Bus Connects Plan

[goldenberg]

My tuppence worth.

I cycle around Cork city on both a push bike and an e version. I find it by far the best way to get around the place. However, its not safe, cycle lanes are erratic and mostly there aren't any.

I notice that all my neighbours drive everywhere and walk nowhere. We re only 1 km from the local shopping centre, less to the schools and sports grounds, yet the default setting of all my neighbourhood is car 100% of the time. Until this mindset changes, traffic will continue to get worse. The city is turning into a carpark, but most Irish cities are the same. Galway is even worse.

I sometimes use the local Cork city bus service but find it dreadful, usually 20 - 50 minutes late, so its not really an option as its so unrealiable. I have written to Bus Eireann to complain on every occasion, as their service is inept and I want to mark their card.

 

[jank]

I sometimes use the local Cork city bus service but find it dreadful, usually 20 - 50 minutes late, so its not really an option as its so unrealiable. I have written to Bus Eireann to complain on every occasion, as their service is inept and I want to mark their card.

The main reason for this is this..

We re only 1 km from the local shopping centre, less to the schools and sports grounds, yet the default setting of all my neighbourhood is car 100% of the time. Until this mindset changes, traffic will continue to get worse

To be honest, driving has to be made more difficult for people.

 

[hemlock666]

The main reason for this is this..




To be honest, driving has to be made more difficult for people.

Do you drive a car?

 

[goldenberg]

I agree, but its very difficult to change a mindset that has been hardwired into people. This willrequire a mammoth shift in peoples habits, which I dont see changing anytime soon. Maybe, as traffic levels continue to soar, people might reconsider their MO and get out of cars. Most households now have a minimum of 2 cars, if the kids add a few more, then it ll be chaos on road networks built pre the explosion of cars. I think the lical bus issue is more than just traffic on the roads. A couple of occasions, I was waiting for late buses were on Saturdays and Sundays, when traffic was light. Id hazard a guess that its guys throwing sickies, without anyone to cover their shift.

 

[Blue Jasmin]

Too many motorists are vehemently opposed to any alternative modes of transport but their own preferred option. With their constant braying about cyclists they display a foolish consistency which is the hobgoblin of little minds.

 

[Stacky]

Too many motorists are vehemently opposed to any alternative modes of transport but their own preferred option. With their constant braying about cyclists they display a foolish consistency which is the hobgoblin of little minds.

Motorists like to complain about how poor public transport is while at the same time complaining about Bus Connects, cycling and pedestrian improvements or anything to improve travel options and would would also help to take cars off the road and actually improve traffic flows.

A single occupant car holding up a double decker bus with 80 or 90 people is not a problem for them in their bubble.

 

[Meridian]

In order for Bus Connects to be implemented, BE need lots of new drivers as there has to be a huge expansion in the fleet down here.

Currently BE are struggling to provide the existing services neverlone anything further.

What is blatant to me is, only 1 BE city bus was painted into that new Green / Yellow livery.
The will is simply not there.

 

[Sean Says]

Bus Connects should be scrapped. It is and always was an unworkable idea that will never work in practice. The public have rejected the very idea of it. It is a waste of time and money.

 

[After Noon]

Looks like BusConnects has turned out to be a disaster in Dublin. It has resulted in increased car journeys, more traffic congestion and more damage to the environment. Ghost buses (buses that are scheduled but never arrive at the bus stop) continue to grow in number due to an inability to recruit drivers.

The NTA are refusing to engage with residents groups despite repeated requests to do so. https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2026/0208/1557367-busconnects-dublin/

Three BusConnects routes changing from today after protests​

Sunday, 8 Feb 2026
By Samantha Libreri

Three BusConnects routes in Dublin are changing from today following protests by passengers about the services.

Routes 80, 23 and 24 which run mainly through Chapelizod and Finglas were introduced last October as part of Phase 7 of the BusConnects programme.

Complaints quickly followed about delays, capacity and frequency of the services and the volume of ghost buses disappearing from the schedule.

A number of protests were held in both communities and, before Christmas, the National Transport Authority (NTA) agreed to amend the routes saying the "reliability issues" experienced on the three routes were primarily due to high levels of traffic congestion on the new routes and "driver availability constraints".

Part of the issue with the services was the fact that they had been routed through the Christchurch area which resulted in buses getting caught in traffic congestion.

Some services also left passengers further from the O'Connell Street area than they were used to.

Now the 80, 23 and 24 routes will travel further along the bus corridor on the north quays and bring passengers closer to the O'Connell Bridge area.

NTA Director of Public Transport Services Jeremy Ryan said the temporary changes should resolve the problems being experienced by passengers.

He said: "The time of the year when we launched the service was October, traffic was at its worst.

"This will make a significant difference, we believe, in terms of journey times and the reliability of service.

"More services will run on time and there will be less cancelations because of congestion. Ghost buses quite often happen because of cancelations of services at the last minute.

"That can happen because of unexpected levels of congestion, so you'll certainly see less ghost buses, and the services we do run will run more reliable and more evenly spaced, so there'll be less capacity issues, we anticipate less people not able to get on board a bus.

"We think these changes will make a significant difference in the city centre."

However, some residents remain unhappy with the changes saying they do not deal with all the issues being experienced by passengers in their areas.

Cathy Byrne of the Beneavin Residents Association in Finglas said the amended route still leaves locals cut off from areas.

She said: "The number 9 bus was an excellent bus route that went down Glasnevin Avenue, and it served DCU, four primary schools, two secondary schools and the Na Fianna GAA club. Now we have no link to that area.

"The bus is not servicing three nursing homes and a secondary school. There's a lot of older people in the area and the new bus stop is a distance away.

"The visitors to the nursing home are now arriving by taxis. The buses are coming from the airport and they're coming down full.

"The traffic has increased no end in the area because people now have to drop their children to school and they're also parking their cars in residential areas to get closer to the main [bus] spine. It just doesn't work."

Nick Stefanovic, a resident of Chapelizod, said locals also want their old service restored.

"The National Transport Authority have refused to engage with the residents of Chapelizod, Palmerstown and Islandbridge, despite repeated requests over the past four months for engagement and any solution that is being proposed is still being imposed top down on us, without consultation with the locals who use these services every day and know their needs," he said.

The new routes were originally designed to take account of the planned pedestrianisation of College Green and will have to change again when that comes into effect.

At that point, the 80 bus is due to be merged with the 130 route that currently links Clontarf with the city centre as a single cross city service, which the NTA said it expects to begin at some stage in 2027.

The timeline for the redevelopment of College Green is due to be revealed in the coming days, but the NTA said it hopes that by the time they revert back to the contentious routes, things will be different

It said: "Its a temporary arrangement. We hope with the City Council to arrange better bus priority on the sections of the bus route where we were running and we were getting caught in congestion in advance of the construction of the College Green Plaza.

"We'll hopefully have better priority on the section of routes in the west of the city, where we're routing through Bridge Street and High street in advance of coming out of that area."

 

[After Noon]

Some Labour Cork City Councillors are attempting to claim without evidence that buses not turning up at bus stops is linked to traffic congestion. This claim is false. It is clear that the failure of management to recruit and retain bus drivers is what is responsible for ghost buses and not congestion.

Put simply failures of management are responsible for buses not turning up at bus stops. Expanding the existing services as BusConnects seeks to do will only make this problem worse while damaging the environment further.