Opinion Needed

neilomc

Hi guys,

I'm new on here. What a great place. I'm doing my dissertation on Irish transport and only came across this. Like gold dust to me!!!!

I'm in the middle of doing research for my dissertation which is in the form of a questionnaire.

Could you guys please help by filling in the online questionnaire? Will take a few minutes only. I look forward to sticking around here

http://freeonlinesurveys.com/rendersurvey.asp?sid=p1uyapxq0jg6xbu1024561

Sponge Bob

As you seem to have decided that the motorway network is "complete" i'll pass

neilomc

is a motorway network ever fully complete?!

Irish and Proud

I've done it!

I wouldn't consider the motorway network in Ireland complete (M20 Cork to Limerick, M18 Limerick to Galway, M6 Galway City Outer Bypass etc), but I based all relevant answers on the overall intercity road network (Dublin, Belfast, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Waterford.

Regards!

neilomc

perhaps compelte wasnt the best selection of words 'complete' was in reference to transport 21 programme. only so much i can include in the questionnaire as not to confuse people. although like you've said, it is in reference to the overall intercity network. it does seem to have a long way to go.

thanks for doing it

JeffK88

Done and dusted

neilomc

thank you

BluntGuy

I completed your survey. Hope that helps.

Good luck with your dissertation.

biko

Done

neilomc

thanks guys only need 40 more responses lol

antoobrien

Done

If you ever have to do this again a freeform text box for general comments would be useful, such as the opinions of what needs to be developed. There's nowhere to comment on th need for infrastructure that is not dublin centric e.g. the Atlantic road corridor vs the MIUs (which all lead to Dublin).

Sponge Bob

Nowhere to comment on Express Buses vs Multi Stops. There are around 40 buses a day between Galway and Dublin ....many non stop end to end and for €20 return.

Buses...when done right....are very very popular.

neilomc

thanks guys. antoobrien - im having a focus group as well as this questionnaire to gather peoples thoughts and feelings, hence why there is not a great deal of detail involved in the questionnaire

would any of you guys be interested in giving further opinions? you all seem perfect for research as you have knowledge of the current infrastructures. i havent finalised the questions as of yet though so this would be next week sometime.

Sponge Bob

This poorly thought out twaddle made Pat Kenny this morning.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056556523

The fact that a Bus will take you to straight to Dublin Airport from Galway at 2am, 365 days a year, never got a mention did it. ??

Motorways and Express buses are the way to go in Ireland for a lot of what WE call long haul.

antoobrien

neilomc wrote: »

thanks guys. antoobrien - im having a focus group as well as this questionnaire to gather peoples thoughts and feelings, hence why there is not a great deal of detail involved in the questionnaire

would any of you guys be interested in giving further opinions? you all seem perfect for research as you have knowledge of the current infrastructures. i havent finalised the questions as of yet though so this would be next week sometime.

I wouldn't mind giving further opinions.

You might want to take a read of some of the other forums as well. Commuting & Transport, motoring, and cycling may have other views.

BluntGuy

neilomc wrote: »

would any of you guys be interested in giving further opinions? you all seem perfect for research as you have knowledge of the current infrastructures. i havent finalised the questions as of yet though so this would be next week sometime.

I'm sure many posters would gladly help. It would be useful however to do a search of these forums for past threads, as a lot of good information (not to mention photographs) has been archived, along with discussion.

The threads here are all tagged, thanks to a hard-working ex-moderator of this forum, so you should be able to find some good threads fairly quickly.

You'll also probably quickly discover why, statements such as:

"The initial investment programme was about saving the network," Iarnrod Eireann spokesman Barry Kenny said.

Are absolute crap.

Ascii

Survey completed. Best of luck

neilomc

thanks Ascii

anyone think the mods would be pissed if i copied this post into a more general forum?

L1011

neilomc wrote: »

thanks Ascii

anyone think the mods would be pissed if i copied this post into a more general forum?

Probably, as there's a survey forum for general ones.

?Cee?view

Done.

I think the question lumping bus and rail development in together is misguided. Bus transport such as the Galway Dublin link mentioned above could and should be easily developed. Rail in Ireland is a dead duck.

darkman2

Done.

what_traffic

churchview wrote: »

Done.

I think the question lumping bus and rail development in together is misguided. Bus transport such as the Galway Dublin link mentioned above could and should be easily developed. Rail in Ireland is a dead duck.

+1 on this

neilomc

thanks guys

Irish and Proud

churchview wrote: »

Done.

I think the question lumping bus and rail development in together is misguided. Bus transport such as the Galway Dublin link mentioned above could and should be easily developed. Rail in Ireland is a dead duck.

I don't really understand why rail is a dead duck - the max speed that buses can go on the motorway is 80kph - how can that compete with train speeds of up to 145kph along with a far superior service - once took the bus to Cork and it took well over 4 hours compared to under 3 hours by train. Have taken the train since!

If rail is suffering from motorway competition, it would be the shift to private motoring (rather than buses) where it would be possible on a good day to make Cork in well under 3 hours keeping to the speed limit - of course, long distance private motoring is tiring, but you get the same mobility at your destination as you would at home - there would also be less packing/unpacking as opposed to even car rental upon reaching your destination.

However, long distance buses are the dead duck as far as I'm concerned - unless they're breaching their 80kph vehicular speed limit.

neilomc

don't think long distance bus is a dead duck. works perfectly well on mainland UK. fair enough it has a bigger population and perhaps higher demand for such a service. it suits students and people on a lower income etc. so there is a market for it. evident as it has survived for so long.

seems that motorway is the immediate way forward though. in my dissertation research i came across exisiting research that ireland is one of the most car dependant countries in the world and we cover one of the highest mileages per car in the world - interesting!

BluntGuy

neilomc wrote: »

thanks Ascii

anyone think the mods would be pissed if i copied this post into a more general forum?

I can't speak for moderators of other forums, but I think MYOB is correct.

Irish and Proud wrote:

However, long distance buses are the dead duck as far as I'm concerned - unless they're breaching their 80kph vehicular speed limit.

I have to disagree there Irish. On the contrary. Buses are going through a mini-renaissance of sorts in this country with the motorway network completed and more direct routes being offered. The immediate future at least, looks bright for buses.

It's not just the time remember, the price is a very big factor, and travelling with Aircoach from Dublin to Cork is far better value than the equivalent train service imo.

Sponge Bob

Irish and Proud wrote: »

I don't really understand why rail is a dead duck - the max speed that buses can go on the motorway is 80kph -

However, long distance buses are the dead duck as far as I'm concerned - unless they're breaching their 80kph vehicular speed limit.

This is incorrect. All Seated Buses can do 100kph on a Motorway.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/travel_and_recreation/roads_and_safety/road_traffic_speed_limits_in_ireland.html

tonc76

survey done

neilomc

thank u come on people dont be shy only need around 20 more results!

BluntGuy

neilomc wrote: »

thank u come on people dont be shy only need around 20 more results!

Perhaps you could share a little bit more information about your dissertation. What other research have you done thus far?

Irish and Proud

Sponge Bob wrote: »

This is incorrect. All Seated Buses can do 100kph on a Motorway.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/travel_and_recreation/roads_and_safety/road_traffic_speed_limits_in_ireland.html

Many thanks for that!

100kph would be a lot more viable for long distance buses along motorways.

neilomc

done a mountain of research really. this is the first, firsthand research of my own ive done. areas covered in dissertation have been strategy changes in irish airlines, the need for bus deregulation in ireland and future impacts of motorway development. although ireland is a world away from high speed rail, there will also be a chapter on impacts this will bring.

Irish and Proud

BluntGuy wrote: »

I have to disagree there Irish. On the contrary. Buses are going through a mini-renaissance of sorts in this country with the motorway network completed and more direct routes being offered. The immediate future at least, looks bright for buses.

It's not just the time remember, the price is a very big factor, and travelling with Aircoach from Dublin to Cork is far better value than the equivalent train service imo.

Yeah, the Adult Return bus fare (Aircoach) is €22 from Dublin to Cork - the Adult Return standard train fare for the same journey is €71 according to this.

Regards!

JupiterKid

Done the survey.

I think for key routes like Dublin to Belfast and Dublin to Cork - and the commuter routes - rail has a pretty solid future. I can see lines such as Dublin to Sligo and Dublin to Rosslare and Dublin to Waterford being in trouble given the new motorway network.

Kumsheen

done the survey.

Realistically I think the viable future for rail in this country is with high volume commuter traffic only.
Inter City while nice to have i don't think has much future, it's fairly obsolete at the moment due to journey times possible by car or express bus via motorways.
Upgrading to high speed network to give rail back it's speed advantage is probably not really needed for such a small island where all the cities are only a few hours apart. The advantage gain is just too small over such small distances.
HSR in other countries has chopped multiple hours off travel times due to the longer distances involved. You are not going to get the same benefit here.

I think IE are just pushing for HSR so they can save their own future, they don't care that they will only save minutes and not hours over the car, and the massive cost just to give them back that small edge. As long as somebody else pays for it.

There is a "but" in all this though, and that is future traffic congestion. We have a nice new motorway network just opened at the beginning of a recession. So roads are brand new in good condition and traffic levels are down. Journey times are fast.
Roll on 20 years or so and i'm sure traffic will have grown by then. The network might also not have had much investment over those years,Traffic levels will have increased, so it's not inconceivable to speculate that road travel times could increase again by decent amount. Inter city Rail travel could suddenly make a comeback and be viable again.

John mac

I've completed it.

but

Have you ever gone on holiday within Ireland where you travelled a long distance (100 miles or more)? If so, where was your latest holiday to

I have traveled more than 100 miles but the latest was less than that..


I also disagree with the statement that the motorway network is complete.
It takes an hour and a half to get to my nearest motorway .

Brian CivilEng

Survey done, but can I just say ARGH, why in the year 2012 do you describe something using miles????

My opinions are that the motorway network is far from done. I'm working on a dissertation of my own at the moment, and from looking at traffic levels it seems what while HGV traffic is down, private car traffic is still rising (just not as quickly). We could be in for a shock when the economy picks up.

Also as a civil engineer who worked in road design I'd appreciate the employment...

I'll always use rail when I can plan a journey in advance. €22 rtn Dublin to Cork, 2hrs 40mins, free wifi and the ability to wander around the train. Beats the bus every time. The only plus that buses have are last minute fares. My car was written off during the floods last October and I haven't been able to afford replace it yet. To tell you the truth, I haven't really missed it (my wife has though).

spacetweek

Done. And please use km.

richiek83

Done, best of luck with your dissertation.