More fare rises, cuts and redundancies on the way

Cookie_Monster

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/bus-and-rail-users-face-years-of-fare-increases-3293793.html

BUS and rail passengers will be hit with years of repeated fare hikes as the cash crisis deepens in state transport companies.

Job losses are also on the cards as Dublin Bus, Bus Eireann and Iarnrod Eireann desperately try to avoid going out of business, the Irish Independent has learned.

Routes with low passenger numbers face the prospect of being axed or having services severely reduced.

CIE is desperately trying to turn around a €40m loss last year to a break-even situation in 2013.

But its unpublished annual report for 2011 shows that its financial crisis became so acute that banks refused to lend any more money.

Same old same old in CIE it seems, falling revenue so raise fares :rolleyes:

Seems even the auditors have lost faith in them, a pretty impressive feat to be able to accomplish:

While the CIE deficit is now €6m compared with €53m in 2010 thanks to cost-cutting, auditors PWC also warned of question marks over the company’s ability to survive.

The accounts show a ”material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt about the group’s and company’s ability to continue as a going concern”.

I wonder where the picture came from?

Conway635

[QUOTE=Cookie_Monster;81738113



I wonder where the picture came from?
[/QUOTE]


Presumably, when the journalist in question thinks of Irish public transport a vista of sleek modern vehicles gliding along a segregated busway in the midst of a beautifully landscaped streetscape springs automatically to mind.

Me, I tend to think of the mess that is Westmoreland Street . . .

C635

BraziliaNZ

Everything just gets worse and worse. I never used to use buses when I lived in Dublin due to the extortionate prices, but luckily I lived within 10k of the city centre where I worked so I could cycle every day. I urge you all to get on your bikes!

munchkin_utd

Only Bus Eireann recorded a surplus last year, of €500,000. Iarnrod Eireann lost €22m and Dublin Bus lost €18m.

How does Dublin Bus loose so much money?
Living abroad I wouldnt be on their services all that often but anytime I do its never been an empty bus regardless of time of day or day of the week.

Were they not breaking even or there about's only a few years ago? What has changed?

monument

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/bus-and-rail-users-face-years-of-fare-increases-3293793.html




Same old same old in CIE it seems, falling revenue so raise fares :rolleyes:

Seems even the auditors have lost faith in them, a pretty impressive feat to be able to accomplish:



I wonder where the picture came from?

The picture came from the report on BRT for Dublin, thread here: http://touch.boards.ie/thread/2056802987?page=1#post_81736557

the groutch

DB only know one way of "dealing" with losses, cut services and increase fares.
It's only a matter of time til this kicking of the can down the road catches up with them.

EricPraline

the groutch wrote: »

DB only know one way of "dealing" with losses, cut services and increase fares.
It's only a matter of time til this kicking of the can down the road catches up with them.

Completely agree. DB and Irish Rail appear to be locked in a cycle of increasing fares, cutting services, and then blaming the resulting falling passenger numbers/revenues on anybody but themselves.

LXFlyer

To be fair to Dublin Bus, you cannot seriously be suggesting that there was not overcapacity in recent times?

There were buses going around carrying very few people and frankly if that is the case then the services need to be cut back to be in line with demand.

The increase in fares is not helped in any small measure by to the government slashing the PSO subsidy and at the same time removing the fuel duty rebate. Virtually every other operator in the country has increased fares at the same time to counteract this.

People need to get real here. The companies can't operate in a vacuum. Cutting fares will not suddenly result in a huge corresponding increase in passenger numbers. Urban public transport is not that price elastic, and it can be that they frankly have no option to increase fares.

As I've repeatedly said here, current government policy is to shift the funding of public transport away from the state and onto the users and people need to wake up to that.

dowlingm

And the answer is what? All CIE staff work for free? All pensions defaulted on? Run Dublin Bus on diesel laundered in South Armagh?

Simply saying "hand it over to the private sector" avoids the discussion of how CIE's legacy costs will be paid operating on an ever shrinking network which will of necessity require shrinking the subsidy further.

But I'm sure there's a good chance we're about to be treated to yet another thread where the Labour Court and the High Court can be Jedi-mind-tricked into forgetting what the words "industrial relations" and "employment rights" mean.

Jaysoose

dowlingm wrote: »

And the answer is what? All CIE staff work for free? All pensions defaulted on? Run Dublin Bus on diesel laundered in South Armagh?

Simply saying "hand it over to the private sector" avoids the discussion of how CIE's legacy costs will be paid operating on an ever shrinking network which will of necessity require shrinking the subsidy further.

But I'm sure there's a good chance we're about to be treated to yet another thread where the Labour Court and the High Court can be Jedi-mind-tricked into forgetting what the words "industrial relations" and "employment rights" mean.

So its not dublin bus or CIE's fault they are incapable of running a service and breaking even when they have exclusive rights and are subsidised by the government?

Years of ignoring the real issues have caught up with them, its as simple as that.

LXFlyer

Jaysoose wrote: »

So its not dublin bus or CIE's fault they are incapable of running a service and breaking even when they have exclusive rights and are subsidised by the government?

Years of ignoring the real issues have caught up with them, its as simple as that.

While there is a certain element of truth in the fact that the CIE group should have been far more responsive to cost cutting, they did suffer from significant political interference over the years which prevented them from cutting uneconomic services that were carrying very few passengers. There were numerous occasions where the companies were refused permission to cut services by ministers who were afraid of losing votes.

It was only after the Deloitte report was published that the political will changed and the companies were encouraged to cut back these services.

Hungerford

Four key figures from the report:

Dublin Bus loss - €18 million
Irish Rail loss - €22 million
Total loss - €40 million

Subvention cut - €41.4 million
Diesel rebate cut - €24 million
Money withdrawn by Government - €65.4 million

I suspect Leo and the boys may be manufacturing the crisis here for some reason...

AlekSmart

Hungerford wrote: »

Four key figures from the report:

Dublin Bus loss - €18 million
Irish Rail loss - €22 million
Total loss - €40 million

Subvention cut - €41.4 million
Diesel rebate cut - €24 million
Money withdrawn by Government - €65.4 million

I suspect Leo and the boys may be manufacturing the crisis here for some reason...

There is indeed a mounting suspicion that certain elements of the coalition (not the usual suspects mind you) are engaged in some form of attempt to remodel our Public Transport system.

When one looks at the hugely lacklustre launch of Leapcard,and the incredible reluctance to use it as a business generation tool across ALL PT modes then one has to speculate as to the acumen of the people at the Top.

This is the time to CUT PT fares across the board and to use all the shiny new hi-tech (and expensive) infrastructure to the maximum benefit of those now only beginning to suffer the effects of the depression.

Leo V,however appears still in the thrall of a small band of Departmental people who envision a "New Dawn" of private entreprenurial investment.....

However,these same enthusiasts appear unaware that those big-buck mega-operators have had significant problems of their own,particularly (tho not exclusively) in the UK.

As a result,it's noteworthy that the NTA in it's request for submissions on the possibility of Tendering,refers to a situation where the current Direct Award may be continued should it be found desireable.

We have,in a short time gone from a situation where the major UK groups all had teams over in Dublin on fact-finding missions,to one where the NTA has to advertise in the European Journal for potential interested parties....Oh how have the mighty fallen.

Mind you,as Conway635 points out,one look at Westmoreland Street on any given day was surely enough to send them packing !!!!

CIE

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

Bus and rail users face years of fare increases – Irish Independent

Bus and rail passengers will be hit with years of repeated fare hikes as the cash crisis deepens in state transport companies.

Job losses are also on the cards as Dublin Bus, Bus Eireann and Iarnrod Eireann desperately try to avoid going out of business, the Irish Independent has learned.

Routes with low passenger numbers face the prospect of being axed or having services severely reduced.

CIE is desperately trying to turn around a €40m loss last year to a break-even situation in 2013.

But its unpublished annual report for 2011 shows that its financial crisis became so acute that banks refused to lend any more money. ...

Same old same old in CIE it seems, falling revenue so raise fares :rolleyes:

Seems even the auditors have lost faith in them, a pretty impressive feat to be able to accomplish...

While the CIE deficit is now €6m compared with €53m in 2010 thanks to cost-cutting, auditors PWC also warned of question marks over the company’s ability to survive.

The accounts show a ”material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt about the group’s and company’s ability to continue as a going concern”. ...

Prepare for more cars on the road and longer tailbacks, then. Higher fares do not necessarily mean more revenue, and fewer services definitely mean less revenue.

As far as CIE's losses, they were fixing what was not broken (mainly excessive capital purchases of vehicles, replacing viable vehicles needlessly) and not fixing what was (infrastructure, bus/rail frequencies, and so on).

The photo is of the BRT system in Nantes, France, BTW.

n97 mini

AlekSmart wrote: »

There is indeed a mounting suspicion that certain elements of the coalition (not the usual suspects mind you) are engaged in some form of attempt to remodel our Public Transport system.

Why on earth would they think it needs to be remodelled? :eek:

schemingbohemia

CIE wrote: »

Prepare for more cars on the road and longer tailbacks, then. Higher fares do not necessarily mean more revenue, and fewer services definitely mean less revenue.

As far as CIE's losses, they were fixing what was not broken (mainly excessive capital purchases of vehicles, replacing viable vehicles needlessly) and not fixing what was (infrastructure, bus/rail frequencies, and so on).

The photo is of the BRT system in Nantes, France, BTW.

The part in bold is not necessarily true, fewer services that had no-one travelling on them thus forcing people to use the services that remain could mean same number of passengers allied to increased fares and a reduction in costs means a benefit to the operator. There's a certain inelasticity involved in public transport.

davidlacey

the problem is accountability, dick fearn is strolling off from an IE that may on the whole have new or refurbished rolling stock and loads of rolling stocking sitting in wastage before its sell by date, speeds have not increased, problems have not been sorted i.e single line to sligo and integrated thinking between all the public transport networks have been all too slow in coming to the fore, dublin bus is again an easy one to spot, raising fares means lower passenger number especially when the service had not improved and it can be a very inconvinent service especially routes that serve every housing estate in the city and beyond and dont even get me started with RTPI system which is junk, the network direct progtamme streamlined alot of routes and i believe has been a failed plan which planned to be a more direct service but has turned out to be cost cutting gone wrong. apparently from a number of dublin bus drivers from the donnybrook garage they say that they are very short with drivers and that many drivers are working extra days and overtime that comes at a high premium rate whichcould be easily avoided by having the right people in the right place at the right time, its the same old problem a semi state company that gets subvented by us the taxpayer but yet have NO accountability whatsoever just like our failed banks

CIE

schemingbohemia wrote: »

The part in bold is not necessarily true, fewer services that had no-one travelling on them thus forcing people to use the services that remain could mean same number of passengers allied to increased fares and a reduction in costs means a benefit to the operator. There's a certain inelasticity involved in public transport

No. Not even when petrol starts to become unaffordable; you'll see an increase in carpooling before any of that. And the public transport operator will continue to cry poor-pockets all the while.

currins_02

Great discussion folks.

A few points that I think may be relevant:
1) The fuel rebate was lost back around 2008/2009 if I remeber rightly, as such I think it's unfair to use it as some sort of "new" contributiing factor to CIE's performance in 2011. It was removed by the previous government so the current clowns can't be accused of that either. The impact was universal across the industry so, again, it is unfair to say that the removal of the rebate was in some way contrived to hamper CIE long term. In fact many small private operators have ceased trading as a result (especially smaller guys specialising in school transport)
2) I fully agree cut in subvention has had an impact but surely a certain amount of this has been counteracted by the influx of many completely free vehicles into CIE for PSO services. These vehicles are purchased by the NTA and given to CIE free of charge (granted they must maintain, fuel them etc but they are getting out of the initial purchase price of approximately €250,000 per coach) and I would reckon the cut in subvention is not as big when offset against the value of free vehicles received. At a conservative guess they received €20-€30million of free vehicles in 2011/2012 alone (with prior vehicles coming in on a similar basis in 2008) from the NTA alongside those they purchased themselves. The NTA vehicles are supposed to be used exclusively on PSO routes but it must be said some depots are better at maintaining this exclusivity than others. I know the vehicles arrived in 2012 but bear in mind deposits and contracts would have been issued in the 2011 trading year (it takes 3-4months from order to get a new bus) so the impact of the new buses must be spread, in my mind, across the 2 years. I believe most manufacturers are now demanding up front deposits of 10-20% prior to building any vehicle or batch of vehicles, regardless of the size of order or organisation.

I would love to see CIE survive but the cost base must be addressed. By international comparisons the costs are too high. Look at the staffing level in Bus Aras compared with Victoria station in London. Victoria handles a multiple of the number of departures per day but equally has a fraction of the staff. That's not even looking at the wages levels or allowance levels of those staff.

ballooba

lxflyer wrote: »

People need to get real here. The companies can't operate in a vacuum. Cutting fares will not suddenly result in a huge corresponding increase in passenger numbers. Urban public transport is not that price elastic, and it can be that they frankly have no option to increase fares.

I've stopped taking the bus and now walk. That's partially because it's healthier and more enjoyable, but also because I resent the ever increasing fares. It's a 45 minute walk each way or a 30 minute bus ride.

Conway635

Just to stick in my own personal view.

I'm lucky to be in the position of being able to take either the car, or public transport to and from work, depending on my preferences. (I know that many people have no such real choice, either due to finances (can't afford car) or practacalities (journey too far/too complex for easy PT).

I keep using the public transport option for the most part because it is easier (far less stressful crossing city centre by bus than inching through gridlocked Macken Street or eastlink in the car) and also because using bus or bus/tram foces me to be a little more active (all those walks to or between stops add up over the course of a week).

For me personally, price increases will not be the dealbreaker that drive me away from public transport. Service cuts and/or personal security would be more likely to rebalance me in favour of the car.

Security is the big one - not neccessarily on bus/tram, but in general on the street - I avoid using the bus late at night in Dublin, not because of the journey itself, but because of the unsafety of the streets and waiting areas. This is an issue beyond the control of the operator, and one for society.

Overall, it is still marginally easier for me to use the bus than the car in Dublin, so I do so most of the time.

In London, it is way more difficult and stressful to drive than to use the public transport options, so when living there I virtually never took the car inside the Zone 1/2/3 area.

As regards CIE, I think that a bit of competition through tendering (rather than deregulation) would sharpen everyone's focus, and wake a lot of people up to the need to actually provide service to, and value for, the customer.

Also, there are some routes - 44B being just one example - which would in all probability be far more economically run by a small, local operator.

C635

stop

National Transport Authority sets “significant” increases to protect service delivery

Leap Card fares increase – but are still much cheaper than cash

http://www.nationaltransport.ie/news/fares-increase-november-2012/

http://www.nationaltransport.ie/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Determination-order-for-cash-Leap-and-prepaid-ticket-fares-November-2012.pdf

16.28% increase for the Travel 90, nearly 7% more than DB wanted, now going up to €25.
Seems its the NTAs policy to kill this ticket for single journeys so that more people will use leap. :mad:

Yakuza

New DB cash fares increase by an "average" 10.69% -
1-3 Stages 17.9
4-7 Stages 13.2
7-13 Stages 11.6
Over 13 Stages 5.7
Child
Schoolchild 6.67
1-7 Stages 11.1
Over 7 Stages 8.7
but I'm thinking the overwhelming bulk of their revenue is the first three categories which has an average of 14.2% - many multiples of the current inflation level.

I use the 30-day rambler which works out at just under €4 a day, but partially due to reduced service (and a desire to get fit!) I cycle the 15k round trip to work 3-4 days a week, so I guess I'm to blame for their falling revenues!

n97 mini

So much for integrating the likes of Travel 90 into Leap. At €25 it's more expensive than 10 x Leap card €2.45 journeys.

That's very cynical.

EricPraline

schemingbohemia wrote: »

The part in bold is not necessarily true, fewer services that had no-one travelling on them thus forcing people to use the services that remain could mean same number of passengers allied to increased fares and a reduction in costs means a benefit to the operator.

The false assumption here is that commuters will automatically move from one bus route to another. In many cases this will simply not be feasible, especially in areas that are already poorly served by bus services.

So in reality, rather than forcing people to use the alternative services that remain, you're forcing people to switch to commuting by car, bicycle etc. Hard to see how this will be a benefit to the operator.

sligotrain

Simply ridiculous - CIE should be cutting fares to encourage more people onto their services.

jacko1

n97 mini wrote: »

So much for integrating the likes of Travel 90 into Leap. At €25 it's more expensive than 10 x Leap card €2.45 journeys.

That's very cynical.

I for one will be buying a years sup!ply at the old price next week

SteM

stop wrote: »

National Transport Authority sets “significant” increases to protect service delivery

Leap Card fares increase – but are still much cheaper than cash

http://www.nationaltransport.ie/news/fares-increase-november-2012/

http://www.nationaltransport.ie/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Determination-order-for-cash-Leap-and-prepaid-ticket-fares-November-2012.pdf

16.28% increase for the Travel 90, nearly 7% more than DB wanted, now going up to €25.
Seems its the NTAs policy to kill this ticket for single journeys so that more people will use leap. :mad:

I can't believe this increase! Network direct has changed or curtailed some routes meaning people now have to take 2 busses instead on one, and now these people are being charged 16% more for that privilege. What a situation, talk about pushing people into cars.

the groutch

R.I.P. the T90

deRanged

they've been doing a lot of surveys on the Cork/Cobh/Midleton lines this week.
Hopefully not with a view to cutting services.

LeftBlank

deRanged wrote: »

they've been doing a lot of surveys on the Cork/Cobh/Midleton lines this week.
Hopefully not with a view to cutting services.

Surveys were carried out on all transport modes (rail, bus, luas, car) in Dublin this week.

jacko1

LeftBlank wrote: »

Surveys were carried out on all transport modes (rail, bus, luas, car) in Dublin this week.

i think they do an annual census of passengers

That's correct, I did it myself for Iarnród Éireann back in November 2007.

Very unimpressed with these increases, especially the Travel 90 hike. What is it with this country, to me it seems like those in charge do everything they can to discourage usage of public transport.

Trampas

only in ireland could you go in looking for an increase of x but could out with x + y.

empty or near empty buses and trains need to be cut.

to follow on from that maybe drivers should be on part time hours instead of full time (peak hours shifts)

i am on the 120 BE route and it is empty during the day and one every 30mins. The ones that just go to clane/properous should be all cut. 1 an hour is enough.

encourage people to buy annual passes.

how many routes have been put on due to some td/councilor even though nobody uses it.

LXFlyer

SteM wrote: »

I can't believe this increase! Network direct has changed or curtailed some routes meaning people now have to take 2 busses instead on one, and now these people are being charged 16% more for that privilege. What a situation, talk about pushing people into cars.

If people are paying cash fares, which the majority appear to still be doing, then if they switch to LEAP cards then the fares will either be the same or less.

As for Network Direct - for most people it's meant their buses are now going further cross-city - I'd suggest that those being forced to take 2 buses rather than 1 are in a minority.

bk

lxflyer wrote: »

If people are paying cash fares, which the majority appear to still be doing, then if they switch to LEAP cards then the fares will either be the same or less.

Excuses, excuses.

And for those who already use Leap it is still a 10% increase. Just too much!!

I already cycle, I will do so even more now. I guess many others will do to.

All these CIE companies are now well into a death spiral.

LXFlyer

I'm not making excuses for anyone - I'm simply pointing out that many people *can* avoid an increase.

The vast majority of people are still paying cash.

Cookie_Monster

lxflyer wrote: »

I'm not making excuses for anyone - I'm simply pointing out that many people *can* avoid an increase.

The vast majority of people are still paying cash.

Indeed and many people will avoid the increase simply by not using PT anymore, rather than simply moving to Leap which is still not fit for purpose

The_Wrecker

Ever since the short fare hit €1.40 the local market has dried up. The Dun laoghaire station - York rd/Glenageary area is no more. Bray station - the top of the road, gone.

The €1.65 fare has little future.

If the fare was €1, maybe the custom would come back?

SteM

lxflyer wrote: »

If people are paying cash fares, which the majority appear to still be doing, then if they switch to LEAP cards then the fares will either be the same or less.

As for Network Direct - for most people it's meant their buses are now going further cross-city - I'd suggest that those being forced to take 2 buses rather than 1 are in a minority.

Are you saying that a jump from 21.50 to 25.00 for the T90 is a justifiable jump? If a significant amount of people did not need to use 2 busses for their journey why did DB ever introduce a T90 ticket in the first place?

The LEAP card is a half-assed system which has been poorly implemented. People don't want to get one, keep it topped up and still have so much interaction with the driver. People using them slows down loading time as far as I can see.

SteM

SteM wrote: »

The LEAP card is a half-assed system which has been poorly implemented. People don't want to get one, keep it topped up and still have so much interaction with the driver. People using them slows down loading time as far as I can see.

Exactly. I hate that Leap still requires you to interact with the driver - it should be a tag on/tag off system. It's just as slow as paying with cash, if not slower.

Bobby42

And they're hardly gonna get more to change over to using the Leap now.

Get a Leap card, its cheaper than cash fares....oh wait we've just increased the Leap card fares. Well, its still cheaper compared to all the other fares we've hiked up.

Great marketing.

I'm so annoyed with the continuous increase in fares and pre paid tickets.

The 30 day student rambler was great value at 75 euro when I started college in 2010. It'll soon be approaching the 100 mark I'd imagine.

This approach will only see further reductions in passenger numbers.

Imagine a barman loosing customers and in order to tackle this he changes his prices from 5 for a pint to 8 euro for half a pint.

Great logic all of this . :mad:

Green Diesel

Daily cost for me to commute (Leixlip -> Glasnevin) by public transport is now:

Bus (2) = 66/a/b/d & 4/9/11/13 bus
€9.90 Leap bus only return
€5.00 Bus (T90) return
80-100 mins

Train + Bus
€8.90
50-70mins

Calendar based tickets don't suit

Car
diesel in Ford Focus (60mpg): €3.88
petrol in 2.0 turbo volvo s40 (34mpg): €6.85
25-45mins

So I'm firing up the Volvo these days

Richard tea

Should you not include the average cost of insurance, car tax & servicing in your calculations? - Green diesel

SimonTemplar

I need to use Dublin Bus due to financial and geographical reasons. I can't avoid using them. As a Dublin Bus customer, I've experienced:
- timetables that seem to be a work of fiction
- real time passenger information that can sometimes bear no resemblance to reality
- buses passing my stop because it is full even though the route starts just 3 stops back
- buses passing my stop because it is full only for 2 or 3 buses to arrive at the same time 20 minutes later
- rude bus drivers on power trips
- freezing cold buses on Winter mornings
- disgusting scumbags smoking on buses (about 2 or 3 times a week)

I'll be happy to give DB more of my money when they provide a service that approaches satisfactory.

vard

Get rid of the swathes of useless rail staff.

My local dart station the other day, I approached the counter looking to enquire about a ticket. I realised I had interrupted the fool from whatever game he was playing on his phone. He didn't even glance up at me, shrugged and gestured towards the ticket machine.

I'd love to say this is an occasional event, but unfortunately not. What are these people paid to do exactly? I walk through deserted stations where the staff outnumber passengers. They sit behind a glass box, only recently I saw 3 people in the one box: one with his feet up reading the paper and the other two buried in their phones.

Gets on my tits.

vard

Get rid of the swathes of useless rail staff.

My local dart station the other day, I approached the counter looking to enquire about a ticket. I realised I had interrupted the fool from whatever game he was playing on his phone. He didn't even glance up at me, shrugged and gestured towards the ticket machine.

I'd love to say this is an occasional event, but unfortunately not. What are these people paid to do exactly? I walk through deserted stations where the staff outnumber passengers. They sit behind a glass box, only recently I saw 3 people in the one box: one with his feet up reading the paper and the other two buried in their phones.

Gets on my tits.

cson

You know what; that was a super opportunity for CIE to get people onto the Leap Card if they just increased cash fares and left the Leap flat. What you'd lose in terms of the 10% in not putting Leap fares up you'd gain back from efficiencies in the cashless nature of it.

Green Diesel

Richard tea wrote: »

Should you not include the average cost of insurance, car tax & servicing in your calculations? - Green diesel

For total car costs yeah I should. But I'd have the car insured & taxed anyway for weekend / late night / holidays use.

But for clarity the motor tax is 660 & insurance is 320, so 980 for the year, so €2.68 a day extra. Servicing is cheap, around 50 quid for an oil change every 8,000 miles.

monument

Green Diesel wrote: »

Daily cost for me to commute (Leixlip -> Glasnevin) by public transport is now:

Bus (2) = 66/a/b/d & 4/9/11/13 bus
€9.90 Leap bus only return
€5.00 Bus (T90) return
80-100 mins

Train + Bus
€8.90
50-70mins

Calendar based tickets don't suit

Car
diesel in Ford Focus (60mpg): €3.88
petrol in 2.0 turbo volvo s40 (34mpg): €6.85
25-45mins

So I'm firing up the Volvo these days

Do the 5 day or 30 day tickets suit? They are not calendar based tickets:

"Valid for unlimited travel for 3 / 5 / 30 non-consecutive days"

Bus only tickets:
http://www.dublinbus.ie/en/Fares--Tickets/Tickets/2-Journey-Daily-Weekly/

Or the seven day bus and rail ticket:
http://www.dublinbus.ie/en/Fares--Tickets/Tickets/2-Journey-Daily-Weekly/Bus--Rail-Tickets/

But the monthly and yearly taxsaver tickets are the best value going: http://www.taxsaver.ie/Ticket-Calculator/Ticket-Calculator/

Green Diesel

The bus tickets are better value than the T90 now yeah, still left with a substantially longer commute though. Adult 30 day going up to 125 per 30 days, so €4.17 a day.

Bus and rail doesn't suit because some weeks I'd only be in 3 or 4 days so the consecutive requirement kills it.

Taxsaver is great but I can't avail of it as my employer doesn't participate in it.