The Wrong Lane

at

This afternoon.

The Dublin Commuter Coalition has rejected “any suggestion that bus lanes be opened to electric vehicles”.

Ther  Coalition said it would l is a slap in the face to bus users who travel “in a sustainable way to no thanks or, as is evident from this proposal, even a modicum of respect”.

Coalition Chairperson Kevin Carter said

“It is bizarre, it is astonishing and it is stunningly arrogant that this government would even suggest implementing a scheme that so specifically and brazenly harms bus users. Bus users are never rewarded for choosing to travel in a sustainable way, they are only ever subject to overcrowding, constant fare increases and poor enforcement of existing traffic laws.

Flagrant abuse of bus lanes is a constant issue for bus users and now this government is proposing further degrading the attractiveness of this mode by making bus users sit in even more traffic that they had no hand in causing.

Fight!

Dublin Commuter Coalition

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25 thoughts on “The Wrong Lane

  1. Rob_G

    He’s dead right.

    I also would ban taxis from bus lanes; how is a taxi transporting one passenger – oftentimes it’s just the driver, so zero passengers – be treated any differently from any other single occupancy vehicle?

    1. george

      The government are talking about allow electric cars in bus lanes to help reach the target of a million electric cars. If they succeed that would mean we would no longer have bus lanes. It will be very hard to remove access when people will claim they bought their electric car on the basis that they would have access to bus lanes.

      1. Zaccone

        Remove access for taxis, give access to electric cars. There are less electric cars on the roads than taxis at present, so that’ll be a good solution for a few years at least.

        1. Rob_G

          Why would we give use of the bus lane to any vehicles other than buses and coaches(?)

          A bus would get stuck behind a line of electric cars in the same way it would be stuck behind a line of ICEs

        2. george

          For a few years until there are too many electric cars and it becomes politically impossible to remove them.

          Increasing electric cars to 1million by providing access to bus lanes can lead to only one thing.

    2. ReproBertie

      As I understand it, Taxis are only allowed in the bus lane if they have a passenger (goods don’t count) so that’s just another traffic law that doesn’t get enforced.

      The justification for having them in bus lanes is that they are providing a public service and preventing one or more passengers from taking extra vehicles on the road.

      1. PewPew

        Nope, they can be in the bus lane if on a job, going to a job, or looking for a job. So pretty much all the time except for when they’re heading home..

        1. Bertie Theodore Alphege Blenkinsop

          Yep.

          “A taxi can use a normal (with-flow) bus lane only while it is operating as an SPSV – carrying a passenger, on the way to pick up a pre-booked customer, or plying for hire. Taxis must not use bus lanes if they are not operating as an SPSV – for example, driving home at the end of a shift, travelling on personal business, or transporting only goods and not passengers.”

  2. Col

    People who don’t get the bus at rush hour seem to think buses just sail through traffic completely unobstructed in bus lanes.

  3. Ronan

    There was a poll a few days ago on the Irish EV owners fourm on facebook about this. The majority of EV owners though this was a bad idea.

  4. Mart

    My solution for Dublin City Centre. Presently the quays have four footpaths running along side them, the outside ones, where the shops and pubs etc are, and the inside one which runs along the side of the river. The inside paths are not needed at all, people barely use them and they have random trees on anyway making them awkward to walk on. Get rid of these paths and make them single direction cycle paths and then boost the number of Dublin Bikes around, maybe even use the Liffey itself to shuttle bikes up the quays back towards Heuston or Connolly.

    Alternatively, a cable car that runs over the Liffey from Heuston to O’Connell Bridge to Connolly. Only three stops, would save a ton of ground traffic though.

    Or an underground tunnel with a travelator running the entire way.

    The quays are a straight line and that’s where all the traffic is produced, I’m sure there are better options than what we have currently!! A zipline?

      1. Mart

        Very few pedestrians use those inner paths, and I mean very few. Pedestrians have all of the quays both sides to walk along, but also only a few metres away, there is a very well maintained path running alongside the luas tracks that can be used as an overspill. A cycle route up the quays is badly needed.

    1. Liam

      they’ve been trying to put a cycle lane along the quays for at least the last 5 years – where have you been?

    2. Paulus

      The underground tunnel with a travelator running the entire way would be a challenging environment for buskers?

      1. Mart

        There could be static platforms for busking purposes.

        Could pump some tunes throughout the whole place, or companies could pay to run audio adverts and the proceeds could line the TDs pockets…..I mean maintain the travelator.

  5. Holden MaGroin

    Eh what? @Bodger

    “Ther Coalition said it would l is a slap in the face to bus users who travel “in a sustainable way to no thanks or, as is evident from this proposal, even a modicum of respect”.

  6. brughahaha

    If they wont build an underground for trains then why not build an underground for bikes, escooters etc.

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