Thank you to everyone who has been sharing feedback and contacting me about the operation of the new Bus Connects routes in our area. In case you missed it, I summarised the new routes for Ballinteer here and Sandyford here. You can plan your journey with the new routes by inputting your start point and destination into the official Journey Planner.
While most new services are running smoothly as timetabled, there have been issues with a few buses a day being cancelled and some overcrowded buses. I received the below response from the NTA on feedback I provided on day 2 of operation of the routes. If you have any further Bus Connects feedback you can share it directly with [email protected] and you can cc me on [email protected] so that I can follow up on your behalf too.
Response from the NTA:
Dear Councillor,
I refer to your enquiry dated 27th November 2023 the contents of which have been noted.
Firstly, I wish to thank you for taking the time to provide us with feedback following the launch of phase 5b of BusConnects and thank you for your support for the overall BusConnects Network Redesign programme.
Please note that as with previous phases of BusConnects which have been launched to date, we are monitoring service levels very closely. In that context, we do appreciate the feedback you have provided which will assist us as we assess post go live services and the issues that are occurring. In respect of particular service issues, we will raise these with the operators for their attention and action but it is important to note that when new services are launched that there is often a period of time for services to bed in and settle down.
In respect of the information booklets, I have passed on this element of the query on to the relevant team for action.
Regarding route P16. Route P16 will be a direct replacement for current route 116, with one morning and one afternoon journey, as at present with similar journey times. It would therefore not offer any additional facilities if brought forward. We will however review the suggestion for an earlier journey.
Please note that members of the public can contact us at [email protected] if they have specific queries regarding phase 5b.
I trust that the above is of assistance.
NTA Public Transport Official
I have also been engaging with council transport officials on improving priority for buses at traffic lights and increasing the hours that bus lanes are operational. Traffic light priority for buses is done in such a way that the traffic lights detect an incoming bus and give enough green time on that arm of the junction to allow the bus to go through.
