Opinion is divided on the contribution of the Malahide Quality Bus Corridor to the reduction of congestion in the north city area of Dublin.
Dublin Corporation's director of traffic, Mr Owen Keegan, said it had reduced bus-journey times on the route from 45 minutes to 30.
Dublin Bus said buses were now travelling 30 per cent faster than cars on the same corridor, passenger numbers were rising at a rate of 20 per cent per year and 18 per cent of these new passengers had switched from car to bus. It claims that slightly more than half the number of all passengers on the route are now travelling on a bus, with an average waiting time for a bus being two minutes.
The bus corridor uses 170 buses to transport 5,180 people into the city at the morning peak from Clare Hall at the Malahide end, travelling via Clonshaugh and Coolock along the Malahide Road to Fairview Park, along Amiens Street to the Custom House.
Dublin Bus said 20 times more cars than buses were used on the corridor, but they carried fewer people. However, Mrs Nora Owen, TD for Dublin North, said Mr Keegan should learn from the experience of the northside corridor and postpone the introduction of the Stillorgan QBC until park-and-ride facilities, which will give motorists somewhere to park when they take to the bus, are in place.
The QBC is unpopular with some local people. One of their complaints is that it is in operation from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and not just at rush-hour times.
It also operates on Saturdays when many people feel access to shopping facilities in places like Coolock is more important.
Mr Conor Faughnan, of the AA, is also critical of the Malahide bus corridor.
He said that while it might have improved things for the buses, in doing so it had reduced the numbers using the route from 13,000 in the morning peak to 11,000.
"If the overall goal was to reduce the number of cars, then it has been a success, but it must be said that fewer people now use the route, which has lowered overall efficiency," he said.
