at stops to keep to the scheduled time.
So when they are supposed to meet for a driver change, they'll be there on time or late but NEVER early. So the passengers will not have to wait unduely.

Driving slowly (when there is no traffic as currently during school holidays) can infuriate people even more!!

munchkin_utd

lxflyer wrote: »

Driving slowly (when there is no traffic as currently during school holidays) can infuriate people even more!!

but driving to a timetable is a wonderful thing!
And the certainty and ability to plan around a busses arrival time makes up for the slightly slower journey time in optimal conditions.

for example, I had to get a taxi to Dublin airport there a couple of months ago from the city centre for an early flight.
You might tell me that there's a bus which runs from the city centre all night, the aircoach.
I would ask though - WHEN?

Because aircoach have no timetable whatsoever as to when it leaves the city centre, the bus option is completely useless.
It has a guideline that it leaves 30min ish after departing the suburbs. So at night does it leave earlier with the lower traffic? If i turn up at 3.30 in the morning 30 mins after it has departed the suburbs, how do I know that the driver hasnt made it in 15 mins and hasnt taken the initiative and gone to the airport early, leaving me to pay for a taxi anyhow!!

ok, its a little off topic, but its just an example why having a timetable is good even if it means that the bus isn't racing as fast as is conceivably possible to its destination.

LXFlyer

munchkin_utd wrote: »

but driving to a timetable is a wonderful thing!
And the certainty and ability to plan around a busses arrival time makes up for the slightly slower journey time in optimal conditions.

for example, I had to get a taxi to Dublin airport there a couple of months ago from the city centre for an early flight.
You might tell me that there's a bus which runs from the city centre all night, the aircoach.
I would ask though - WHEN?

Because aircoach have no timetable whatsoever as to when it leaves the city centre, the bus option is completely useless.
It has a guideline that it leaves 30min ish after departing the suburbs. So at night does it leave earlier with the lower traffic? If i turn up at 3.30 in the morning 30 mins after it has departed the suburbs, how do I know that the driver hasnt made it in 15 mins and hasnt taken the initiative and gone to the airport early, leaving me to pay for a taxi anyhow!!

ok, its a little off topic, but its just an example why having a timetable is good even if it means that the bus isn't racing as fast as is conceivably possible to its destination.

The buses on the circular route wait at Donnybrook until xx:30 between 00:30 and 04:30. Therefore I would aim to be at a stop on O'Connell Street no more than 10 minutes after that to be sure I caught it.

The Leopardstown route I would agree is impossible to predict.

They have learnt that lesson with the Ballinteer route which is timed throughout.

AlekSmart

littlejp wrote: »

You seem to be justifying laziness and a poor system by saying that they're only human.
I'm not saying we need robots driving our buses but a little bit of cop on would go a long way. The passengers should be the priority. Not having a laugh with your colleague.
Changing drivers mid route has nothing to do with a human factor. It's simply bad planning. Do it at the start or end of a route or is their some reason why this can't happen?

Can'y quite see where you get "Justifying" laziness from Litlejp.

Firstly my response was to Foggy_Lad's latest,in a long line of post's ascribing a company wide problem to individual incidents he experiences on his daily interaction with Irish Public Transport.

However that being said,I have no problem with seeing your frustration with what you percieve to be people interacting with each other excessively.

However I continue to suggest that you are looking at a Social Interaction element rather than some element of Company failure.

The Irish,rightly or wrongly,are held to great people for the "bit of oul chat" and the "craic"...virtually our entire inward visitor marketing budget is spent fostering that image.

I Personally would rarely spend more than the allocated 2 minutes on a handover and still manage to have a brief "How's the Missis & Kids" conversation with my colleague.

It's equally worth pointing out that with most of the new Network Directed schedules featuring fewer crews working larger gapped timetables the only place Drivers now meet personally is on a handover.

Then there are occasions where there are problems,such as the relief driver having been late breaking and the handing-over driver not being informed of that,which happens far too regularly.

Equally,with the bedding-in of the Central Control system (A not entirely proven system IMO),there can be communication gaps between the Garage which rosters and allocates Drivers and the Central Control,which merely,well....Controls the available resources.

I would suggest that the actual problematic occurences,where buses and passengers are left waiting for excessive periods are due to these systemic issues rather than individual Drivers purposely setting-out to frustrate their passengers by conversing in extremis.

Then,of course,there are the occasions where members of the Public seek conversational input from Drivers too,especially when they spot a change-over going on,foreign folks spreading maps of Dublin on the dash seeking guidance,other folk looking for the change-tickety office etc etc...

As a slight aside,as Lxflyer posts,the notion of Drivers deliberately slowing down en-route can be a double edged sword,as I personally have experienced recently.

Bus passengers can be divided neatly into two groups.

Those waiting for the Bus and Those actually On the Bus.

Once a person boards the Bus their expectation is of a rapid journey with as few delays as possible.

The creaky ol lady slowly hauling herself aboard the Bus and telling the Driver to wait until she sits down magically transforms into a person loudly telling her companion that "this fella is deliberately driving-slow to get his overtime in-ye can't be up them y'know"....heads we win-heads we lose...:p

In the past few weeks I have been approached twice by passengers accusing me of deliberately wasting time and making them late...Tails I win-Tails I lose

However,as Lxflyer explains,the process of mid-route crew changes is actually evidence of good service planning and maximum use of resources rather than the Opposite,as was/is required under the Deloitte recommendations.

zagmund

I don't know if it's the same these days, but in the old days when the 46a, 84, 63 all used to follow the same route from Donnybrook to Foxrock (and the 10 & 46b/64a for part of the way), the single most annoying thing was getting a bus in town, baling out as far as Donnybrook and then the driver pulling over in front of the church instead of at the stop and then seeing an 84, a 63 and several 46as go past & pick up at the stop you were within spitting distance of.

Now *that* was annoying. I don't mind driver changes, but I do mind when you're not given the option to change to a bus that can take you on quicker.

z

stop

zagmund wrote: »

I don't know if it's the same these days, but in the old days when the 46a, 84, 63 all used to follow the same route from Donnybrook to Foxrock (and the 10 & 46b/64a for part of the way), the single most annoying thing was getting a bus in town, baling out as far as Donnybrook and then the driver pulling over in front of the church instead of at the stop and then seeing an 84, a 63 and several 46as go past & pick up at the stop you were within spitting distance of.

Now *that* was annoying. I don't mind driver changes, but I do mind when you're not given the option to change to a bus that can take you on quicker.

z

So perhaps a solution would be the driver selecting a specific journey destination for the screen which would display the destination but also "Driver change at XX".

Can't be that hard, noticed that recently a lot of buses are apologising to me for their out of service state..

murphaph

bk wrote: »

I think most regular passengers would notice, I certainly would.

If a bus in Germany is getting ahead of schedule it just waits at a bus stop until the proper departure time has been reached, then heads off again. With AVL data becoming available to the time table makers in Dublin, there will be no excuse for not having accurate, stop-specific, timetables (seasonal to account for school holidays as well if needs be). Time will tell if they become a reality.

liger

zagmund wrote: »

baling out as far as Donnybrook and then the driver pulling over in front of the church instead of at the stop and then seeing an 84, a 63 and several 46as go past & pick up at the stop you were within spitting distance of.

But the Changeover point is at the church, There is a set down stop outside it so that waiting buses don't block up the main stop. And plenty of people with rambler tickets hop off and walk up to the other stop if the driver isnt there to take over.

liger

stop wrote: »

So perhaps a solution would be the driver selecting a specific journey destination for the screen which would display the destination but also "Driver change at XX".

..

Honestly you could put up on the screen, 46A This bus will explode half way up the next street and people will still get on. Most people just pay attention to the number displayed.

zagmund

I know where the stop is, and I know where the set down stop is. The problem is when you are (were, it's been a while since I got this route) sitting at the set down stop and other buses rolled on past.

Obviously a wait of a minute or two isn't a biggie and could be made up at the next traffic lights for all you know. The problem was when you were sat there for 10+ minutes and several buses went by.

I know you can get off and wander up to the next stop, but it can be a bit of gamble as to whether your driver change is going to be a short one or a long one.

My recommendation would have been to allow (by which I mean facilitate) people to change bus without having to run the risk of being stuck between stops and missing both buses.

They seemed to manage it easily enough on the inbound route when they took a bus out of service at the stop just past the garage - "everyone off and onto the bus in front" worked perfectly.

z

liger wrote: »

But the Changeover point is at the church, There is a set down stop outside it so that waiting buses don't block up the main stop. And plenty of people with rambler tickets hop off and walk up to the other stop if the driver isnt there to take over.

LXFlyer

murphaph wrote: »

If a bus in Germany is getting ahead of schedule it just waits at a bus stop until the proper departure time has been reached, then heads off again. With AVL data becoming available to the time table makers in Dublin, there will be no excuse for not having accurate, stop-specific, timetables (seasonal to account for school holidays as well if needs be). Time will tell if they become a reality.

Over time I would say that the scheduling will become more refined as the AVL data builds up, but as yet they don't have a full year's data - not until next Spring (February/March).

I do know however, from my own perspective that, as a passenger, being on a city bus that is having to drive slower than normal moving traffic speed due to a particular day being a school holiday with less congestion so as to keep to an individual stop timetable would drive me absolutely nuts!

Given there are many individual holidays through the year it is virtually impossible to apply special timetables in that case.

murphaph

lxflyer wrote: »

Over time I would say that the scheduling will become more refined as the AVL data builds up, but as yet they don't have a full year's data - not until next Spring (February/March).

I do know however, from my own perspective that, as a passenger, being on a city bus that is having to drive slower than normal moving traffic speed due to a particular day being a school holiday with less congestion so as to keep to an individual stop timetable would drive me absolutely nuts!

Given there are many individual holidays through the year it is virtually impossible to apply special timetables in that case.

I see your point. In Germany schools are open unless it's a public holiday or school holidays-no random saints' days etc. Perhaps these days should be eliminated in Ireland too tbh.

LXFlyer

I don't think that is likely to happen in either of our lifetimes.

meanmachine3

littlejp wrote: »

Is it really necessary to do this mid journey with a bus full of people wanting to get to wherever they are going?
I was on the 122 yesterday evening and was in a bit of a hurry. It stopped on Parnell Square and a new driver got on. The 2 drivers spent a good 5 minutes chatting and took their sweet time getting in and out of the cab.
Could this type of change over not be done in the depots at the end of the routes?
Has it always been this way?

no offence o.p. if you were i a hurry you should've got a earlier bus. alot of people tend to leave it till the lats minute to get the bus more so when they're in a hurry then when a switch over takes place they blame the drivers. sorry o.p. we're not like other people who drive for a living that tend to break nearly every rule out there. we value our licences to much. when i'm driving my goal is to get you guys from A to B as quickly and as safely as possible. sometimes i get into town 20 mins ahead of schedule while other times i'm late. if i get into town early count your blessings. when this A.V.L. is up and running properly then you'll truely see the meaning of being up the field. regular users of the 123's would know this already. it was all to common for squeaky to hold a couple of these buses outside easons when they were ahead of schedule, sometimes for up to 10 mins. eventually there will come a day when buses will be told to pull their bus into the side of the road and wait till they're back on time according to the A.V.L. i have already received messages in the past to slow down.

littlejp wrote: »

It's seriously annoying and quite disrespectful to paying customers.

i really love this one. this is aimed at all those that come running up the side of the bus banging on the doors after they have closed expecting them to be opened and when they're not the amount of abuse we get is unreal. now remember this when YOUR DELAYING OTHER PASSENGERS BY DEMANDING THAT THE DOORS BE OPENED AGAIN.not that i do it anyway. once my doors are closed at a stop they stay closed. if your late then wait for the next bus.
as for you being delayed because your in a hurry o.p. heres how long the sections for the 122 are.
Ashington >> 15mins >> St. Peter's Church Cabra Rd. >> 15mins >> O'Connell St. >> 15mins >> Kelly's Corner >> 10mins >> Drimnagh Rd. (Our Lady's Hospital)
All times are off peak estimates

Drimnagh Rd. (Our Lady's Hospital) >> 10mins >> Kelly's Corner >> 15mins >> O'Connell St. >> 15mins >> St. Peter's Church Cabra Rd. >> 15mins >> Ashington
All times are off peak estimates

Dyr

no offence o.p. if you were i a hurry you should've got a earlier bus

Absolutely, you should always try to budget for an unreliable service when using dublin bus.
"dublin bus: blaming the entire community" :pac:

littlejp

meanmachine3 wrote: »

no offence o.p. if you were i a hurry you should've got a earlier bus. alot of people tend to leave it till the lats minute to get the bus more so when they're in a hurry then when a switch over takes place they blame the drivers. sorry o.p. we're not like other people who drive for a living that tend to break nearly every rule out there. we value our licences to much. when i'm driving my goal is to get you guys from A to B as quickly and as safely as possible. sometimes i get into town 20 mins ahead of schedule while other times i'm late. if i get into town early count your blessings. when this A.V.L. is up and running properly then you'll truely see the meaning of being up the field. regular users of the 123's would know this already. it was all to common for squeaky to hold a couple of these buses outside easons when they were ahead of schedule, sometimes for up to 10 mins. eventually there will come a day when buses will be told to pull their bus into the side of the road and wait till they're back on time according to the A.V.L. i have already received messages in the past to slow down.

i really love this one. this is aimed at all those that come running up the side of the bus banging on the doors after they have closed expecting them to be opened and when they're not the amount of abuse we get is unreal. now remember this when YOUR DELAYING OTHER PASSENGERS BY DEMANDING THAT THE DOORS BE OPENED AGAIN.not that i do it anyway. once my doors are closed at a stop they stay closed. if your late then wait for the next bus.

I got the first bus that came along when I was waiting. My problem isn't the length of time the bus takes, it's the time wasted by the drivers chatting to each other.

So, because some people try to get onto buses late that makes it ok for drivers to take the piss at other times. 2 wrongs etc.

KD345

meanmachine3 wrote: »

no offence o.p. if you were i a hurry you should've got a earlier bus.

What a ridiculous statement. If the OP got an earlier bus, they wouldn't be in a hurry. I doubt it was by choice. It is not unreasonable to understand the annoyance of a passenger to be kept waiting 5/10 minutes for a driver to arrive. Surely you can understand that. I even witnessed an Airlink driver having a rant last week because he was waiting for the next driver to arrive.

meanmachine3 wrote: »

i really love this one. this is aimed at all those that come running up the side of the bus banging on the doors after they have closed expecting them to be opened and when they're not the amount of abuse we get is unreal. now remember this when YOUR DELAYING OTHER PASSENGERS BY DEMANDING THAT THE DOORS BE OPENED AGAIN.

What does that have to do with driver changeovers? Nobody is saying you shouldn't drive safely.

As for quoting those times on the 122, they don't match the times given to drivers (on the actual timetable) and they contradict other routes which travel the same corridor. As a rough guide they're probably fine, but I certainly wouldn't be relying on them.