Busses to/from UL....SHAMBLES!

SarahBeep!

This was on a bus routes thread in the Limerick forum, it's a petition going to BE on Friday against the changes to the UL bus route!

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/ulbusroutes/

lanysmiles:)

I think that the SU should get someone to note down the times that buses get to ul, and how regular the gaps between buses is, if its irregular then there is a case for bus eireann to work with, ya know?

I'm just saying that it would make a more compelling case rather than one bolstered with anecdotes instead of facts, and if you had the facts (of arrival times) then you might be listened to?

KealanOCarroll

lanysmiles:) wrote: »

I think that the SU should get someone to note down the times that buses get to ul, and how regular the gaps between buses is, if its irregular then there is a case for bus eireann to work with, ya know?

I'm just saying that it would make a more compelling case rather than one bolstered with anecdotes instead of facts, and if you had the facts (of arrival times) then you might be listened to?

+1


It'd be some horrible job sitting there for 5 days non stop writing down the times but in fairness this is the way to do it properly, go to them with a list of arrival / departure times rather than just say their always er..."really" late

Jester252

I don't get why people are pissed at the route change. It not where the bus goes its the quality of the service that the problem. BE have pretty crappy service I have waited many winter night for over an hour for a bus when a bus is meant to come every hour.

Ave Sodalis

Still standing outside gamestop in the rain, experiencing exactly how bad BEs service is...

Edit... On the plus side, there's a dude who looks like the old man out of UP

Polar Ice

Jester252 wrote: »

I don't get why people are pissed at the route change.

It's a good point. Are people just pissed with the frequency of the new service or do they not like the actual route too? They're different points, but the petition includes both under the one heading.

From the sounds of it people are primarily annoyed with the frequency of service.

Ave Sodalis

Polar Ice wrote: »

It's a good point. Are people just pissed with the frequency of the new service or do they not like the actual route too? They're different points, but the petition includes both under the one heading.

From the sounds of it people are primarily annoyed with the frequency of service.

I think its how the new route has affected the frequency of the service but it all bottles down to frequency. I've been here an hour now, bus finally came, driver got off, no other driver insight. Got on eurobus which came then and still sitting here.

Chris Martin

Likewise,
For a bus that's supposed to come every 15 minutes,
I've waited for 40 minutes+ on many occasions..
Luckily when I do get the bus, it isn't usually for to go to college,
But imagine how many people have missed lectures and things due to it...
Granted, you can't control the traffic of the cars around you,
But it's being this late constantly takes away the right to call their route one that runs every 15 minutes...
I've also noticed the lack of the poster boasting their 97% or so reliability and punctuality rate.
You can tell as well when a bus hasn't turned up due to the massive crowd outside bus stop,
So even though you might be on time for a bus,
You may be denied on it due to crowds..
Has happened to me more than once,
Plus if you do get on it,
Nothing worse than 20 minutes on accelerating and braking and roundabouts whilst trying to steady yourself on the combination of a sliver of a metal bar and the other people around you...

J_E

I nearly missed an exam last semester relying on that bus...never again.

sceptre

lanysmiles:) wrote: »

I think that the SU should get someone to note down the times that buses get to ul, and how regular the gaps between buses is, if its irregular then there is a case for bus eireann to work with, ya know?

I'm just saying that it would make a more compelling case rather than one bolstered with anecdotes instead of facts, and if you had the facts (of arrival times) then you might be listened to?

That's a good suggestion. Crappy job but it's been done before to hammer home the point (in 2005/06 or so if I remember rightly). Facts beat anecdotes every time.

I've heard that they're making changes after next Sunday. Unofficial opinion from a person without the power to make those changes so may or may not be true - regard as possible but no more. I took alternative transport from UL to the city when there should have been a bus on the way to UL for 11pm and didn't spot an outbound one the whole way in. If you can't get your buses there on schedule at that hour of the night, there's something seriously wrong.

The funky thing is of course that the old service, unreliable as it was, operated on a semi-metro basis - there were times posted for the two ends of the service but none for intermediate stops. The new one offers a timetable containing departure times for a chunk of stops on the route but, by and large, fails to meet any of them. I've previously said that the old timetable was only barely more useful than a "bus will arrive some time, dude" statement on the timetable but the new one offers an authoritative reference to an ostensibly reliable service that anecdotally doesn't exist anywhere but on paper. Someone invested time (and thence money) into compiling this mythical magical timetable. There's the unkindest cut of all (unless you're depending on a bus that doesn't arrive, in which case that's rather more unkind).

Slow as I am to get dramatic in a tabloid manner, non-arriving buses during the day are a damned inconvenience while non-arriving buses after dark are putting in danger those who are waiting for the bus to get them home safely.

YFlyer

Chris Martin wrote: »

Likewise,

Nothing worse than 20 minutes on accelerating and braking and roundabouts whilst trying to steady yourself on the combination of a sliver of a metal bar and the other people around you...

The bus drivers are dicks with them braking hard all the time. Wonder was the crash into the back of the car up by TK Maxx during the summer time due to this?

Chris Martin

YFlyer wrote: »

The bus drivers are dicks with them braking hard all the time. Wonder was the crash into the back of the car up by TK Maxx during the summer time due to this?

Never heard of it but wouldn't put it past it..
When you know the bus is full of people standing up,
I don't understand why you would feel compelled to get as close as possible to the car in front of you, using a series of sharp accelerating and braking..

I'm astounded there hasn't been more bus accidents,
I struggle to keep my balance when I've to stand at the front of the bus,
And although I'm no ballerina, I'm definitely not the worst...

Another thing that is head-wrecking to say the least,
Is when you're the last person on the bus,
And the driver doesn't give you 5 seconds to find a seat,
Just that sharp acceleration, then slows down to his normal speed.
Nearly met my end on a few occasions that way..

Walking in today, passing the UL arena, I saw a bus jam packed full of people..
About 30 seconds later, another BE bus with about 5 people on it drove past..
I've no doubt that the second one will have caught up to the first one, probably even passed it.
That's half an hours worth of buses in 30 seconds.
Made me think how long the first crowd had been waiting.

I never take the bus anymore especially at night with all the drunks getting on. It's a pleasant 60 minute walk to my city centre abode.

jessoneal34

I might be studying abroad at UL next year - will be bringing my pup. Any idea if local transporation allow dogs on board?

Never seen one on the buses Jess. No idea whether the taxis allow it but I seriously doubt it. I'd check where you'll be staying as well because landlords will forbid it also.

sceptre

The only dogs allowed on the buses are guide dogs accompanying people who have a Registered Blind Person's pass. (see here). Non-starter. Taxis, depends on the driver but probably the same.

Victor

Give this man some thanks!

dublinbusstuff wrote: »

For anyone else who found the Bus Eireann line map confusing with regards to where the buses actually went, I've put a map up at the following link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dublinbusstuff/8100953944/in/photostream

Add any corrections to that thread.