Dublin city centre bus/coach parking/stops

devnull

If they own the land then I can't see private operators wanting to move there with very good reason. If however the land is acquired by a neutral third party such as the NTA or the DCC for instance then it might be more of a goer but the area would need have a bit of development done to it before it's in a fit state.

LXFlyer

Well perhaps the land should be taken off them by the NTA? I was hardly thinking that it would continue to be administered by CIE if being used by private operators.

Of course it would need developing - that's sort of obvious.

The point is, it's central and would provide a far safer location for loading long-distance coaches.

SandyfordGuy

So just to go over the facts.

1) CIE Employee on this thead recommends that private coach services are relocated from Westmoreland Street since it is too busy.
2) They recommend a new site which is run-down and in need of redevelopment
3) That site also happens to be owned by CIE.

Maybe I'm missing something here, but if the site is so good, and CIE own it, why do they not run their own services down there, if they are concerned about overcrowding? They could park out of service buses there and City Tour buses there instead of Westmoreland Street no?

Of course!
1) It allows them to remove their competitors from the most high profile city stops
2) It also allows them to keep an eye on their competitors since they will now be using CIE Land.
3) It allows them to gain money from charging their competition to use bus stop facilities, to prop their own services up with extra income.

It's a shame that once again the people who are CIE staff who originally proposed this site, and the usual people who back up everything CIE does, would propose it, when such situation may help the company they love.

How much other infrastructure do CIE own around the city that they are not using? If there are lots of roads like this then one has to say, why don't they sell the land, if they are not losing them, seeing as they claim finances are so desperate, or alternatively make some use of it if the city center is so crowded?

It's like an operator bidding for airport space to park coaches and buses in Dublin Airport, then going and parking them in the coach park to take up space, then complaining when the coach park is overcrowded.

devnull

lxflyer wrote: »

Well perhaps the land should be taken off them by the NTA? I was hardly thinking that it would continue to be administered by CIE if being used by private operators.

Do we have any idea how much the land is worth?

I don't see why private operators should be singled out here, if this is going to be done it has to be done in a fair fashion, which means not by operator, but neutrally. if this is to happen, and I'm not sure of the merits of it yet in my own mind, the following should go there.

1) Dualway Open Top Tours
2) Dublin Bus Open Top Tours
3) Visiting Coaches (which shouldn't be in Westmoreland Street anyway)
4) Dublin Coach
5) Aircoach Cork services
6) Ferry connect bus services
7) All Bus Eireann services
8) No buses to be parked up out of service for driver breaks.

We should not be moving services just because they are private and others are public as that is not a fair playing field then, because right now there is a bigger gap between them. There should never be the current segregation between the private companies and public when it comes to priority, the first thought should be for the passenger and not which company is deemed the most important. Thankfully the upcoming NTA numbering project for ALL licensed bus services is a step closer to this.

lucernarian

SandyfordGuy wrote: »

So just to go over the facts.

1) CIE Employee on this thead recommends that private coach services are relocated from Westmoreland Street since it is too busy.
2) They recommend a new site which is run-down and in need of redevelopment
3) That site also happens to be owned by CIE.

Maybe I'm missing something here, but if the site is so good, and CIE own it, why do they not run their own services down there, if they are concerned about overcrowding? They could park out of service buses there and City Tour buses there instead of Westmoreland Street no?

Of course!
1) It allows them to remove their competitors from the most high profile city stops
2) It also allows them to keep an eye on their competitors since they will now be using CIE Land.
3) It allows them to gain money from charging their competition to use bus stop facilities, to prop their own services up with extra income.

It's a shame that once again the people who are CIE staff who originally proposed this site, and the usual people who back up everything CIE does, would propose it, when such situation may help the company they love.

How much other infrastructure do CIE own around the city that they are not using? If there are lots of roads like this then one has to say, why don't they sell the land, if they are not losing them, seeing as they claim finances are so desperate, or alternatively make some use of it if the city center is so crowded?

It's like an operator bidding for airport space to park coaches and buses in Dublin Airport, then going and parking them in the coach park to take up space, then complaining when the coach park is overcrowded.

That's not a fair argument, I think most posters were of the feeling that long-distance services should be moved to the Strand St. site. Nobody said that the Bus Eireann 100X stop on Westmoreland St. should be regarded any differently and kept on Westmoreland St.

I suspect the solution for that is to simply have it use Suffolk St. and Eden quay only but that's an aside.

You're also ignoring calls made here by posters to have the site operated under the auspices of the NTA or some other agency, not CIÉ.

Also, what have city tour services of either the red or green kind have to do with developing a site for long-distance intercity bus services??

devnull

There are city tour services that are idling at Westmoreland Street for long periods to be fair, especially in the summer season which is blocking up access for ALL operators. Some of them are parked for hours at a time which are just selling tickets.

This is not so much of a problem this time a year but happens in the summer every year. The practice isn't just restricted to Westmoreland Street though, it happens at College Green and O'Connell Street too and something needs to be done.

The Suffolk Street issue is another one which could easily be solved to some degree by a better distribution of buses per stop and not having so many places stop at Westmoreland Street and Suffolk Street. There is no need to stop at both AND then O'Connell Street AND Parnell Square

lucernarian

devnull wrote:

I don't see why private operators should be singled out here, if this is going to be done it has to be done in a fair fashion, which means not by operator, but neutrally. if this is to happen, and I'm not sure of the merits of it yet in my own mind, the following should go there.

I don't see how private operators were singled out there. If the facility was used by both CIÉ and private operators, wouldn't it still be a good idea to have a neutral agency in charge of its operation and development? I would also think that if private operators were to use the site, it shouldn't be under the control/ownership of CIÉ. Who said that CIÉ couldn't use the site however?

bk

To_be_confirmed wrote: »

I'm not, I'm thinking of Airport-bound Aircoach services. I really haven't seen anything more than typically 5 or 6 people wait for a 16 at Westmoreland St. while I've seen far larger crowds wait for the next Aircoach to the airport. Yesterday evening for example. I'm just suprised at the claim as it's quite different to my own regular experiences. Also, do services from Cork to the airport pick up passengers from Westmoreland St for the airport? That would muddy the waters further.

I frequently use the 16 from Westmoreland St (it is my regular bus home) and there can often be 20 or more people boarding it at peak times.

The Aircoach Airport bound coaches I almost never see more then 5 or 6 people boarding there and yes, it parks, picks up and leaves very quickly, typically quicker then the 16.

The recent crowds at the Aircoach stop on Westmoreland St are usually for the Cork service.

I saw all of this last Friday evening while standing there for two hours waiting for the Aircoach to Cork. Big crowds for the Cork service, the Airport services relatively light and very quick dwell times.

I have to agree with others that I find it highly questionable that some CIE supporters are suggesting private operators be pushed out of one of the best stop locations in the city and which they have been using for years and instead forced into a relatively dodgy and unattractive location that is actually owned by CIE !!

devnull

My point is that some people are giving the impression that it should be a PRIVATE coach area when it shouldn't just be that, a two tier system is not the answer, saying that, yes, all Dublin Bus and Bus Eireann should use main roads but private should use side roads.

I agree it should be a neutral third party in charge of such area when there are going to be several different companies there, but then that should be the case for all bus stations IMHO.

SandyfordGuy

The trouble is, some people don't see the bigger picture.

LXFlyer

devnull wrote: »

Do we have any idea how much the land is worth?

I don't see why private operators should be singled out here, if this is going to be done it has to be done in a fair fashion, which means not by operator, but neutrally. if this is to happen, and I'm not sure of the merits of it yet in my own mind, the following should go there.

1) Dualway Open Top Tours
2) Dublin Bus Open Top Tours
3) Visiting Coaches (which shouldn't be in Westmoreland Street anyway)
4) Dublin Coach
5) Aircoach Cork services
6) Ferry connect bus services
7) All Bus Eireann services
8) No buses to be parked up out of service for driver breaks.

We should not be moving services just because they are private and others are public as that is not a fair playing field then, because right now there is a bigger gap between them. There should never be the current segregation between the private companies and public when it comes to priority, the first thought should be for the passenger and not which company is deemed the most important. Thankfully the upcoming NTA numbering project for ALL licensed bus services is a step closer to this.

I've no idea how much its worth but given its location, I'd say its worth quite a lot.

However, Dublin badly needs a second bus station for intercity coach services, and as CIE aren't prepared to use it for their own purposes then I think it should be opened up for redevelopment for all operators to use. As indeed I am on the record of posting here, so should all of the bus stations, which should all be run by an independent authority.

But on street loading of intercity services should be something we should be trying to eradicate.

lucernarian

devnull wrote: »

There are city tour services that are idling at Westmoreland Street for long periods to be fair, especially in the summer season which is blocking up access for ALL operators. Some of them are parked for hours at a time which are just selling tickets.

This is not so much of a problem this time a year but happens in the summer every year. The practice isn't just restricted to Westmoreland Street though, it happens at College Green and O'Connell Street too and something needs to be done.

The Suffolk Street issue is another one which could easily be solved to some degree by a better distribution of buses per stop and not having so many places stop at Westmoreland Street and Suffolk Street. There is no need to stop at both AND then O'Connell Street AND Parnell Square

I guess that's a separate point to what ought to be done about the coach stops on Westmoreland Street. I think the Strand St. "station" would cater for intercity coaches of all companies best, rather than including tour services which are of a completely different nature. The solution there might be to prevent or limit their parking in bus stops rather than sending them over to Strand St.

Anyway if action was taken on long-distance coach stops on Westmoreland St. and Suffolk st, I imagine there would be enough space for Aircoach and the 16 bus to coexist I might be mistaken in guessing how many people are waiting for an airport vs Cork service but I've used the bus stops there often enough and there's no way the 16 is taking the numbers there that some people are making out.

SandyfordGuy

Of course, however much it is worth they will try and get much more than that when they realise it will be used by their competitors and then would use such money to aid their own business which to the competition may not be much better than renting from CIE direct.

Some would say in this situation CIE should be made to use more of their assets......

devnull

To_be_confirmed wrote: »

I guess that's a separate point to what ought to be done about the coach stops on Westmoreland Street. I think the Strand St. "station" would cater for intercity coaches of all companies best, rather than including tour services which are of a completely different nature.

In the summer the tours are by far the worst offenders, if you think it's bad now wait to the height of the summer when you'll see several vehicles parked in the middle of the road to pick up passengers

Anyway if action was taken on long-distance coach stops on Westmoreland St. and Suffolk st, I imagine there would be enough space for Aircoach and the 16 bus to coexist I might be mistaken in guessing how many people are waiting for an airport vs Cork service but I've used the bus stops there often enough and there's no way the 16 is taking the numbers there that some people are making out.

But in my view this does not deal with what I believe to be the overall problem, which is bus dwell time, use of one set of doors, fare system and stops that are too close together. If you deal with this you deal with so many of the congestion problems right now.

I've been in other cities where they've had much more vehicles stopping than at Westmoreland Street with articulated buses taking up more road room and huge amounts of more pasengers, but the dwell times are only a few seconds.

lucernarian

SandyfordGuy wrote: »

Of course, however much it is worth they will try and get much more than that when they realise it will be used by their competitors and then would use such money to aid their own business which to the competition may not be much better than renting from CIE direct.

Some would say in this situation CIE should be made to use more of their assets......

Your earlier post was quite an unfair description of the points being made in this thread. And what's your point here, that CIÉ should sell it to the highest bidder on the open market thereby maximising the value to be obtained from the site? Or that they should give the site to the NRA at little to no cost?

SandyfordGuy

Aircoach got into Belfast Bus Station after a fairly long drawn out fight although techically they're on Glengall street, I believe someone somewhere considers this part of the station. They don't have a bus stop pole up though since apparently they have been asked a huge fee in order to do that. That is why this needs to be neutrally managed since it's ridiculous. that they can't even put a timetable up.

SandyfordGuy

My point is it's a bit like someone complaining their main shed in their garden is full when they have a smaller shed which they don't want to use.

They should sell the site at value, not at a vastly inflated price.

lucernarian

devnull wrote: »

In the summer the tours are by far the worst offenders, if you think it's bad now wait to the height of the summer when you'll see several vehicles parked in the middle of the road to pick up passengers



But in my view this does not deal with what I believe to be the overall problem, which is bus dwell time, use of one set of doors, fare system and stops that are too close together. If you deal with this you deal with so many of the congestion problems right now.

I've been in other cities where they've had much more vehicles stopping than at Westmoreland Street with articulated buses taking up more road room and huge amounts of more pasengers, but the dwell times are only a few seconds.

There's not much that can be done right now with the nature of buses here having one door. The fare system ought to be changed, true. And some of those services can afford to lose one or the other of their bus stops on Suffolk and Westmoreland St. though this is mitigated by having somewhat increased dwell times at the remaining stop.

I'm pretty confident that the situation on Westmoreland St. would be considerably improved if intercity services by Bus Éireann and other operators were all moved away from there.

The tours issue is one that probably boils down to law enforcement. I think a purpose-built facility for intercity buses would be wasted by simply shifting the problem of ticket buses over to it.

bk

To_be_confirmed wrote: »

And what's your point here, that CIÉ should sell it to the highest bidder on the open market thereby maximising the value to be obtained from the site? Or that they should give the site to the NRA at little to no cost?

Given that all Bus stations and this site are owned and paid for by the tax payer, then they should be transferred to the NTA at no cost.

BTW Even the Aircoach coaches to Cork don't stick around for long, it is usually pull up, start loading and pull off straight after they finished loading. They never park there long like some other operators do.

Again the problems I saw there last Friday was almost completely down to a very high number of Dublin Buses on the street. There was relatively few Aircoach coaches there in comparison. Even if Aircoach weren't there, it would make little difference. It was like 25 DB buses for every Aircoach coach there.

devnull

Suffolk Street can be easily dealt with by spreading the services better/

For example, the stop which is also a stop for city tours, Bus Eireann and Aircoach has this on RTPI
15B Benson St 1 Mins
70 Dunboyne 2 Mins
38 Damastown 3 Mins
11 Wadelai Pk 3 Mins
145 Heuston Stn 4 Mins
15A Benson Street 4 Mins
145 Heuston Stn 4 Mins
15 Clongriffin 5 Mins
140 IKEA 5 Mins
37 Blanchard 7 Mins
39A Ongar 7 Mins
14 Beaumont 9 Mins

Meanwhile the one which is nearer Grafton Street and has no other buses to share with.
25A Lucan S.C. Due
25B Adamstown 15 Mins
25A Lucan S.C. 30 Mins
25 Dodsboro 33 Mins
25B Adamstown 45 Mins

There is an easy fix there....

Wouldn't get your hopes up on Law Enforcement, if we had a zero tolerence traffic police maybe, but instead it's "Just don't do it again bud"

Cool Mo D

I think the argument over which company gets to stop its buses where is missing the point.

There is limited road space in Dublin. Local buses , which means Dublin Bus and local Aircoach primarily, should be prioritised for on-street bus stops on through streets. Dublin bus also seriously needs to get its act together as regards dwell times.

Long distance buses from Bus Eireann and private operators should not be stopping on congested streets. The same goes for tour buses parked up on O'Connell street and Grafton street. Taxi ranks are also particularly bad offenders, like the ridiculous placing of a taxi rank in the middle of a bus lane on Dawson street.

Ideally, long distance buses, and buses terminating in the city centre would have their own bus stations, with roofs, toilets, ticket machines and coffee shops. But at the moment, we need to use the space sensibly.

lucernarian

bk wrote: »

Given that all Bus stations and this site are owned and paid for by the tax payer, then they should be transferred to the NTA at no cost.

Fair enough. SandyfordGuy seemed to suggest that CIÉ should do one thing and then suggested they should do the opposite!

bk wrote:

BTW Even the Aircoach coaches to Cork don't stick around for long, it is usually pull up, start loading and pull off straight after they finished loading. They never park there long like some other operators do.

I doubt this, I've seen these buses wait until e.g. 6pm exactly or 8.30pm exactly. Unless the buses are scheduled to leave a couple of minutes after they arrive, accounting for loading passengers etc, then there's bound to be some dead time when they're waiting for the time of the departure before they can go.

It's not like Aircoach are the only operator there though. I think the Dublin Coach in particular seem to have long dwell times. I don't just blame Aircoach for the situation on Westmoreland Street. Were all the 25-odd DB buses stopping on Westmoreland St. or did this include through services??

devnull

Aircoach Cork services leave on the hour 18 times daily. When they changed the timetable to change set down to Batchelors walk from Cork they changed the departure from Dublin Airport to Cork to xx:30 rather than xx:20 to remove dead time at Westmoreland Street.

The Aircoach City services don't wait at all since they are on a frequency basis rather than set times. Dublin Coach start and terminate at Westmoreland Street.

bk

Aircaoch to the airport don't stick around at all, they are stop pick up and go just like the 16.

The Aircoach Cork bus mostly seems to arrive just exactly on the hour, maybe max 5 minutes before. They start boarding immediately on arrival and and usually leave a minute or two after the hour.

The Aircoach Cork operation all seems very tightly timed and operated, there seems to be little sitting idle. It really is an impressive operation to watch. I've many criticisms of Aircoach, but operationally they are very sharp. One of the best around.

Dublin Coach seems to arrive earlier and sit around longer.

BTW Aircoach seem to always have a guy at the Westmoreland Stops at peak time to assist passengers, direct them to the right coach, help them load bags and board quicker (probably also to keep the taxi drivers away). This helps a lot with boarding time. DublinCoach don't have any such person, which makes things slower.

lucernarian

Although I'm mainly on Westmoreland St. in the evenings, I haven't seen the Aircoach guys around at the bus stop that often. I presume they are there from e.g. 9 to 5.

It's unfortunate that Aircoach don't have a city centre stop where they can park buses and load them until they're ready to depart but that's exactly why I'd like to see the Cork or Belfast services start off from a place like Strand St. The same with the non-Busaras BÉ services from the city centre (like the 100X/101 or perhaps the 109) if applicable.

I get the impression that Dublin Coach stopping there now has drawn my attention to the problem more than previously but that better coordination of stops for Dublin Bus would help. Also, the tours ticket buses are not to be seen there in the evening rush hour. Perhaps a better use of stops along with moving the intercity services would go a long way to making the steet safer.

Richard Logue

bk wrote: »

I've many criticisms of Aircoach, but operationally they are very sharp. One of the best around.

You have many criticisms of Aircoach?

bk

Richard Logue wrote: »

You have many criticisms of Aircoach?

Of course, I have often given constructive criticisms of all the public transport services I've used.

For Aircoach it is:

- Most intercity coaches aren't toilet equipped.
- No tray table and mesh at the back of the seats on the Jonckheeres (the normal coach used on the Cork route).
- Dreadful website that badly needs updating and has lot of incorrect and inaccurate information on it.
- Can only book a ticket online before 5pm the prior day, no same day bookings.
- Not much marketing of new services.
- Stop location in Cork is a bit too exposed to the elements, being next to the river.

What they do well is:

- Very comfortable, smooth and quiet coaches (if not the newest, really it is just a pity the Joncks don't have toilets).
- Operationally they are very sharp and efficient.
- Very cheap ticket prices
- Excellent schedule that is very frequent and runs all night.
- A very innovative operator who doesn't seem to be scared to try new things.

I'll give you similar pros and cons of any other bus or train operator I've used.

AlekSmart

SandyfordGuy wrote: »

So just to go over the facts.

1) CIE Employee on this thead recommends that private coach services are relocated from Westmoreland Street since it is too busy.
2) They recommend a new site which is run-down and in need of redevelopment
3) That site also happens to be owned by CIE.

Maybe I'm missing something here, but if the site is so good, and CIE own it, why do they not run their own services down there, if they are concerned about overcrowding? They could park out of service buses there and City Tour buses there instead of Westmoreland Street no?

Of course!
1) It allows them to remove their competitors from the most high profile city stops
2) It also allows them to keep an eye on their competitors since they will now be using CIE Land.
3) It allows them to gain money from charging their competition to use bus stop facilities, to prop their own services up with extra income.

It's a shame that once again the people who are CIE staff who originally proposed this site, and the usual people who back up everything CIE does, would propose it, when such situation may help the company they love.

How much other infrastructure do CIE own around the city that they are not using? If there are lots of roads like this then one has to say, why don't they sell the land, if they are not losing them, seeing as they claim finances are so desperate, or alternatively make some use of it if the city center is so crowded?

It's like an operator bidding for airport space to park coaches and buses in Dublin Airport, then going and parking them in the coach park to take up space, then complaining when the coach park is overcrowded.

I'm assuming that I'm the CIE Employee that Sandyford Guy reserves such vitriol for,so I'd better clarify my reasoning.

Firstly I'm actually a Dublin Bus employee,rather than one of the 200 or so directly employed by CIE the holding company...however thats only a nit-pick

My interest in the Westmoreland Street situation has Zippo/Nothing/Nada to do with ANY individual operator,but stems from my Busdrivers perspective,which I would imagine would be shared by many of the respective Coach Companies DRIVERS also.

The Strand Street site is not a NEW-Site as it was utilized for some years as a layover Bus Park and thus has already proven its ability to cater for multiple vehicle movements.

The main reason why BAC ceased using Strand Street was the removal of so many City Centre termini,with Network Direct changes making it's use no longer necessary.

CIE may not currently OWN the Strand Street site as I recall an announcement regarding the proposed new Hotel Development with a Bus Interchange at ground-level being incorporated as part of the property deal....I'm not au-fait as to whether the actual site-disposal did indeed occur.

However,in the context of my (modest) proposal,the CIE ownership need not be of any importance.

I have already pointed to the significant and long-term upheaval which will shortly be occuring in and around Westmoreland St with the Luas BXD works,and I merely pose the question as to what plans currently exist for the current services we discuss here.

I would reiterate,the total lack of comonsense and safety consciousness in attempting to have Stage-Carriage and Inter-Urban services sharing the same Stop..it is wrong,dangerous,unsafe and illogical from a Bus or Coach Drivers perspective,although I do concede it may make perfect sense to a Professional City Administrator...;)

As I operate daily in the Westmoreland Street area,and I interact with other Drivers from ALL of the companies,I can state that every operator is compromised by the current arrangements.

It is also worth pointing out that even a cursory attempt to relocate a few BAC routes and extending the Coach Bay back towards Dame Street (a currently double yellow lined section) would allow one more full-size coach to operate from the existing stop.

I also suggest that the Westbound BAC Lucan Corridor routes have no business stopping on Westmoreland St at all,and should instead have their main CC stop opposite Pearse St Garda Station.

But thats all as may be,because at the present time,official policy appears to be to stick-it out and hope that there is not a multiple fatality at the Stop,the odds on which are constantly becoming shorter.


I would also have to cry foul at this little snipe..

It's a shame that once again the people who are CIE staff who originally proposed this site, and the usual people who back up everything CIE does, would propose it, when such situation may help the company they love.

I suspect that the Constitution may well forbid acts of "Love" between a Company and a Citizen,but I can assure Sandyford Guy that I do not "back-up" everything CIE does,but I like to think I can be even handed enough to see more than one side of any arguement ?

Sorted...I hope

bk

Hmm, passing Westmoreland St again today and frankly Dublin Bus have some big questions to answer here.

First you have stop No 320, which is right on top of the Aircoach/Dublin Coach stops.
This stop has a large number of very frequent routes on it: 11, 16, 46 and 7

Next close by you have stop no 319 which is also very busy with the following services operating on it: 1, 13, 140, 40, 44, 83, 9

Then you have stop no 318, which only has the 25x, 66x and 67x on it, all of which there are only one or two buses a day and for instance right now (4pm on Sunday there are no buses scheduled to use it according to the RTPI!!!!

Next you have stop no 317, which is a relatively lightly used stop with the 26, 66 and 67 operating out of it.

Then you have metal barriers along the rest of Westmoreland St, if you were to take away this barrier, you could easily fit at least one extra bus stop, if not two along there.

So there is really no reason for the dangerous situation at stop No 320. All the services at stop no 320 should be moved up to stop 318.

Ideally a new stop should be built further up the street and move services from the 319 there. Even better rebalance the services between these stops further up Westmoreland St.

Then there would be plenty of space for the Aircoach and Dublin Coach services to operate safely from their stops.

To be honest looking at the space on the street, I've no idea why DB are using stop no 320 and not using the significant free space further up the street, in particular at stop 318?

I can only think of two reasons:
1) Incompetence, they simply put the services there without thinking it through.

2) They want to make life hard for the Aircoach services, in particular having the 16 close to the competing Aircoach service.

I'd be glad to hear any other reasons?

noelfirl

3) Sunday traffic probably doesn't give anywhere near enough adequate representation of the traffic congestion using the left filter lane to turn onto the South Quays. On a weekday, particularly during peak times, the routes turning there include all of the 25/26/66/67 routes, the 39, 79, 83 and high frequency 39a and 145. And at evening peak time, the Xpressos (of which there are seven departures for each of the 66x and 67x and two for the 25x), some of which depart directly from upstream of stop 317. There's already congestion at stops 317/318 where the 26/66/67 routes take time to pull in to their stops because of the buses queuing to make the left turn, as well as general traffic.

To take your suggestion and move all routes forward from stop 320 to stop 318, would in my mind, create a clusterfúck of buses attempting to weave in and out to realign from going from the left lane onto O'Connell St lanes and vice versa.