Liberties to Ballycoolin

rebel456

Hey folks,

Have gotten a new position that requires me to commute from the Liberties (near Vicar Street) to Ballycoolin. Regular Mon-Fri 9-5.30 hours.

I have been trying different routes, from getting the 37/39/39a at around 7.50am Ushers Quay and changing to a 38 along the Navan Road. Alternatively I have been getting a Dublin Bike across to Parnell St and hopping on the 40D scheduled to leave at 8am.

Also looking at cycling, although I need to get a decent bike as it would be 30/40 mins in either direction minimum, work do provide showers though.

Based on experience so far... the 40D is a great service, nearly always packed by the time I hop off in Ballycoolin, even though it makes a lot of stops the traffic is light heading in that direction. But it has gotten very bad reliability wise in the past few weeks, numerous complains on twitter about the morning buses not showing up due to delays on inbound services. The 39/38 combo nearly had be late due to traffic in Blanch village... the right turn just before eBay is killer, the bus waits for an age to finally get a green light to turn. Plus there can sometimes be a long gap 10+ mins between buses.

Any other travel possibilities I'm missing? Driving is not ruled out, although I much prefer to use public transport or cycle.

This is my first time having to rely on Dublin Bus to commute, not great impressions so far!, I'm probably just going to have to get earlier bus as it's too risky to rely on that 8am 40D to show up, or for the 38 not to get bogged down in traffic through Blanch. Shows to me the importance of Bus Connects more than ever, less stops and more through-running (signal priority) for buses. With as much separation from regular traffic as possible.

Is there anyone who regularly takes the 40D, who might know more about the apparent dip in reliability of late, was it bad before?

LXFlyer

I assume you mean 40D?

There is no 41D!! ;-)

rebel456

LXFlyer wrote: »

I assume you mean 40D?

There is no 41D!! ;-)

Yes! Duly edited. Must be the tiredness from commuting getting to me

StreetLight

A possibility is getting a 39A from Ushers Quay to Blanchardstown Centre and either a 220, 236 or 238 from there to the Ballycoolin area, but you would need to time it reasonably well as those local buses are not frequent.

To be honest, Dublin Bike to the 40D sounds the better option. But there might be merit in catching the 40D at Parnell Square, not Parnell Street. I have heard repeated calls on the drivers' radios to remind them that the 40D is back to terminating at Parnell Street. That's because they were terminating at Parnell Square for so long due to Luas works on Parnell Street. Maybe the reason for that is some drivers may only be back from holidays and may not have realised that the terminus has recently returned to Parnell Street.

As you mentioned, another possible reason for the no-shows on Parnell Street is the delays on the inbound journey. I would imagine in that case that the driver's controller will opt for the best available option and will instruct the driver, if the bus has emptied out at Parnell Square East, to immediately head around to Parnell Square West and start working outbound again from there.

Certainly not ideal for anyone waiting on Parnell Street, but still better than cancelling an entire journey. A matter of minutes saved in this fashion can mean quite a lot to get a bus back on its running time. If it's happening too much, then Dublin Bus will need to re-visit the schedule and sort it out quickly.

Polar101

Expressbus might still be running a bus from city centre to Ballycoolin.
There is also the 38b which might be faster than 38 or 38a, but the last one leaves at 7:20 so that doesn't really fit your 9am start.

I personally commute with 220 or 17a from Blanch shopping centre to Ballycoolin - wouldn't really recommend those options unless you took the 39 to Blanch village and got lucky with the infrequent 220, or walked to Connolly hospital for the 17a. And 17a might not go to the part of Ballycoolin you are headed to.

The 40d is probably the fastest Dublin bus option.

magicbastarder

rebel456 wrote: »

Also looking at cycling, although I need to get a decent bike as it would be 30/40 mins in either direction minimum, work do provide showers though.

i think 40 minutes sounds reasonable for that distance - i guess through the park or up the navan road are the two most obvious options? not the best time of year to start the commute though, it's nice to start when the days are still lengthening.