Commuting options - Rathmines to Dun Laoghaire - 46A?

eire-kp

I have got a new job starting next in Dun Laoighre. From reading posts here getting the 46A from Leeson street upper seems to be the handiest route.
What would the average time for this journey be? Say to be in Dun Laoighre at 8am? I hope to give it a trial run Saturday morning anyway.

My friend was saying I'd be better walking to Grand Canal Dock or Tara street and getting the Dart out. Is this a better option?
Thanks.

Victor

It will depend on the exact locations, but at that hour, bus + DART is quite possibly the quickest public transport-only trip. Cycling to Grand Canal Dock (DublinBikes? along the Grand Canal route) and then a train would probably be the fastest route. Tara Street-DL is about 20 minutes and Grand Canal Dock-DL is about 16 minutes, compared to about 40 minutes for the 46a from Leeson Steet to DL.

Bus-only, you could get the 18 to Leeson Street and the 46a or stay on it and get the 7 from Ballsbridge, which would be more direct than the 46a. However, the 18 suffers quite badly at the Garda station after about 8am. Alternatively, us a 14, 15, 15a, 15b, 140 to Earslsfort Terrace and get the 46a there or stay on to the bottom of Dawson Street for the 7.

Put the exact locations and dates/times into www.a-b.ie and play around with the advanced settings.

Depending on what you decide, shop around for tickets as there are lots of options. Depending on how many days you are working, monthly or annual tickets are probably the cheapest options, especially if you can avail of www.Taxsaver.ie. If only working / using the bus a few days a week, 30 day tickets from Dublin Bus would be relatively cheap - the days don't need to be consecutive.

Conway635

It is perhaps worth factoring frequency into the calculations: the 46A is by far one of the most reliably frequent Dublin Bus routes, it's a flagship route for the company and under normal circumstances (i.e. excluding demonstrations, riots, war etc) you would rarely have to wait long for one at that time of day.

C635

eire-kp

Victor wrote: »

Bus-only, you could get the 18 to Leeson Street and the 46a or stay on it and get the 7 from Ballsbridge, which would be more direct than the 46a. However, the 18 suffers quite badly at the Garda station after about 8am. Alternatively, us a 14, 15, 15a, 15b, 140 to Earslsfort Terrace and get the 46a there or stay on to the bottom of Dawson Street for the 7.

Put the exact locations and dates/times into www.a-b.ie and play around with the advanced settings.

Thank you for your detailed reply! I'll manage to walk to Leeson street. I was considering getting a bicycle but family members were putting me off the idea. Is there plenty of places to lock a bike at or near Grand Canal Dock?

Victor

There is a lock up next to the ticket office in the train station.

monument

eire-kp wrote: »

Thank you for your detailed reply! I'll manage to walk to Leeson street. I was considering getting a bicycle but family members were putting me off the idea. Is there plenty of places to lock a bike at or near Grand Canal Dock?

Family members who are not used to cycling tend to overly worry about their cyclist family members.

If you're able to have a bit of cop on, watch out for what drivers are going to do next, don't break red lights, and watch your self around buses and trucks (mainly: don't going inside of them when they are turning) you should be ok. There's loads of great advice online and a few books like Cycle Craft which cover mixing with traffic.

Going from Rathmines to Dun Laoghaire by bicycle will be quicker, more reliably, and cheaper than public transport.

There's also the options of cycling from Rathmines to:

• Grand Canal Dock for the Dart, via the Grand Canal cycle route
• Leeson Street for the bus, via the Grand Canal cycle route
• Or depending on where you live directly to another Dart station or connecting with the bus further south than Leeson Street.

Those options are also good if you want to start cycling the full way, you might want to take it easy at first and only cycle the full way a few days or generally if you want a day off cycling.

Ciaran_B

monument wrote: »

Family members who are not used to cycling tend to overly worry about their cyclist family members.

If you're able to have a bit of cop on, watch out for what drivers are going to do next, don't break red lights, and watch your self around buses and trucks (mainly: don't going inside of them when they are turning) you should be ok. There's loads of great advice online and a few books like Cycle Craft which cover mixing with traffic.

Going from Rathmines to Dun Laoghaire by bicycle will be quicker, more reliably, and cheaper than public transport.

There's also the options of cycling from Rathmines to:

• Grand Canal Dock for the Dart, via the Grand Canal cycle route
• Leeson Street for the bus, via the Grand Canal cycle route
• Or depending on where you live directly to another Dart station or connecting with the bus further south than Leeson Street.

Those options are also good if you want to start cycling the full way, you might want to take it easy at first and only cycle the full way a few days or generally if you want a day off cycling.

Agree with this 100%

I cycle from Rathmines to Dublin 1 every day and I've never had a problem.

coylemj

eire-kp wrote: »

What would the average time for this journey be? Say to be in Dun Laoighre at 8am? I hope to give it a trial run Saturday morning anyway.

Which will be of zero value because (1) there's fewer buses on Saturdays and (2) there will be hardly any cars on the road at that hour on a Saturday, especially going out of town.

So the two variables (bus frequency and traffic conditions) which determine how long it takes will be different on a Saturday. You'd be better off testing it at 8 p.m. some evening Monday to Friday, the bus frequency will be the same as Saturdays (every 10 minutes) and the traffic will be reasonably light.