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Bus Eireann #405 route: changes needed?

Iwannahurl

Bus Eireann's 405 service runs from Ballybane to Rahoon via Eyre Square and University Road.

It's terminus in Rahoon (actually Gort na Bró on the timetable) is inside the 'Gateway Retail Park' where Dunnes, Next, B&Q etc are located.

Dunnes usually closes at 22:00, as do the other shops I presume. However, the 405 continues until 23:30 or so. This means that at certain times passengers are waiting or disembarking in a quiet, poorly lit area.

It is not overstretching the imagination to suggest that this could a bit of a deterrent for some people, women especially.

Are users of the 405 happy with its route around Rahoon? Is the current terminus in the retail park suitable and convenient, and does it feel safe? Could the route be adjusted?

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biko

Galway -> Commuting
Let's keep Galway forums for actual changes and use specialty forums for planning/open discussion.

Mrs OBumble

Digging up an old thread - but it is directly relevant to comments made back then.

Spotted the following in today's Galway Indo, and BE's website confirms that it starts happening from Monday 15 May, ie next week.

(Yellow highlighting added by me)

Delighted to hear it.

what_traffic

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Digging up an old thread - but it is directly relevant to comments made back then.

Spotted the following in today's Galway Indo, and BE's website confirms that it starts happening from Monday 15 May, ie next week.

(Yellow highlighting added by me)

Delighted to hear it.

Well spotted. Good news alright.
It kind of confirms that the intention of the hook turn junction that was created during the roundabout to traffic light conversion at Ballybane was NOT for buses even though this was stated in the plans for it. They never even installed a bus shelter there for that terminus stop for the 405.

Does the 404 /410 amalgamation mean there is another cross city bus service in addition to the #405. The 404/410 will be from Westside/Newcastle to Oranmore now?

monument

By user request, I'm kicking this back to the Galway City forum. Galway City mods please feel free to send it back at any time if needed.

Laviski

will it still be every 20 minutes?
not sure how punctual it will be during off peak times. (during peak times it runs late as it is)

ben.schlomo

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Digging up an old thread - but it is directly relevant to comments made back then.

Spotted the following in today's Galway Indo, and BE's website confirms that it starts happening from Monday 15 May, ie next week.

(Yellow highlighting added by me)

Delighted to hear it.

Does that mean it goes all the way down into the industrial estate? Surely that will lengthen journey times? As said already the peak time waits are already long with traffic.

Storm 10

ben.schlomo wrote: »

Does that mean it goes all the way down into the industrial estate? Surely that will lengthen journey times? As said already the peak time waits are already long with traffic.

It goes up a short distance to Hewlett Packard, no more getting wet and quicker from there than waiting for someone to let the bus out at other place

Mrs OBumble

ben.schlomo wrote: »

Does that mean it goes all the way down into the industrial estate? Surely that will lengthen journey times? As said already the peak time waits are already long with traffic.

Yes, it does. I don't think that the journey time with be lengthened by a lot - it only takes me 8 minutes to talk pretty much the same distance it will be covering, and I'm pretty slow. Bus should do it in one or two mins - granted more at peak time when there's a queue out of the estate. What it does do though, is put a bus-shelter at the end-point, which is a big improvement. (Though I've heard some HP people muttering that the design of the shelter looks good, but doesn't actually keep the rain out. We'll see.)

Service is still every 20 minutes. But they have messed a bit with the peak time departure times, to try to allow for traffic So it's less clock-face convenient now, I will have to print out the timetable to remember it.

I hope they keep the bus stop at the hook turn or close to it (eg at the power station back gateway). There are a number of locals who use that stop in preference to the one down by SuperValu.

Re the 404/410 - yes, it's another east-west cross town route, from Newcastle to Oranmore (via the Galway Clinic) seven days a week with evening services. This is a big improvement for both areas. And the first bus from Eyre Square to the clinic in the morning now arrives there at 6:35 - making it suitable for the staff who need to be at work for 7am, another feature requested by quite a few people.

That's from a quick glance at the announcement and timetables - I'll be casting beady eye over the detail in the next day or two and writing up a non-marketing-speak summary.

LXFlyer

One big improvement is that the timetables are much easier to understand.

The old timetables had ludicrous presentation, with "buses every 40 minutes" and "buses every 45 minutes" which required people to do lengthy maths calculations to work out.

These timetables revert to showing all departures.

what_traffic

http://www.buseireann.ie/news_timetable.php?id=2018&month=May

Route 404: Newcastle – Eyre Square – Oranmore
From the 15th May 2016, the current routes 404 & 410 will now be merged to provide a service linking the west and the east of the city. It will provide the following service enhancements:

Direct services from Oranmore to NUIG and UCHG
Direct service from the Newcastle area to GMIT, Bon Secours Hospital, Merlin Park Hospital and Galway Clinic
Additional services after 7pm
A new Sunday service

Route 405: Ballybane - Eyre Square to Rahoon
The following service improvements will be introduced from 15th May 2016:

The route will now terminate outside the HP Building in Ballybrit Business Park providing more transport options to this growing employment zone.
Morning and evening trip times have been revised to reflect current traffic conditions and to improve service punctuality.
This route will no longer serve the Newcastle area on Sundays. This area will now be served by Route 404: Newcastle – Eyre Square - Oranmore

#404 timetable

http://www.buseireann.ie/timetables/1462869641-Route-404_V1.pdf

#405 timetable

http://www.buseireann.ie/timetables/1462869492-Route-405_V1.pdf

what_traffic

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Re the 404/410 - yes, it's another east-west cross town route, from Newcastle to Oranmore (via the Galway Clinic) seven days a week with evening services. This is a big improvement for both areas. And the first bus from Eyre Square to the clinic in the morning now arrives there at 6:35 - making it suitable for the staff who need to be at work for 7am, another feature requested by quite a few people.

Very true.
Will also be great for students in Oranmore going to and from NUIG and for staff of both NUIG and UCHG who live in the East Galway area.

Wonder will it be stopping at the Oranmore Railway Station? Might be useful as a Park & Ride?

Fitz*

Delighted to hear this.

At least now we have a shelter! The shelter here in HPE is ok, not the best but it is good and hey a shelter is still a shelter! This will also stop me having to try guess if the bus is on time or not, and leave work at a time hoping the bus shows up, and that it is not raining too so that I won't be waiting in the rain hoping the bus is on time!

Maybe all my mails to Bus Eireann worked! :P

what_traffic

FitzShane wrote: »

Delighted to hear this.

At least now we have a shelter! The shelter here in HPE is ok, not the best but it is good and hey a shelter is still a shelter! This will also stop me having to try guess if the bus is on time or not, and leave work at a time hoping the bus shows up, and that it is not raining too so that I won't be waiting in the rain hoping the bus is on time!

Maybe all my mails to Bus Eireann worked! :P

Every bit helps I guess! Did HP (or other employers here) make any representations at all I wonder?

Fitz*

what_traffic wrote: »

Every bit helps I guess! Did HP (or other employers here) make any representations at all I wonder?

I'm not sure tbh. We received a mail about it today, outlining the new plans & timetable. No mention was made of the direct bus to HPE that currently runs twice a day.

Mrs OBumble

what_traffic wrote: »

Every bit helps I guess! Did HP (or other employers here) make any representations at all I wonder?

I'm told that they asked for as part of the traffic planning stage of getting their new building approved.

And they have a big incentive to get it: once the old building starts being used for something else, then the old building's carparks will be allocated to that "something else" and HP won't have enough based on current levels of car use.

Don't know if any other companies were involved, I've been told that Boston are a bit hostile to public transport promotion.

FitzShane wrote: »

I'm not sure tbh. We received a mail about it today, outlining the new plans & timetable. No mention was made of the direct bus to HPE that currently runs twice a day.

Good.

CPL agency staff were getting a reminder about the direct bus every month with the "do you want to order a TaxSaver" message.

Mr_A

Yeah HPE have certainly been involved in getting this route extended. It's great news and long overdue. I didn't have to use the service much but it can be a long enough trudge when the weather isn't good. Will hopefully encourage more people to use the service as well.

what_traffic

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Don't know if any other companies were involved, I've been told that Boston are a bit hostile to public transport promotion.

That is strange if it is true. Do you know if they offer the TaxSaver tickets as a "Benefit" to employees? (also the "Bike to Work" tax saver? )

Slow Show

Any idea what the story is with prices for the Newcastle - Oranmore route, I know on the 410 the general 2.10 didn't apply for Oranmore and it was a good bit more expensive, presume it's probably the same situation here?

bobbyss

I don't know much about that service going in that direction I'm afraid but was wondering does BE have stats on all of their services in the city because they must base some services on statistics. Are they available to the public?

pure.conya

405 bus route has been a disaster for months now! I am sick and tired of buses not showing up on time although I'm early, second bus comes 5 or 6 minutes late and then decides to become the third bus so countless times I've been left standing at a stop going into or coming from work for over an hour, so much for a service every 20 mins!

LXFlyer

pure.conya wrote: »

405 bus route has been a disaster for months now! I am sick and tired of buses not showing up on time although I'm early, second bus comes 5 or 6 minutes late and then decides to become the third bus so countless times I've been left standing at a stop going into or coming from work for over an hour, so much for a service every 20 mins!

What about since the new timetable was implemented?

No real point in focussing on the old timetable anymore if the new one addresses those issues.

ben.schlomo

bobbyss wrote: »

I don't know much about that service going in that direction I'm afraid but was wondering does BE have stats on all of their services in the city because they must base some services on statistics. Are they available to the public?

http://www.buseireann.ie/inner.php?id=290#contact

LXFlyer

bobbyss wrote: »

I don't know much about that service going in that direction I'm afraid but was wondering does BE have stats on all of their services in the city because they must base some services on statistics. Are they available to the public?

That would be commercially sensitive information.

The NTA publish annual statistics - that's as much as you're going to get.

https://fe49d9ec8511d2dc0553-f8f415f79bf5d37d632aa2f721fb6d7c.ssl.cf3.rackcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Bus_Statistics_for_Ireland__State_Funded_Services__Statistical_Bulletin_No._1_20151.pdf

Mrs OBumble

pure.conya wrote: »

405 bus route has been a disaster for months now! I am sick and tired of buses not showing up on time although I'm early, second bus comes 5 or 6 minutes late and then decides to become the third bus so countless times I've been left standing at a stop going into or coming from work for over an hour, so much for a service every 20 mins!

Do you catch it every day? Where from?

Your experience is quite different to mine. I do catch it five days/week. Since the new timetable, I've only had one issue (6:45pm bus left 5 minutes early).

It likely will go back to disastrous again for a while next September: the underlying problem is that GMIT enrol a whole lot of people who have no likelihood of completing their courses, and drop out after Christmas. If these students were going to stay going to college all year, then BE could add more buses to cater for the demand. But it's not worth it for a couple of months.

LXFlyer

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Do you catch it every day? Where from?

Your experience is quite different to mine. I do catch it five days/week. Since the new timetable, I've only had one issue (6:45pm bus left 5 minutes early).

It likely will go back to disastrous again for a while next September: the underlying problem is that GMIT enrol a whole lot of people who have no likelihood of completing their courses, and drop out after Christmas. If these students were going to stay going to college all year, then BE could add more buses to cater for the demand. But it's not worth it for a couple of months.

Not necessarily - if the Peak Vehicle Requirement (PVR) has increased due to longer running times (which I believe may be the case with the new timetable) then it might not be such a disaster.

ben.schlomo

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Do you catch it every day? Where from?

Your experience is quite different to mine. I do catch it five days/week. Since the new timetable, I've only had one issue (6:45pm bus left 5 minutes early).

It likely will go back to disastrous again for a while next September: the underlying problem is that GMIT enrol a whole lot of people who have no likelihood of completing their courses, and drop out after Christmas. If these students were going to stay going to college all year, then BE could add more buses to cater for the demand. But it's not worth it for a couple of months.

Also use it five days a week and there's little to whinge about. Five minutes late on average at peak morning time on the journey to town, journey out is always grand.

Fitz*

pure.conya wrote: »

405 bus route has been a disaster for months now! I am sick and tired of buses not showing up on time although I'm early, second bus comes 5 or 6 minutes late and then decides to become the third bus so countless times I've been left standing at a stop going into or coming from work for over an hour, so much for a service every 20 mins!

lxflyer wrote: »

What about since the new timetable was implemented?

No real point in focussing on the old timetable anymore if the new one addresses those issues.

I use it twice daily 5 days a week.

I still find that buses show up late, but by sheer coincidence (:rolleyes:), when it does show up it is always 20 minutes late - the time of the next scheduled bus.

The morning route from Eyre Sq -> Ballybane seems to have improved alright but the evening route from Ballybane -> Eyre Sq is still bad.

jkforde

i used to use the 405 service from Fort Lorenzo to Ballybane terminus... morning service was flawless but evening service was very dodgy... bus regularly late by an hour (and no explanation for why or apology when driver is asked) then two arrive at the same time... reckon the drivers are having laugh and running rings around the managers.... i complained and they blamed traffic congestion which is no explanation for the repeat occurrence of the hour-late - 2-buses-in-a-row scenario... then again during my time on the bus i saw and heard no one else complain about the service so yet again we get the service we deserve

pure.conya

lxflyer wrote: »

What about since the new timetable was implemented?

No real point in focussing on the old timetable anymore if the new one addresses those issues.

first few days were a bit iffy but so far so good

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Do you catch it every day? Where from?

Your experience is quite different to mine. I do catch it five days/week. Since the new timetable, I've only had one issue (6:45pm bus left 5 minutes early).

It likely will go back to disastrous again for a while next September: the underlying problem is that GMIT enrol a whole lot of people who have no likelihood of completing their courses, and drop out after Christmas. If these students were going to stay going to college all year, then BE could add more buses to cater for the demand. But it's not worth it for a couple of months.

from the west direction. It's gas how you're trying to say all is good (since the new timetable went live in the last month) yet I, my SO and friends had more than enough bad experiences and spoken to/overheard others highlighting their bad experiences at the busstops or on the bus when it eventually shows up to know these aren't isolated incidences. In many cases certain times advertised wouldn't show up for days on end!

ben.schlomo wrote: »

Also use it five days a week and there's little to whinge about. Five minutes late on average at peak morning time on the journey to town, journey out is always grand.

I'm delighted you've had such a positive experience every single time you've went for a bus

FitzShane wrote: »

I use it twice daily 5 days a week.

I still find that buses show up late, but by sheer coincidence (:rolleyes:), when it does show up it is always 20 minutes late - the time of the next scheduled bus.

The morning route from Eyre Sq -> Ballybane seems to have improved alright but the evening route from Ballybane -> Eyre Sq is still bad.

you're dead right about the whole "coincidental" 20 mins late issue! Another issue I've witnessed is a bus pulling up in Knocknacarra after the previous one not arriving and although there were 15+ waiting at the stop the driver lets everybody off the bus, closes the door and drives back into town empty! I actually couldn't believe my eyes anytime I've seen this happen. I mean in what universe does it make sense for this to happen?

Butterface

Still no connection from the west side to Parkmore?