Leap Card coming to Cork April 2014

KCAccidental

Didn't see this discussed anywhere. Indeed I missed the article in the paper last month!

The Leap Card is coming to Cork next April, in a move that could boost tourism and businesses alike.

The Leap Card is a reusable plastic smart card that can be used on public transport. It was recently introduced in Dublin, mirroring the very popular Oyster card in London.

President of the Cork Business Association Donal Healy said the city would certainly welcome the development, which he hopes could see the use of public transport jump from its current demand of 9 per cent to at least 15 per cent...

...The Leap Card fare will be split into two zones in Cork City, Zone A will be €1.55 and Zone B will be €1.80. These prices are significantly lower than the 2014 fares that are to be introduced at the beginning of 2014, with travel in Zone A costing €1.90 a ticket and Zone B priced at €2.20.

Regional city child fares will jump from €1.10 to €1.15 and from €1.40-€1.45.

http://corkindependent.com/20131107/news/bus-eireann-to-bring-leap-card-to-cork-S75168.html

From what it looks like, Zone A will be the common city route fare, while Zone B seems to be higher stages of the orbital routes.

Indeed, as we have a common fare for 90% of the city routes, will the leap card end up working in much more streamlined way in Cork than in Dublin presently? Should be possible to just put your card on the reader and go on your way!

Interested to see what the take up will be. The savings are quite substantial over cash fares of 1.90 and 2.20 at the moment.

rovoagho

If Cork City Council are involved in any way, shape or form, it'll make Dublin's implementation look like clockwork.

KCAccidental

rovoagho wrote: »

If Cork City Council are involved in any way, shape or form, it'll make Dublin's implementation look like clockwork.

It will be the NTA. nothing to do with the council, the only way they would be involved would be in the very unlikely event of the black ash park and ride using Leap.

cgcsb

will Cork commuter rail use the same simple 2 zone system. Much more advanced than the Dublin set up, v impressed. Will leap be integrated with Cork's Coke Zero bike scheme?

Victor

Having transfer fares would be important in Cork, I think.

cgcsb wrote: »

will Cork commuter rail use the same simple 2 zone system.

No. Longest bus trip is 12km (208 - Mayfield-Curraheen), longest rail trip is 20km. Cork - Cobh/Midleton fares are here: http://www.irishrail.ie/index.jsp?p=118&n=197&a=374

Will leap be integrated with Cork's Coke Zero bike scheme?

Unknown.

bk

rovoagho wrote: »

If Cork City Council are involved in any way, shape or form, it'll make Dublin's implementation look like clockwork.

I have to strongly disagree, Cork City and County Councils are excellent, it is BE that is a shambles down in Cork.

It is Cork City Council who designed and run the park and ride, that noticeably continued to run during the BE strike.

It was also the Cork City and County Council who developed the Cork Area Strategic Plan (CASP) and actually follow it, which is a long term plan for developing and promoting high density living along core public transport corridors. A plan far beyond anything any other councils in Ireland have.

Will leap be integrated with Cork's Coke Zero bike scheme?

God I hope so and I also hope a Dublin Bikes Sub and card will work in Cork, Galway, etc.

Nothing worse as a cycling Corkonian living in Dublin if I have to have a separate sub and card for Cork. Goes against every best practice of integrated, easy to use, affordable public transport that we desperately need.

rovoagho

bk, when was the last time you were in Cork? The roads are destroyed, and their answer to this is oceans of new footpaths and cycling lanes that simply aren't used; that's after they've spent millions rebuilding the likes of the Skehard/Well Road junction for no reason whatsoever. The only roads they do repair are cul de sacs they or their buddies live down. Loads of entertainment on Cork roads here if you want to catch up.

Cork County Council are even worse, there's a stretch of road on the far side of Castlemartyr that was absolutely destroyed in bad weather several years ago, and the patching they did to it the following year made it worse, the road actually collapsed after they or their contractors went at it. Their answer? Traffic cones and a guy to make sure they're in the right place. His wages would probably pay for a proper fix.

And on the back road from Mogeely to Killeagh, instead of the old tried-and-tested and hugely-damaging-to-cars method of pouring tar on the road, patting gravel into it gently and using everyone's cars as steamrollers, they're now shooting tar at the roads - I'll say that again, they're shooting tar at the roads - with a monstrosity of a machine, which has the exact same effect of destroying everyone's cars with tar and gravel.

And that's just the roads. The next time you're in Cork? Start by looking down.

Apologies for OT.

bk

As a Corkonian, I'm down there about every second weekend.

Roads not being repaired is due to insufficient funding coming from the Department of Transport, who control the budget for such works. It isn't the councils fault.

If we had a more German style of government, with local taxes, then this probably wouldn't be the case. Cork and Dublin are the only areas of Ireland that pay more tax then they benefit from.

The other big problem is that Cork county is by far the largest county in Ireland, with a massive amounts of local roads, far too much to be reasonably maintained.

Having said all that the core road network around the city is actually pretty decent and traffic and congestion is a minimum compared to Dublin at least.

As for your comment on new footpaths and cycle lanes, well people won't switch to walking, cycling and public transport if you don't build sufficient high quality infrastructure for these. IMO not enough of this has been done down in Cork.

bk

I just read the thread you linked to and I have to say, congratulations to Cork City Council for doing exactly what they are supposed to be doing.

Installing wide footpaths, cycle lanes and traffic calming measures around the core city center.

The core city center is meant to be a safe place for large numbers of pedestrians and cyclists, not a place for speeding cars, which seems to be the reason why people are whining over on that thread.

Now let me stop you before you ask the next silly question, why are they building all this new infrastructure rather then filling pot holes.

The reason is they come under different budgets, both of which are allocated by the Department of Transport. Cork and other cities got a lot of cash on the Smarter Travel plan, this money can only be spent on schemes for pedestrians, bikes and public transport. It can't be spent on repairing roads, that is a separate budget.

If you don't like that then your complaint is with the Department of Transport and the Minister who set these budgets, not Cork City council. Get your facts straight first.

Personally, I'm delighted to see these sort of schemes being implemented down in Cork and is in fact exactly why I said that Cork City Council is far ahead of most other councils in Ireland.

rovoagho

Exactly what I'd expect to hear from a cyclist. I dread to think what Cork would be like with people like you in charge. Mahon probably, with those oh-so-busy cycle lanes. :rolleyes:

bk

rovoagho wrote: »

Exactly what I'd expect to hear from a cyclist. I dread to think what Cork would be like with people like you in charge. Mahon probably, with those oh-so-busy cycle lanes. :rolleyes:

Cyclist, pedestrian, public transport user and motorist :rolleyes:

City centres are for people, not for speeding cars.

Victor

On topic please.

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