I have proposed new bus shelters for our area to the NTA who have considered my requests and provided responses below. I will continue to pursue the NTA to provide these bus shelters and others, so we can better enable people to take public transport in all weather conditions. As someone who uses all forms of public transport 12 months a year in our area, I understand the need for service and infrastructure improvements.
As part of the Bus Connects roll-out, there will be more opportunities to reach more places by taking two connecting buses. We need to make sure that the bus shelters are in place to support people to get where they need to go with these bus transfers.
Bus Connects will mean further changes to routes in the Sandyford, Stepaside, Kilternan and Ballinteer areas in 2026/2027. This is part of the overall Bus Connects plan for Dublin that was announced in 2020. Given changing populations, road networks and developments, I would anticipate some changes to the proposed routes of some of the new buses when we get closer to their roll-out in 2-3 years time. This is the official Bus Connects website with all of the latest information about the bus routes/timetables proposed for that 2026/2027 roll-out.
See below the progress on getting more bus shelters for our area. Please let me know if you have any questions or requests for other bus shelters for our area.
This bus stop (3485) on Kilgobbin Road serves the 47, 44 and 118 routes. I’m delighted to confirm that the NTA have deemed it suitable for a bus shelter and are preparing to put in a planning application for it.
This is the bus stop directly opposite Kilgobbin Heights which also serves the wider Belarmine and Aiken’s Village areas too, via the Kilgobbin Lane shortcut.
I originally requested these two bus shelters last year, more details here.
Great news here, the NTA are preparing a planning application to put in a bus shelter where the 63 bus stop is at Ballyogan Avenue / Leopardstown Abbey.
I had also requested that the bus stop next to the shopping centre be moved a bit further from the Luas junction and for a new shelter to be considered there too. The response is below.
The response from the NTA:
“In response to your correspondence of 20 September 2023 the NTA reviewed the location of stop no. 4773. It is planned to move the stop further north away from the Luas line to minimise car traffic backing up, but yet to ensure that the stop is proximate to the Luas line so as not to inconvenience passengers using the stop. In parallel the NTA requested our bus shelter contractor to conduct a technical assessment, to assess the feasibility of providing a bus shelter at this location. The technical assessment determined that there was insufficient space to accommodate a shelter due to the limited width of the footpath.”
This is the stop 6200 where the 114 starts and I have requested a bus shelter to be installed here. See the NTA’s response below.
NTA response:
“Stop no. 6200, Ticknock, Sandyford, Dublin 18 : Currently there are no plans to provide a shelter at stop no. 6200. However, further to this correspondence we will request our bus shelter contractor to conduct a technical assessment, which will assess the feasibility of providing a bus shelter at this location and potentially enable its inclusion on a provisional installation list if considered feasible.”
Good news, and I will follow it up with NTA to make sure that a new bus shelter here to serve the residents of Rockview, Ticknock Hill, Sandyford View and Simon’s Ridge are given due consideration.
These two bus stops are outside and across from pedestrian entrance to Ballinteer ETNS and St Tiernan’s Community School 7983 & 7984 serving the 74 bus between Dundrum, Ballinteer, Rathfarnham and beyond.
I previously proposed a council motion to write to the NTA to provide bus shelters here. These two bus stops are well-used by local residents as well as students and staff of the two schools.
The response from the NTA is that they are awaiting detailed proposals from the council for Wyckham Way and the wider Dundrum, under the transport plans in the wider Dundrum LAP area.
There are 3 bus stops on the Dundrum Bypass: bus stop numbers 7715, 7716, 7717 serving both the 74 and the L25.
The NTA have agreed to conduct a technical assessment here to see where there is space to safely install bus shelters. They also said that they try to install bus shelters where there are the most passengers. The numbers from 2023 for these bus stops are:
- Stop no. 7715 (behind the church car park): average 53 passengers per week.
- Stop no. 7716 (halfway up the bypass): average 1,543 passengers per week.
- Stop no. 7717 (at the top of the bypass just before the roundabout): average 475 passengers per week.
Based on these numbers, you’d have to think that stop 7716 would be the best choice as long as there’s enough space for a shelter.
This is stop 2975 serving the 74 and the S8 as well as being the terminus for the 16.
Unfortunately the NTA have said that a bus shelter is not feasible here at this time due to the footpath and cycle track, and the safety hazard for all path users as a result. But, as part of future plans to redesign the paths here, they will work with DLR to see if a bus shelter will work well with those plans.
This bus stop at Belarmine Plaza, Stepaside is stop 5013, the first stop for the 47 and a really busy stop that many people are usually waiting at.
The response from the NTA is relatively positive. In future, this bus stop will accommodate both the 87 and 88 buses so the reply is:
“the current iteration of the network redesign supersedes this strategy and proposes to use the stop, serving bus route 87 and bus route 88. In response to these changes, we will request our bus shelter contractor to conduct a technical assessment of the stop, which will assess the feasibility of providing a bus shelter at the location and potentially enable the inclusion of the stop on a provisional installation list if considered feasible.”
The 47 stops here at stop 7415 and it’s a really busy bus stop particularly students going to secondary school from Leopardstown Heights and The Gallops.
The NTA will carry out a technical assessment to see if a bus stop will work here. Their response:
“Stop no. 7415, Glencairn, Sandyford, Dublin 18 : Currently there are no plans to provide a shelter at stop no. 7415. However, further to this correspondence we will request our bus shelter contractor to conduct a technical assessment, which will assess the feasibility of providing a bus shelter at this location and potentially enable its inclusion on a provisional installation list if considered feasible.”
I have asked the NTA to consider providing bus shelters at bus stops 3484 and 3474 as part of the future village improvement schemes developed by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown. They are open to working with DLR on this.
I will work with council officials developing the proposals for the Stepaside Village Improvement Scheme to fit in bus shelters in the village as part of that project.
I’ve requested new bus stops including shelters on both sides of the road next to Bishop’s Gate and Dún Óir to cater for the growing residential developments in this area.
The response from the NTA was not very positive though:
“Currently there are no plans to provide additional bus stops with shelter along this section of Enniskerry Road. For urban bus services, the appropriate distance between stops is between 300 and 600 meters. The general standard distance for bus stop spacing within an urban environment is a stop every 400m based on international best practice.
In areas with lower population density such as rural areas, stop spacing may be increased to integrate with land use patterns. The distance between the two inbound bus stops, stop no. 3284 and stop no. 3310 is 400m and the distance between the two outbound bus stops, stop no. 3478 and stop no. 3477 is 470m. The Bishop’s Gate & Dún Oir developments are located midway between the stops.”
I will keep up the pressure to get bus shelters at these locations, or alternative suitable locations. If you have any more suggestions on improving public transport for our area, please do get in touch. Regarding specific bus issues, the NTA can also be contacted directly on [email protected].
Some of the other work I have been doing on public transport in our area:
- Campaign for a Dublin Mountains bus service
- Bus Connects guides for new routes in Ballinteer and Sandyford
- Pressuring the NTA to listen to public feedback about the new Bus Connects routes, on foot of which commitments have been made to improve the S6, S8 and 116 services.
