How can we curtail bus lane misuse

Fixed camera enforcement at blackspots plus bus mounted cameras will resolve the issue, no need for public involvement. The thing is we're due an 'update' on fixed camera enforcement at the end of the year and bus mounted cameras are an aspiration. The state doesn't want to play the role of enforcer. It's not just traffic rules though, basically every rule in this country is ignored. Irish culture is basically 'ah shure it'll be grand'. I mean have you been to Dublin City Centre? gangs of 100+ youths in north face jackets are permitted to attack people at will, chances of getting a bus lane enforced are slim in that context.

AS for 24/7 bus lanes, meh. I can see how they're needed in some stretches like the quays but my preference would be to ban cars from using the quays as a through route altogether.

As someone who seems to be incensed by the topic, and further, as someone who has accused others of not thinking things through, have a think there and think whether there are any other options than the false dichotomy you present

(hint - there are already many private bus owners operating services all around the country)

Maybe you'd like zero bus lanes? Might not work out the best for your taxi-ing if ya wanna be working in the city.

But I like where you are going with this. Lets remove all benefits to public transport options that can be said to disadvantage the private motorist. Start putting parking meters and general parking for anyone on those prime sites currently allocated for taxi ranks.

Yeah. They should be 24/7. There is zero reason not to be. It would assist the slow learners who currently don't appear to be able to figure out how to read a clock.

Buses run until probably midnight for most routes (24 hours out your direction btw). How often have you found yourself stuck in traffic at 4am in the morning?

No such thing as roads big enough, in the USA 18 lane motorways aren't big enough for the traffic they attract.

As for a car ban, absolutely there should be car bans in city centres, I'd say you've gone a bit far though in a total ban. But maybe you're on to something, imagine how wealthy Ireland would be if we didn't export hundreds of billions of euros to oil producing and car manufacturing countries every year.

Is your motivation to ask for your own job to change to more work-from-home or to ask everyone else to change to work from home so that you can travel your 50km more quickly?

You should learn to use your own brain rather than blindly using some online calculator that you don't understand how it works. I mean in the sense that it is a black box.

I can go to some link, put in 50kph and figure out how many cars can get from Drumcondra to Clonskeagh. Let's say DCU to UCD. Perhaps you have never driven in the city centre, but google maps is telling me at the minute that the fastest (not shortest) route from DCU to UCD is 45 mins for 12.5km. Basically 10mph. There is no point in me putting in 50km into your calculator.

You could send all the drivers your online link to explain to them why they should be going at 50kph instead. As soon as they get the calculator, they'll undoubtedly go faster.

Just to be absolutely clear here that the Dublin city bus service has expanded both in terms of the numbers of routes and frequency over the past five years in Dublin and is going to increase further as BusConnects is rolled out.

The 175 was a brand new orbital route in 2018 between Citywest and UCD.

Many of the outer Dublin routes that transferred to GoAhead Ireland in 2018 and 2019 saw increases in frequency when they moved across.

Dublin Bus increased frequencies on the 1, 14, 15a, 15b, and 27 in late 2018.

They increased services on the 11, 13, 14, 25/a/b, 26, 38/a, 39/a, 42, 43, 54a, 66/a/b and 70 in 2019, a new route 155 was added between IKEA and Bray, and routes 15 and 41 became 24-hour routes.

In 2020 additional departures were added to the 33 and the 39a was converted to 24-hour operation.

In 2021 the H-Spine and C-Spines were launched which included new routes, longer operating hours, and four 24-hour routes.

There are massive increases planned in orbital routes later this year and next, with brand new routes to be added and increased frequencies - these should relieve pressure on citybound routes as people may opt for the orbital routes instead of two buses. Some of these new routes will use roads that have had unused bus lanes on them, particularly in west Dublin.

The manner in which the bus service operates is fundamentally changing from one of terminus departure times only, to one that sees a timetable for every departure at every stop along the routes. That's impossible to deliver reliably without properly enforced bus priority measures.

BusConnects is also about integrating the schedules along each spine, eliminating the random frequencies and delivering a consistent service, with the emphasis being on developing reliable and consistent journey times, which in turn should lead to predictable connections with orbital routes.

That cannot be delivered without enforcement of the bus priority measures, be they bus lanes, bus gates, priority lights, yellow boxes etc.

The majority of drivers do t behave like that ... to say so is just moronic ranting

As a bus user, it is fair comment to say that every day I see drivers out there who do flaunt the rules either deliberately (these are usually BMW, Audi or Volvo drivers) or through incompetence or just inattentiveness, be it:

• blocking yellow boxes that are designed to facilitate buses pulling out at the end of bus lanes by either sitting in it or creeping forward
• blocking yellow boxes at junctions - the one on Burgh Quay at Rosie Hackett Bridge is a classic - I've been stuck sitting on a bus on the bridge waiting to turn onto Burgh Quay several times watching the traffic lights go through their cycle multiple times (the record on several occasions is six complete cycles of red and green lights) due to cars blocking the bus in the yellow box
• parking in bus lanes or indeed bus stop cages with hazard lights on - since centre door exits came into full operation buses absolutely need the full length of the bus stop cage to pull in, line up and pull out again - the bus stops in Sandymount village are near constantly blocked by drivers parking illegally
• car drivers driving with one set of wheels on or over the bus lane white line stopping buses from getting past - on one bus recently a BMW driver did this in Rathmines and just ignored the bus driver repeatedly sounding the horn behind him until the bus driver just left the horn on constantly
• car drivers thinking that driving in the bus lane is ok if you have your left turn indicator on - it seems to be general practice to think that it's ok to drive in the bus lane and form a queue of cars approaching a junction rather than staying in the general traffic lane until the arrow indicates cars can move inside - we've seen DCC resorting to installing wands to prevent this on Rathmines Road, Harold's Cross Road and at Whitehall Church. Look at the northbound bus lane on Rathfarnham Road north of the Dodder Bridge - it's just ignored.
• delivery trucks parked in bus lanes - the ones on the Camden Street - Wexford Street - Aungier Street - Georges Street corridor see this all day long

I could go on, but it is genuinely a fair comment that as a daily bus passenger I cannot recall a journey on a bus since restrictions were lifted that I have not seen one of the above during the course of the journey. If several of these occur, then every one of them adds extra time to the overall journey time that the bus needs.

For the bus service to work and become reliable these have to be tackled.

Would you support a similar regime for motorists? Losing your licence after three speeding offences? Or three parking offences?

There is a fascination with the motor vehicle in Ireland and a general blind spot by drivers towards rules of the road. Look at some of the threads in here lately - a motorist complaining about getting 12 penalty points and doesn't like that he has been suspended frim driving for his inability to drive responsibly, the numerous videos posted by drivers in Fairview complaining about traffic while they A) are the traffic and B) are breaking the law and stupidly putting the evidence online. Then observe daily the amount of vehicles illegally parked on footpaths, red lights broken seconds after turning red (amber gambler is long behind us), drivers using phones while driving, vehicles in bus lanes, vehicles in yellow boxes.

The Gardai don't want to know. The drivers don't care. The vehicle is the king of the road.

Until automated enforcement is brought in, which no politician will want to sign off on as it will end their career, none of the above will change and will likely only get worse.

So properly police bus lanes and only allow them to be used by buses, then your friends will be able to enjoy better public transport?

Solutions for your friends could be public transport, walk, cycle, GoCar? But it's easy to say oh I would love to get rid of the car but I can't. If they really wanted to they would.

There’s a whole world of things you’re not aware of.

Doesnt really answer the question either way though.