Congestion causing disruption to public transport operators, Oireachtas committee hears

The committee heard that in Cork, Bus Ăireannâs largest urban service, only 2% of the kilometres its services operate are in bus lanes. Picture: Larry Cummins
Congestion is causing major issues for Irelandâs 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 Ăireann, Dublin Bus, GoAhead Ireland, and the National Transport Authority (NTA) outlined issues facing urban bus services.
âWith a growing population and the constraints of existing road infrastructure in our regional cities and towns â there is no doubt that congestion continues to be a serious challenge for consistent service delivery,â Bus Ăireann CEO Stephen Kent said.
âIn Cork, which is Bus Ăireannâs largest urban service, only 2% of the kilometres our services operate are in bus lanes. Bus Ăireann 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.âÂ
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, GoAheadâs managing director Dervla McKay singled out congestion as the âlargest ongoing challengeâ facing urban bus services.
âImproper use of bus lanes, overcrowded streets due to cars, roadworks, and other associated issues can all combine to impact punctuality,â she said.
When asked by Fianna FĂĄil 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 âvery prescribedâ and doesnât include provision for events.
âWhen we get notified of events, weâll happily (if we can) provide extra services,â he said. âWe canât do it at the expense of our core network.
âItâs not just a matter of timetabling. It's about the whole infrastructure that's required to deliver the service on any given day. We canât just turn on and off bus drivers.â
On the issue of recruitment, Mr Haan said that it was a âreal challenge with skills and tradespeopleâ in Ireland, although they had significantly bolstered the Dublin Bus apprenticeship system to train up mechanics in recent years.
âWeâve had to go international to get fully qualified mechanics into the system,â he said. âWe brought in eight mechanics from Spain approximately two years ago and, last year, we brought in over 40 Filipino mechanics.âÂ
He added that another â20 plusâ 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 âgood serviceâ, âminor delaysâ or âmajor delaysâ.
âIâm still getting complaints that âthe bus disappeared,'â he said, particularly at weekends, while the NTA representatives replied that the app specifically informs users if there's been a cancellation.