Cork Transport
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I think he was squeezed out by two factors:
1) Micheal McGrath did stunningly well based on the fact that he’s a TD for Carrigaline (and sorrounds). He took a lot of 1st and 2nd pref. votes that would have relligated votes for Boyle to 3 and 4.
McGrath also took on a lot of Boyles policies, e.g. calling for a Cork Luas.
I think a lot of younger voters in those areas in particular would have been more likely to have given Boyle a preference2) The Fianna Fail & Fine Gael presidential style race ‘Bertie V Enda’. It squeezed the Greens everywhere. Fine Gael and Labour did extremely well in South Central and sadly, it was at the expense of a Green Party seat.
He could have done more constituency work, but I don’t really think he had much of a chance given how things played out.
I’m hoping McGrath lives up to his promises and actually does put pressure on to ensure that Cork’s transport issues are addressed. I think his electorate will hold him accountable as there are a lot of commuters in Carrigaline and south cork generally who will be extremely annouyed if he doesn’t deliver.
BUS ÉIREANN is hoping to offer commuters free rides on a new Luas-style bus system that will be tested in Cork within months.
The company confirmed yesterday its consultants have selected three routes that would be suitable for its new Bus Rapid Transit system.
Canadian transport experts MRC Hazel McClean consultants said the street car — a tram on rubber wheels — would be best suited to run on the following routes:
* From Ballincollig to the city, via the town’s bypass, serving Cork Institute of Technology, Cork University Hospital, and University College Cork;
* From Carrigaline to the city via the N28;
* From Mahon Point, to the city, via Páirc Uà Chaoimh, through the Docklands, crossing over two planned bridges at Water Street or Tivoli, and serving Kent Railway Station and the Parnell Place bus station.
The company hopes to introduce the BRT on one of these routes on a short trial basis in the coming months, with passengers probably being allowed to travel for free. Company spokesperson Erica Roseingrave said the trials will be next stage of a major feasibility study being conducted by MRC ahead of the BRT’s planned introduction.
The system will be tested in Cork first given the city’s success in developing green bus routes (???)
They also met with senior Department of Transport officials before the weekend to help secure funding under Transport 21. It is understood the department is ready to release funding as soon as the study is complete.
The BRT needs little infrastructural work and could be rolling on the city’s streets within months of funding being released, Ms Roseingrave said.Running on dedicated green bus routes, the BRT would operate every eight minutes throughout the day.
Each 18 metre articulated vehicle can carry 149 passengers — three times the average bus load.
High-quality stops with shelters, ticket kiosks and real-time passenger information systems, using GPS to transmit the vehicle’s estimated time of arrival to waiting passengers, will be constructed.
The trams are biofuel compatible, wheelchair friendly and offer an extremely smooth journey thanks to deep rubber wheels.
The system is already in operation in Las Vegas, York and Leeds in England, in Brisbane, Australia, and in Eindhoven, Holland.
The system could be in Cork within three years.
Comments-
Cork expert in green routes? I dont know about that.Department of Transport will release funding very quickly one the study is complete they said and the company can have it rolling out within months of that. Then at the end of the article it says it will take 3 years? does that mean the study will take 3 years?
N28 to Carrigaline due to be completely redeveloped in about 3/4 years so will the trams have to wait until then? I assume they wont draw up lanes for the tram and then redevelop the N28 afterwards?
@Pug wrote:
* From Mahon Point, to the city, via Páirc Uà Chaoimh, through the Docklands, crossing over two planned bridges at Water Street or Tivoli, and serving Kent Railway Station and the Parnell Place bus station.
No time soon then.
I hope they don’t construct dedicated lanes for these so called bus trams on the N28. There is no need for a dedicated lane on a dual carriageway stretch, only at those points where traffic accumulates eg roundabouts and lights. It is at these points only that dedicated lanes are needed and should be provided.
i didnt realise they dont need dedicated lanes – whats all the fuss so about Cork being brilliant at bus lanes?
why not go back to double deckers? less long, more people and have a fleet of smaller buses like the Dublin IMP’s for off peaks?
Make no mistake, if the thing works I’ll be the first to use it but I the routes they are talking about are generally filled with traffic so the bus lanes would want to be really good and given the suburbs of Cork cant really have the roads widened, any new bus lanes would compress traffic wouldnt they?
Looking forward to seeing them in action though in Carrigaline
within the article itself its called
a) a Luas styled bus service
b)Bus Rapid Transit
c) streetcar
d) tram on rubber wheelsI will go with bus.
It will have to result in the N28 being at least six lanes wide anyway, on each side there will be
one driving lane for cars and the Bus Rapid Transit, ,
an overtaking lane
and the lane for the light rail on the N28 as recently elected Michael McGraths main promise was the feasibility study of a light rail from Carrigaline to Cork.I imagine if they bring this in the light rail will go out the window.
@Pug wrote:
I imagine if they bring this in the light rail will go out the window.
Rearrange these words; hit you the nail head on the…;)
If I was from Cork, I’d say nay very loudly and insist on light rail. There’s no such thing as a Luas-style bus system. It’s like promising an aeroplane-like boat system.
This is a farce, plain and simple.
These things are NOT trams in any way, shape or form. They are LONG BUSES.
This trial will be a disaster. Although it will be used, they will be chronically filled, they will get stuck in traffic, and unless Cork City Council get rid of that utterly stupid “Bus lane for rush hour only” nonsense, they will not go anywhere.
After visiting Holland I am all for a tram system in Cork, it was wonderful over there. None of this bus-tram nonsense. Its a BUS, not a tram. Dont market it as such.
Cork South Docks LAP Infrastructure Strategy. (Draft, June 2007)
3.2.3 Public Transport
The provision of quality public transport services for the South Docks is essential for the implementation of the Traffic and Transport Management Plan, where services will compliment the provision of private car-based infrastructure.
Public transport stops will be located in each of the urban nodes identified for the South Docks.A quality bus service is required for the South Docks, to promote sustainable modes of transport and to reduce the level of car traffic in the area, therefore the City Council will seek to provide a new bus service within the area. The route, as identified in Figure 7, will create a South Docks Public Transport Hub at the Centre Park Road. A possible future variation of this route can run over the Mill Road Bridge to the Kent Station interchange and then on to the Parnell Place Bus Station (subject to further study).
A separate report entitled ‘Light Rail Transit for Cork Docks – Feasibility Discussion Paper’ has proposed that the scale and density of development in the South Docks would strongly support the provision of a Light Rail Transit (LRT) system in the context of a larger system being justified for the city and its environs as a whole. The report also , highlighted the potential cost savings and benefits of the early delivery of an LRT to the area. An indicative route is identified in Figure 8.
However the LRT system must be compared with other alternatives such as Rapid Bus Transit ■ (RBT) in terms of demand analysis, modal shift, and cost benefit.It is proposed to reserve a corridor for dedicated segregated public transport along the Centre Park Road and Mill Road, to ‘future proof it from significant retrofitting costs, that would be incurred if the route was not reserved, free from development at this stage.
It is essential that further study be completed for a high quality public transport system and on the potential of an LRT / RBT system for the Cork Metropolitan Area. Where appropriate, it is also critical that this system be introduced to the South Docks at an early stage, as this will significantly reduce the cost of construction and installation and ensure that the high levels of public transport required to sustain the levels of development anticipated are realized.
A LRT/RBT system can also provide a visual icon and symbol for the South Docks. The opportunity for the creation of a Multi-Modal Transportation Interchange at Kent Station, to which the LRT/BRT may provide a link, is desirable not only for the South Docks but for the entirety of Cork City in promoting sustainable commuting and travel. The provision of a system and other public transport initiatives will be essential to control demand for extensive provision of car parking which is not sustainable even the short to medium term.(see Section 3.2.5).
Pending the completion of this study and procurement of an LRT/RBT, it will be necessary to introduce a public bus system to link the South Docks to the City centre and other key demand locations. This service can be provided in conjunction with Bus Eireann or by the City Council operating under licence (similar to the existing Black Ash Park and Ride scheme).
:rolleyes: Any one else get the feeling that the buses with covered wheels are going to be the Cork Luas?
@kite wrote:
Cork South Docks LAP Infrastructure Strategy. (Draft, June 2007)
3.2.3 Public Transport .
The opportunity for the creation of a Multi-Modal Transportation Interchange at Kent Station, to which the LRT/BRT may provide a link, is desirable not only for the South Docks but for the entirety of Cork City in promoting sustainable commuting and travel.
i applaud the re iteration of the obvious but what are they physically going to do about it? neither CIE nor MArtin Cullen nor the government give a hoot about Kent Station, given that 20 odd million was promised to change the station around fully in 2007 and instead we got the equivalent of a lick of paint – no news on whether this is the start of the development, what else will be done to the station, when it will be done, when will the turning around of the station start let alone be completed
it needs urgent movement and significant constant lobbying of public representatives until they finally cop on and get moving on it
To be fair, this type of bus service is not a new idea for Cork. Its referred to in the CASP (p40, 44 and 140 and Appendix 1). The general thrust being that, even with the type of densification envisaged in the scheme, Cork was not likely to see the type of population density required to justify LRT. Hence ‘guided bus’ or segregated busways.
But, while painting a bus in luas colours and covering the wheels and calling it a “bus-tram” is plain offensive to the intelligence of the general public, if they can generate a fast, efficient and effective solution to the citys public transport needs, it might be worth pretending that the emporer is wearing clothes, after all. Or a disguised loaf is better than no bread …
It is proposed to reserve a corridor for dedicated segregated public transport along the Centre Park Road and Mill Road, to ‘future proof it from significant retrofitting costs, that would be incurred if the route was not reserved, free from development at this stage.
Good. Start reserving alignments where possible.
Well, so far CIE/Bus Eireann’s track record on provision of public transport in Cork has been laughably bad.
The main reason that Luas is an outstanding success is CIE don’t run it!This “Bus Tram” (Read: articulated bus) looks like a last ditch effort by ‘the lads’ to keep control of the cushy number they have in Cork.
I think it’s really time for a MAJOR shake-up of the transport system in the city. There’s absolutely no reason why it has been so bad for so long.
At the very least we need “Cork Bus” seperated from Bus Eireann so that it can get some local focus and proper investment.
@AndrewP wrote:
If I was from Cork, I’d say nay very loudly and insist on light rail. There’s no such thing as a Luas-style bus system. It’s like promising an aeroplane-like boat system.
That’d be a hydrofoil
Surely it would be possible to have a relatively simplified and low-cost light rail system covering the key parts of the city. Instead of a top of the line system like LUAS, could a bog basic version do the trick? I have seen several systems in China that do the basics and are neither high cost nor high tech. BUT they do the job perfectly and they do work much better than buses. Granted the above would not be ideal for long distances but it would work for the key areas around the city.
The bus-tram contraption is a red herring if ever there was one and is more a publicity stunt to keep the attention away from the pathetic public transport system in the city.I remember people suggesting that a tram go down Patricks street. Surely that is impossible given the extremely acute bend at Daunt square?
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