46a...

Bard · 29-03-2006 08:28PM

ColHol wrote:

kurisu, learn to spot sarcasm

Also, everyones a friggin expert

Also, everyone's a friggin Dub, by the looks of it.

46A? 17? 77? Pfft!

The buses around here that go into the town (any part of it) are marked "TOWN".

Brock · 29-03-2006 10:57PM

I have no problem with the 46a leavin every 4 mins as i usually see it doing while waiting at dun laoghaire for the bus my problem with the service is that around 90% of the buses are the low floor buses which are wheelchair accesible. Surely these buses should be shared on routes to accomodate everyone. If i am in dun laoghaire with my handicapped mate we usually have to wait around 40-60 mins for a 111 to come and there is no guarentee of it bein accesible. Are all these wheelchair buses need on this route, surely of the 10 that leave within a half hour only half would be needed to accomodate handicapped people.

P.S I never got a reply of dublin bus when i asked this

John R · 30-03-2006 12:06AM

They designate particular routes as fully low-floor so wheelchair users can know which routes are available.

The only routes in DunLaoghaire currently accessible are the 46a and the 59, the 111 often has some but on any given day there may not be any at all. They won't publicise a route as wheelchair accessible until they can be reasonably certain that 95% of the time they will be.

There are still several hundred non-accessible buses in the fleet and there will be for several years to come.

A bus is expected to last anywhere from 15-20 years in service although Dublin Bus are now selling theirs on at 12-13 years Accessible buses were only available to buy in bulk from 2000 onwards so the large numbers bought in 1998/1999 will be around for at least 6 more years. It is just not financially justified to replace them all overnight.

The 7 route (as well as a number of others) is due to be converted later this year when the 2006 order of new buses arrives.

Agent Smith · 06-04-2006 04:11PM

Blisterman wrote:

How come you never see a 46, just a 46a?

doesnt run anymore, irrc...

ferdi · 06-04-2006 04:29PM

skitzo wrote:

And the 17 has got to be the worst bus in this country! It shows that Dublin Bus don't give a **** about the lower class areas!!

sorry but thats crap, the 17 goes from blackrock through UCD, mount merrion clonskeagh, dundrum, churchtown -> not exactly lower class areas. but yes, it is an appauling route.

Blowfish · 06-04-2006 05:21PM

actually i know one of the accountants for dublin bus, who says that the 46A is one of the few routes which actually make a profit, most of them make a loss, so its not suprising that they show a preference to it. Didn't Dublin bus cancel the 8? That was the only bus that served Dalkey, one of the richest areas of the city, yet they still cancelled it because there wasn't enough people using it. The 46A in rush hour can actually be terrible, im in UCD, and sometimes have actually had to wait an hour for one that didn't just drive past.
There are obviously other routes which make a profit, i don't know what they are, but yes it would be nice if they all had good buses

TheVan · 06-04-2006 05:30PM

Kurisu wrote:

Im tired of our goverment using this countries resources to look after this one district above all else.

I take it you're socialist tit. (not that socialists are tits, you just seem to be both)

It's been accepted here that the 46a is almost always busy, its trouble free, has a massive catchment area and may i add, there's basically no fare skipping.

The government does not exist to serve the perceived wealthy classes, it serves everyone

melekalikimaka · 06-04-2006 07:15PM

TheVan wrote:

I take it you're socialist tit. (not that socialists are tits, you just seem to be both)

It's been accepted here that the 46a is almost always busy, its trouble free, has a massive catchment area and may i add, there's basically no fare skipping.

The government does not exist to serve the perceived wealthy classes, it serves everyone

thats a good point, keeping their best customers sweet isn't an uncommon practice. it easilt hits 25/30 school from dun L to town... can anyone name another bus that does the same(maybe the 84's/145's, but they also go up the arse of nowhere and are pron to a bit of smashy smashy). If ever complaints were to be made to Dublin Bus, school kids not getting in on time due to shoddy service would be high up there in damage wise...the service the 46a provides is amazing, and the fact it gets the great buses reflects that

segadreamcast · 06-04-2006 07:41PM

ferdi wrote:

sorry but thats crap, the 17 goes from blackrock through UCD, mount merrion clonskeagh, dundrum, churchtown -> not exactly lower class areas. but yes, it is an appauling route.

He must've meant the 17a... the most underserved route on the Dublin bus network as far as I'm aware. I get buses everywhere that I can't walk - so I'm generally always using different routes to visit people and, on average (I made a chart out over seven journeys), for every one 17a that WOULD arrive, three were scheduled to arrive. That just isn't good enough - if they don't have the capacity, don't schedule it: simple.

Funkstard · 06-04-2006 08:04PM

schools served by the 46A : St. Andrew;s, Loreto Foxrock, CUS, UCD, DLIADT, DSC, Institute, Colaiste Eoin and Iosagain, Oatfields

It goes right beside CBC Monkstown too.

Didn't Dublin bus cancel the 8? That was the only bus that served Dalkey, one of the richest areas of the city, yet they still cancelled it because there wasn't enough people using it.

Actually the 8 began running again a few months ago. There's two stops for it outside my school but I've yet to see one 8 bus around the place. That Labour lad got the bus reinstated....Eamon something or something

ferdi · 06-04-2006 08:33PM

Funkstard wrote:

Actually the 8 began running again a few months ago. There's two stops for it outside my school but I've yet to see one 8 bus around the place. That Labour lad got the bus reinstated....Eamon something or something

Eugene Regan got the no. 8 reinstated - one of the few county councilors worth his salt.

Attol · 06-04-2006 08:35PM

skitzo wrote:

I live along the 77 route and the 46a route (yea my ma's and da's), and it's kind of obvious to me that Dublin Bus uses their brand new "spaceship" buses along their 46a route and all the 77's are pretty sh*tty.

However, I'm not surprised... The 77's are destroyed! And the 46a's are in perfect condition (apart from my graffiti).

And the 17 has got to be the worst bus in this country! It shows that Dublin Bus don't give a **** about the lower class areas!!

By the way the 77 is pretty packed as well as the 46a!!

(look out for my tags... Skitzo, CRA)

Slightly off topic but why would you vandalise the buses? If you think there should be new ones then don't vandalise the current ones unless you want to discourage Dublin Bus from purchasing any nice new buses for the routes you use.

d4gurl · 06-04-2006 09:08PM

People who graffiti on buses are just sad sad sad people! Btw the 46A couldnt live without it in the moring! always packed always frequent! it runs on a long bus route! it makes sense to be mroe regular

Fast_Mover · 06-04-2006 09:19PM

hehe, all this vandalisation talk just makes me think of a sign that greets me every morning when i go up the stairs to my classroom in the school that im teaching in, here in Limerick: it has a picture of a CIE bus on it and reads 'its your bus, dont vandalise it'..if only the kiddies would actually pay attention to it!!

[Jackass] · 06-04-2006 10:50PM

I live on the route of the 2, 3, 10, 18, 7 & 45...with the exception of the 18 they're all pretty decent services...but then again, I do live in D4 so when my double decker limo pulls up, sometimes the porter is slow to open the doors and take my bags..it can be a bit anoying, and the leather couches could use a massage feature... :rolleyes:

lol, briabery, "special buses" for D4...

what are ya like lads!?

segadreamcast · 06-04-2006 11:40PM

DubGuy wrote:

lol, briabery, "special buses" for D4... what are ya like lads!?

I can see where the idea is coming from.

The 46a is:

- The most regular Dublin Bus service
- Has the newest fleet on the DB service
- One of the fastest routes per km on the DB service
- One of the few routes that happens to not go on the Northside at all (apart from 500m or so at the end of the route).

Imagination? Hardly. It's a great route, but I genuinely think that something is a little rotten in Dublin Bus.

projectmayhem · 06-04-2006 11:44PM

NoelRock wrote:

The 46a is:

- The most regular Dublin Bus service
- Has the newest fleet on the DB service
- One of the fastest routes per km on the DB service
- One of the few routes that happens to not go on the Northside at all (apart from 500m or so at the end of the route).

and yet as a regular commuter (daily), i've yet to see a full 46A.

elvis2002 · 06-04-2006 11:45PM

When I lived in Marlborough Road in Ranelagh I found the 10 and 46A handy because there are so many of them really. When waiting for an 11 outside Trinity or at O'Connell street I often found myself waiting an hour and looking at loads of 46A's going by. I got so pissed off with that Id just take the 46A and walk the extra 5 minutes down Marlborough Street. I got the 46A near Cornelscourt(??) one day into town. Nobody on the bus whatsoever. It was around 11-1 in the day. I was the only one there.

lodgepole · 07-04-2006 12:20AM

NoelRock wrote:

- One of the few routes that happens to not go on the Northside at all (apart from 500m or so at the end of the route).

It's a southside bus. Why would it go onto the northside, other than as a way of turning around to go back to where it came from?

segadreamcast · 07-04-2006 12:20AM

Lodgepole wrote:

It's a southside bus. Why would it go onto the northside, other than as a way of turning around to go back to where it came from?

...You mean, like every other bus route?

CuLT · 07-04-2006 12:53AM

The 16 goes all the way from the bottom of the Dublin mountains to Santry in one fell swoop. Far southside to far northside.

Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why some bus routes are preferred over others; I used to get the 77 to and from work, the amount of times the bus got attacked passing through Jobstown is unreal.

So the 46A gets more buses; as people have pointed out, they're well used, but as with every busroute in the city could probably use some supply-demand management.

Blowfish · 07-04-2006 01:09AM

elvis2002 wrote:

I got the 46A near Cornelscourt(??) one day into town. Nobody on the bus whatsoever. It was around 11-1 in the day. I was the only one there.

Well the 46A actually doesn't go by Cornelscourt, but the 46C does. Its possible you were on that one.

lodgepole · 07-04-2006 02:17AM

NoelRock wrote:

...You mean, like every other bus route?

Are you suggesting that the majority of bus routes service both north and south of the liffey, beyond going slightly north or south for the purpose of turning around?

The 16 isn't typical of bus routes, any more than the 18 or 75 are. Generally Dublin buses leave an area and head directly into the city centre where they turn around. I live closest to the 15 which doesn't leave the south side at all. Other buses near me such as the 49, 65 and the 54a only go north of the liffey to turn.

I got the 46a for three years going to college, it always rammed in the morning and rammed in the evening. They get the nice new buses because they have enough people to test how customer friendly they are and a beautiful fast moving stretch of dual carriageway to see how they perform on the road.

r3nu4l · 13-04-2006 03:09PM

OK, years ago, a mate of mine used to work for Dublin Bus, in the offices, in some sort of 'strategy' develpoment team or something like that.

Anyway, he told me that there were certain preferred routes where there were less accidents with other vehicles and less incidents of vandalism, regardless of catchment area etc.

New buses cost a lot of money so to get best value and reduce costs for DB it is better to put buses into service in areas where statistics say that it will take longer for the bus to receive sufficient damage to warrant repair. The 46A was one of those routes but like ALL DB routes there is still vandalism etc but to a far lesser extent than other routes.

I remember in the 1980's the 25A buses all had crappy scratched plastic windows. They used to terminate in the Arthur Griffith Park council estate in Lucan and the kids used to wait for the bus to come into the square and then fire piles of stones at it to try and put out the windows!!

Nightwish · 13-04-2006 05:37PM

The 46a bugs me just cos there is one of them, like every 30 seconds coming up O Connell St, when the 16/a seems to take an age. Also the buses are really big and new and shiny.

Johnson · 13-04-2006 08:51PM

Large catchment area.
High volume of passengers at peak times (Morning/evening commute, kids to/from school)
Serves the main artery into the city centre from south of the city
A profitable route
Low instances of vandalism

Of course a route like that is going to be given 'special attention'. No sense in neglecting one of the prime routes in the city. As for people saying that the buses are never full, I have been getting the 46A for 10 years now, and I've spent many rainy evenings waiting at bus stops watching 46As pass me by packed with passengers, as well as many mornings squeezed up against the side double doors.

The clientele are generally better looking than your average bus passenger too.

projectmayhem · 13-04-2006 09:01PM

Johnson wrote:

The clientele are generally better looking than your average bus passenger too.

i'd have to disagree there. first off, you're on it. second, i'm not on it.

Zoned · 13-04-2006 09:23PM

Johnson wrote:

The clientele are generally better looking than your average bus passenger too.

It all depends what stop you get on at.....there will allways be the freaks stop...

DOLEMAN · 13-04-2006 09:34PM

Johnson wrote:

Large catchment area.
High volume of passengers at peak times (Morning/evening commute, kids to/from school)
Serves the main artery into the city centre from south of the city
A profitable route
Low instances of vandalism

Of course a route like that is going to be given 'special attention'. No sense in neglecting one of the prime routes in the city. As for people saying that the buses are never full, I have been getting the 46A for 10 years now, and I've spent many rainy evenings waiting at bus stops watching 46As pass me by packed with passengers, as well as many mornings squeezed up against the side double doors.

The clientele are generally better looking than your average bus passenger too.

Although I live in town now, I got this bus for at least 10 years also.

The "anti-D4" brigade on boards.ie make me laugh. The 46A only travels through one D4 area - Donnybrook. Everything else is County Dublin or similar.

As Johnson was suggesting, Dublin Bus is not a charity, they need to make money. The 46A has less problem customers, a large population area, and it passes by many important areas - Dun Laoghaire Port, UCD, RTE, main dual carraigeway (with room for QBCs), Sandyford Industrial Estate (lots of multinationals - Microsoft, Vodafone, etc.) ...

While I would be open to the idea that having a lot of politicians living in the area may influence DB's decision making, I seriously doubt this is the case. The points above are much more likely to influence than a few politicians. Also, as a Blackrock person, I can tell you we lobby our politicians to have LESS buses in our area. It may be hard to believe, but rich folk think buses devalue their houses (buses kind of spoil the leafy, intimate feel of a neighbourhood...)

As someone else pointed out (apologies, whoever you are!) Dublin Bus has to experiment with new buses somewhere. Why not do it where there is lots of space for buses (QBVs), less vandalism, and more profit...?

Also, I believe Dublin Bus is semi-state, which means it needs to make a profit. If the 46A consistantly makes them money, of course they will service the route well. It's not an anti-D{odd_number} conspiracy. It's sound business practice...

Blowfish · 13-04-2006 10:10PM

Zoned wrote:

It all depends what stop you get on at.....there will allways be the freaks stop...

*cough* Stillorgan *cough*

46a...

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