Dublin Bus expects the passenger numbers on routes serving Finglas will increase by at least a third following the inauguration yesterday of the city's fourth quality bus corridor.
The Finglas QBC was formally opened by the Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, when she cut a white ribbon at the No 40 bus stop on the main road next to Finglas village, in the company of Dublin's newly-elected Lord Mayor, Ald Maurice Ahern.
After being conveyed into the city centre in just 20 minutes on a special bus full of officials associated with the project, Ms O'Rourke said that up to five more QBCs would be opened on other major bus routes this year.
These will serve Swords, Rathfarnham, Tallaght, Blanchardstown and north Clondalkin. "I am glad to be supplying the new buses, and I want to see the day when happy, shiny people are on happy, shiny buses, giving two fingers to the motorists," she declared. Dublin Bus's information leaflet on the Finglas QBC has a colour photograph on the cover showing cars stuck in traffic as one of its buses whizzes past on a new bus lane, on which there is a sign painted saying "Yeeee Ha!"
The only stumbling block on the way into town from Finglas was in Dorset Street, where the driver of a 40-tonne sand lorry had parked in the bus lane with his hazard lights flashing. A garda wearing a fluorescent yellow top was giving him a ticket.
Assistant Commissioner Mr Jim McHugh later told the Minister that, in case she thought this was accidental, it had all been arranged to demonstrate the commitment of the Garda to work with other agencies on the implementation of the QBC programme.
Mr Conor McCarthy, chairman of the Dublin Transportation Office, said that the success of the three existing QBCs had confirmed it was possible to attract new users to public transport and the latest one serving Finglas would cut commuting time along this artery.
The new QBC runs for 10.5 kilometres from Finglas village along Finglas Road, on past Glasnevin Cemetery and onwards to Parnell Square East, via Botanic Road, Whitworth Road, Dorset Street and North Frederick Street. Other bus routes feed into it.
Following the example of the Stillorgan QBC, which led to a 120 per cent rise in bus passenger numbers, improved bus schedules have been introduced on routes 40, 40A, 40B and 40C to serve the QBC, which operates from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday to Saturday.
According to Mr Pat Carey, Fianna Fail TD for Dublin North West, the Finglas QBC could take more than 900 cars off the road each morning. This figure would be significantly increased with the provision of a "park-and-ride" site near the junction of the N3 and M50 .
Traffic on Finglas Road was remarkably light when the ministerial bus set out at 8.30 a.m. Serious congestion was only encountered when it turned onto Botanic Road, but this did not matter as its "Lana Bus" was protected by white lines and gardai.
On narrow, heavily-congested Whitworth Road, the QBC passes right alongside a disused railway line, its tracks overgrown by weeds, which was once canvassed as a potential dedicated truckway for Dublin Port; it may be brought back into service in the future.
Earlier, Dublin Bus suffered a slight embarrassment when a single-decker bus conveying the Minister, senior officials and the press from the Civic Offices to Parnell Square developed engine problems and everyone had to switch to another bus at Broadstone.
Mr Derry O'Leary, strategic planning manager of Dublin Bus, shrugged off this setback and said QBCs were now a proven product that offered bus passengers what they wanted - speed and frequency of service.
The Lord Mayor noted that the Finglas QBC runs through his own electoral area. He said it was a further step in the development of Dublin's transport infrastructure and a token of the corporation's commitment to providing alternatives to car commuting.
The QBC programme is being funded by the Dublin Transportation Office and the EU Transport Operational Programme. Its implementation requires a high degree of co-operation between the DTO, Dublin Corporation, the Garda and Dublin Bus.
