Bus Éireann insists green route to boost income

BUS Éireann estimates the opening of a new green bus route on a busy Limerick city two-mile route could generate, through increased fares, hundreds of thousands of euro every year.

Spokesman Andrew McLindon said the company was losing €1 million a year in revenue due to buses being caught up in traffic which disrupts schedules.

Limerick City Council is now pressing ahead with the opening up of a new green route from the Crescent Shopping Centre to the city centre.

Work on the €2.4m project will commence this month and the new route will be open to buses and taxis early next year.

Residents in Ballinacurra and O’Connell Avenue lobbied councillors to block the development but City Hall management said proceeding with the new green route was in compliance with government public transport policy.

Mr McLindon said: “We estimate we are at present losing up to €1m a year due to lost services in Limerick city due to the lack of green routes.

“The loss of revenue results in the reduction in services due to congestion as without dedicated bus lanes buses cannot reach their destinations on time and this results in loss of revenue. When services cannot operate efficiently, people won’t use them.”

He said the opening up of green routes in Cork and Galway had led to a very significant increase in passenger numbers and revenue.

“From the customer’s perspective it will lead to reduced journey times and when people see the public bus service operating to schedule due to the new green route between Dooradoyle and the city centre, they will be more attracted to using it knowing they can get into and out of the city centre quickly and will not have to face car parking issues. This green route will make public transport on this very busy route in Limerick more attractive.”

Mr McLindon said due to lost revenue, Bus Éireann has been unable to invest in the 25-vehicle Limerick city bus fleet to the extent that they would like.

“With the increased revenue we will get from the better service on the new route, we would anticipate we would hope to put more money back into the service, depending on the savings the new uncongested route will create.”

The green route is also being welcomed by city businesses who believe that better and more reliable bus services will attract suburban residents into the city centre.

The fare from Dooradoyle to the city centre is €1.60.