Seventeen major bus routes in Dublin, Ireland, could soon have continuous corridors with segregated bike lanes — part of a 1 billion euro cash injection for Dublin Bus.
According to Irish Times, those routes are only part of a proposed overhaul that would also include a reorganization of “existing routes; the implementation of a cashless payment system; simplification of the fare structure, to allow movement between different transport services without financial penalty; as well as the segregation of buses from general traffic on the busiest routes to and around the city.”
Currently, most major bus routes only have dedicated lanes along about a third of their lengths, according to the paper, which adds that this “means that for most of the journey, buses are competing for space with general traffic and are being hit by the increasing levels of congestion.”
Last year, the Irish capital saw the launch of a new cross-city passenger rail service. As Josh Cohen wrote for Next City in 2015, congestion is a major issue and is poised to become an even greater problem as the population grows. That year, the Dublin City Council and the National Transport Authority proposed a vehicle restriction in the city center — which has faced opposition.
Nonetheless, the bus redesign is being touted as part of the city’s changing transportation structure.
According to the Irish Times: “The redesign has been sought to reflect the major transport changes in the city including the introduction later this year of the Luas Cross city line, the opening of the Phoenix Park Tunnel, as well as recent and upcoming changes to the road network.”
Rachel Dovey is an award-winning freelance writer and former USC Annenberg fellow living at the northern tip of California’s Bay Area. She writes about infrastructure, water and climate change and has been published by Bust, Wired, Paste, SF Weekly, the East Bay Express and the North Bay Bohemian
Follow Rachel .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Never Miss A StoryDownload our app