BusConnects Dublin - Bus Network Changes Discussion

But effectively it did not. There was no local engagement on the NCR at all bar a leafleting campaign, and of the leafleting campaign - I still have the booklet - we were all delivered the H spine leaflet , not the B or the E ( or even the O ) so everyone said "doesn't affect us" . Were there any local meetings either for the infra or the bus changes - not in the slightest. BC has had absolutely terrible consultation.

By comparison in recent time DCC had several consultation local meetings in the parish centre for the proposed pavement changes at Hanlons corner, where info was readily available, suggestions for improvement were taken on board face to face and the argument could be had

There's a right and a wrong way to do it, and NTA have no idea how to do it. Witness them trying to ram through the E in the middle of a GE campaign, paddy power wouldnt have taken a bet on it being deferred. tone deaf and stone deaf.

You want an honest answer ? There was no campaign I saw , no local meetings , no dates , nothing. I saw no TV ads and heard no radio ads.

When this was originally mooted I firmly believed it was pie in the sky another thing that will fall by the wayside as did everyone I know.

I'm trying to point out the difference between proper consultation - by providing examples of a good consultation - DCC - vs a terrible, brutal one - BC.

Did I zone out ? No.

I post info I see here on our residents whatsapp groups and without fail nobody else - 100+ houses - has any info on it at all.

That petition mentioned above got a lot of traction on Whatsapp because people were annoyed at the lack of input or info from the NTA - and it was another resident who had posted it on the group in question.

You ask me what's happening in the Grangegorman SDZ and which buildings are going up next and I can tell you - because , again, they are very good at communicating to the local area and keeping people informed.

Less than 4 weeks to go and is there any signposts on the NCR 46a signs to say its going away ? Not on your nelly.

Does the Bus connects map represent what its going to look like - no - for our area

a: 11 route not marked along the NCR

b: N2 marked incorrectly as going up infirmary road

etc etc. Now you might well say "thats the plan on the map not the planned reality" well thats the first busconnects map when you google, and so you have to go back a long way to find that in fact the N2 goes a different way and the 11 - even though its not "busconnects" is being rerouted because they cant get the O going . Again comms terrible - no map is better than a wrong map.

https://busconnects.ie/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/A3-Big-Picture-Map-11.04.24-B.pdf

Just like to add the only reason I stay on here is because its the ONLY decent source of information.

That is not what I meant. This thread is updated regularly and credit to all who do including yourself.

I am referring to the original consultation and lack of local engagement. My own feelings are irrelevant here.

I've provided at least two examples of consultation done right.

At this time I am keeping up to date with it, but I will strongly come out against anyone who says there was extensive prior consultation, because for me and my local area, there was not.

To be fair was it meant to be ? Wasn't the O route meant to come in alongside the E spine at one stage ?

Not as far as I recall.

The northern end of the 46a never really fitted into the NTA's plan as they did not want to make it into a spine and if all your crayons are really big ones then this didnt fit their thinking . Currently you can't turn right from the NCR to go northbound at Phibsboro so if you want to run spines up through Ballymun and Botanic they have to come up Broadstone so that meant that didnt fit the 46a which goes up Berkeley Road to get to the NCR and then westbound

The idea was that you'd change outbound from a spine to the O at Phibsboro (for the E) or Hanlons Corner ( for the B whenever it launched ).

Inbound in reverse - O to B or E or even down to Heuston for the LUAS

Because the O is not yet ready ( and there is no sign of it whatsoever ) that is why the lesser frequency 11 is being rerouted to the NCR ( and the route number being kept the same, with the potential to cause tremendous confusion ).

This doesnt take into account

1. Electric Single decker buses being the O planned fleet to replace a chocka 46a double decker
2. Traffic on the NCR being chocka for most of the peak - admittedly a moot point but does need to point out the utter lack of bus priority anywhere on the NCR bar I think 200 metres westbound outside the Mater ?
3. The B = 39a and the LUAS inbound from Heuston are already strong competitors for the most crowded public transport in Ireland and shoving O transfers onto them is a recipe for making things worse ; the E will be no slouch either for crowds.
4. The N2's ability to soak up even a little bit of this is lost to suck up NCR traffic because its only serving a single NCR stop on the outbound run now , and none on the inbound (because the planned infrastructure for the O and N2 is not yet there )

There's an argument that "some people will need to transfer" yes but I keep on saying look at the 46a loadings after Parnell St it doesnt empty out at Phibsboro !

Short term the E might be delayed as it might get used as a political weapon before the Government is formed, and for those saying "never happen" well it happened a few weeks ago .

Also the 11 may end up being permanent but if they made it same freq as 46a I'd be happy.

It doesn't even matter. We have too many people whining because of changes. 46A temporary substitute in place - and people are still unhappy (whether they know or don't know about).

So what that it worsened. They shouldn't be crying babies, but adapt to the changes like normal adult beings.

no snow anywhere near the coast, just rain, so the 145/155/84/184 should all be fine.

Why can we not just issue work permits for bus drivers? How many drivers are we short of rolling out BC?

Given that 150k people immigrated into the country in the 12 months to April and similar numbers in the previous year, how is it not possible to hire a couple of hundred bus drivers.

While I'm not certain, but I have the feeling that Dublin Bus should drop their standards to be more flexible in the market... Those who imigrate, if they have a good English, would be more educated and most likely work in the offices. Those with poorer English would work in retail/services. And with poor English in the warehouses... The question is how much Dublin Bus are motivated to support those with poor application? Can Dublin Bus be considered for an easy entry for those without a D category license?

how do you know they're not doing that already - the NTA head was talking about the driver shortage quite recently and saying they're already doing everything they can to recruit more drivers. Every driver in the EU can already work here without a permit. The main problem is there's nowhere for them to live.