DB stop frequency

defrule

Took a bus today and haven't done so in a long time. One thing I can't understand is why does there need to be a stop every 100m. You don't need a stop at the start, middle and end of every street. Put one in the middle and let people walk to it. All the starting and stopping really adds to travel times.

MrMorooka

This has been obvious for decades but there's no will to change it.

Richard Hillman

A subject close to my heart.

Of course everybody is going to get on/off at the stop most convenient to them but I really doubt people would care too much if they had to walk an extra 100-200m to their stop if the overall journey times were reduced.

There is an area in Sallynoggin that has 6 stops within 1km. One of the stops, you can see the next stop and another has the space of 120m between them.

The new 7 route knocks about 12 minutes off the old 7A route just by skipping past Sallynoggin on the bypass. The new 7 route is 1.5Km between the Killiney Roundabout and the Sallynoggin Roundabout. The old route through Sallynoggin is 2.2km.

The Monkstown Road is another one. I think there are 5 stops in the space of just under 1km.

coylemj

Some day you folk will understand that a 100m walk isn't the piece of cake it is for fit younger people and buses need to stop frequently to cater for less mobile passengers. There are lots of people out there who are overweight, who have breathing problems, arthritic hips or rusty knees and who cannot tackle a long walk to a bus stop.

ED E

coylemj wrote: »

Some day you folk will understand that a 100m walk isn't the piece of cake it is for fit younger people and buses need to stop frequently to cater for less mobile passengers. There are lots of people out there who are overweight, who have breathing problems, arthritic hips or rusty knees and who cannot tackle a long walk to a bus stop.

While accessibility is great, you cant run a bus service purely on those clients. If the product isnt attractive the paying customers will all go elsewhere.

coylemj

ED E wrote: »

While accessibility is great, you cant run a bus service purely on those clients. If the product isnt attractive the paying customers will all go elsewhere.

When did anyone ever consider the 'paying customers' on any of the DB services?

wordofwarning

coylemj wrote: »

Some day you folk will understand that a 100m walk isn't the piece of cake it is for fit younger people and buses need to stop frequently to cater for less mobile passengers.

A less mobile passenger can't walk 100m, but is likely taking a bus to go shopping in town?

coylemj wrote: »

There are lots of people out there who are overweight,

Not my problem. They could do with the extra 100 m walk to the bus stop in my opinion...

It is not fair that a bus with 80 passengers on board needs to stop every 150 metres, as a fat person is too lazy to walk. If they are that lazy, they should drive. It is not fair for a majority passengers, that buses need to spend 10 mins going through housing estates to pick up the odd OAP. Buses should serve the majority of people, not a minority.

orangerhyme

This is an interesting discussion.
The entire Dublin Bus network is currently being redesigned. Id imagine the location of bus stops will form a large part of it.
Jarrett Walker is the consultant on this project.
Here is his blog discussing distance between stops. http://humantransit.org/2010/11/san-francisco-a-rational-stop-spacing-plan.html

He says 400m is the generally accepted distance that people are willing to walk.
So, in a straight line you could have stops 800m apart. But in a city, a bus service is for people in 2 dimensions ( 3 technically).
So, he recommends a distance of approximately 600m, with wiggle room in either direction based on other factors.

So, basically an awful lot of Dublin will need bus stops removed and moved.

orangerhyme

An interesting example is to look at the south side of the city.
Look at Rathgar Rd, Rathmines Rd, Ranelagh Rd, Morehamptom rd, Merrion rd, then finally Strand rd by Sandymount beach.

These are main arterial routes in and out of the city and each are well served by buses. You can measure the gap between is usually around 800/900m...where the gap is bigger its served by the Luas or Dart.

So, wherever you live, you are really never further than 400m from some public transport.

orangerhyme

So, really along any bus route, the minimum distance between stops should be 400m, and depending on various factors the distance could be as much as 600/700/800m

ED E

Excessive stops is one thing, but I really wonder how much it weighs up against taxis and white goods vans blocking bus lanes. Anyone modeled that?

uxiant

coylemj wrote: »

Some day you folk will understand that a 100m walk isn't the piece of cake it is for fit younger people and buses need to stop frequently to cater for less mobile passengers. There are lots of people out there who are overweight, who have breathing problems, arthritic hips or rusty knees and who cannot tackle a long walk to a bus stop.

Frequent isn't every 100m. It's just unnecessary.

On the 46A Dun Laogahire bound you have a bus stop either side of Foxrock Church. Stops are just unnecessarily frequent.

Chivito550

coylemj wrote: »

Some day you folk will understand that a 100m walk isn't the piece of cake it is for fit younger people and buses need to stop frequently to cater for less mobile passengers. There are lots of people out there who are overweight, who have breathing problems, arthritic hips or rusty knees and who cannot tackle a long walk to a bus stop.

No sympathy for those overweight. That's self inflicted in 99.9% of cases. The walk would do them the world of good.

brokenarms

From my understanding, it not DB who decide these things.

Local elected representative fight hard to get as many stops as they can into their patch.

It wins them votes.

Although. In areas with a hill, its understandable.

LeinsterDub

Smart locating of stops needs to be considered too . So many stops are variations on a situation like this. Bus come up to a stop sign/traffic light , stops , turns the corner then has to stop almost directly around the corner. This stop should be moved 40 meters around the corner.

LeinsterDub

brokenarms wrote: »

From my understanding, it not DB who decide these things.

Local elected representative fight hard to get as many stops as they can into their patch.

It wins them votes.

Although. In areas with a hill, its understandable.

Up to recently it was the NTA decide now.

Dyr

One thing you'll find is that bus stops within a stones throw of each other is not really seen in newer areas. Its nearly always older, and dare one say it, middle class neighborhoods. Whether correlation is causation there I dunno but the areas I go through with a ridiculous amount of bus stops are the areas with the lowest passenger requirement

LeinsterDub

Bambi wrote: »

One thing you'll find is that bus stops within a stones throw of each other is not really seen in newer areas. Its nearly always older, and dare one say it, middle class neighborhoods. Whether correlation is causation there I dunno but the areas I go through with a ridiculous amount of bus stops are the areas with the lowest passenger requirement

This is generally because old areas have under gone multiple route tweaks down the years and stops get added but very rarely removed . Even orphan stops don't get removed