Anyone know the story with the 145 around midday?

Overthrow

I get the southbound 145 twice a week. For my arrival time, the ideal bus is around 12pm-12.10 from Leeson Street area. I've noticed with the real time info that there's nearly always a gap around this time, where the next bus can be 20 minutes rather than every 10 minutes as scheduled.

Just wondering is there a scheduling discrepancy I should be aware of to make my leaving the house time more definite.

Thanks

foggy_lad

Overthrow wrote: »

I get the southbound 145 twice a week. For my arrival time, the ideal bus is around 12pm-12.10 from Leeson Street area. I've noticed with the real time info that there's nearly always a gap around this time, where the next bus can be 20 minutes rather than every 10 minutes as scheduled.

Just wondering is there a scheduling discrepancy I should be aware of to make my leaving the house time more definite.

Thanks

Sometimes buses just don't leave Heuston on time, maybe they are just late running and drivers have to be entitled to take their breaks or maybe some drivers are having an extended chat or unofficial union meetings, the resulting 3-5 minute delay can end up being ten minutes by the time the bus gets to Leeson street.

markpb

There's a thread on the RUI forum where people have reported that the DB inspector at Heuston sometimes regulates departures from there. They don't seem to know why though.

AlekSmart

foggy_lad wrote: »

Sometimes buses just don't leave Heuston on time, maybe they are just late running and drivers have to be entitled to take their breaks or maybe some drivers are having an extended chat or unofficial union meetings, the resulting 3-5 minute delay can end up being ten minutes by the time the bus gets to Leeson street.

Hmmmm,as Foggy well knows,Buses in Dublin would be highly unlikely to be "running late" and,as he equally well knows,the drivers concerned most probably ate the day before and so would not be "entitled" to eat again so soon after....therefore I agree it more likely those pesky Drivers were indeed having an extended chat and/or an unofficial Union Meeting.

Therefore,with yet another display of his unique insight into the Real World of Irish Public Transport,I propose Foggy_Lad for the new dual-role of Minister for Transport and CEO of the National Transport Authority,so step aside please Leo Varadakar and Gerry Murphy your P45's (along with mine) are in the post !

The_Wrecker

Overthrow wrote: »

I get the southbound 145 twice a week. For my arrival time, the ideal bus is around 12pm-12.10 from Leeson Street area. I've noticed with the real time info that there's nearly always a gap around this time, where the next bus can be 20 minutes rather than every 10 minutes as scheduled.

Just wondering is there a scheduling discrepancy I should be aware of to make my leaving the house time more definite.

Thanks

All it takes is one train, 50 passengers, 30 of them with paper money, off to get change, missed another green light...... Delayed and then the bunching begins.

markpb

The_Wrecker wrote: »

All it takes is one train, 50 passengers, 30 of them with paper money, off to get change, missed another green light...... Delayed and then the bunching begins.

Ticket machines at the bus stop could help if that's actually a problem. Sort of like the DB ticket machines at the airport or the Luas ticket machines all over their network. Sometimes DB shoot themselves in the foot and have no-one else to blame.

coylemj

Even if the 145s left bang on every 10 minutes from Heuston, there is a number of significant bottlenecks before they get to Leeson St. which ensure that they are not evenly spaced apart when they get to you...

• Crossing the Liffey at the new bridge beside Kingsbridge
• O'Connell Bridge/Bachelors Walk
• O'Connell Bridge/Burgh Quay
• Corner of St Stephens Green and Leeson St. - the buses have a major problem with brain dead thicko cyclists who refuse to get the f**k out of the way at these lights and let the 46A and 145 buses turn left

markpb

coylemj wrote: »

Corner of St Stephens Green and Leeson St. - the buses have a major problem with brain dead thicko cyclists who refuse to get the f**k out of the way at these lights and let the bus turn left

Of course, buses going south on Earlsfort Terrace also cause the same problem.

The QBN office had a plan years ago to widen the southbound contraflow lane to two lanes which would allow one lane for turning left and one for straight-ahead traffic. I wonder why it never went ahead.

Tragedy

There is a 21-25min delay on northbound 145's heading into the city centre seemingly every weekday - and has been since the new timetable.

3 145's operate together and leave a minimum of 20mins before the next.

Latest was last Friday, N11 opposite St John of God - 3 145 buses arrived together between 17:39 and 17:40, next bus wasn't scheduled to arrive (according to RTPI) until at least 18:03.

Used to catch my g/f all the time as she would be trying to get the same 145 after Donnybrook to catch the 19:00 Cork train, if she missed the three 145's she faced potentially missing her train.


Any point contacting the depot and asking if they might look at altering the timetable slightly?

Cookie_Monster

Used to be one of those would run untimetabled as a 3 back to UCD around then, maybe that accounts for one of them...

Tragedy

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

Used to be one of those would run untimetabled as a 3 back to UCD around then, maybe that accounts for one of them...

All three were still together in donnybrook village as we went by in a taxi!

Cuddlesworth

markpb wrote: »

Of course, buses going south on Earlsfort Terrace also cause the same problem.

The QBN office had a plan years ago to widen the southbound contraflow lane to two lanes which would allow one lane for turning left and one for straight-ahead traffic. I wonder why it never went ahead.

Thinking about it, I'd say there would be a huge problem with people driving down the wrong side by accident.

AlekSmart

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

Thinking about it, I'd say there would be a huge problem with people driving down the wrong side by accident.

That very "Problem" has existed on Earlsfort Terrace since the Bus Lanes inception there....in BOTH directions...it would appear that no amount of signage,road-markings etc can penetrate the cloud which hangs over many drivers as they text,talk, peruse the (outdated) Sat Nav etc etc etc......

Even MORE exhilatering is meeting a spiritedly driver motoring car proceeding purposefully Southbound along St Stephens Green East after hanging a hard Left exiting hume street and turning to AVOID the Bus Lane.....:eek:

AlekSmart

Tragedy wrote: »

Any point contacting the depot and asking if they might look at altering the timetable slightly?

Tragedy,there is NO point whatever in contacting the Garage on this incidence.....the ONLY company number which may produce a result is 8743222.

Personally I would also bend the NTA's ear,as if they are to be believed,they want to improve such matters....8798300

Irish complainers have a long and proud history of getting stuck-right-in to the Monkey whilst going all silent when the Organ-Grinder comes ambling along sometime after the event....;)

ArmaniJeanss

coylemj wrote: »

[*]Corner of St Stephens Green and Leeson St. - the buses have a major problem with brain dead thicko cyclists who refuse to get the f**k out of the way at these lights and let the 46A and 145 buses turn left
[/LIST]

Are they under any obligation to do so?
There is only one lane, so isn't anyone going straight on entitled to hold the lane and wait for a green light? Personally I'd always make the effort to get out of the way as long as I consider it safe, but I'd never feel a 'brain dead thicko' if I didn't feel it was safe at that particular moment.


Also at this junction, DB have done the likes of the 46A,145,11 etc no favours by suddenly changing the route of the good frequency 140 to go straight onto Earlsfort Terrace instead of also turning left.

markpb

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

Are they under any obligation to do so?

Technically, they shouldn't be there because it's a contra flow bus lane and not a bus-only street. In practice, even the slowest of cyclists will be many times faster than any bus along that street so no-one cares but they really shouldn't block buses at the end. In most cases I'd imagine they don't realise the traffic light sequence.

AlekSmart

markpb wrote: »

Technically, they shouldn't be there because it's a contra flow bus lane and not a bus-only street. In practice, even the slowest of cyclists will be many times faster than any bus along that street so no-one cares but they really shouldn't block buses at the end. In most cases I'd imagine they don't realise the traffic light sequence.

The actual location being referred to is St Stephens Green East/Leeson St.

The cyclists in question are on St Stephens Green East which is one of the few Cycle-Free lanes in Dublin City.

The Bus Lane here is Bus Specific and has statutory signage to indicate it does NOT cater for cyclists.

ArmaniJeanss

AlekSmart wrote: »

The Bus Lane here is Bus Specific and has statutory signage to indicate it does NOT cater for cyclists.

You sure? I've never seen any signs and I'm just after walking in on googlemap streetview and theres no such signage I can see.

Theres signs saying buses only and Bus Lane on the ground, but theres nothing to say 'it does NOT cater for cyclists'.

Conversely theres nothing expressly stating that cyclists are allowed ???

Cookie_Monster

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

You sure? I've never seen any signs and I'm just after walking in on googlemap streetview and theres no such signage I can see.

Theres signs saying buses only and Bus Lane on the ground, but theres nothing to say 'it does NOT cater for cyclists'.

Conversely theres nothing expressly stating that cyclists are allowed ???

http://www.rulesoftheroad.ie/rules-for-driving/traffic-signs-road-markings/buses.html
ROTR, it's a contra flow lane and only buses are allowed.

A contra-flow bus lane runs in the opposite direction to the traffic beside it. It is reserved only for buses, which means that no other traffic may use it, day or night.

AlekSmart

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

You sure? I've never seen any signs and I'm just after walking in on googlemap streetview and theres no such signage I can see.

Theres signs saying buses only and Bus Lane on the ground, but theres nothing to say 'it does NOT cater for cyclists'.

Conversely theres nothing expressly stating that cyclists are allowed ???

Google can indeed be your friend...:)

However sometimes there is an alternative.....

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1997/en/si/0182.html#zzsi182y1997a14





http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1997/en/si/0182.html#zzsi182y1997a32

(2) A person shall not enter a bus lane with a vehicle other than an omnibus or a pedal cycle during the period of operation of the bus lane which shall be indicated on an information plate.


(3) A person shall not enter a contra flow bus lane with a vehicle other than an omnibus.

There's other relevant stuff available to those who want to hunt it down,but St Stephens Green East from the Junction with St Stephens Green North to the Junction with Leeson St is Bus Only I'm afraid,pending whatever safety critical improvements required to make it safe....for everybody...;)

DO have particular regard for the actual Bus Lane statutory sign...sometimes the divil is in the detail......

BenShermin

Alex this may open a can of worms:D.

Below is the link of google streetview showing a sign outlawing cars from the contra-flow bus lane. This is at Grattan Cresent, Sarsfield Road junction in Inchicore.

https://maps.google.ie/?ll=53.341251,-6.319499&spn=0.000051,0.042272&t=m&z=15&layer=c&cbll=53.341186,-6.319609&panoid=5KLUfLra1NPwQ4XgHVkR9w&cbp=12,357.93,,1,0.37

So in this case who's right, the sign or point 3) of the Statute book above

Cookie_Monster

I wouldn't really call that a contra flow bus lane though.
It's one direction of the road which has been converted soley to a bus lane, does that automatically make it contra flow....

CIE

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

I wouldn't really call that a contra flow bus lane though.
It's one direction of the road which has been converted solely to a bus lane, does that automatically make it contra flow....

The lane on Grattan Crescent is not contra-flow. The one on Sarsfield Road still is though. (Things are way overdue for widening the railway bridge on Sarsfield Road and converting it to two-way once and for all, IMV.)

Contra-flow lanes are like the Sarsfield Road one, and the one on Leeson Street between St Stephen's Green East and Upper Pembroke Street. The most interesting contra-flow bus lane that once existed in Dublin, however, was the one on Parliament Street, which had the buses run on the right side of the street (routes 78/A/B) when running between Cork Hill and East Essex Street to get to Fleet Street, back when buses used to run via Temple Bar to get to Fleet Street. (The former bus lane is now part of the widened footpath. Sometimes buses from the Ringsend Garage routes e.g. 49, 50, 65, would run that way, I presume in order to bypass any congestion on Dame Street.)