Congestion causing disruption to public transport operators, Oireachtas committee hears

Congestion causing disruption to public transport operators, Oireachtas committee hears

The committee heard that in Cork, Bus Éireann’s largest urban service, only 2% of the kilometres its services operate are in bus lanes. Picture: Larry Cummins

Congestion is causing major issues for Ireland’s public transport operators to deliver services, while a skills shortage means they have had to recruit dozens of mechanics from Spain and the Philippines.

Addressing a meeting of the Oireachtas Transport Committee, representatives from Bus Éireann, Dublin Bus, GoAhead Ireland, and the National Transport Authority (NTA) outlined issues facing urban bus services.

“With a growing population and the constraints of existing road infrastructure in our regional cities and towns — there is no doubt that congestion continues to be a serious challenge for consistent service delivery,” Bus Éireann CEO Stephen Kent said.

“In Cork, which is Bus Éireann’s largest urban service, only 2% of the kilometres our services operate are in bus lanes. Bus Éireann would welcome further focus and development at local level, to parallel the significant investment which has been made in providing additional bus services and resources across the country.” 

Frequent cancellation of services was cited during the committee hearing by TDs and Senators, saying that constituents could not rely on some routes at peak times.

While NTA interim chief executive Hugh Creegan cited congestion, traffic incidents and staff unavailability as contributing to this, GoAhead’s managing director Dervla McKay singled out congestion as the “largest ongoing challenge” facing urban bus services.

“Improper use of bus lanes, overcrowded streets due to cars, roadworks, and other associated issues can all combine to impact punctuality,” she said.

When asked by Fianna Fáil TD Shane Moynihan about busy services at weekends when big events were happening in cities, Dublin Bus chief executive Billy Haan said that the nature of contracts for public service obligation services was “very prescribed” and doesn’t include provision for events.

“When we get notified of events, we’ll happily (if we can) provide extra services,” he said. “We can’t do it at the expense of our core network.

“It’s not just a matter of timetabling. It's about the whole infrastructure that's required to deliver the service on any given day. We can’t just turn on and off bus drivers.”

Recruitment

On the issue of recruitment, Mr Haan said that it was a “real challenge with skills and tradespeople” in Ireland, although they had significantly bolstered the Dublin Bus apprenticeship system to train up mechanics in recent years.

“We’ve had to go international to get fully qualified mechanics into the system,” he said. “We brought in eight mechanics from Spain approximately two years ago and, last year, we brought in over 40 Filipino mechanics.” 

He added that another “20 plus” mechanics were also set to be recruited from the Philippines, while Ms McKay said GoAhead would also be recruiting 10 mechanics from the same country.

Mr Moynihan put it to the NTA that its app showing real-time information could mirror how Tube services in London display whether or not a particular route has a “good service”, “minor delays” or “major delays”.

“I’m still getting complaints that ‘the bus disappeared,'” he said, particularly at weekends, while the NTA representatives replied that the app specifically informs users if there's been a cancellation.

More in this section

Lunchtime News

Newsletter

Keep up with stories of the day with our lunchtime news wrap and important breaking news alerts.

Cookie Policy Privacy Policy Brand Safety FAQ Help Contact Us Terms and Conditions

© Examiner Echo Group Limited