Dublin bus - what routes should they bring back?

thomasj

So Dublin bus have a campaign marking their 30 years in operation.

Over these 30 years they have cancelled routes as well as introducing new routes.

What routes do you think should be brought back?

thomasj

Starting off I think the 45 should be brought back, it would bring a much needed boost to the rock road corridor.

Stephen15

thomasj wrote: »

Starting off I think the 45 should be brought back, it would bring a much needed boost to the rock road corridor.

Nah the 45 was ran into the ground after the 145 was introduced maybe introduce a few peak time only services would make sense but not as a full route. I remember just before they were scrapped seeing an empty 45 bunched behind a 7 and a 4 off peak complete fresh air transport.

It was even crap in its heyday before the 145 and even longer before rtpi I remember using from time to time and waiting for over an hour in the rain for it when it was meant to run every 10 or 15 minutes. At least I was only going to Bray and could use the 46a to go into town.

MGWR

thomasj wrote: »

Starting off I think the 45 should be brought back, it would bring a much needed boost to the rock road corridor.

Yes, including frequent service and a return to the Esplanade. Possibly as a private route. (Anyone think that the Esplanade ought to be made a two-way corridor, BTW?)

Certain outer suburban routes ought to be turned into express-only, with connections to local bus routes at certain locations.

There needs to be a "Busaras" for Dublin Bus routes too, for the purpose of having a common location to lay up and transfer to other routes; the development of radial routes from the city centre was a natural one given the layout of Dublin. Having excessively long cross-city routes like the 13, 15 and 27, whose reliability is troublesome, is conducive only to enticing more cars on the road.

Perhaps the 39 just ought to be extended to Dunboyne? Ongar is just under three miles from the centre of that town.

Definitely need more east-west cross-city routes too. And free or reduced-fare transfers. The purpose here is to cut down on winding radial routes, for example the 27 and 40 around their respective northern termini. (There ought to have been a Griffith Avenue cross-city route, for example, going from Clontarf DART station to Finglas.)

And DB still holds on to hanging alpha suffixes (e.g. 29A, 46A). Just make these route numbers all numeric already. Also, rationalise alpha suffixes, e.g. 41C (which should have been the 41A).

There should be a loosening of regulations too, to allow private bus initiatives to serve estates that the last network "rationalisation" left without service. Routes like the former 51A ought to be permitted a comeback, rather than a discouragement of use by attrition (service reduction) that engineered its cancellation. Also, the route 8 needs this treatment, and not the "limited" comeback the state-run bus company gave it.

Perhaps the 130 ought to be split back up into its former configuration (used to be the 30 and 44A). Going east only to travel west from Blackheath Park and Castle Avenue is inefficient.

Plus, how many bus routes need to terminate at Belfield?

AngryLips

What was that route that ran to the airport? The 767?

Dardania

The cheap route that was super convenient to me

thomasj

AngryLips wrote:

What was that route that ran to the airport? The 767?

The 746?

Was supposed to become 24 hours at one stage as well DOT said no!

LeinsterDub

None. They should scrap em all at start again. Hopefully bus connects delivers this.

WomanSkirtFan8

AngryLips wrote: »

What was that route that ran to the airport? The 767?

Close enough. Think it was the 757 which ran from Dun Laoghaire straight to the airport.

Correction: it was the 746 back in the day.

Stephen15

WomanSkirtFan8 wrote: »

Close enough. Think it was the 757 which ran from Dun Laoghaire straight to the airport.

Correction: it was the 746 back in the day.

Yes the 746 there was also the 46X which ran from DL to The Airport.

Sexual Chocolate

Always thought that the 120 or even the old 121 should of ran up as far as Finglas village or even charlestown instead of ashtown. While a new route should serve ashtown via the navan road.

Open to correction here but there is no bus from O Connell/parnell square street that stops at Blanchardstown Shopping Centre.

Schwanz

The 78A. Always an event or two on that going into town

tabbey

WomanSkirtFan8 wrote: »

AngryLips wrote: »

What was that route that ran to the airport? The 767?

Close enough. Think it was the 757 which ran from Dun Laoghaire straight to the airport.

Correction: it was the 746 back in the day.

The 746 had the potential to be a very useful route, one bus to the airport at a reasonable fare.

The problem was that drivers used to run it as though it was a 46A. Frequently I would stand at a bus stop, a 46A would stop, and be overtaken at the stop by the 746. Consequently it was unreliable for someone who had a plane to catch, as one had to allow sufficient time to change in O'Connell Street from 46A to 16, which itself was and still is prone to severe delays between Collins Avenue and Beaumont.
One time I brought the family on the 746, the start of our journey to Melbourne. The weather was bad and traffic slow. My boys were not overjoyed with their Dublin Bus experience, and expressed their feelings at length. It was more economical than Aircoach, but perhaps not worth the hassle.

tabbey

thomasj wrote: »

S
What routes do you think should be brought back?

The original 8.

Since 1949 when the bus replaced the tram, the 8 was the best bus route in the country. The first bus was 0450 from Dalkey, which incorporated a 0458 from Sallynoggin 7A, helpful for postmen, milkmen etc. It also had a frequent timetable and before traffic became a problem, it was more reliable than 46A.

To completely axe what had been such a busy route was silly.  If economically appropriate, it could have been reduced in frequency over the years.
The later route 8 to Dalkey via UpperGlenageary Road, never took off in public esteem, and with a 45 minute frequency, was probably intended to be a temporary token sop, not a genuine attempt to plan for the future.

The original 8, if reliably operated to a clockface timetable, has the potential to serve the public and contribute to Dublin Bus revenue.This is especially desirable given the inadequate seating on adjacent rail services.

crushproof

tabbey wrote: »

thomasj wrote: »

S
What routes do you think should be brought back?

The original 8.

Since 1949 when the bus replaced the tram, the 8 was the best bus route in the country. The first bus was 0450 from Dalkey, which incorporated a 0458 from Sallynoggin 7A, helpful for postmen, milkmen etc. It also had a frequent timetable and before traffic became a problem, it was more reliable than 46A.

To completely axe what had been such a busy route was silly.  If economically appropriate, it could have been reduced in frequency over the years.
The later route 8 to Dalkey via UpperGlenageary Road, never took off in public esteem, and with a 45 minute frequency, was probably intended to be a temporary token sop, not a genuine attempt to plan for the future.

The original 8, if reliably operated to a clockface timetable, has the potential to serve the public and contribute to Dublin Bus revenue.This is especially desirable given the inadequate seating on adjacent rail services.

Hasn't there been two separate attempted to resurrect the 8 route in recent years that have failed? As far as I recall when the original route was scrapped in the early 2000's the route had very low patronage. I would occasionally get it and it would be run by double deckers that were mostly empty apart from pensioners on their way to Dun Laoghaire.
I honestly think peoples desire to see the return of the 8 is more nostalgia than anything else. It's far from an economically viable route. Money would be wiser spent on increasing frequencies on busier routes in the west of the city.

dfx-

There's all manner of Network Direct 'improvements' to major routes that could be fixed and the old routes brought back and they would be viable again.

I think in terms of otherwise cut routes, a lot of them were infrequent and slowly strangled to death, the 45 being an exception. The 172 used to be reasonably busy on the northside I believe in the boom times.

Stephen15

I saw this online that there's a petition to extend the 84 to Newtownmountkennedy. Its a silly idea IMO given that Newtownmountkennedy is the furtest place on the DB network which already has the 184 and BE route 133. Its Dublin Bus not Wicklow Bus. I suggest setting up an Eastern Region Transport Company which would incoparate BE commuter services and DB outer suburban routes.

http://wicklownews.net/2017/08/campaign-to-extend-dublin-bus-from-kilcoole-to-newtownmountkennedy/

RayM

Stephen15 wrote: »

I saw this online that there's a petition to extend the 84 to Newtownmountkennedy. Its a silly idea IMO given that Newtownmountkennedy is the furtest place on the DB network which already has the 184 and BE route 133. Its Dublin Bus not Wicklow Bus. I suggest setting up an Eastern Region Transport Company which would incoparate BE commuter services and DB outer suburban routes.

http://wicklownews.net/2017/08/campaign-to-extend-dublin-bus-from-kilcoole-to-newtownmountkennedy/

There is some merit in the idea that there should be a direct link between Newtown and Kilcoole, but those Sinn Fein representatives don't seem to have factored Newcastle into the equation. The road between Newcastle and Newtown is unsuitable for double-deckers, so there would be no straightforward way for the 84 to cover the three villages without a lot of tedious backtracking.

Maybe they could increase the frequency of the 84, with the additional buses travelling via Woodstock Road and terminating in Newtown instead of Newcastle. Alternatively, have some 184s going via Kilcoole instead of Delgany/Willow Grove/Kilpedder.

LXFlyer

RayM wrote: »

There is some merit in the idea that there should be a direct link between Newtown and Kilcoole, but those Sinn Fein representatives don't seem to have factored Newcastle into the equation. The road between Newcastle and Newtown is unsuitable for double-deckers, so there would be no straightforward way for the 84 to cover the three villages without a lot of tedious backtracking.

Maybe they could increase the frequency of the 84, with the additional buses travelling via Woodstock Road and terminating in Newtown instead of Newcastle. Alternatively, have some 184s going via Kilcoole instead of Delgany/Willow Grove/Kilpedder.

Since when?

There was at least one regular double deck working along that road Monday to Friday for many years (an afternoon 84 worked from Bray to Newtownmountkennedy via Kilcoole and Newcastle - primarily a schools service).

Banjoxed

Route 86 - but run it as a frequent connection between Brides Glen Luas and Shankill DART.

LXFlyer

tabbey wrote: »

The original 8.

Since 1949 when the bus replaced the tram, the 8 was the best bus route in the country. The first bus was 0450 from Dalkey, which incorporated a 0458 from Sallynoggin 7A, helpful for postmen, milkmen etc. It also had a frequent timetable and before traffic became a problem, it was more reliable than 46A.

To completely axe what had been such a busy route was silly. If economically appropriate, it could have been reduced in frequency over the years.

The later route 8 to Dalkey via UpperGlenageary Road, never took off in public esteem, and with a 45 minute frequency, was probably intended to be a temporary token sop, not a genuine attempt to plan for the future.

The original 8, if reliably operated to a clockface timetable, has the potential to serve the public and contribute to Dublin Bus revenue.This is especially desirable given the inadequate seating on adjacent rail services.

crushproof wrote: »

Hasn't there been two separate attempted to resurrect the 8 route in recent years that have failed? As far as I recall when the original route was scrapped in the early 2000's the route had very low patronage. I would occasionally get it and it would be run by double deckers that were mostly empty apart from pensioners on their way to Dun Laoghaire.
I honestly think peoples desire to see the return of the 8 is more nostalgia than anything else. It's far from an economically viable route. Money would be wiser spent on increasing frequencies on busier routes in the west of the city.

There isn't a hope in hell that the 8 will return - the numbers just aren't there to justify it. The market isn't there to justify it either - most people using the bus service beyond Dun Laoghaire have always been pensioners since the DART arrived.

Given that the DART will increase frequency to every 10 minutes I can see even less justification for the service.

The bus resources are quite rightly focussed on the 7 and 7a, which do have significant usage either side of Dun Laoghaire, with the local Dalkey-Dun Laoghaire market being covered by the 59 and 111.

LXFlyer

Banjoxed wrote: »

Route 86 - but run it as a frequent connection between Brides Glen Luas and Shankill DART.

I'm assuming you mean so that people can transfer from the DART to LUAS?

Encouraging people to use one mode is hard enough, and getting them to transfer once is doable, but more than that and you are fighting an uphill struggle.

That's even before you have the issue of people having to pay three separate fares - DART fare, bus fare and LUAS fare.

Banjoxed

LXFlyer wrote: »

I'm assuming you mean so that people can transfer from the DART to LUAS?

Encouraging people to use one mode is hard enough, and getting them to transfer once is doable, but more than that and you are fighting an uphill struggle.

That's even before you have the issue of people having to pay three separate fares - DART fare, bus fare and LUAS fare.

Well extend the line to Bray then. Simples.

LXFlyer

Banjoxed wrote: »

Well extend the line to Bray then. Simples.

That's a waste of a resource - the 145 already offers a high frequency service along the N11 corridor.

It already links into the 75 at Foxrock Church which covers the connection to the single biggest traffic generator along the LUAS line (Dundrum).

Given that the 84 already links Bray & Cherrywood every 30 minutes at peak - the solution would surely be to to extend it to serve the LUAS stop and perhaps add some extra departures on it.

I'm not sure where all these people are going to come from for this service that you're proposing that would make it viable to be honest.

Stephen15

There's no bus thats worth bringing back. Nearly all routes that have been done away with over years were gotten rid of with good reason due to route mergers, route duplication or lack of users. Theres still plenty of potential new routes but nothing worth bringing back.

StreetLight

Residents in the Bawnogue area of Clondalkin have been campaigning recently for a return of a link to Tallaght and Liffey Valley since the 210 was scrapped and the 76 re-routed.

Schwanz

Living in Clondalkin myself near Liffey Valley & no way to the Luas by bus from here seems mental

RayM

LXFlyer wrote: »

Since when?

There was at least one regular double deck working along that road Monday to Friday for many years (an afternoon 84 worked from Bray to Newtownmountkennedy via Kilcoole and Newcastle - primarily a schools service).

https://www.google.ie/maps/@53.0748442,-6.0795091,3a,75y,141.49h,81.75t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1srw9ixZzP6e7oPbj41psTKQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

I've seen the odd out-of-service bus using it as a shortcut to the N11, but it's not a great road.

RobbingBandit

Number 10 loved getting it to go to the zoo.

Finglas south needs a better service than the 40 too, very badly impacted by going all the way to Liffey Valley from Charlestown, 78a was a legend of a service again replaced by the 40 now.

Banjoxed

LXFlyer wrote: »

[Snip]
Given that the 84 already links Bray & Cherrywood every 30 minutes at peak - the solution would surely be to to extend it to serve the LUAS stop and perhaps add some extra departures on it.

[/snip]

This is the bit of your post I agree with. The State and private money has invested in Luas to Brides Glen/Cherrywood, while the mid points of the line at Sandyford and Dundrum would justify better North Wicklow and other southern connections than the unfit for purpose 75.

r93kaey5p2izun

I would love to see Kilcock serviced by DB again.

LXFlyer

Banjoxed wrote: »

This is the bit of your post I agree with. The State and private money has invested in Luas to Brides Glen/Cherrywood, while the mid points of the line at Sandyford and Dundrum would justify better North Wicklow and other southern connections than the unfit for purpose 75.

The 75 has recently had a recast timetable which has resulted in significantly improved reliability.

I'm not sure how you view it as unfit for purpose?

Stephen15

LXFlyer wrote: »

The 75 has a recast timetable which has resulted in significantly improved reliability.

I'm not sure how you view it as unfit for purpose?

The 63 also connects the Dart and Luas as it stops right outside Carrickmines Luas Station. I agree that extending the luas to Bray is a waste of time and money when other areas need better public transport more.

However I do believe there is reasonable demand for a Bray to Dundrum via Sandyford Industrial Estate. It dosen't have to be super frequent maybe hourly off peak and half hourly during peak times.

Banjoxed

Stephen15 wrote: »

The 63 also connects the Dart and Luas as it stops right outside Carrickmines Luas Station. I agree that extending the luas to Bray is a waste of time and money when other areas need better public transport more.

However I do believe there is reasonable demand for a Bray to Dundrum via Sandyford Industrial Estate. It dosen't have to be super frequent maybe hourly off peak and half hourly during peak times.

This is more or less what I have suggested earlier. If there was even a half hourly connection between Bray or Shankill DART and Bride's Glen it shouldn't cost a hell of a lot; and give better connectivity than at present. A casual glance at the 84 timetable doesn't appear to suggest that anything exists at the moment.

Re the 75; I have unpleasant memories of waiting for a bogged down 75 considerably later than the scheduled connection at Rathfarnham, and then going all around the houses to get to Dundrum. A bus every two hours per the present timetable on the DB website is not a realistic connection to anything.

MJohnston

Sexual Chocolate wrote: »

Always thought that the 120 or even the old 121 should of ran up as far as Finglas village or even charlestown instead of ashtown. While a new route should serve ashtown via the navan road.

Open to correction here but there is no bus from O Connell/parnell square street that stops at Blanchardstown Shopping Centre.

I reckon the existing 120 and most of the 122 routes are goners once Luas Cross City opens and the network review happens. 120 in particular will be nearly entirely served by the Luas. There's probably fare differences that make the bus cheaper, but Id say a big amount of the passengers are FTP anyway.

Stephen15

Banjoxed wrote: »

This is more or less what I have suggested earlier. If there was even a half hourly connection between Bray or Shankill DART and Bride's Glen it shouldn't cost a hell of a lot; and give better connectivity than at present. A casual glance at the 84 timetable doesn't appear to suggest that anything exists at the moment.

Re the 75; I have unpleasant memories of waiting for a bogged down 75 considerably later than the scheduled connection at Rathfarnham, and then going all around the houses to get to Dundrum. A bus every two hours per the present timetable on the DB website is not a realistic connection to anything.

Why only go to Brides Glen and not to Dundrum.

KD345

MJohnston wrote: »

I reckon the existing 120 and most of the 122 routes are goners once Luas Cross City opens and the network review happens. 120 in particular will be nearly entirely served by the Luas. There's probably fare differences that make the bus cheaper, but Id say a big amount of the passengers are FTP anyway.

Not quite. The majority of passengers for the 120 come from Rathborne and Royal Canal Park. There are hundreds of homes still being built there and none of these are close to Luas. The existing rail line at Ashtown serves a very different section of the city to the the 120. While I can see a bit of a redesign of the 120 and 122, you need to still have a bus service to Ashington and Rathborne/Royal Canal Park.

There were similar conversations about the 123 when the Red Line Luas opened. It mirrors the majority of the route between Drimnagh and James' Street, but both the bus and Luas continue to operate and do well.

Losty Dublin

KD345 wrote: »

Not quite. The majority of passengers for the 120 come from Rathborne and Royal Canal Park. There are hundreds of homes still being built there and none of these are close to Luas. The existing rail line at Ashtown serves a very different section of the city to the the 120. While I can see a bit of a redesign of the 120 and 122, you need to still have a bus service to Ashington and Rathborne/Royal Canal Park.

There were similar conversations about the 123 when the Red Line Luas opened. It mirrors the majority of the route between Drimnagh and James' Street, but both the bus and Luas continue to operate and do well.

I was commuting a lot from Rathbourne over the last 18 months. The 120 was a fantastic route, covering areas well out of reach of the train and one of the best of the new routes. It's main tweak would be to extend it beyond it's current terminus; other than that it's a great route and fit for purpose.

Sexual Chocolate

Losty Dublin wrote: »

I was commuting a lot from Rathbourne over the last 18 months. The 120 was a fantastic route, covering areas well out of reach of the train and one of the best of the new routes. It's main tweak would be to extend it beyond it's current terminus; other than that it's a great route and fit for purpose.

I think its a great route as well. I much prefer it for getting into town compared to the 122 which takes longer due to the NCR past the prison and Dorset Street. I still remember the old imps that were used on it a good while back. :pac:

I really dont think the Luas will have too much of an impact on it. The Luas stops at Liam Whelan and Broombridge arent great imo, especially Broombridge which is pretty much on the outskirts of Cabra.

MJohnston

KD345 wrote: »

Not quite. The majority of passengers for the 120 come from Rathborne and Royal Canal Park. There are hundreds of homes still being built there and none of these are close to Luas. The existing rail line at Ashtown serves a very different section of the city to the the 120. While I can see a bit of a redesign of the 120 and 122, you need to still have a bus service to Ashington and Rathborne/Royal Canal Park.

There were similar conversations about the 123 when the Red Line Luas opened. It mirrors the majority of the route between Drimnagh and James' Street, but both the bus and Luas continue to operate and do well.

The 120 can continue to serve Ashtown, but I would suggest it'll go in a completely different route otherwise. I used to live in RCP and would say a large amount of people will walk the short distance to Broombridge for the Luas. 120 is a good service but it's your typical "stop every 10 meters" route, and a lot longer than it should be.

Ashtown itself is a bit further away from Broombridge, but I'd say itll still be an attractive option.

LXFlyer

Banjoxed wrote: »

This is more or less what I have suggested earlier. If there was even a half hourly connection between Bray or Shankill DART and Bride's Glen it shouldn't cost a hell of a lot; and give better connectivity than at present. A casual glance at the 84 timetable doesn't appear to suggest that anything exists at the moment.

Re the 75; I have unpleasant memories of waiting for a bogged down 75 considerably later than the scheduled connection at Rathfarnham, and then going all around the houses to get to Dundrum. A bus every two hours per the present timetable on the DB website is not a realistic connection to anything.

The 84 is roughly every 30 minutes at peak which is when the demand for such a service might exist. It's a 5-6 minute walk to Cherrywood LUAS stop from the stop at Cherrywood (and yes I do agree that it should serve the LUAS stop itself, but that would mean longer running times and might require more resources).

As for the 75 - The bus now operates every 30 minutes 7 days a week. Not every two hours.

I'm guessing you are complaining about the route via Ballinteer - perhaps might it not strike you that the people living there are as entitled to an orbital bus service as anyone else along the route? It gets strong loadings on that section in both directions - unless more orbital routes are introduced that's not going to change.

We can all have bad experiences with public transport, and they will cloud our judgement, but to be fair to DB, as I said already, the 75 timetable has been recast which has improved reliability significantly.

LXFlyer

Stephen15 wrote: »

Why only go to Brides Glen and not to Dundrum.

It would be mirroring other existing bus routes and the LUAS - a waste of a resource.

tabbey

LXFlyer wrote: »

As for the 75 - The bus now operates every 30 minutes 7 days a week.

There are two problems with the 75;

1. Overall time is excessive, because of the grossly indirect route. It is quicker to go into town and out again.
There is a need for a 75X, leaving the 75 route at White's Cross and using the M50 to the N81, then going straight to the Square via the Tallaght bypass, rather than Tallaght village, which is horrifically congested much of the day.

2. It is unreliable, due to traffic and other problems. I am accustomed to leapfrogging on 46A and other frequent routes, but on the 75, something is wrong.
Some years ago, late morning, I waited at Nutgrove for a bus to DL. the timetable showed two buses departing Tallaght, half an hour apart. I was in good time forthefirst bus, lest it be early, but it was half an hour late. I asked the driver was it the first or second of these two buses, he replied that it was the first, and that the second was now immediately behind us, and there it was. The first bus of course had to pick up all the passengers, while the second flew past many stops, making a 30 minute frquency actually two buses per
hour at random.
This is why the public abandon public transport and take to their cars, thus exacerbating problems.

The most urgent need for the 75 is to eliminate the Ballinteer loop, we can walk from the Barton Road roundabout to Dundrum as quickly as use the 75 much of the day

devnull

tabbey wrote: »

There are two problems with the 75;

1. Overall time is excessive, because of the grossly indirect route. It is quicker to go into town and out again.
There is a need for a 75X, leaving the 75 route at White's Cross and using the M50 to the N81, then going straight to the Square via the Tallaght bypass, rather than Tallaght village, which is horrifically congested much of the day.

2. It is unreliable, due to traffic and other problems. I am accustomed to leapfrogging on 46A and other frequent routes, but on the 75, something is wrong.
Some years ago, late morning, I waited at Nutgrove for a bus to DL. the timetable showed two buses departing Tallaght, half an hour apart. I was in good time forthefirst bus, lest it be early, but it was half an hour late. I asked the driver was it the first or second of these two buses, he replied that it was the first, and that the second was now immediately behind us, and there it was. The first bus of course had to pick up all the passengers, while the second flew past many stops, making a 30 minute frquency actually two buses per
hour at random.
This is why the public abandon public transport and take to their cars, thus exacerbating problems.

The most urgent need for the 75 is to eliminate the Ballinteer loop, we can walk from the Barton Road roundabout to Dundrum as quickly as use the 75 much of the day

As was stated numerous times previously, the 75 timetable was changed not long ago and thanks to which is now much more reliable.

Sexual Chocolate

tabbey wrote: »

This is why the public abandon public transport and take to their cars, thus exacerbating problems.

I dont see it too often but last week i saw three 122's with one car separating the second and third bus.

LXFlyer

tabbey wrote: »

There are two problems with the 75;

1. Overall time is excessive, because of the grossly indirect route. It is quicker to go into town and out again.
There is a need for a 75X, leaving the 75 route at White's Cross and using the M50 to the N81, then going straight to the Square via the Tallaght bypass, rather than Tallaght village, which is horrifically congested much of the day.

2. It is unreliable, due to traffic and other problems. I am accustomed to leapfrogging on 46A and other frequent routes, but on the 75, something is wrong.
Some years ago, late morning, I waited at Nutgrove for a bus to DL. the timetable showed two buses departing Tallaght, half an hour apart. I was in good time forthefirst bus, lest it be early, but it was half an hour late. I asked the driver was it the first or second of these two buses, he replied that it was the first, and that the second was now immediately behind us, and there it was. The first bus of course had to pick up all the passengers, while the second flew past many stops, making a 30 minute frquency actually two buses per
hour at random.
This is why the public abandon public transport and take to their cars, thus exacerbating problems.

The most urgent need for the 75 is to eliminate the Ballinteer loop, we can walk from the Barton Road roundabout to Dundrum as quickly as use the 75 much of the day

The 75 now has adequate running time to do the journey with the new timetable introduced back in May. I've posted this several times now.

I think the large number of people who use the 75 from the Ballinteer loop wouldn't appreciate your suggestion of removing it either. That is only going to happen if and when a replacement orbital route is introduced to serve that area such as the planned 175 that was canned due to cutbacks in funding.

Stephen15

tabbey wrote: »

There are two problems with the 75;

1. Overall time is excessive, because of the grossly indirect route. It is quicker to go into town and out again.
There is a need for a 75X, leaving the 75 route at White's Cross and using the M50 to the N81, then going straight to the Square via the Tallaght bypass, rather than Tallaght village, which is horrifically congested much of the day.

2. It is unreliable, due to traffic and other problems. I am accustomed to leapfrogging on 46A and other frequent routes, but on the 75, something is wrong.
Some years ago, late morning, I waited at Nutgrove for a bus to DL. the timetable showed two buses departing Tallaght, half an hour apart. I was in good time forthefirst bus, lest it be early, but it was half an hour late. I asked the driver was it the first or second of these two buses, he replied that it was the first, and that the second was now immediately behind us, and there it was. The first bus of course had to pick up all the passengers, while the second flew past many stops, making a 30 minute frquency actually two buses per
hour at random.
This is why the public abandon public transport and take to their cars, thus exacerbating problems.

The most urgent need for the 75 is to eliminate the Ballinteer loop, we can walk from the Barton Road roundabout to Dundrum as quickly as use the 75 much of the day

I had another similar bad experience with the 75. There was a concert on in Marlay Park and I was waiting in Ballinteer for the bus to DL. The was about half an hour late when it came it was displaying 'Private Hire' so I assumed it was some speical service to bring people to Marlay Park as nearly everyone was gettin off at the stop. It only dawned on me after it left the stop that that bus was the 75 which decided to display 'Private Hire' dispite actually being in service. I ended up having to get a 14 to Dundrum and the Luas the rest of the way.

Stephen15

LXFlyer wrote: »

The 84 is roughly every 30 minutes at peak which is when the demand for such a service might exist. It's a 5-6 minute walk to Cherrywood LUAS stop from the stop at Cherrywood (and yes I do agree that it should serve the LUAS stop itself, but that would mean longer running times and might require more resources).

Wasn't the orginal plan for the 84 during network direct to run it every 30 minutes between Newcastle and Cherrywood only which was a logical idea. But a local councillor demanded that the service be retained as far as UCD. Then after the 45 was withdrawn it was completely rerouted away from UCD anyway.

MJohnston

Sexual Chocolate wrote: »

I dont see it too often but last week i saw three 122's with one car separating the second and third bus.

122 route is badly planned out - the way it has to turn right from NCR onto Dorset Street is a giant, avoidable bottleneck for example, and I believe there are a few more along the route. No wonder they tend to bunch up in certain places!

LXFlyer

Stephen15 wrote: »

I had another similar bad experience with the 75. There was a concert on in Marlay Park and I was waiting in Ballinteer for the bus to DL. The was about half an hour late when it came it was displaying 'Private Hire' so I assumed it was some speical service to bring people to Marlay Park as nearly everyone was gettin off at the stop. It only dawned on me after it left the stop that that bus was the 75 which decided to display 'Private Hire' dispite actually being in service. I ended up having to get a 14 to Dundrum and the Luas the rest of the way.

The days of the concerts at Marlay Park are not representative of the service in any way, shape or form - they caused major delays to routes due to heavy traffic and inconvenience to local residents too due to the massive crowds attending them. Bus routes were also curtailed due to Garda closing roads unannounced.

Sexual Chocolate

MJohnston wrote: »

122 route is badly planned out - the way it has to turn right from NCR onto Dorset Street is a giant, avoidable bottleneck for example, and I believe there are a few more along the route. No wonder they tend to bunch up in certain places!

Yep, even via Eccles St like the old 121 it would avoid some of the NCR traffic.

Going through town today on the 46a made me think of this thread and why DB are very unlikely to bring back any routes that went anywhere near O Connell Street/College Green area unless there was a full private car ban in place or even between 0700-2100 every day.

More park and ride facilities on the outskirts of town should solve any greviences from the public if priced fairly.