BusConnects Dublin - Big changes to Bus Network

Sure, I guess my point is if we get rid of the need for one of the spines, then that would free up a ton of drivers for some of these peripheral routes. I know we have Luas to Finglas/Poolbeg/Bray on cards but if we were able to get rid of the need for buses on any of the main spines, it would free up a serious amount of drivers to provide a better service on the 2nd order/orbital routes.

Regardless it shouldn't take us 10 years to build a Luas as is the case with Finglas.

Go-Ahead treat the national law as their base and their minimum unpaid break time is 45', but I've seen a case where the driver was off the bus for more than 45' but the walking time to the break room built into the duty reduced it below 45' and it was paid through. GA's unpaid breaks are a maximum of 90' and if a break is longer than that, it's only the last 90' that are unpaid, whereas in reality your break could be just as well two hours. GA practice two breaks if necessary on longer duties (usually those hitting 11-12 hours), but only the longer one will be marked as unpaid. GA practice appears to be that the driver will not be driving more than 4h30 scheduled without a break, but that does exclude turnaround times, so you could be on the bus for 5 hours (this loophole is necessary at times, for example on the 220+104).

Dublin Bus have an agreement that requires a bit more than the law does: breaks taken in the garage must be at least 60', those outside of garages at least 50', except Harristown have an overriding agreement to have all their breaks at least 60'. DB however practice a strict regiment of one break per duty, and the entire break is treated as "unpaid" (which mind you is rather irrelevant considering that DB pays per day rather than per hour as GA, all it matters for is some fancy maths that's required by the union agreements). If the duty requires the driver to move from, say, the en-route handover location to the garage or vice-versa to pick up the second bus, that's part of the working hours, not the break. DB's agreement is to have no more than 5h30 without breaking, but that's a side effect of their working timetables

Bus Eireann is a mix depending on which working hours regulations apply, domestic or EU/tachograph. They're a lot more lax about the number of breaks per duty (on the regional routes it's of course a side effect of the far less frequent services).

The 20' turnarounds you suggest aren't always going to be viable. There's only so many drivers we have available. While they make sense under current infrastructure, if the corridors finally get done properly, there's going to be very little need for such long turnaround times when it could mean one bus less on the road. Terminus capacity is always going to be a problem too!

I know in DBK they've started route training on the 74/L25 routes this week, word has it a November start.

2 questions, what are "Zones" please? Why would they (presume Sth Dublin County Council) be digging up all the bustops along a route (150 from Rossmore through to Whitehall Rd West. Do the bus stops change when a spine is implemented. Thanks.

Thanks. Was being nosey.

This was one of the flyers going around, seen someone posted it on Reddit. Don't know where this "action group" is getting their info from, but they're kind of getting hoodwinked 😂

Lots of new drivers starting in Donnybrook recently, not sure if this could be hampering the schedule as it does take time to learn. But serious pinch points. Bus gate at Trinity being one. Hopefully when Fairview is finished that will help with flow but the handover points at Eden Q is a time consuming factor.

Buses today because forecast is crap. So Buses are now completely full from before 7am. They stop for prolonged periods because they are running ahead of schedule and then 100 metres later have to join a queue of traffic 😒

Bus lanes are now completely chokers with cars. Especially 231 registered cars, I guess the sense of entitlement must be higher among new car owners

So many cancelled buses lately. 52 and X25 both due within 10 minutes of each other were cancelled at rush hour due to lack of drivers. If that happened midweek when commuting passenger numbers are higher it would lead to bedlam. Standing /crammed in seems to be the norm for most C spine journeys these days, if you're lucky enough to get on a bus.

Like a lot of things in the bus industry, a blind eye is usually turned until something goes wrong (i.e. an accident or injuries caused by a sudden braking incident). That's when the driver gets into trouble.

I just tried to check some route detail and got the above, why would they purposely block the site from certain places?

You're better off using the tfi app I think