Salthill bus service is brutal!

dtlibra

Sunday 28 May was fine, lots of people in Salthill. Bus 410 service was awful. When I wanted to get the 1505 bus from Salthill, as advertised on the real time board, it never came. The time disappeared off the board, only to be replaced by 1545!
Loads of people were discommoded.
I learnt afterwards that a 401 had flown along the prom 7 minutes earlier! Why didn't the driver wait??.
Traffic is not an excuse on a Sunday............
Also was the sign board "real-time" or was it just the fairyland Timetable?

gordongekko

As far as I know the times are approx and not real time

dtlibra

Correction; 401 bus, not 410

Bredabe

dtlibra wrote: »

Sunday 28 May was fine, lots of people in Salthill. Bus 410 service was awful. When I wanted to get the 1505 bus from Salthill, as advertised on the real time board, it never came. The time disappeared off the board, only to be replaced by 1545!
Loads of people were discommoded.
I learnt afterwards that a 401 had flown along the prom 7 minutes earlier! Why didn't the driver wait??.
Traffic is not an excuse on a Sunday............
Also was the sign board "real-time" or was it just the fairyland Timetable?

Completely agree, where Im from they say bus timetables are the latest work of irish fiction, bus's in galway are too few anyway, so bad that lots of places we couldn't get there/back on a sunday anyway.

Ah sure, most tourists dont take buses anyway, so why bother improving them?:mad:

Mrs OBumble

Bredabe wrote: »

.

Ah sure, most tourists dont take buses anyway, so why bother improving them?:mad:

Buses in Galway have improved hugely over the last 9 years.

They could still get better - and salthill on fine Sunday afternoons could definitely use more services. But there are certain challenges with staffing an "only fine days" rota for bus drivers.

xckjoo

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Buses in Galway have improved hugely over the last 9 years.

They could still get better - and salthill on fine Sunday afternoons could definitely use more services. But there are certain challenges with staffing an "only fine days" rota for bus drivers.

They definitely are better than they used to be. Pity there isn't more bus lanes for them though.

Also, Bus Eireann need to sort out their mobile apps. I've about 3 separate ones that will all show slightly different times. Still manage to miss the bus sometimes :mad:

bobbyss

Anyone know what those bus shelters beside Cathedral and canal are for?

I don't think there is a BE route there.

gordongekko

bobbyss wrote: »

Anyone know what those bus shelters beside Cathedral and canal are for?

I don't think there is a BE route there.

It was going to be a hub instead of eyre square but the nra shot down the plan at the last minute

xckjoo

gordongekko wrote: »

It was going to be a hub instead of eyre square but the nra shot down the plan at the last minute

That's a pity. We could do with some more mini hubs around the place. Probably not at the cathedral though. Salmon Weir bridge has enough to contend with.

One in the east and one in the west with direct connections between them would seem logical.

bobbyss

gordongekko wrote:

It was going to be a hub instead of eyre square but the nra shot down the plan at the last minute

You would wonder who exactly did not think that through. No joined up thinking. The cost of it. If that happened in the private sector ... etc etc. Was there ever any public statement about that?

The real time seems to be quite dodgy in Galway as the Rahoon service is regularly wrong also. I spend quite a lot of time looking at my bus countdown 15, 14 , 12, 7 mins then the thing disappears. Smaller and much more regular buses may be one step forward. If the service was regular and priced competitively. Direct service across the QB to wherever. Things need to change. Nobody seems to be doing anything about it.

xckjoo

bobbyss wrote: »

You would wonder who exactly did not think that through. No joined up thinking. The cost of it. If that happened in the private sector ... etc etc. Was there ever any public statement about that?

The real time seems to be quite dodgy in Galway as the Rahoon service is regularly wrong also. I spend quite a lot of time looking at my bus countdown 15, 14 , 12, 7 mins then the thing disappears. Smaller and much more regular buses may be one step forward. If the service was regular and priced competitively. Direct service across the QB to wherever. Things need to change. Nobody seems to be doing anything about it.

There's resistance to any change that might reduce the priority given to cars. Then people spend all their time complaining about traffic. It's a strange mentality.

45mhrc7evo1d3n

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

... salthill on fine Sunday afternoons could definitely use more services. But there are certain challenges with staffing an "only fine days" rota for bus drivers.

There seems to be a challenge staffing the 401 rota full stop. While more services would be nice, I think users would be happy if the services just ran as scheduled. Too often the next bus due just drops off the “real time” boards and app. It’s just not good enough and it’s terrible to see elderly people standing at a bus stop for over 40 minutes sometimes. Also bewildered looking tourists. The fact that the next bus arrives at the scheduled time confirms that the previous bus was taken out of service rather than just running late.

As mentioned by another poster, the 401 buses very often also run early. I see this all the time as I drive through Salthill and can’t understand why the drivers don’t wait at the stop until the scheduled time.

I use the bus infrequently but the number of times there is an issue when I do, suggests that more frequent 401 users have a lot to contend with.

Bredabe

Emmanuel Millions Surliness wrote: »

There seems to be a challenge staffing the 401 rota full stop. While more services would be nice, I think users would be happy if the services just ran as scheduled. Too often the next bus due just drops off the “real time” boards and app. It’s just not good enough and it’s terrible to see elderly people standing at a bus stop for over 40 minutes sometimes. Also bewildered looking tourists. The fact that the next bus arrives at the scheduled time confirms that the previous bus was taken out of service rather than just running late.

As mentioned by another poster, the 401 buses very often also run early. I see this all the time as I drive through Salthill and can’t understand why the drivers don’t wait at the stop until the scheduled time.

I use the bus infrequently but the number of times there is an issue when I do, suggests that more frequent 401 users have a lot to contend with.

Happened to me many many times when I commuted from Renmore to Salthill, bus's disappearing or taking different routes from expected when there is a lighter demand. Having said the the 402? has a lot to contend with driving those narrow routes through that estate close to the hospital.

bodhrandude

I'm bumping this as the 409 thread seems to be the only one mentioning Galway buses, this service is pretty brutal, although the times in the early morning are OK but come the afternoon and evening it still can be a bit of a mess regarding schedules. One of my classmates was speaking to one of the drivers and apparently the 401 is going to be amalgamating with the 403 in the future so buses will be travelling from Salthill to Parkmore, did anyone else hear this?

Mrs OBumble

I've heard nothing about Salthill.

But the article linked in the 409 thread which said that the stops would be moving into the estates, and that the 409 will be going to 10 minute frequency. And BE's regional manager is reported as saying at public meeting that the 404 will be going to 30 minute frequency. So it look like there are some changes coming.

FWIW, I've been catching the 401 at 8pm one a week, and it's been pretty reliable for the last six months: sometime 5-10 minutes late, but it's always turned up. Can speak for other days or times.

Mrs OBumble

A slight update: several speakers in this presentation (thanks whoever sent me the link) said that three of the core bus routes will go to Parkmore. So it's possible that the 401 is not so much merging with the 403, but being extended in it's own right. A bus to Parkmore which goes up Bohermore and past Lisobaun would make a lot of sense ....