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SEVERAL HUNDRED LOCALS locals in the Dublin village of Chapelizod took to the streets over the weekend to protest plans for a dramatic reduction in their bus services.
At present, the frequency of services through the village at peak times is between five to ten minutes, but dramatic changes proposed by the National Transport Authority (NTA) would see this reduced to every half an hour.
A number of buses that currently serve the west of the city, including the 25, 26, 66 and 67, all pass through Chapelizod on their way to the city centre.
But the NTA’s Bus Connects plan would see these buses instead use the Chapelizod Bypass under a new service called the C. This route would be made up of a number of services that would then join together as the C just before the turn off the N4 for Lucan village.
As a replacement for its lost buses, Chapelizod would be served by a single route, the 14, that would run every 30 minutes.
Locals have expressed their shock and dismay at the plans, pointing out that commuters in the village have actually been campaigning for additional services due to packed buses in the morning.
Gráinne Walsh, who's lived in the village for 20 years, organised Saturday's protest march and says everyone has been taken aback by the news.
It would be a disaster, it's already struggling at the moment. You see people waiting for two and three buses in the morning as they pass full. So every half-hour, it's just not going to work at all.
"We're shocked, it's just unbelievable because we've actually been arguing for the opposite, so it actually seems so ridiculous. I don't think they understand."
There's loads of new businesses opening here, that industrial estate was derelict for years, now it's full to capacity. There's a new restaurant opening on the bridge, there's a new pub there. The village is just picking up.
The 2016 Census put Chapelizod's population at just over 3,000 people, about 2,000 of whom were between the ages of 20 to 60.
Walsh argues that the village is not served by any other form of public transport so commuters into town could be forced to use their cars, impacting the south quays in Dublin city.
People will start driving again, it'll be chock-a-block. The quays is down to one lane of traffic since last year, so it'll just be chock-a-block. We're trying to encourage people to use cars less and then you knock the bus service. We have no Luas, we've no trains, it's only the bus.
A protester from Saturday's march.Source: TheJournal.ieThe proposals are currently part of a public consultation phase and the Bus Connects website has a survey section for people to give their feedback on the plans.
A number of local information sessions are also being held and Sinn Féin Councillor Dáithi Doolin says Chapelizod residents are planning to make their feelings known at the 19 September meeting in nearby Ballyfermot.
"We are encouraging people to come along to the Ballyfermot Civic Centre to meet with the National Transport Authority to let them know, in no uncertain terms, that our buses are not for turning, or reducing," Doolin told TheJournal.ie.
"We need to keep our bus service, improve our bus service and make sure Chapelizod remains well-connected with the rest of Dublin."
This is going to be hugely detrimental to people using schools, going to work, going to college. It also connects this community to Ballyfermot, going out to Tallaght, those buses will be removed or reduced.
A number of buses pass through the village during march.Source: TheJournal.ieThe councillor says that a reduction in the service would hurt different members of the community with elderly people living in senior citizen complexes also affected by the changes.
Aside from the concerns about Chapelizod, Doolin also says that the wider Bus Connects plan could see people in other parts of the city using the Luas in greater numbers.
Part of the aim is to encourage people onto the Luas. I use the Luas every day, I'm not a car owner, I don't drive a car. Myself and my kids use the Luas, there's no point in moving hundreds of thousands of more people onto a Luas that's already packed in the mornings and packed in the evenings.
"It's ill-thought out, it's short-sighted we need to be building communities that are linked to each other."
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Surely, the idea of a bus service is to go through towns/villages, not around them?
@Daíthí: yes, but….the buses that will instead be routed around Chapelizod are there to serve other towns & villages, further out from city centre. According even to the protest organiser, they’re frequently full by the time they even get to Chapelizod. Do people in those other places who get those other buses (maybe only onrcebety half hour there as well, remember) not deserve a good and efficient servicr to city centre too, instead of having to pass through traffic bottlenecks and every other place along the way, when a quicker bypass route is available?
@Daíthí: the idea is to provide efficient transport to the hundreds of thousands who will use the c-route, without having to divert through every small village. The protestors said it themselves, the arterial buses are packed before they get to the village. Now they will have a dedicated bus, albeit less frequent. It’s a good idea, that had to have small sacrifices by a minority.
@Gulliver Foyle: it wont work the buses will still be full to the brim and packed going by. This new bus routes are a waste of money and resources
@Eugene Tyson: why would the 14 be packed when it hits Chapelizod? It starts in Palmerstown. Surely anyone in Palmerstown would take the C that comes every 5 mins and bypasses chapelizod?
@Oisín O’Connor: It’s going to be packed anyway – the C bus is just a numbering of the current buses that service the area. Yet, there will be less bus services going through, so it’s taking a few different bus numbers, renames them to C, then puts less on. Adds more “orbital routes” that bypasses existing users and hails it a success… it’s a load of crap.
@Eugene Tyson: You are talking nonsense.
These new routes are vital for the city to keep functioning as we cannot stick with what we have, which is failing at a faster and faster rate.
Rapid and big changes are needed and I welcome these new proposals.
@Fozz: I am all for changes, but these changes are nonsense. They are just renaming buses from 14,25,25b etc. (or whatever is already on that route) to be called C – and they are reducing the amount of buses on that route.
There are already 1000s of people that get the bus from these stops throughout Chapelizod, and 1000s who get off at those stops in Chapelizod. Do they think that these people will disappear from these stops? All the people in Chapelizod that were already struggling for a bus are being offered buses at LESS frequent intervals, and the solution from the NTA is that the people of Chapelzod go to the orbital routes to get the buses to their destination – which means that either 1000s will go to the orbital routes – and give the same result as the problem that exists in Chapelizod – and/or they will stay in Chapelizod and chance their arm in getting an infrequent bus.
Do they think the traffic will get less or more with infrequent buses? Do they think people won’t start taking their cars when then bus route is less frequent?
It is going to have the exact opposite affect of what they are trying to achieve – which is to encourage people to use the bus and not the cars… yet they make the buses less frequent and reduce the amount of them – that, my fellow commenter, is nonsense.
@Gulliver Foyle: Bus connects is a badly designed service from almost every angle.
There are one or two ideas that could have easily been worked into the present service
If 2 wheelchair users want to get a bus the second person could wait a long time and thats with buggys been worked into the equation.
The livery is a dangerous joke of a design too
@Fozz: Well then you have no clue about the reality of it all.
A bus every 30 minutes for 3000 people seems fair enough and I’m sure people coming from Kildare in the morning are happy with the bypass. But good luck anyway.
So many different buses coming from the N4 have been forced through this ridiculous bottle neck for years.
A dedicated service for this area makes sense.
And makes all the routes that currently pass through 20 minutes quicker to the city centre at peak times.
@John ward: how do you know it will be 20 minutes quicker? Agreed its a bottleneck. But now the routes around it will bottleneck. The amount of people needing a bus in Chapelizod has not changed. How will reducing the amount of buses to every 30 minutes (which is NTA pseudo-marh) going to help?.
@Eugene Tyson: The buses will continue on the N4 not bottle neck in other areas.
The 20 minutes is just during peak times as the bus is stuck in the same queue as cars as the bridge is a bottle neck.
And also has a school at the bridge.
As for the 30 minutes wait I can see why they are upset.And if they can get a more frequent service that’s great.
But sending almost every bus heading for town through is ridicules.
Maybe one bus route along with the dedicated service could go through halving the wait.
But not every bus route.
@John ward: How will people get out on to the N4? If they’re commute starts in Chapelizod – are people expected to add 15-30 minutes to their travel to get to the N4 by walking? What about elderly, disabled, less-able people??? The whole new bus route system is a collosal waste of money – it’s done completely wrong, it’s based on pseudo-mathematics on bus journey times. They have literally no way of proving their system will work. And the onus is on them to prove it! And they cannot.
@John ward: well said. Totally agree
They could be better off in rush hour with a dedicated service. If they’re waiting because 2 to 3 buses are passing full every 5-10 minutes in rush hour, it means they’re having to wait between 15/20 up to 30/40 minutes to get on a bus. Less frustrating to be able to plan for getting on a Bus that has space.
If their real gripe is the fact that they won’t have buses every few minutes in Off Peak, that’s when they need to accept they are a community of 3000 and will be getting appropriate level of service.
No, I’m not on those buses coming from Lucan etc, nor do I work for Dublin Bus. I just did the maths from their quoted complaint. Which the journalist could also have done. Let’s try as much as we can not to have public policy driven by populism please.
@Niall Meade: The figures are wrong and based on false assumptions and that has already been proven. The are making guesstiates at best and being extremly generous to themselves.
This is an NTA plan and having spent hours going through it, there is no way it will work. They have a hub set in Blanchardstown SC which is gridlocked for 6 or 7 weeks of the year. They never factored in the elderly or the disabled at all in it.
@Gary Kearney: you realize they collect passenger data?
Data doesn’t lie.
So they get a dedicated service and if they want to get a higher frequency, direct route they just have to walk less than 5 minutes in most cases. Some people do love to whinge.
@Shaner Mac: Where are you getting the less than 5 minute walk from?
Let me get this straight. Buses pass through full and they’re diverting these around the town and giving them a dedicated service. The only people who will use this service will be those going to/from Chapelizard.
I said it from the start. This is a very expensive disaster and people argued against me. This is not the only area severely affected either!!!!
@Eugene Tyson: So you suggest we keep it as is currently which is a disaster anyway?
@Ian McNally: not what i said. At all. Solution is simpler than proposed. More buses at peak hours on current system. 6-10am and 3-7pm. At the moment buses are full when they reach outskirts of city centres as far back if not further than lucan. Even on N4. Have you ever waited for a bus on this route in winter at 6.30 in the morning. I have. And you might get on a bus packed to the brim after 3 or 4 bus loads go by. Solution would be to put more buses on at 6-10am.
@Eugene Tyson: No point putting more buses on if they are just going to sit in traffic
@Stephen Hyland: But if the buses are more frequent with space on them, then people will leave cars at home and travel by bus. There’s already overcrowding on every bus I have ever travelled on during rush hour. And already lots of buses to packed to stop at their designated stops. It puts people off using public transport, so they use their cars.
And if people are already put off and use their cars, then less frequent buses and fewer buses will result in more people using their cars. Which adds to the traffic.
What’s really needed is to cater for the bus users already in existence, which aren’t being catered for, as the buses are too full. If they put on more buses each day during rush hour times, then more people might be encouraged to leave their car at home if they can be assured of getting a seat on a bus. And more people leave their car at home, the less traffic.
The route designers actually posted a map on Twitter where you can see which areas will benefit and which will lose out.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DlEIb_HUcAAs63a.jpg:large
Chapelizod, as a small population, in a bottleneck on narrow road, loses pretty badly. Everyone else, not so much.
They’ve already said on Twitter they’re going to try address it.
The city authorities just won’t provide a decent, reliable, affordable public transport service. The do all they can to force cars off the roads. Pander to the lycra clad brigade.
They have made travelling into the city a total misery for bus users and car drivers. The cheapest option for the authorities is to encourage cycling, people provide their own bikes, they don’t impact the roads as cars do. But cycling is not an option for everyone. When are they going to realise that.
@Dave Doyle: it’s not for everyone, but cycling (without lycra) between chapelizod and town is 20 minutes on a flat route, that is healthier, reduces the pollution through the town. Or you can drive 15 minutes in traffic, causing backlogs to those that have to genuinely drive. Or wait a maximum of 30 minutes for a bus. Some people just don’t get that the city needs people, not cars.
@Dave Doyle:
The more people you have on bikes means less cars on the roads meaning those that can’t cycle have less traffic because of the people that do cycle. You fit 8 bikes in the space of one car, that’s 8 less cars stuck at traffic lights. Plus there’s less cost on maintaining the road because of less heavy vehicles. And there’s more space in town because less parking. And more space in hospitals because of more healthy people. Cycling is a gain for everyone, and bikes work just as well in a pair of jeans and a hoodie.
@Gulliver Foyle: Maximum of 30mins for a bus???? How many times do we see buses not turning up?
Cycling isn’t a practical alternative for everyone. Why can’t you understand that. It’s the excuse for failing to provide a public transport service befitting a supposed modern Capitol city in the supposed “fastest growing economy” in the EU.
The Chap who Shane Ross & the NTA paid to come up with bus connects is a Canadian who has done similar projects in Canada & America. It works there as the Cities are in grid formations. Dublin is totally different. This will not work. Keep the service as is but add in high frequency BRT buses on the main corridors. ( these are luas type buses ). Have them starting at exits off the M50 where you can have free park & ride facilities.
@The Viking: the logic is no different whether the lines are straight, or radial, or “wavy” in a pre-industrial age city layout. What matters are the points of intersection, distribution of population and the traveling frequency / destinations of the passengers. I’ve no issue with them hiring someone from another country, better than them getting the team who got it into this mess to have another stab at it.
@Niall Meade: Actually for the purpose of the vehicles used, it does make a difference how the city is designed. Not too long ago the long single decker, or bendy buses as they were known, had to be withdrawn because of the lay out in parts of the inner city and suburbs. Almost everyone has expressed a desire for a metro to be built. But I think if our transport infrastructure was based on the system in Basel, Switzerland, where bus and tram interconnect at the same stops. Then we could have an excellent all city service up and running in half the time and at a fraction of the cost of a metro.
@Niall Meade: Have you seen the plan I have and it will not work according to the experts I asked about it.
I am in a built up area where the bus will disappear completely because it is only a 20 min walk to luas, really helpfully for people with mobility problems, children and the aged, this system is ridiculous unless your area is well serviced. I currently have to rely on public transport, but as soon as I can drive again I will, especially if this system comes in
Locals in clonee also not happy with the removal of the 70. As they will have major issues getting their kids to school in Dunboyne. Protests and submissions to the NTA appear to be a waste of time. The consultation phase is just optics!
@Starburst: It is not a consultation at all. They will not change things they told us that at the National Disability Authority when they had a meeting for the disability groups and advocates.
Only one thing will work, get after your TD’s and councillors and dont stop
The best reason to own a car in dublin, :
DUBLIN BUS
Lucan village is the same, it will be bypassed by the new routes. As with Chapelizod, the bus is the only option.
What’s the problem. Bus every 30 minutes is more than enough for them.
Get the Chinese in to build a comprehensive and future proofed metro system. Should have been started 20 years ago
@Marc Power: try a 120 years ago
I lived in Chapelizod a few years ago. It had the best bus service of all the different areas of dublin that I have lived in. There is no other public transport options available there so this will lead to more cars on the road in this area they should keep one other root through the village. A bus every 15 minutes is much better than every 30 minutes.
@Paul Costello: You don’t seem to understand what this article is about.
To summarise, they will get a dedicated bus while all the buses coming from beyond Palmerstown will bypass the bottleneck that is Chapelizod.
It makes total sense – no point having more frequent buses when they are full by the time they get to you.
Chapelizod is literally 10 min cycle from city center..
@Dublin Loves Bikes: Not everybody can cycle I know that seems wrong but its true. Worse not everybody loves cycling either
Chapelizard. Just saying what everyone is thinking.
As a sometimes Chapelizod resident (currently overseas), I think it’s a really bad move for an urban community to have such poor frequencies. In general, optimising the routes make sense, but pointing to the 3,000 population doesn’t tell the full story. It’s small yes, but quite dense and close to major developments at Islandbridge and Kilmainham that are all a short hop to the city. These communities have been underdeveloped for years as mass urban sprawl took route. All the increases in recent years have come from apartment developments that are beginning to breathe life back into the communities. Apartment dwellers won’t stand for 30-minute frequencies, which will push them to better-developed arteries (Luas, Dart, etc) or the suburbs, which only adds to land price pressure, traffic and overcrowding on public transport. It seems back to front to make commuting more difficult close to the city than outside it.
This Jarrett walker was paid over 400k to come up with this plan it harks back to the days of the city imp busses bit expects people to walk half a mile to connect with half hour single decker busses and then get off if u got on in first place and join up with a more frequent service of double decker which could be coming from miles away again hoping you get on.vast swathes of areas will have no direct connection with the city.some services will completely loop back on themselves before getting to main hubs like shopping centres.it may work in the Toronto’s of this world which have vastly superior rail and other transport options but Dublin is too small.
Make your voices heard http://www.busconnects.ie put an end to this madness. Look out for public meetings in your area and go to have your say.
@Sean taoiseach: Very well said Sean – this is a crazy plan suited for the US or Canada – there has been little groundwork done or consultation so far with the general public (an essential item) and absolutely no Project management methodology has been applied as in PRINCE2 or PMBOK which are the world standards, resulting in overpriced white elephants like the new children’s hospital (already lacking future proofing and will be not fit for purpose when its doors eventually open) being built on the wrong site with no room for future expansion or room for a much needed maternity hospital.
@Norman Mc Cormick:
“there has been little groundwork done or consultation so far with the general public”
1% of the entire population of Dublin was surveyed last year about this. When was the last time such a huge survey was done?
This *draft plan* was designed in conjunction with many different groups and departments.
We’re now having a public consultation to improve it. That’s why there’s so many public information sessions happening.
https://busconnects.ie/media/1315/confirmed-information-session-locations-august-and-september-2018.pdf
There’s a massive public consultation happening now.
https://www.research.net/r/BusConnects
The public consultation you are asking for is happening now. You have to draft a plan before people can provide decent feedback.
Just keep 25s going through should be enough
Get a car, pay your insurance and fossil fuel overlords you slackers!
@thesaltyurchin: Praise the (over-) Lord(s) and Blessed be…..
Snotty nose Ross acting big again couldn’t care less about the ordinary people he makes my blood boil
Surely a dedicated service (empty bus) every 30 minutes is better than full buses passing through that they get on!? Isn’t that what the original complaint was??
have your say