BusConnects Dublin - Bus Network Changes Discussion

I know that poor communication from the NTA is par for the course but they really should be making an effort to explain why routes are being moved away from College Green when these changes are being made.

Thanks.

A situation where the bus can skip stops routinely, or even a series of stops, means the service is completely unreliable.

If i waited for a train and it flew through my stop because it was late or for any other reason, i wouldnt be long driving instead next time.

We cant fairly criticise people for driving when the bus service operates this way.

https://busconnects.ie/cities/dublin/new-dublin-area-bus-network/

It seems there was another update to the frequency tables towards the end of October, although I've only just noticed them now and I haven't seen any posts about it. For the most part it seems like some general formatting changes, fixing the scale, changing the colour/frequency scaling, and overall making it look much better and easier to read. However there are a few frequency changes, some are corrections for existing routes but others may actually indicate changes for upcoming routes. That said there are some errors with the colour/frequency gradient.

Though, there are three general problems I have noticed with the tables. First is that it seems they combined the docs from the old 2020 tables and the recent update, but forgot to update many times, I'll do my best to point these out. Second is they really messed up the peak services table, its almost unreadable but I'll explain any changes/problems below. Then lastly, they are inconsistent about whether short services are counted in main table or in the peak table (assuming if it wasn't messed up). The E-spine doesn't include them but the F-spine does, so I will point out where its relevant.

Here are all the changes I have noticed:

• Spines:
  • A1 has is increased to 6-min freq (from 12-min) during peak hour. However keep in mind what I said above, these may just be short services.
    • Though if they aren't shorts A-spine frequency during peak hour is now 25bph or every 2.5 minutes
  • C-spine freq both corrected and messed up. Peak hour frequency is correct but early morning frequency is wrong now
  • G-spine was given the old peak time freq (12-min) instead of the current 10-min freq
• Orbitals:
  • mostly fine, but are missing the early morning departures for the S8, W2, and W4.
• Radials:
  • 19, 52, 60, and 74 were missing early departures that are now added
  • 48 now only starts from 7:00, though I suspect given a few routes are missing early freqs it may be an error
  • 60 is missing its half-hour peak freq
  • 97 ends much earlier in the day, however this is more in line with the 53. This change makes sense given the 57/58 changes
• Locals:
  • L1 and L3 were missing early departures that are now added
  • L55 was missing a late departure that is now added
  • L56 was readded, this is an error as it was replaced by the 57. Even if they were introducing a local route it would more than likely be renamed to the L57 for consistency
  • L80 has its old frequency back, 20-min peak and 40-min/60-min off-peak. I am not sure if this is an error or not, as it and the L56 would be the only error in the locals
• X and P routes:
  • The P and X table is now organised just number, not by P then by X… not sure how I feel about this
  • The colours are all wrong which makes it hard to read
  • They have also readded the "similar route" column, and its a bit more accurate, showing a few more routes being replaced like the 47 and 70
  • P18 has its 2x departure times tweaked
  • X25 departure times corrected
  • P44 back to one departure
  • X56 is back, but like the L56 I suspect this is wrong as if it were coming back it would probably be as the X57
  • X58 is showing 2x departures again, not sure if this was accidently copied from the old tables or if this is now planned
  • P66 is not new this time, but I missed it last time so I wanted to point it out. It's a more direct replacement for the 38s going through Ballycoolin. Despite this it was missing from the new map.
  • X76 is back and X85 is gone, I suspect this is an error as it should more than likely will launch as the X85
  • X79 has one less departure
• Spine/Radial shorts:
  • So they forgot to add the actual departures in, but there are some interesting changes with the routes
  • However given how badly this was done, I wouldn't treat any of this too seriously
  • Also for context, the first updated timetable had completely changed these from the original, with only four routes: A1 south, E1 south, F1 north, and 19 short.
  • The E1 short and 19 short are still there, but the A1 short and F1 short are gone. Though with the F1 its because its included in the main spine section (which it shouldn't be)
  • the A9 and D9 have returned and there is now a B9
  • There are new D2, D4, and 20 shorts (though the D4 and 20 may have their destinations swapped) edit: I both forgot the D4 goes to Swords Rd and mixed up the 20 and 22 so what I said makes no sense. I am not sure if the 20 Short is correct or is supposed to be another route

edit: As pointed out below a number of routes still have their old termini which I missed.

I guess it's because if you're a regular bus user you'll know why

It looks like that frequency map is no longer available on the site, even though it was there yesterday. I wonder if their staff browse here regularly :)

From my own experience, the F3 does feel like a downgrade to the 40. The frequency in general is a downgrade and you've more passengers waiting at peak times. A few times at peak commute time, the bus is so full it can't pickup passengers at the end of the Finglas route before it gets to Finglas Road. (This is largely because of school kids who get off in a few stops).

Also, rather than "connect", it's caused some people in Finglas North to not be able to get to the Dunnes and Post Office in Finglas West. It's still a local service in addition to getting people to the city centre and elsewhere.

There definitely feels like an imbalance with the stops the F3 has to manage and the stops the F2 does.

"Before we reach critical mass on the roads"

I'd say we are already far past critical mass at this point...

40 minutes from lower camden St/the bleedin horse to eden quays ffs.

Glad to see the finglas area communities are fighting back. Wish other areas done this

I see the point HOWEVER this is not the H,C,G,E Spines, but the F Spine . My point is that we are several launches in and its still "poor scheduling" and "how on earth could we have known". Given, of course, they are new routes - but still. Lessons learned seem few and far between.

Which makes the service useless for many bus users.

If there was a train leaving from Heuston to Cork and it sped off from Heuston without allowing any passangers to board, it would be headline news.

A bus can do this multiple times evey day and its accepted as normal service.

Then people wonder why we wont rely on public transport.

Was on the 69 from town this evening and an inspector got on at the stop before Islandbridge and counted how many passengers were onboard. Same happenned on a 39a on Baggot Street on Wednesday afternoon.

Are DB doing a survey this week? would they not be able to get passengers numbers off Leap card data?

Just a box ticking exercise

Wow, I feel sorry for all the times I've given out to a bus driver. But the problem is the NTA is problem. They never tell the bus driver anything. They never actually tell you what the problem is, just that there is a problem.

I half expect traffic was light on Monday because of Ireland winning in football on Sunday. Maybe there was other explanations though!