Bus Éireann 404 Oranmore

bobbyss

The 404 service it seems has been revamped. I didn't see any notice of this change in the press. The old service was probably the most unreliable in the state. Has anyone been using it since it came into operation? Is it punctual leaving? At least the timetable seems straightforward. But I think the service is now only once an hour. I am not sure if it was more frequent before the change. Why is it going out to Oranmore? Surely a recipe for tardiness? Does BE give out figures for reliability? Some trains do and I certainly would like to see them for this service. It leaves from stop 1 and I think stop 5. Where exactly are they?

Laviski

stated in local papers of the change and on their website.

re published by mrs O B here in 405 change thread too.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=99687554&postcount=33

bobbyss

Laviski wrote: »

stated in local papers of the change and on their website.

re published by mrs O B here in 405 change thread too.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=99687554&postcount=33

Thanks. I hadn't seen the former and forgot about the latter. By and large there seems to be positive feedback about its potential. However I think crossing the city and heading out to Oranmore is guaranteed to make this service a disaster in terms of punctuality.I also think (but am not 100% sure) that it means fewer journeys than heretofore.

Stevolende

I'm not that familiar with the 404 route on the West side. If it follows the old 4 route, then most of it is within pretty close walking distance of the 405's stops in the area. I think.

Actually having been on the upper Newcastle road above the millenium bridge road over the last couple of weeks I was surprised to see that there were bus stops in both directions. Back when I lived in that part of town, the bus was one loop around that area in one direction. But presumably it changed back in 2012 when the new numbers were introduced.

It does seem a little strange to incorporate that service into the 410 route, is it simply because it only ran not that frequently on that side of town. I think it had less frequency than the 402 or 405 anyway but I had no cause to use it. Just saw it less at the bus stop that it shares with the 405.

Actually I'd seen the bus I had up to then seen as 410 with the new number over the last couple of weeks since it shares part of the route with the 409. Wondered what the story was.

Mrs OBumble

Official announcement was covered in both the local papers.

My write up of the changes is here: http://news.galwaytransport.info/2016/05/410-cancelled-route-404-newcastle-clinic-oranmore-extension.html

You're right, it's a frequency reduction from every 40 to every 60 minutes.

But on the other hand, it's a big improvement to the days (+Sunday) and range of hours (evenings and also early mornings).

Through-routing with Oranmore adds a lot of convenience: people can now get from Newcastle all the way to the Bons or Galway Clinic (both popular locations with occasional bus users) or indeed Oranmore itself without changing buses. Whether it adds to the risk of being late is debatable: there's as much (or even slightly more) risk of traffic delay on the Newcastle side of the route as on the Oranmore side, and the timetable allows for the journey length.

Bus stop 1 is (roughly) opposite Kennedys. Bus stop 5 opposite Richardsons. Map here: http://www.galwaytransport.info/2008/12/city-bus-stops-arrival-and-departure.html


Happy travels.

TerrorFirmer

What I'm curious about is does this change the ridiculous ticket price for Oranmore now that it's a fully fledged city route?

Until now the Oranmore 410 was almost a fiver for a ticket despite the journey not being much longer than some of the city routes which are €2.10.

bobbyss

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Official announcement was covered in both the local papers.

My write up of the changes is here: http://news.galwaytransport.info/2016/05/410-cancelled-route-404-newcastle-clinic-oranmore-extension.html

You're right, it's a frequency reduction from every 40 to every 60 minutes.

But on the other hand, it's a big improvement to the days (+Sunday) and range of hours (evenings and also early mornings).

Through-routing with Oranmore adds a lot of convenience: people can now get from Newcastle all the way to the Bons or Galway Clinic (both popular locations with occasional bus users) or indeed Oranmore itself without changing buses. Whether it adds to the risk of being late is debatable: there's as much (or even slightly more) risk of traffic delay on the Newcastle side of the route as on the Oranmore side, and the timetable allows for the journey length.

Bus stop 1 is (roughly) opposite Kennedys. Bus stop 5 opposite Richardsons. Map here: http://www.galwaytransport.info/2008/12/city-bus-stops-arrival-and-departure.html


Happy travels.

OK I see. Thanks.
Where is Kennedys?
Don't quite get your point re delays. The new service is hourly I know but travels far greater distances-to Oranmore and the Clinic. It will without question not make it in Eyre S on time. This is the key point.
Have you ever tried to get stats from BE ? Do you have any info re punctuality on any routes? The trains have them on some platforms. The BE stats for Galway might be very embarrassing.

Mrs OBumble

bobbyss wrote: »

OK I see. Thanks.
Where is Kennedys?
Don't quite get your point re delays. The new service is hourly I know but travels far greater distances-to Oranmore and the Clinic. It will without question not make it in Eyre S on time. This is the key point.
Have you ever tried to get stats from BE ? Do you have any info re punctuality on any routes? The trains have them on some platforms. The BE stats for Galway might be very embarrassing.

Kennedy's is on the right here: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.2750375,-9.0494807,3a,75y,324.15h,77.2t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s0atrQHM4Uf43aWoL3uGeTw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D0atrQHM4Uf43aWoL3uGeTw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D242.68413%26pitch%3D0!7i13312!8i6656

Technically bus stop 1 is closer to the old BoI building, but I thought (wrongly as it turns out) that pubs would be better place markers for you.

Buses are allocated 30 minutes to travel from Oranmore to Eyre Square, and 20 minutes to travel from Newcastle to Eyre Square. Wildly unrealistic at peak times, very achievable off-peak, due to the bus-lane on the Dublin Rd.

I've never asked BÉ for statistics. I think I've read on the Commuting and Transport forum that collating and publishing them isn't part of their contract with the National Transport Authority yet but will happen eventually (though I cannot for the life of me find the link). The real problem is that their timetables and thus planning don't allow any time-loadings for peak-hour traffic and passenger volumes. For statistics to be meaningful, this will need to change - and in fairness, they have started to do with this the 405 morning and evening timetables.

LoonyLovegood

There is loading time on the 404, at least going from Oranmore to Newcastle, there's five minutes at Eyre Square

bobbyss

LoonyLovegood wrote: »

There is loading time on the 404, at least going from Oranmore to Newcastle, there's five minutes at Eyre Square

What do you mean by 'loading time'? Simply waiting for people to board? This really is "wasting time' as people just think about finding their wallet just as they pay. Will we ever just have exact fares like elsewhere and just pay and move on without all the chat.

LoonyLovegood

bobbyss wrote: »

What do you mean by 'loading time'? Simply waiting for people to board? This really is "wasting time' as people just think about finding their wallet just as they pay. Will we ever just have exact fares like elsewhere and just pay and move on without all the chat.

It means there's five minutes for people to get on and off the bus, which at the busiest stop is needed.

flazio

Leap cards are usable here aren't they?

ben.schlomo

flazio wrote: »

Leap cards are usable here aren't they?

Yep, I smirk every time someone pays sixty cent more per journey than me. Also great getting the free journeys from the tech-phobe drivers/broken machines.

bobbyss

LoonyLovegood wrote: »

There is loading time on the 404, at least going from Oranmore to Newcastle, there's five minutes at Eyre Square

Where did you get this info from? I never heard of a loading time before. I don't think it's written into timetables?
I

gordongekko

bobbyss wrote: »

Where did you get this info from? I never heard of a loading time before. I don't think it's written into timetables?
I

Of course there is an allowance time for loading. That goes without saying.

snubbleste

So the earlier question, what does it cost now from Newcastle to Oranmore?

Mrs OBumble

Newcastle to the Galway Clinic (or any part thereof) costs the same as any other city bus-journey: for an adult, that's E2.10 cash, or 1.60 using a Leap card.

There is a lack of published information about the cost out to Oranmore.

One page on BE's site (http://www.buseireann.ie/inner.php?id=331) seems to say that it's flat fare all the way to Oranmore Town Centre if youi use a Leap card.

Their Fare Finder doesn't appear to have been updated to take account of the 410/404 change though.

It still quotes an adult cash fare of 4.30 from Eyre Square to Oranmore, but refuses to quote for Galway Clinic to Oranmore.



So the short answer is ... I don't know!

Maybe someone who actually makes the journey can enlighten us ...

gordongekko

Boardie bus trip anyone :-)

biko

Hell no

bobbyss

gordongekko wrote: »

Of course there is an allowance time for loading. That goes without saying.

Yes people have to get on the bus of course. Presumably every bus will wait until all passengers are on board regardless of the time it takes to do this. Therefore the five minutes' boarding time becomes irrelevant.

Why don't we simply have cash only or cards. All this f.....g foostering around looking for money. All this chatting by bus drivers with each other. Sends me ballistic.

Mrs OBumble

bobbyss wrote: »

Why don't we simply have cash only or cards.

We already do. I presume you mean "exact change only". It doesn't really help. Dumb people still wait until the bus arrives before getting their bus fare/pass out. (Actually, exact change takes longer while they try to find exactly the right coins.) Smart people get their money / card out as soon as they get to the bus-stop.

bobbyss wrote: »

All this chatting by bus drivers with each other. Sends me ballistic.

Ahh, shure'n it's part of the culture! You can't be after stopping people from having the chat ....

bobbyss

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

We already do. I presume you mean "exact change only". It doesn't really help. Dumb people still wait until the bus arrives before getting their bus fare/pass out. (Actually, exact change takes longer while they try to find exactly the right coins.) Smart people get their money / card out as soon as they get to the bus-stop.






Ahh, shure'n it's part of the culture! You can't be after stopping people from having the chat ....

Yes. Exact change. No, I think you are wrong. The change flashes into the box in Dublin bus no real delays with people mucking around. Why is that? Because people are used to it.

There is a culture in BE in Galway. Its very cordial and helpful for a bus driver to spend time with a tourist as tourist steps onto the bus to get directions. Absolutely great.

gordongekko

bobbyss wrote: »

Yes. Exact change. No, I think you are wrong. The change flashes into the box in Dublin bus no real delays with people mucking around. Why is that? Because people are used to it.

There is a culture in BE in Galway. Its very cordial and helpful for a bus driver to spend time with a tourist as tourist steps onto the bus to get directions. Absolutely great.

Hard to have exact fares when nobody seems to know how much it actually costs to go from Newcastle to oranmore.

bobbyss

gordongekko wrote: »

Hard to have exact fares when nobody seems to know how much it actually costs to go from Newcastle to oranmore.

A fair f.....g point.