Public Transport - Do You Really Like It?

JupiterKid · 29-04-2017 05:33AM #1

We all hear from the powers that be that we should all be using public transport as much as possible and that commuting by cars is selfish and unsustainable.

In Dublin in particular, tens of thousands take the bus/train/Luas every day to work but do you do it out of choice or necessity? Would you prefer to take the car if you could get cheap/free parking at your work?

I read on another forum that people only use PT out of necessity, not choice. I mean, who wants to be cramped in with horrible OTHER people who may be a little lacking in the personal hygiene department every single day? Would you just prefer to gulp a coffee in your car listening to music you like on the radio?

Does anyone use public transport because you like it? Or if you commute by car, what would make you shift to public transport?

Lets face it - in cities, we need public transport.

Del2005 · 29-04-2017 06:02AM

I'd love to be able to use public transport, can get to work hung over or have a nap, but unfortunately I'd have to travel into Dublin and back out again adding several hours to my commute. If there was a direct link I'd loose the car.

Barry Badrinath · 29-04-2017 06:03AM

Do ya really like it, is it is it wicked...im loving it loving it loving it, im loving it like that.

Sorry, eh its ok where I am but Id hate to rely on it.

On the other hand, I use it maybe once a year.

Donald Trump · 29-04-2017 06:05AM

Hoverboards
I mean back-to-the-future yokes. Not the exploding ****e ones

bnt · 29-04-2017 09:33AM

The answer, of course, is "it depends". I take the LUAS Green Line to and from work, but at peak times at my stop, the slightest disruption to service means every tram is totally full for the next half hour. I was able to change my working hours and now start half an hour earlier, and so avoid the peak. They're currently lengthening the platforms so they can make the trams longer. So that's going OK for me.

But city buses? Hate them. They are at the mercy of other road users, and suffer badly during rush hour. Last year when the LUAS drivers were on strike. I had to walk to work, and made better time than buses stuck in gridlock. The only way the bus could work for me then was to get to work by 7am. Even now, if I had to take the bus, peak times are not an option, not if I want to have any consistency. Oh, and one more thing: I have to stand downstairs on the bus - that seems to be the only way I can avoid getting carsick, thanks to all the stop-start-stop-start, jolting due to potholes, and the exhaust fumes. :mad:

Erik Shin · 29-04-2017 09:35AM

Regular train user, would never use the luas when in Dublin though....it just looks horrific.

The_Valeyard · 29-04-2017 09:37AM

Train is grand. Hate buses. Lot of scumbags on luas.

_Kaiser_ · 29-04-2017 09:55AM

I used public transport for 20 years (mostly buses.. no LUAS/DART on most of the northside) and it was the delays, the missing buses and spending most peak journeys standing for an hour that finally convinced me to get a car. Then when I moved out of Dublin, the car became essential as public transport is either completely impractical or non-existent.

But even if I had the option now of door to door public transport I doubt I'd use it. It just takes so much longer, you have to deal with people with bad hygiene or putting up with total strangers loud phone conversations or music choices. Then there was the poor standard of driving - bouncing at speed over ramps, going too fast around corners, or jamming on the brakes just before the stop etc. It's also become increasingly expensive in the last 10 years or so. Not exactly good value.

No thanks... I'll stick to the flexibility and comfort of my car even if it sometimes takes a bit longer.

MilesMorales1 · 29-04-2017 09:58AM

I don't mind it honestly. Cos I've driven into town before, and it seems to take longer in a car than on the bus. Wish the service where I lived was more regular though, every 30 minutes is a joke.

Erik Shin · 29-04-2017 10:09AM

Had to laugh at Dublin bus....airport to Heuston station supposedly 35 minute journey...and they tell you there might be 5-10 delay...an hour and 20 mins later the airport is reached....after a grand tour of the city :rolleyes:
No wonder people are wary of using the bus

pickarooney · 29-04-2017 10:11AM

The train is grand and the bus has the advantage of not having to concentrate on the road so I can watch TV or all the beautiful girls.
I take the bike 98% of the time though.

Yourself isit · 29-04-2017 10:13AM

Dart user. Yes, better than driving.

Cienciano · 29-04-2017 10:14AM

If you don't work in the city center and need 2 busses or a bus and train it can be a pain. My commute is a 20 minute drive, or an hour 20 minutes bus

boobycharlton · 29-04-2017 10:20AM

We don't have proper public transport here unless you are lucky enough to live near a dart or Luas line. Even the Luas is too slow to be honest.

I have to use the bus to get to work, and the service is expensive, slow and unreliable. This is because the bus network seems to be a complete afterthought to city planners, despite being the biggest people movers in Dublin. Buses are still forced to compete for scarce road space with single occupant private cars at peak times, with little to no bus priority.

Only yesterday Dublin City Council bowed down to business interests and car park owners and reversed a decision to ban private cars from a stretch of the North Quays, that would have hugely benefited the bus network. It is going to be chaos when all bus routes are diverted along the North Quays once the Luas begins crossing O'Connell Bridge and College Green is pedestrianised.

namloc1980 · 29-04-2017 10:21AM

Living outside Cork city and take the train to work in the city and love it. Going by car would take way longer and be more expensive.

VinLieger · 29-04-2017 10:22AM

Luas is great, dart alright and using dublin bus is like a waking nightmare

Prime Irish Beef · 29-04-2017 10:24AM

Buses are a disaster for me. The bus goes from my door to right outside my work, but you can never predict how long it will take or if the fecking thing will show up.

I drive to the dart or just drive. Gots me voucher for my new bike yesterday. Woohoo. \o/

Turtyturd · 29-04-2017 10:25AM

It'd be grand if other people didn't use it.

GhostyMcGhost · 29-04-2017 10:36AM

Cienciano wrote: »

If you don't work in the city center and need 2 busses or a bus and train it can be a pain. My commute is a 20 minute drive, or an hour 20 minutes bus

mrsdewinter · 29-04-2017 11:04AM

I like it. I get to sit down, read a book, listen to the radio. I find driving around town at peak times absolutely infuriating, so taking the bus is a way of keeping my blood pressure under control.

JupiterKid · 29-04-2017 11:07AM

Dublin is far too reliant on busses. I think the Luas network needs to be extended significantly and the DART Underground/Metro built. Dublin needs faster, more reliable public transport befitting a global city and that means rail/light rail based solutions.

suicide_circus · 29-04-2017 11:07AM

Live in Dublin CC don't have a car, we borrow one if we want to go somewhere out the sticks. Public transport requires a certain zen-like outlook. Always have my choonz and a book with me. A bus is a good place to space out.

Ush1 · 29-04-2017 11:18AM

I don't use it that regularly but I feel Dublin bus has improved in the last few years. With that app for tracking them, wifi and the standard of the buses it's not too bad.

I only ever use the luas redline, it stops too often and whenever people tell me the Southside is posh I tell them take a journey on the redline.

suicide_circus · 29-04-2017 11:20AM

Ush1 wrote: »

I don't use it that regularly but I feel Dublin bus has improved in the last few years. With that app for tracking them, wifi and the standard of the buses it's not too bad.

I only ever use the luas redline, it stops too often and whenever people tell me the Southside is posh I tell them take a journey on the redline.

Is the redline still plagued by feral scrote children and brass monkeys intimidating paying customers?

Ush1 · 29-04-2017 11:25AM

suicide_circus wrote: »

Is the redline still plagued by feral scrote children and brass monkeys intimidating paying customers?

Ah yeah. I was on it last Saturday coming back from town, junkie with the sweats gets on at Rialto. Sits on the single seat which is facing another single seat near the doors. Across from him was a foreign lad and the junkie asks the quiet foreign lad can he put his foot up on the seat that the lad is sitting on! And the fella let him.

I wish he woulda asked me, I'd have told him he'll get a foot up the hole.

beauf · 29-04-2017 11:26AM

JupiterKid wrote: »

...In Dublin in particular, tens of thousands take the bus/train/Luas every day to work but do you do it out of choice or necessity? Would you prefer to take the car if you could get cheap/free parking at your work? ...

Does anyone use public transport because you like it? Or if you commute by car, what would make you shift to public transport?....

I have every options available to me. I generally take the Train. Can sit relax, use the bathroom, read a book, watch a movie. Only issue is its generally badly overcrowded. My next choice is the bike. Its a bit far for me to do it every day.

I use the car when I need it for some other reason. I avoid the bus where I can. I used buses for years and its my very last option. Too slow, unreliable and bumpy.

I also use the Luas and Dublin Bike but not for commuting.

ligerdub · 29-04-2017 11:55AM

Senor Fancy Pants wrote:

Do ya really like it, is it is it wicked...im loving it loving it loving it, im loving it like that.

Stole my joke.....but you did it better than I would have.

Good times.

qo2cj1dsne8y4k · 29-04-2017 12:07PM

I hate people so it doesn't suit me

smug_dude · 29-04-2017 12:12PM

hate buses

love trams or trains

Pelvis · 29-04-2017 12:33PM

Dublin Bus. No. Hate it.

The Luas is great, though I'm lucky in that A: I use the green line, not the red, and B: my journey takes me away from town in the morning, which is quieter than heading into town, and C: If a tram is too full there's only a few minutes to wait until the next one, which is usually a lot emptier, I have been known to let 2 or 3 trams go by before getting on one.

In saying that I'd always prefer to use my own transport.

9or10 · 29-04-2017 12:37PM

_Kaiser_ wrote: »

Then when I moved out of Dublin, the car became essential as public transport is either completely impractical or non-existent.

Sadly true.

Public Transport - Do You Really Like It?

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