BusConnects Dublin - Bus Network Changes Discussion

Either have Dublin Bus operate that or have Dublin Bus operate both the L1 and L2 circular routes in North Wicklow and have GAI operate the L85. I think someone suggested a while back that it would make more sense to have DB operate both the 33 and 33a and have GAI operate both the 84/a and 184.

My money, were I a betting man, would be on your first solution: L1/L2 in DB, L85 in GAI. Keeps the senior men in Bray garage happy, which is probably one of the reasons why the 84 stayed in DB - it's one of the most senior routes in the company altogether.

I know I said a few posts higher that Skerries shed is really DB's problem, and hence I shouldn't be bringing Bray garage into it now, but I do think that GAI getting the L85 mileage and PVR in lieu of the 184/L1/L2 is the better solution. GAI will probably keep the 102/L81 and 33B/L83 as well, and with the L81 meant to operate f-20, I think that will probably balance out. Worst case scenario, the L14 will go to GAI and they'll keep the 185/L15, and I would suspect the L3 will go to whoever gets L1/L2.

Personally, and I might have said it here before, I might have not, I do strongly believe that the likes of Rush, Lusk, Skerries, and Balbriggan are WAY too far from Dublin to be getting a direct service like that, much like Greystones, Newtownmountkennedy, Kilcoole, and Newcastle are, and frankly so is Blessington, except that one doesn't have a rail alternative. Otherwise we might as well make BÉ's 103 to Ratoath part of the city network. It's political, yet these are locations that in any other capital would be fed to a rail link that would take them there far less time than the bus would - and now that most of these locations are within the 90 minute transfer fare, well.... it's just my opinion though.

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Another worthwhile topic: with the G Spine reportedly next, which I understand will comprise of the G1, G2, and the 60 in this phase, does anybody have any inkling as to whether G1 will receive 24/7 service, or will the 25N stay in place for now? (Hopefully the 29N and 31N eventually disappear in favour of some H1/H3 night service, even if f-60.)

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The trains for DART+ will be bi-mode (i.e. battery packs and OHLE). That would not be an issue for DART+NC.

I want to move away from about the 33 at the moment. There was an announcement by a FG councillor in Dun Laoghaire on Twitter yesterday that Georges St in Dun Laoghaire will become fully pedestrianized on a permanent basis from next summer in 2023.

Summer 2023 is also coinciding with the rollout of the E-Spine which has the E2 from Charlestown to Dun Laoghaire.

Here's the tweet showing the announcement yesterday.

Not a perfect start when searching from the Dublin Bus website homepage currently states that the N4 runs between Sandymount and Adamstown........

Apologies for getting off-topic, but why is there a shopping centre called Drogheda Mall in FINGLAS and not Drogheda?

I didn't consider the G2 for 24-hour operation solely on the basis of the Galway-themed 79 estates not having a night-time equivalent. I'd rather expect the D3 would have a night service for Clondalkin.

Any existing travel patterns will be a result of the existing network being so accommodating in that regard. That's one of the pitfalls of designing anything from scratch. Anyway, the 65 was included as an extreme example: for not having an alternative service, be it with BÉ or with rail, it should maintain some sort of a direct service into the city centre (otherwise I should start disputing a lot of the regional BÉ network), but the others have alternatives, and as I'd stated before, they are an extreme that wouldn't be accommodated as such in most other capitals.

RTPI or bus scrolls?

Perhaps they could reroute some of the Xpressos to serve the R132 instead of the M50. Sure, it might defeat the purpose of them if that were to happen, though it is probably the slap-dash solution that I can imagine the NTA implementing

On the buses themselves, seen a few photos on Facebook showing Drogheda Mall as the destination

Exactly, it makes no sense for the timetables to be in the format "towards [name of last stop]". Now, in a lot of cases the stop name is at least somewhat relevant to the actual destination (i.e. Rialto Chruch), but more often than not, the last stop name is pretty vague

I have a rather decent idea as to what the area looks like out there, as I have gone out to see and travel the 33s a few times. It's my fault for not being clear earlier - my comments regarding direct 33s into town focused on Skerries and Balbriggan as the two towns really far out, rather than Rush and Lusk. There is no right answer to this ideological debate here, but my base opinion doesn't change.

For the record, I don't consider that an improvement - never said I did - but merely argued my overall stance that happens to be in line with the envisioned network.

Do you think there would honestly be enough numbers to warrant a more frequent service out there though? Disregarding the "changing northbound in Skerries" waiting, just on pure passenger loads. Perhaps f-20 in the peaks, but otherwise?

(Also, resources are finite.)

No, it's more that the stop naming approach isn't good enough. Termini should be named with neighbourhoods/districs/villages, and intermediate stops should then use streets and nearby amenities. This way there can be thorough consistency across all aspects of passenger information.

The problem is that destination scroll programming is done usually as a completely separate exercise using separate software by the Operator, so somebody in GAI didn't think this one through. Well, then again, I should argue that it's programmed to match the stop name, perfect, except the stop name is useless, so not perfect at all. What's more, Dublin Bus have already uploaded the G1/G2 scrolls onto their buses.

I did a less ambitious East-West (N6) and West-East (N4) tour today and it all ran very smoothly. All bus stops were updated; some with extra info temporarily tied to the stop. I didn't time the buses coming in the opposite direction but they seemed to be very frequent. Some passengers were asking "where is the 17A" but seemed happy enough when driver explained the change to them.

It was noticeable when the driver on the N6 paused for a bit longer at some stops, presumably to maintain the individual stop schedule.

Collins avenue (N4) was a bit congested at Whitehall and this tends to be much more congested during the week, presumably this has already been taken into account in the stop schedules and/or will be updated after a few real measurements are taken.