Page 51 - Linkline Summer 2016

Will it work?
A need for prioritising
The test of the traf c plan is whether or not it will fa- cilitate the achievement of the targets. In reading it, one can’t but be impressed at the attention given to im- proving facilities for pedestrians and cyclists, while Luas speaks for itself, it has huge investment to give a high quality mode for those lucky enough to live or travel near to its routes. Yet the abiding impression is that bus- es are expected to increase share, while getting what- ever road space is left after the needs of other modes have been ful lled, rather than having speci c attention paid to their needs.
I am suggesting that, in planning our traf c in the city, given the high volumes we expect buses to deliver, we have to set speci c targets for how we provide for bus- es. These should include:
Some facts and figures will help to represent this. Dublin City Council claim that provision of a cycle lane through College Green will facilitate 6.500 cyclists a day, or about 2 million a year. Yet buses being displaced from this corridor carry 32 million passengers a year. Which is more important to facilitate?
• terminal points for longer distance and low fre- quency routes, either on street or off street (routes that normally take more than 50 minutes from city centre or which operate every half hour or less)
Even if cycling triples its share as targeted, and even if none of this growth comes from those who currently walk, and even with Luas CrossCity, buses will still ac- count for 50% of those crossing the cordons using On Street Sustainable Modes. Buses are by far the most important mode for getting people into and out of our city in a sustainable way, with effective use of road space. Yet the attention in planning is focused on the needs of the other modes.
• street capacity to match demand (number of bus- es per hour) - issue here is, for example, can the Quays cope with the volume of buses planned un- der the proposed scenario?
Is that a fair comment to make? Yes, we have plenty of bus lanes, mostly there since the 1990s. Yes, we have the Bus Gate, which has been very effective in improv- ing reliability, but this will be gone in the new scenar- io. Yes, it is planned to improve bus priority on certain routes, including the Quays.
The College Green plan has many worthy and posi- tive aspects, and will be very popular with “city realm” and cycling interests. It also looks good for users of bus routes that will share the Luas corridor. But for users of other routes, which account for 32m journeys a year, it is not clear that either rerouted journeys or new stop loca- tions will be an incentive or a disincentive to use buses. There is not enough information to form a judgement, but my hunch is that loss of stops in Dame St., D’Olier St. and Westmoreland St. will be a strong negative for many users of these routes
So overall, we have done much to make it easier for buses to travel along corridors into and out of the city. But we have restricted the space that they need within the city core in order to meet their customer needs ef- fectively. This has happened progressively due to Luas Red Line (loss of Abbey St. terminals); removal of bus stops in Lower O’Connell St.; Luas Cross-City (loss of key stops in Marlboro St., College St., Lower Grafton St., Lower O’Connell St.); and now College Green propos- als. This despite the fact that bus customers, as much as Luas customers and cyclists, are the people we need to nurture in order to maintain mobility and economic bene ts, while making our city sustainable.
There is, of course, scarce road space in the city. But if we keep squeezing the space for buses to facilitate Luas, cyclists and pedestrians, how can we expect bus- es to deliver their targets? International norms for bus- es are to have stops every 300m, or in some cases (such as London) every 400m. We have buses with gaps of 1000m, a full kilometre, between stops in the city. What is the point of having bus lanes to get buses into the city if they simply drive through without stopping to let any- one on or off where there need to go?
• stops in city centre every 300m to 400m, in line with norms and best practice
• priority in “city core” (circle from Spire to Trinity College and Butt Bridge to Halpenny Bridge) to city buses, with long distance services outside this area
Delivering these for the 50% of On Street Sustainable Mode users who use the bus is every bit as important as delivering for the Luas and for cyclists. There needs to be some balance, some give and take, between the modes, with decisions based on numbers of people to be facilitated, rather than on strength of lobbying.
THE CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF LOGISTICS & TRANSPORT 49
COLLEGE GREEN