Luas - What impact has it had on your commute?

dewsbury

Simple one.

Have your daily transport routine been altered significantly by the Luas ?

Do you use Luas and if so what difference to it make to your commute?

Alternatively, has the luas made any difference to your car or bus journey?

Are the roads slightly less busy because of less cars along the route?

sliabh

I use it to get to Sandyford from Milltown. The thing is bloody great. The time savings are usually small (about 5 mintues on a 20-25 minute journey) but the convenience is huge. There is no agro with traffic, I can read on the way to work and it's more social as I regularly meet people I can talk to on the tram.

I also can leave work whenever I want without having to worry about the horrifc rush of cars out of Sandyford in the evening. The €16 per week I spend on my Luas ticket is also much cheaper than petrol and car costs.

All praise to the Luas!

On the flip side, I have a lot of sympathy for the people that are going into town on it from Milltown. The system is at capacity during rush hour. This morning the luas left a very large number (probaby 30-40 people) standing on the platform as the incoming tram was so full. I accept that more people wanted to use it this morning on account of the snow, but I regularly see totally full trams and unhappy punters left behind.

enterprise

Door to Door from home (Milltown) to college: minimum time of 20 minutes if you time your arrival at the tram stop to within 30 seconds of the tram arriving, which can be done with the knowledge. Usually average 25 minutes door to door.

More convenient than the 48A and also quicker due to the bus being caught up in traffic on the Sandford Road.

_Kaiser_

On the flip side, I have a lot of sympathy for the people that are going into town on it from Milltown. The system is at capacity during rush hour. This morning the luas left a very large number (probaby 30-40 people) standing on the platform as the incoming tram was so full. I accept that more people wanted to use it this morning on account of the snow, but I regularly see totally full trams and unhappy punters left behind.

In my opinion this is an example of Ireland's approach to everything transport-related: No forward planning - let's only build in JUST enough capacity for things as they are now, and then in a few years we can milk the taxpayer for ANOTHER fortune to do something it would have probably been cheaper to do in the first place.

Take the DART/Commuter trains as another example. Surely rather than building longer platforms with the expense and inconvience involved (leaving one half of the city at a time without a weekend service??) that add only an extra two cars to the train, it would have been better if someone had thought ahead and allowed for double-deck trains to be added as demand increased.

Or the M50. Build a 2-lane "motorway" (dual carriageway is surely more accurate) but then block the whole thing up in both directions with a toll bridge that again had to be expanded recently(ish) because of a lack of forward planning - and it's still not enough, as I'm sure anyone who has to pass through it in the mornings will confirm.

The LUAS. By all accounts a great service (even though an underground would have made far more sense) but it only serves HALF the city (if even that). I know us Northsiders don't seem to count in the Public Transport game but seeing as I'm helping to fund this overpriced (Tribunal forthcoming no doubt) tram, it'd be nice if it went anywhere near where I might need to go.

And then there's the buses. Overpriced (and gone up yet again - anyone notice how most fares went up by 5c but the more common €1.65 rose by 10c to it's current €1.75?), also overcrowded and completely unreliable. The 39 from Blanch to town can take anywhere up to an hour to get to town (and that's not including the wait of anywhere up to 30 minutes to get one in the first place!)

Public transport in this country really is a joke! It's no wonder there's more and more cars on the road every year really given the "efforts" made by those in charge of supposedly solving our transport problems.

DéiseGirl

sliabh wrote:

On the flip side, I have a lot of sympathy for the people that are going into town on it from Milltown. The system is at capacity during rush hour. This morning the luas left a very large number (probaby 30-40 people) standing on the platform as the incoming tram was so full. I accept that more people wanted to use it this morning on account of the snow, but I regularly see totally full trams and unhappy punters left behind.

And however bad it is for us at Milltown at least we can USUALLY get on (if you stand at the right place that is!!), but if you're waiting at Beechwood and the tram is packed, you'd have NO chance of getting on. :eek:

sprinkles

don't really know, I started working in sandyford after the luas started so I can't compare but I remember the commute I had a few summers ago to dundrum and it was a killer, especially in the evenings so I only have good things to say, plus I get the tram from end to end so I'm never standing but I think in general it has been a godsend. Well done FF, for once!

enterprise

D&#233 wrote: »

(if you stand at the right place that is!!)

Shush, don't tell them where to stand to ensure they always get on first time around.

magpie

Have your daily transport routine been altered significantly by the Luas ? No

Do you use Luas and if so what difference to it make to your commute? No

Alternatively, has the luas made any difference to your car or bus journey? No

Are the roads slightly less busy because of less cars along the route? No

Can I have my money back?

Flukey

I live near it, but not near enough to use it and anyway buses pass my door. I've used it a few times, but it doesn't have any advantage for me.

Victor

Kaiser2000 wrote:

[/b]Surely rather than building longer platforms with the expense and inconvience involved (leaving one half of the city at a time without a weekend service??) that add only an extra two cars to the train,

You seem to forget that it's difficult to rewire an electrical system while it's live.

Kaiser2000 wrote:

it would have been better if someone had thought ahead and allowed for double-deck trains to be added as demand increased.

I'm not sure what height a double decker system is, but the constraints you are talking about are bridge height and cabling height, nothing to do with platform length.

Of course, it's going to be really difficult to extend some stations / platforms beyond 8 cars.

highdef

I have only started using the Luas recently when I am worinf an early shift as the traffic has just got so bad that driving home at rush hour is a joke. I love the comforts of the car and I love driving but spending 75-90 mins to drive about 12 miles just got to me. If I am on the 8am - 6pm shift, I get the 06:55 Dart from Bayside to Connolly and then the LUAS from Connolly to Blackhorse in Inchicore (nearly always a LUAS waiting at Connolly so always get a seat. Incidentally always get a seat on the DART too). Usually arrive in work just before 07:55. I leave work around 17:50 - 17:55 and get home around 19:00. If I had been driving, I would stay in work till about 19:00 and then get home by about 19:45 - 19:50. LUAS costs me just under €7 a day so it works out more expensive than driving but it's worth the hassle!

Greenman

On a recent trip to Ireland myself and my mother had a run on the LUAS Sandyford to St Stephens Green all I can say is its great!!!!
Pity it dose not connect to the other LUAS and that it dosen't go out to the airport!!! Maybe one day!!!

Well done the LUAS!!!

JackKelly

Use the LUAS everyday and its amazing. Use it to go to school. Last year, was left with the 11 into town which on a good morning took 40 minutes to get in. Without considering the time waiting around for it. Usually i just ended up walking in (from Goatstown). Now, from my door to St. Green takes 30mins (5 minutes to get to the stop). Plus, a monthly ticket is only €40 which is very resonable, as it allows unlimited travel, any day of the week, to any luas stop, on either line. The best part is the frequency. You never have to wait +5 minutes, unlike the bus when you could be waiting 30+. All in all, the luas has made (for me) getting into town FAR easier.

Capt'n Midnight

I work near the terminus of the LUAS, they have increased the clamping charge.

It's 6 miles to work, 5 of which are Bus lane, public transport is not an option because I'd have to change twice AND walk at least half a mile or over a mile if I wanted to avoid a third change or going via the city centre. Unpredictable working hours rule out special commuter busses and lifts.

ranDom_tAsk

dewsbury wrote:

Simple one.

Have your daily transport routine been altered significantly by the Luas ?

Do you use Luas and if so what difference to it make to your commute?

Alternatively, has the luas made any difference to your car or bus journey?

Are the roads slightly less busy because of less cars along the route?

1. Nope
2. Only if I'm going into town for a few hours, I park in the square. Save on parking in town.
3. Only when going into town.
4. You're joking, right ?

_Kaiser_

Victor wrote:

I'm not sure what height a double decker system is, but the constraints you are talking about are bridge height and cabling height, nothing to do with platform length.

Of course, it's going to be really difficult to extend some stations / platforms beyond 8 cars.

...which is why I was saying it'd be better if they had planned to introduce double deck trains instead of adding a few extra cars that are, at best, just barely keeping up with the current capacity on some services.

Flukey

According to today's Sunday Independent the Luas is taking customers from Dublin Bus, but having little impact on the amount of cars on the roads in those areas.

Bee

Flukey wrote:

According to today's Sunday Independent the Luas is taking customers from Dublin Bus, but having little impact on the amount of cars on the roads in those areas.

One of my arguments against the Luas all along. It has shifted passengers from the Bus with no reduction in congestion along with an unjustified cost to the tax payer .

An underground would have had a minimum of 8 times the carrying capacity with less accidents along with leaving road space for QBC's etc

Bee

segadreamcast

"Have your daily transport routine been altered significantly by the Luas ? No

Do you use Luas and if so what difference to it make to your commute? No

Alternatively, has the luas made any difference to your car or bus journey? No

Are the roads slightly less busy because of less cars along the route? No

Can I have my money back?"

Same for me. Yet another useless innovation for Glasnevin/Santry/Finglas/Beaumont/Whitehall... "we were going to extend it through Glasnevin but...now that we started...meeh"

Victor

Bee wrote:

One of my arguments against the Luas all along. It has shifted passengers from the Bus with no reduction in congestion along with an unjustified cost to the tax payer .

The RPA said today that Luas is carrying 300,000 per week. Dublin Bus carries about 3,000,000 per week.

sliabh

Victor wrote:

The RPA said today that Luas is carrying 300,000 per week. Dublin Bus carries about 3,000,000 per week.

They are saying that only 20% of the Luas users are displaced bus users. It would be fair to state that a fair portion of the other 240,000 passengers are former car commuters.

John R

Kaiser2000 wrote:

...which is why I was saying it'd be better if they had planned to introduce double deck trains instead of adding a few extra cars that are, at best, just barely keeping up with the current capacity on some services.

And shut the entire system down for over a year in the process?

enterprise

ntl Technical wrote:

I have only started using the Luas recently when I am worinf an early shift as the traffic has just got so bad that driving home at rush hour is a joke. I love the comforts of the car and I love driving but spending 75-90 mins to drive about 12 miles just got to me. If I am on the 8am - 6pm shift, I get the 06:55 Dart from Bayside to Connolly and then the LUAS from Connolly to Blackhorse in Inchicore (nearly always a LUAS waiting at Connolly so always get a seat. Incidentally always get a seat on the DART too). Usually arrive in work just before 07:55. I leave work around 17:50 - 17:55 and get home around 19:00. If I had been driving, I would stay in work till about 19:00 and then get home by about 19:45 - 19:50. LUAS costs me just under €7 a day so it works out more expensive than driving but it's worth the hassle!

NTL,

Your spending €7.00 a day to travel Rail / Bus. Thats €35 per week, why not buy a Rail / Luas weekly ticket for €25.00 at any Dublin area rail station and you will save money! A monthly ticket is around €90 I think (have to confirm that price again).

Plus this gives you unlimited travel on all DART / Commuter services bounded by Balbriggan - Maynooth - Hazelhatch - Kilcoole as well as the entire LUAS network.

Good value for money!