DUBLIN is choking on traffic, and it’s easy to see why.

Cars take up a lot of space, but there’s not much space in Dublin’s streets. So, as the city grows, there simply isn’t room for everyone’s car.

Bus routes will be renamed Credit: Crispin Rodwell - The Sun Dublin

So, all Dubliners need public transport to succeed. If public transport doesn’t attract more customers, the city won’t function for anyone.

What’s more, many people can’t, shouldn’t, or don’t want to drive. The city needs to work for them, too.

Many cities have mastered this challenge. In Copenhagen, for example, buses, trains and trams all work together so that you can go all over the city in a reasonable amount of time. What if Dubliners could do that?

The redesign is an attempt to modernise Credit: PA:Press Association

What’s wrong today?

TODAY in Dublin, buses take people into and across the city centre, but many other trips are impossible.

You often can’t get to your nearest major shopping centre, or to nearby jobs and universities.

Good luck if you commute outside the M50. You can’t get from Celbridge to the jobs at Tallaght and Citywest.

Jarrett Walker, Public Transport Consultant

Most of the day, you can’t even get from Blanchardstown to Liffey Valley.

Today’s bus system can require long waits. The only buses that come every 15 minutes or better all day go into and across the centre.

If you’re going somewhere else, you’ll wait up to 20-60 minutes much of the time. The bus may be there, but not when you need it.

Finally, today’s system is complex and confusing, so it’s hard to learn, remember, and explain.

Do you want to go to Drumcondra from O’Connell Bridge? Take the 1, 11, 13, 16, 33, 41, 41c or 44! Could you explain that to a visitor? Could you remember it for every trip you might ever make?

What could we have instead?

Proposed bus network changes Dublin City Centre

THE proposed plan has a simple idea: More bus services, to more places, more often, so that you get there sooner.

Under the plan, the average Dubliner would be able to go 20% further on public transport in just half an hour.

That’s 20% more places you could work, shop, study or meet people.

That’s 20% more things you could do. That makes it easier for some people to sell their car, because they can use public transport for all their needs in life, not just their commute.

Really, though, we’re talking about freedom. You are only free to do things if you can get to them, so if you can get to more places, you’re more free.

And as European cities have shown, when public transport offers freedom, people use it.



But we have to make choices

HERE’S the hard part: A few people who now have direct trips will have to get off one bus and onto another, or onto a train or tram. Some are very angry about that.

But it’s not as bad as it sounds. Even people who have to change buses will often get where they’re going faster than today, because they wait less, or travel a straighter path, or connect to a faster service like the DART (which is now more frequent).

NTA is doing all it can to make changing buses easy. You won’t pay more if you change vehicles.

Buses will become more frequent Credit: Patrick Cummins - The Sun Dublin

Everywhere that buses connect would have good shelter, and again, the waits will almost always be short.

The plan also removes some slow route segments that are very close to parallel routes.

This means some people will walk a little further to more frequent service, and usually get where they’re going sooner.

Understandably, some older and disabled people don’t like this idea. It’s a difficult choice.



It’s imperfect, so help us improve it

MANY people have been misinformed about the plan, but the biggest lie being told is that it’s going to happen anyway.

That makes people feel they need to oppose the whole plan, marching and waving signs, even if they only object to one detail.

We know the plan is imperfect. We presented it so that people could help us improve it. That’s part of the normal process of making it better.

So we need to hear from you: Are the benefits of the plan worth the nuisance? What should we change in the next version?

You can see the plan, in many forms, at busconnects.ie. Look around there, then complete the survey at busconnects.ie, before the end of September.

Or email info@busconnects.ie to request paper maps and brochures, and to share your thoughts. (Yes, that’s an order!)

One way or another, we need to know what you think.