02-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Independent
Buses dropping Drogheda passengers off and then passing them by as they hike home
Cllr Eric Donovan highlighted the issue at last week's council meeting as he called for bus stops to be installed along the new PANCR road.
'I'm calling on the council to urgently implement the long overdue bus extension on the PANCR road where there are up to five new estates including Linenfield, Elwood Park, Listoke and Ballymakenny Park,' he said.
'At present, the Bus Éireann D4 bus route from Dublin City Centre has its final passenger stop at Gort Buí which is 1.5km short of up to 1,500 residents.
'I appreciate the council's response to this issue, and understand the need to adhere to and comply with the National Transport Authority (NTA), Public Transport Regulations Act 2009.
'However, judging from the correspondence I have had with the residents committee in these locations for the past year, and the NTA and Bus Éireann, it seems that all stakeholders are in agreement and support the D4 extension down to the end of the PANCR where the new housing developments are and approximately 1,500 residents live.
'The problem here is time, and I know It has been confirmed that the extension will come into operation later this year as part of the Co. Louth Bus Enhancement Programme, possibly in the final quarter of this year, but that's nearly two years since the PANCR opened, and over two years for many of the residents living in the area. So whatever happened to forward planning? Why does it take so long?
'I'm not trying to be smart here, but we're talking about a bus stop, we're not talking about building hospitals or health centres. And a real bug bear for many residents is that on several occasions when passengers alight at the final stop and begin their 1.5km hike to home, many after a long day at college or work, the same bus passes them and drives up to the exact area they live in and stops briefly to rest or to await the restart of the next bus journey.
'On one occasion a couple asked the driver to bring them to the end of the route because it was lashing rain, needless to say, their pleas were unsuccessful and to add insult to injury on their wet walk home, the same bus drove past them and pulled up in the lay-by just outside the entrance of their estate.
'Again, I understand the drivers have a job to do and must work within the parameters of the designated stops. But in a time where we are encouraging people to use public transport to reduce the carbon footprint in the environment, we are certainly not making it easy on ourselves, and we really need to learn from this and improve on service implementations to avoid similar situations and public dissatisfaction in the future.'
