Commuting by bus in Dublin is significantly faster than by car, according to a new survey of the effectiveness of quality bus corridors (QBCs) in the capital.
Average journey times for buses travelling along QBCs in the morning rush hour can be as little as half those taken by cars along the same routes, found the survey carried out for the Dublin Transportation Office (DTO).
However, the comparative advantage of bus travel diminishes considerably in the evening rush hour, as both buses and cars get stuck in traffic bottlenecks around the city.
Traffic on Dublin's streets has eased slightly, and the proportion of commuters travelling by bus has increased, the survey also finds.
Buses were faster on eight of the nine QBCs which were surveyed last November. In six of these, buses were significantly faster than cars in the morning rush hour. Only the Blanchardstown QBC proved slower, with cars taking 23 minutes and buses over 26 minutes.
The biggest variation was found on the Stillorgan QBC, where the stretch from Foxrock church to Leeson Street took a bus an average of almost 33 minutes. In contrast, the average time for a car to negotiate this distance was almost 66 minutes.
Similarly, travelling from Finglas to Dorset Street Lower took almost 14 minutes by bus and almost 24 minutes by car.
The longest commuter nightmare was the trip from Tallaght to Camden Street Lower, which took over 73 minutes by car. The bus was faster, but still took 50 minutes.
The DTO also measured average commuting times from the suburbs to the city centre. In five out of the nine QBCs surveyed, this commute was slower in the evening than in the morning rush hour.
The biggest difference was found in the journey from north Clondalkin to the city centre, which took 19 minutes in the morning and almost 34 minutes in the evening. Other commutes which were faster in the morning were Stillorgan, Finglas, Swords and Malahide, while Blanchardstown, Tallaght and - marginally - Rathfarnham and Lucan were faster in the evenings.
The survey found that the proportion of commuters travelling across the canals increased by almost 4 per cent over the previous year. Overall traffic declined by almost 5 per cent over the same period.
Commenting on the findings, Green Party TD Mr Eamon Ryan said they were "good news" for the bus commuter. "It shows how successful the QBCs have been, even if there is scope for further improvement. We're not there yet, but we're getting there."
