“Identifying barriers to implementation of the orbital elements of a rapid transit network for Dublin: a land use and transportation study of the North Eastern Quadrant.�
May 2011 Colin Broderick - rustybroderick@gmail.com BSc. Spatial Planning DT106 / Y4 School of Spatial Planning | Dublin Institute of Technology
Colin Broderick – C07311761
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Declaration This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfilment of the Bachelor of Science in Spatial Planning (DT106) at the Dublin Institute of Technology, Bolton Street, Dublin 1 on the 13th of May 2011.This dissertation has not been submitted for any other academic purpose other than of that stated above.
This dissertation is an original piece of work. Wherever the contributions of others are involved, every effort was made to indicate this clearly, with all references and acknowledged assistance. This dissertation may be used by the library.
Efforts were made to ensure that all information used was relevant, reliable, accurate, and up-to-date.
Date: ................................................. Signed: .................................................
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Abstract Public transport networks are traditionally focused on cities. They are the collective response to rationalising everyone’s different trip needs into one usable system that serves the majority of people. More recently networks have been redesigned to compete against the car, the major transport mode in most dispersed city regions.
The solution proposed to deal with this problem of urban dispersal is the ‘network effect’, explained simply by the small imagined city of ‘Squaresville’. Public Transport in Dublin is predominantly based around a radial transport - routes radiating from the centre of the city like the spokes on a wheel. The provision of orbital transport links caters for the implementation of routes which do not pass through the centre of the city, like the majority do currently.
The aim of this dissertation is to identify the barriers associated with the implementation of orbital routes to form a public transport network for Dublin. The study area is the North Eastern Quadrant of the city. Four orbital routes were chosen to form the basis of the study. Various mapping exercises were conducted including mapping of all trip generating land uses within the study area. Interviews were organised with key stakeholders including Dublin Bus and the National Transport Authority.
A sizeable list of barriers were identified and the straddled all areas of public transport planning and provision. The actual integration of the current transport services and their organisations is challenging. It is clear that there is a lack of foresight at the tactical level of transport planning. The current economic situation is a challenge especially when operating costs remain high.
Public transport, as an alternative to the car in the North Eastern Quadrant of the city stands to benefit immensely from the implementation of an integrated multi-modal network comprising both orbital and radial lines.
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Acknowledgments The author would like to take this opportunity to thank the following people: Kate McNamara, Cian O’Halloran, Cian Markey, Dave O’Conor, Triona Brick, Jeff Walsh and Stephen Murphy who without their support and guidance this report would not have reached completion. The three participants, who gave of their time to be interviewed during the research for this work. Their co-operation was essential towards its eventual completion.
The library staff of D.I.T. who helped, with finding textbooks seeking out journals and most especially for their invaluable referencing guidance.
To my parents David, and Joan, and my sister Helen, for all their interest, support, encouragement, understanding, and financial support over the years and lifts to the University over this last year of University
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Table of Contents Declaration .......................................................................................................................... 2 Abstract ............................................................................................................................... 3 Acknowledgments .............................................................................................................. 4 Table of Contents................................................................................................................ 5 List of Figures ..................................................................................................................... 7 List of Tables ....................................................................................................................... 8 Abbreviations ...................................................................................................................... 9 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 10 2. Literature Review: ......................................................................................................... 12 1. Dispersed Cities and the need for Public Transport ............................................. 12 2. The Solution - Network Planning ......................................................................... 13 3. What are the key elements of a Network? ........................................................... 18 4. Convenient Transfers .......................................................................................... 19 5. Simple Line Structure .......................................................................................... 20 6. Stable Line and Stopping Pattern ........................................................................ 21 7. Appropriate institutions and fares ........................................................................ 21 8. High Quality ......................................................................................................... 22 9. Choosing a Mode / Technology ........................................................................... 23 3. Methodology.................................................................................................................. 25 1. Defining the STUDY AREA .................................................................................. 25 2. Initial Mapping ..................................................................................................... 25 3. Land Use Mapping Exercise ................................................................................ 26 4. Dublin - Public Transport Policy Review .............................................................. 27 5. Semi-Structured Interviews .................................................................................. 27 6. Interchange Case Study ...................................................................................... 28 3. Findings and Discussion .............................................................................................. 29 1. Initial Mapping - Route Selection ......................................................................... 29 2030 Vision - Bus Strategy Map ................................................................... 30 Aris Ventikidis - Visionary Public Transport Map .......................................... 32 Dublin Bus Network Review 2005 Indicative Strategy .................................. 34 Dublin Bus Network Direct ........................................................................... 36 Chosen network lines ................................................................................... 38 2. Land Use Mapping .............................................................................................. 39
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3. Route Analysis .................................................................................................... 41 Population .................................................................................................... 41 Journey Times ............................................................................................. 43 Interchange Case Study............................................................................... 44 4. Semi-structured Interviews .................................................................................. 48 Ticketing ...................................................................................................... 49 The Institutions ............................................................................................ 49 The Economic Situation ............................................................................... 50 Barriers at Interchange................................................................................. 50 Catchment and difference between on-peak and off-peak ........................... 51 Costs ........................................................................................................... 52 5. Policy Review ...................................................................................................... 52 2030 Vision - a Draft Strategy for the Greater Dublin Area - National Transport Authority ...................................................................................... 52 Dublin City Development Plan 2011 - 2017 .................................................. 57 5. Conclusions .................................................................................................................. 60 6. Recommendation .......................................................................................................... 62 Bibliography ...................................................................................................................... 63
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List of Figures Figure 1: Paris Mini METRO MAP (RATP, 2011)…………………………………14 Figure 2 Two different approaches to network design (Nielson 2005, p35)…15 Figure 3 - The network effect: the Squaresville example (Nielson 2005 p86; Mees 2000).17 Figure 4 - MAP of STUDY AREA on the blank open street map (OSM, 2011)……..26 Figure 5 - Location map of interchange case Study (Refine with aerial photo)……..28 Figure 6 - OSM Map Base Map (Open Street Map, 2011)………………………..30 Figure 7 - 2030 Vision Bus strategy map (NTA, 2011. Ch.10 pp 9)……………….31 Figure 8 - 2030 Vision Draft Bus Strategy Map……………………………………..31 Figure 9 - Dublin Rapid Transit Map (Ventikidis, 2010)………….…………………..32 Figure 10 – Aris routes reproduced on study area map………………………………..33 Figure 11 - Orbital Concept Map. (MVA 2005. P78)………………………………….34 Figure 12 - Indicative Strategy Map (MVA 2005. P79)…………………………..35 Figure 13 - MVA orbital strategy and Study Area………………………………….36 Figure 14 & 15 - Dublin Bus Network Direct Route Diagrams. Blanchardstown left & Finglas right…………………………...………………………………………………………………………39 Figure 16 - Dublin Bus Network Direct Routes as released on 8th of May 2011………….…38 Figure 17 - Combined final routes for study…………….………………………………………..39 Figure 18 - Land use study of extended North Eastern Quadrant……………………………..41 Figure 19 - Chosen Bus Lines overlaying on Population Density Projection………...……….42 Figure 20 Chosen Bus Lines overlaying on Employment Density Projection…………….…..43 Figure 21- Case Study Area…………………………………………………………………...…..45 Figure 22- Stop Locations and Walk Routes……………………………………………………..46 Figure 23- Photo of Stop 2 shelter……………………………………..………………………….47 Figure 24- Photo of the Poor Stop Quality of Stop 6………………………..…………………..48 Figure 25- Trip direction. (NTA 2011, ch4 pp9)………………………………...………………..54 Figure 26- DCC Key Development Centres overlaid on the NTA population projection map.............................................................………………………………………………..…….55 Figures 27& 28- Left: Rail Map. Right: Bus Map (NTA, 2011)……………………………...….56 Figure 29- Dublin City Development Plan - Core Strategy Map (DCC, 2011. Pp 12)…….....58
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List of Tables Table 1: Transit Myths from the 1950 - 1970 period (Vuchic 2005. pp 560 - 569)…………..19 Table 2 - Decision matrix for transport modes (Leahy, James 2008 p37)……………………24 Table 3 - Identified areas of Land use Study……………………………………………...……..41 Table 4 - Showing Journey Times…………………………………………………….…………..45 Table 5 - Walk Distances between stops……………………………………………….………..47
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Abbreviations BRT
Bus Rapid Transport
CIE
Coras Iompair Eireann
CILT
Chartered Institute of Logistic and Transport
CSO
Central Statistics Office
DCC
Dublin City Council
DTO
Dublin Transport Office
DoT
Department of Transport
FCC
Fingal County Council
GDA
Greater Dublin Area
KDC
Key Development Centres
LRT
Light Rail Transport
NTA
National Transport Authority
OSM
Open Street Map
QBC
Quality Bus Corridor
RTPI
Real Time Passenger Information
UCD
University College Dublin
UEP
Urban Environment Project
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1. Introduction “The essence of public transport, reflected in its name, is carrying people with different trip origins and destinations in the same vehicle.” (Mees, 2010 pp82)
Public transport networks are traditionally focused on cities. They are the collective response to rationalising everyone’s different trip needs into one usable system that serves the majority of people. More recently networks have been redesigned to compete against the car, the major transport mode in most dispersed city regions.
Public Transport in Dublin is predominantly based around a radial transport - routes radiating from the centre of the city like the spokes on a wheel. The provision of orbital transport links caters for the implementation of routes which do not pass through the centre of the city, like the majority do currently.
In terms of the context of this dissertation it is important to remember that the network by its very nature does not cater for just one mode of transport such as Bus or Light Rail: it is an integrated public transport network for the movement of people throughout a city irrespective of mode or technology used.
The Department of Transport (DoT) has set some very ambitious targets with regards achieving sustainable transport for the future. A core policy of the DoT is their Smart Travel document, which aims to make Ireland a more sustainable nation by reducing reliance on the car and promoting the use of sustainable modes of travel, public transport, walking and cycling. The strategy aims to reduce car usage for works trips to 45% mode-share, a drop of 20% by the year 2020.
The recently established National Transport Authority (NTA) is the government agency responsible for provision and planning of public transport in the Greater Dublin Area (DTA Act. 2008, S9(2)).
There are various benefits for orbital transport networks in conjunction with the existing arterial networks within Dublin City. The main principal behind this is the ‘network effect’ (Mees, Paul. 2010). This is a network of free transfer based loosely on a pattern of
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intersecting routes usually laid out in a grid, where passengers can transfer freely in all directions where 2 or more routes cross.
The idea of introducing elements of orbital routes to Dublin is not new; it has been highlighted both in terms of organisation (MVA, 2005) and in terms of academics (Leahy, James 2008 and Ventikidis, Aris (2010).
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2. Literature Review: 1. Dispersed Cities and the need for Public Transport Dublin is a dispersed city with a relatively low level of population density when compared to some of our European neighbours. In recent years during the economic boom, we have seen the urban expansion of Dublin City and its region explode: according to the Urban Environment Project (UEP) at UCD, the percentage of land covered by artificial surfaces increased from a 1990 level of 6.7% to almost 10% in 2006 (McInerney and Walsh, 2009).
The Greater Dublin Region experienced rapid growth during the ‘Celtic Tiger’ period, this coupled with an increasing population, labour force, and a construction boom lead to unprecedented levels of residential and commercial development throughout the region (Williams et al 2007, Attuyer et al 2009). This manifested itself though the further dispersal of residential development throughout the region. The distance which people were travelling to work began to increase substantially for those living outside of the city. The most striking example of this was the large numbers commuting by the car from places as far away as Cavan and Monaghan every day to work (CSO, 2006).
It must be noted that this problem is far more widespread and not predominantly an Irish one. Worldwide there has been a significant trend of increased car usage enabling longer commuting distances in order to avail of the suburban low density lifestyle. Melbourne can be observed as one huge sprawling mass on the Australian continent, with an average population density of under 1600 people per km2 being widely quoted. When the Census 2006 data for the Greater Dublin Area (GDA) is plotted on a map, densities are widely dispersed, ranging from just 3 persons per km2 in the Wicklow mountains to 19,000 persons per km2 in the centre of the city (CSO, 2006 and UEP 2009). However the Dublin built up area has expanded rapidly as can be seen in land use maps of the UEP (UEP, 2010). The recent economic slowdown is beginning to reverse some of the effects of the boom with people now moving closer the city again due to the cost of commuting.
Public transport is increasingly required to serve a range of objectives - from providing mobility to the disadvantaged through to alleviating traffic congestion - while also making
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efficient use of financial resources. These different objectives often conflict. For example, commuters to city centres prefer fast radial services, while disadvantaged people without cars often want access to destinations in their local areas.
As outlined above, Dublin has expanded rapidly and regional dispersal of population presents a serious challenge to the provision of quality public transport. Many European cities, such as Zurich, have met these challenges, providing public transport which meets the needs of local users alongside city centre commuters. A solution to these dispersed patterns of commuting has been around for quite a while, known as the ‘network approach’, and is the reason behind the success of many city transport systems, like Zurich (Mees, 2000 and 2010).
2. The Solution - Network Planning There is a vast array of literature available on the provision of urban transport due to the simple fact that it can influence so many areas of both society and the economy. However, there is very little attention given in literature to the subject of network planning according to Mees (2010). Greogory Thomson noted in 2003 that the importance of transfer-based networks is not widely appreciated in transport planning literature. Mees (2010) states that with the exception Gustav Nielsons ‘HiTrans Manuals’ (2005) and Vukan Vuchic’s ‘Urban Transit: Operations, Planning and Economics’ (2005) there are “no publicly available materials on the basics of network planning”.
During the 1960’s the idea evolved that the most effective way to plan public transport for cities is around a transport or transit grid, as the Americans refer to it, in order to provide mass public transport to urban regions. The transit grid is a basic building tool employed by transport planners the world over, a most famous example being the Paris Metro below, which when examined a basic grid pattern emerges.
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Figure 1: Paris Mini METRO MAP (RATP, 2011)
From this idea emerged the most useful texts on the basics of transfer based network planning, by Nielson (2005) and Vuchic (2005) which both in detail address the fundamentals of network planning. Nielson in particular provides some very clear imagery of the basics of the network. Mees (2010) provides a basic overview of their material while, also addressing the issues relating to density, planning, and control mechanisms of network based systems alongside comparisons of approaches used in cities worldwide.
Public transport must face the reality of changing travel patterns as homes and workplaces become more and more dispersed. As a result the range of origins and destinations has increased. Mees (2010) provides two alternatives to responding to diverse ‘anywhere-toanywhere’ travel patterns, the first being the traditional response of transport planners which is to either give up on it or else provide car-like para-transit solutions which provide for a ‘tailor-made’ public transport system. This would offer a direct route between every origin and destination, similar to a taxi service. The alternative to this is to provide a ‘ready-made’ service which relies on transfers. It is the only way to enable anywhere-to-anywhere travel while maintaining high occupancy rates. Nielson (2005, p35) provides a simple diagram which details the differences between the ‘tailor-made’ and ‘ready-made’ networks.
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Figure 2 - Two different approaches to network design (Nielson 2005, p35)
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As can be seen, the readymade network offers integration of all modes; a clear and consistent line structure, direct routes and high frequencies where demand is sufficient alongside coordinated timetables where it is not.
The simplest way to explain how the ‘network effect’ works is to imagine the fictional town of Squaresville, a perfectly symmetrical city grid consisting of 10 north-south and 10 east west roads spaced roughly 800m apart, see Figure 2. Travel patterns are completely random and each block creates 100 trips a day, one internal trip made on foot, and one external trip to each of the 99 other blocks in the city - giving 9900 external trips in total. There are 10 bus routes along each of the north-south corridors, which grew in a free market economy, reflecting the previous dominant direction of travel. Each house is within 400m of a bus on which they can travel to 9 other city blocks but only along their north-south line, giving them access to 900 trips per day. Consequently, if mode-share was a third for public transport, a route would only attract 300 trips per day or a city wide mode-share of 3%.
If the city government were to pay the bus companies to double frequencies on the 10 routes as a way of increasing public transport use, revenue increases would not cover costs and patronage will increase by half to 450 trips per day. Imagine that 10 east-west routes are introduced instead; the number of trips directly served will double to 1800. The government does everything to make it easy to transfer, integrated timetables, fares and convenient facilities. Many transport planners argue that passengers hate transferring, so say only ⅙ of the trips require transfers. So the total number of public transport trips is a third of 1800, plus one sixth of 8100, giving a total of 1950. Under this second model, public transport mode-share jumps from 3% to 20%. Service has increased 100% and patronage has grown 550% giving an elasticity of 5.5.
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Figure 3: The network effect: the Squaresville example (Nielson 2005; p86; Mees 2000)
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Squaresville is the worst case scenario of dispersed urban development combining low densities and dispersed travel patterns. However, this is not what the real world looks like and as such it should be noted that generally trip generation is not as evenly dispersed in the real world. It illustrates that real cities which combine an integrated network with high service levels, high occupancies, and high efficiencies can make it work. The ‘network effect’ is an example of ‘economies of scope’ and effectively becomes stronger as travel patterns become more diverse (Thomson, 1993.).
This has been demonstrated by Thomson, who argues that US cities who have turned their radial systems into multi-destinational networks have achieved better patronage and efficiency outcomes than those providing non-transfer trips to a limited number of destinations. (Thomson and Matthof, 2003)
The ‘network effect’ can be seen quite clearly in the airline industry where major airlines form alliances and use hub and spoke networks to service origins and destinations which would normally not support direct services in their own right, but instead are served through a higher order hub. An example of this would be if you would like to fly from Dublin to Beijing. Dublin is not a hub and there are no direct flights - you would instead connect to a flight from one of the major European Hubs such Frankfurt, Paris, or London depending on which airline alliance you fly.
3. What are the key elements of a Network? As mentioned above, in order for the ‘network effect’ to work, you need a fully integrated network based on transferring passengers operating at high frequency with high quality services and integrated fares. To address the research question of this paper - to assess the barriers to implemented an orbital rapid transit network - one must first consider what is consider a ‘rapid’ network.
As public transport is designed to serve various different needs, it is not easy to compare systems on a city to city basis and as such what can be termed as a rapid transit service differ considerably. Internationally it has become widely accepted that services which operate at a frequency of less than fifteen minutes can be termed as ‘rapid’ services (Walker, 2010). The key elements of the network are: convenient transfers; a simple line structure; stable line and stopping patterns; and appropriate institutions and fares. They will each be discussed in turn below.
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4. Convenient Transfers A grid network consisting of both radial and orbital routes must be present. Logically, in order for this type of system to work it is a given that passengers will have to make a transfer in most cases in order to reach their destination. Traditional transport planning thinking suggests that people dislike transferring and that the inconvenience caused by this will be a deterrent for increasing passenger numbers. These have been summarised by Vuchic, who lists a number of myths and contrasts them with the living facts. These myths developed in the US in the period of expansion of the road network and car ownership. (Vuchic, 2005)
Myth 1
Fact
Transfers are not tolerable: if passengers Inter-modal, high quality transit networks must transfer, choice riders will not use involve considerable transferring. transit.
2
Transit can be provided either by buses Many lines and networks need better on streets or by fully separated rapid service than buses on streets can offer transit.
but for much lower investment than metro can require.
3
Bus lines on urban streets require stops The bipolarization in access/operating on every corner. RT must rely on fewer speed ratios needs correction; fewer stops and kiss-and-rides / park-and-rides.
stops for buses, more stations for rapid transit.
4
Flexible transport systems are needed.
Concepts
opposite
permanence,
to
flexibility
reliability,
are
durability,
efficiency and simplicity. These are desirable
features
for
most
transit
services. Table 1: Transit Myths from the 1950 - 1970 period (Vuchic 2005. pp 560 - 569) Source: Vuchic 2005. pp 560 - 569, (Leahy, James. 2008 pp 38) As can be seen in the first myth, transit riders dislike transferring. Fortunately the fact that they are present in all major inter-modal public transport systems such as the Paris Metro system is true.
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However while this is true that people do not like transferring, that they prefer to stay put in their seat from origin to destination just like they would in a car, it is a fact of the network system, and must be made as convenient as possible for people to transfer between services. In Switzerland, a hub and spoke type network is operated, whereby at particular large destinations in the Zurich city region, all services are timed to coincide. A mainline commuter train is timed to pull into the station opposite the S-Bahn service. Meanwhile a number of bus services await below the platform having arrived before the trains and will then depart after the trains in order to ferry passengers onwards to their final destinations, which reduces the amount of walking required to connect to another service. This is done on a clock-face pattern so the whole manoeuvre takes 30 minutes in some cases and the cycle begins and repeats every hour. (Mees. 2010 pp 135).
In order to further reduce any of the penalties associated with transferring, the network must have a fully integrated multi-modal fare which allows for free transfers. What this means is that passengers pay for the distance travelled, usually through a zonal system, rather than the number of transfers they make. All tickets with the exception of the very short trips should be multi-modal. Mees makes a point that these issues are not solved simply by deploying a smart card type system network wide, as Melbourne demonstrates that they can in fact make transferring harder by requiring you to tag on and also tag off a bus (Mees 2010 pp176).
5. Simple Line Structure Nielson (2005, pp95) distinguishes between routes and lines. A route is defined as ‘the physical path transversed by a public transport vehicle’; meanwhile a ‘line’ refers to the actual operational element of the service. A ‘bus line‘ in a planned network would have a defined and unchanging physical route with a fixed stopping pattern, specific timetable, and a unique name and number. The idea behind this is to give buses the same sort of coherence and permanence of train or tram lines.
Ventikidis (2010) prepared an ideal transport map for Dublin having found that in order to complete a design thesis, the current Dublin transport network proved much too complex. Simplicity offers important benefits, enabling the agency to produce clear maps, but making the network easier for passengers to understand and also reducing the amount of resources required to operate the services due to the limited number of lines in operation.
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6. Stable Line and Stopping Pattern A network may be simple, but it must also be stable. The basic principle of the network approach is to provide a consistent, high quality service across the network all day, rather than operating different service types in peak, off-peak, night and weekend periods. As can be seen in Figure 2, where additional services are required to cope with peak demands, this is done by intensifying the baseline service frequencies rather than introducing new lines or changing stopping patterns.
This approach does not exclude the addition of extra services such as express routes to the network. It simply requires the addition of another line of the same name running parallel, which can be distinguished as a limited stop service by using, say, the standard line number and a letter to signify its limited stop nature. The stability remains as the line is still intact and easily distinguished from other lines in the network.
7. Appropriate institutions and fares In order to design and implement a network, you will need the right institutions with the right powers. Both Mees (2010) and Nielson (2005) propose that a public body, like a regional transport agency, must be in charge of the tactical planning of the network. The functions of providing public transport can be divided into three levels, strategic, tactical and operational. Strategic is where system wide objectives are set. Tactical planning is where objectives are translated into system-wide service strategies, such as designing networks, selecting appropriate modes and technologies, and co-ordinating timetables. The operational level sees the translation of tactical planning into day to day operations. (Vuchic. 2005, pp456459; Inno-V et al. 2008, pp32-35).
As previously outlined, there are a range of ways in which these functions can be distributed between the public and private sectors. Gomez Ibanez (2003) proposes the ‘continuum of strategies’: at one end all three functions are performed in house in a public body and at the other all are delegated to the market. Dublin is embarking on the path of a ‘Public agency with sub-contracted, tendered services’ model as regards bus based transport. Under the Public Transport Regulation Act 2009, Part 2: Licensing of Public Bus Passenger Services, the NTA has the powers to set the route, operating hours, frequency, service type, stopping locations, types of ticketing, etc. (PTR Act, 2009. Part 2, S13(2))
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There is no doubt that transfer based networks require transfer friendly fare systems in order to operate effectively. This generally means passengers pay for the distance travelled rather than the number of transfers made, typically through a zonal fare system. Mees (2010) makes clear that multi-modal fares must be distinguished from technologies such as smart cards, which Dublin is introducing later this year, which are usually introduced as an alternative to free transfers: Hong Kong used smart cards to retain its single-mode fare systems by making it easier to collect multiple fares from transfer passengers.
A benefit of the networked approach is to allow for ‘weak lines’, those with low cost recovery, to be cross subsidised by ‘strong’ ones in order for the same service frequencies to be provided on all lines serving an interchange. However in order for this to occur the same regional transport body which implements tactical planning must control fares. This enables the pooling of fare revenues in order to allow the cross-subsidy of weaker routes which currently cannot be fully supported by fare revenues.
Under such a system, individual operators compete for the market, rather than in the market, by tendering for the right to operate lines, or groups of lines, forming the network. As Nielson points out:
“Planning and competition are not necessarily contradictory. It is more a question of appropriate allocation of the roles of the two approaches in the institutional setup.” (2005, pp11)
Arrangements like these have been in operation in London for some years now and public transport passenger numbers have steadily grown (White. 2008, pp4).
8. High Quality Another major element of the highly successful multi-modal systems like that of Zurich is that they are of immense quality in terms of planning and operation. The network is very simple and legible as lines are operated as fixed routes, transfers are easy, free and reliable and interchanges are designed with transfer in mind.
Providing high quality interchange is not very difficult as can be seen in Holland. The Zuidtangent, a bus rapid transit system located in north Holland which serves Schiphol Airport. No expense was spared in designing it’s interchanges. Stops were designed by the
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and award winning architect at great expense. The designs proved a great success however, maintenance costs are quite large. (Jan Roos, 2011)
According to research conducted by Dublin Bus of their passengers, reliability is ranked first in relation to perceived quality of the service. (DfT, 2006 pp 23) The caveat often cited when choosing between modes like the Bus Rapid Transit (busway) and Light Rail Transit (Luas) is that because the LRT runs on fixed tracks there is a much greater degree of certainty provided in terms of reliability.
9. Choosing a Mode / Technology The first step in providing the template for the ideal network is designing it and identifying its destinations and objectives. With this done it is important to briefly discuss how the choice of mode can be made. Wright and Hook (2007) shed some light on how a particular mode could be chosen and have created a “decision matrix for modes.” An extract of this matrix is outlined below:
Technology
Demand Advantages Requirements (pphpd)
Metro rail /
High to very
Elevated
high passenger demand (30,000 to 80,000 pphd)
● Superior image to a city ● high commercial speeds ( 28 - 35 kph) ● Attracts discretionary public transport users ● Uses relatively little public space ● Low local air emissions
Disadvantages
● Very high infrastructure costs (US$ 45-350 m per km) ● May require operational subsidies ● Poor revenue recovery during non-peak periods ● Long development and construction times ● Complex interaction with feeder services
Light Rail
Moderate
Transit
passenger demand (5,000 to 12,000 pphpd)
● Provides good city image ● Attracts discretionary public transport riders ● Quiet ride performance ● Can be fitted to narrow
● Moderately high infrastructure costs (US$ 15 - 45 m per km) ● May require operational subsidies ● Limitations with respect to
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streets ● Low local air emissions Bus Rapid
Low to high
Transit
passenger demand (3000 - 45000 pphpd)
Convention- Low Pax al Bus
demand. 500 -
Service
5000 pphpd
May 2011
passenger capacity
● Relatively low infrastructure costs (US$ .5 - 14 m per km) ● Often does not require operating subsidies ● Good average commercial speeds 20 - 30 kph ● Ease of integration with feeder services ● Moderately good image of a city
● Can carry negative stigma of bus technology ● Relatively unknown to many decision makers.
● Low infrastructure costs ● Relatively low operating costs ● Appropriate for small cities with low demand.
● Poor service image ● Often lacks basic customer amenities and comfort ● Regularly loses mode share to private vehicles.
Table 2 - Decision matrix for transport modes (Leahy, James 2008 p37. Wright and Hook 2007 p89.)
Relative advantages and disadvantages are listed for each technology which happens to correspond with a different type of vehicle. Interestingly it would appear that BRT can scale to a much higher capacity than LRT (Luas), however the higher figure of 45,000 is for Bogotá, where there are busways with a local and express lanes in each direction and space at stations for five buses to stop simultaneously in each direction. For a single lane each direction a capacity of 13, 000 pphpd is given (Wright and Hook p4).
As this matrix shows Bus Rapid Transit, given the relative demand requirement of 3000 passengers per hour per direction (pphpd), could be considered the mode of choice to provide the network for Dublin.
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3. Methodology The main objective of the research is to identify the barriers to implementing an orbital rapid transit network in the north eastern sector of Dublin. The methodology for identifying those barriers has been grounded in the literature on the subject in terms of the main elements which make up the ideal network.
1. Defining the STUDY AREA A particular sector of Dublin City was chosen as a method of reducing and refining the scope of the study in order to allow a concise and focused study of the barriers be conducted in the time frame available for this dissertation.
2. Initial Mapping The first stage of the research was to identify which orbital lines would be used in order to identify the barriers. A number of proposals were identified through an extensive review of existing strategy and published policy for Public Transport in Dublin. The documents examined in relation to strategies proposing orbital lines were as follows: ●
2030 Vision - Draft National Transport Authority Strategy
●
Dublin Bus Network review and its outline orbital network strategy - MVA
●
The Aris Dublin Rapid Transit map
●
Currently released elements of Dublin Bus Network Direct.
A map was extracted from the Open Street Map database, an online crowd-sourced map of the world, which can be considered the most up to date publicly available map of Ireland. The tool for this is available in German at: http://www.flosm.de/ai/ (123 Map, 2011). The extracted map was then imported into Adobe Illustrator where the various strategies were simplified and drawn by eye onto the map. The ethos behind this is to produce a number of maps which are all of the same size and scale in order to increase the clarity of the proposed strategies in relation to the study area, the results of which are discussed in the analysis section.
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Figure 4 - MAP of STUDY AREA on the blank open street map (OSM, 2011)
3. Land Use Mapping Exercise Given that public transport is a system to move people around the city, it is important to understand where the various land uses that have elevated levels of trip generation are located. Another map of the study area is to be produced, this time with a focus on identifying the prevailing land uses, classifying each one into a general category and followed by the plotting of the orbital lines to be tested against.
Given the time constraints and a general lack of manipulable GIS data available in order to produce a specific map, an off-the-shelf solution was chosen. Google Earth, the desktop world mapping tool of Google, was chosen as the most effective means in order to complete this part of the study. Google Earth provides baseline aerial photography predominately dating from the 2010 period for the majority of the Dublin city area. The study area was mapped for the main uses that generate trips for Public Transport such as employment/industrial areas, schools, hospitals, shopping centres, etc.
The current land use plans for the study area were used in conjunction with the aerial photography in order to produce the map. The land use plans were as follows:
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Dublin City Development Plan 2011 - 2017
●
Fingal County Development Plan 2011 - 2017
May 2011
Both of these land use plans were recently adopted by their respective councils and as such would represent the most up to date land use picture of the area. However, given the fact there are many more objectives present on these maps, mapping the various land uses by hand on Google Earth would provide the clearest picture of the land uses within the study area alongside the identified routes.
The results of this mapping study are available at the following link and can be viewed online at maps.google.com or in the attached maps at Appendix 1
4. Dublin - Public Transport Policy Review As part of the initial research into this dissertation the researcher believed that the various transport strategies of the stakeholders did not match each other and in some cases contradicted. The strategies reviewed covered the broad spectrum of the various bodies responsible for transport in the city, from the high level overall Greater Dublin Area strategy, the Regional Planning Guidelines, to the major bus operators own strategy.
5. Semi-Structured Interviews During the course of the initial research for this dissertation it became clear that there are quite a number of public bodies, organisations and other stakeholders involved in the provision of Public Transport for Dublin. Given that there are so many organisations which operate independently of each other and each with different ideas of what the orbital network should comprise, it was imperative to interview some of the key stakeholders to clarify what their views are as regards the barriers to such an implementation.
A very brief scoping study was conducted in order to identify these key stake holders. As a result of this study, a number of key bodies were targeted to conduct interviews with at the different levels. These included the National Transport Authority, Dublin Bus and a sustainable transport advocate.
Interviewees were contacted by email with a brief description of the research question and a map of the study area attached. A copy of the email is attached, at Appendix 2.
The
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interviews were to be conducted in a semi-formal manner at the offices of the respective body, in order not to bias the results of the interviews in terms of how the network will be provided or by what mode.
The purpose of the interviews was to identify the views of the various transport bodies in relation to orbital rapid transport and also as a way of getting information on their strategies which in some cases are either not published or incomplete.
6. Interchange Case Study As has been outlined within the literature available, the potential of the‘ network effect’ on a system is routed in being able to interchange between routes easily, it was decided that a outline study of a particular potential interchange point be carried out. The aim of this was to establish a baseline list of barriers associated with a current interchange point. A scoping study of the main interchange points as identified in the map at Figure 10 was conducted and a suitable site chosen based on convenience of access to the interchange by the researcher. The interchange point as chosen was the current intersection of the Swords Road QBC and the current Dublin Bus 17A bus route which crosses the Swords Road at Santry Avenue and Coolock Lane. The location of the current Dublin Bus stops and the routes of each line are shown below in Figure 5.
Figure 5 - Location map of interchange case Study (Refine with aerial photo)
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3. Findings and Discussion The following sections provide summary results returned from the study area and are followed by discussion and analysis. The structure of the results follow the same format and order as presented in the Methodology chapter.
1. Initial Mapping - Route Selection As detailed within the previous chapter a number of strategies were identified which provide proposals for varying degrees of orbital network in Dublin city. A comprehensive review of these policies was undertaken in order to identify each document. The documents are taken from each level of the hierarchy of transport plans. The plans are as follows, listed in order of strategic to operational: ●
2030 Vision - Draft National Transport Authority, Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy
●
Designing an Integrated Map for a Visionary Public Transport System for Dublin Aris Ventikidis 2010
●
Dublin Bus Network Review 2005 - MVA Consultants
●
Dublin Bus Network Direct - Phase 1 and 2
A map was extracted from OpenStreetMap (OSM) data. OSM is an online free editable map of the whole world and in a similar fashion to a wiki page it can be edited by anyone. The resulting map is shown overleaf.
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Figure 6 - OSM Map Base Map (Open Street Map, 2011)
Each of the strategies listed above had a different type of map. In order to easily compare how each strategy worked they were plotted in a consistent style on the above OSM map of the north east quadrant of Dublin. In the following sections each strategy map is shown first, followed by the resulting map and a brief comment. It must be noted that each of the resulting maps are available in a larger A3 size production at Appendix 1.
2030 Vision - Bus Strategy Map The 2030 Vision Draft document took a step in the opposite direction when compared to previous Dublin Transport plans, such as Platform for Change, in relation to the bus strategy map. The map only shows two aspirational orbital routes, one north and one south. There is no indication of the destinations they should serve or how they will tie in with the current radial QBC’s. It is this researcher’s opinion that this is a very poor strategy given that this is the high level overall vision document and there is no concrete future to work towards. All is not lost however and this will be further discussed in the policy review section.
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Figure 7 - 2030 Vision Bus strategy map (NTA, 2011. Ch.10 pp 9)
Figure 8 - 2030 Vision Draft Bus Strategy Map
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Overleaf is the extracted information reproduced on the OSM map, where it can be clearly seen that the map does not tell much of what the strategy involves other than continuing the current radial route network with a possible increase in service on some radial routes.
Aris Ventikidis - Visionary Public Transport Map
Figure 9 - Dublin Rapid Transit Map (Ventikidis, 2010) Large Production attached at Appendix 1
The above map was produced as part of a master’s thesis in design the National College of Art and Design. While a design thesis, it is useful to note that James Leahy, a prominent Sustainable Transport Advocate and also subject of an interview, was consulted on the routing's of the orbitals which make up this map as the goal was to produce a realistic vision of what the network could be. The transport network shown is the Rapid Transit Network which comprises both rapid and expressway services, providing an overall transport network for the city.
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In this researcher’s view, when one compares all of the strategies which are discussed in this section, it is this Aris map and its ‘ideal’ network design, which would serve the travel needs of the city best. This view is based on the areas identified for major future development by the cities various land use plans alongside currently identified growth centres.
However, as this has a simplified geographic nature and is an 'ideal' network map identifying the destinations to be served by the routes, rather than what can actually be implemented, it was decided that the orbital routes identified here would not be used as a basis for the study.
Figure 10 - Aris routes reproduced on OSM study area map
However, it must be noted that during the course of the interview with James Leahy that the orbitals presented as part of the Aris map were a development of those which were shown as part of the MVA report which is subject of the next section.
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Dublin Bus Network Review 2005 Indicative Strategy MVA consultants were commissioned in 2005 in order to provide a strategy for developing the Dublin Bus network over a five year period from 2005 - 2010 and also at strategic level up to 2015. The strategy report was published in February 2006. With regard to orbital lines the report proposed four orbital routes one of which should run outside of the M50 ring, those yellow lines in Figure 11. As part of the report two strategy maps were produced: one a indicative geographically accurate map and the other an overall strategy diagram. These are shown below.
Figure 11 - Orbital Concept Map. (MVA 2005. P78)
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Figure 12 - Indicative Strategy Map (MVA 2005. P79)
The routes as shown in the indicative map were redrawn onto the OSM map. The resulting map is shown below with the designated key development centres of the Dublin City Development Plan also indicated.
As one can see from this diagram of the strategies, it is the MVA strategy which proposes the most comprehensive grid for the city. It is for this reason, including its clearer geographical presentation, that its routes were chosen to underpin the research into the barriers associated with implementing an orbital network.
The combined map also shows that one of the proposed orbitals basically serves all of the key development centres identified in the land use strategies, which are thus key destinations / origins for the network. This will be further discussed in the following sections.
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Figure 13 - MVA orbital strategy reproduced on Study Area
Four concentric orbitals were chosen for the study. The study area is highlighted above and can be generally described as everything east of the Ballymun Road Corridor.
Dublin Bus Network Direct Network Direct can be viewed as the actual implementation of the recommendations of the MVA strategy for Dublin Bus Network Review. The lines shown in this reproduced map of the various routes from Network Direct are a compilation of the released line type diagrams which form the new route diagrams at Dublin Bus halts along the routes effected. The routes are being released on a phased basis from Dublin Bus and in the absence of a complete Dublin Bus planned network, it was difficult to produce a full route map. The results of the mapping exercise are shown below.
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Figure 14 & 15 - Dublin Bus Network Direct Route Diagrams. Blanchardstown left & Finglas right
All of the route diagrams, like those above, were compiled to make the network direct map, are attached at Appendix 1. The resulting map is contained in Figure 15. Network Direct is an evolving strategy which is constantly being refined following ongoing public consultation with the key stakeholders. It was decided that in the absence of a full frozen picture of what the future network was to look like, orbital routes contained in Network Direct would not be used to identify barriers.
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Figure 16 - Dublin Bus Network Direct Routes as released on 8th of May 2011.
The above diagram essentially shows the current Dublin Bus Network and the network direct elements released to date as implemented. There are only two orbitals operating within the study area, the 17A from Howth Junction to Blanchardstown via Coolock, Beaumont Hospital, Santry and Ballymun, and the 104 from Clontarf to Cappagh Hospital, which Dublin Bus term a “social service” (Coyne, 2011). Thicker lines indicate higher frequencies; instantly it can be seen that the 17A runs at a comparable frequency to the radial QBC trunk routes.
Chosen network lines Summing up the mapping exercise, the resulting maps came from both the MVA report and the Aris map, were combined to identify the chosen routes for this study. The places identified on the Aris rapid transit map (Figure 10) and the orbital lines of Figure 12, were combined to produce the final map.
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Figure 17 - Combined final routes for study.
2. Land Use Mapping The land use plans which govern the study area are the recently adopted: Dublin City Development Plan 2011 - 2017 and Fingal County Development Plan 2011 - 2017. A combination of these land use plans, Google Earth aerial photography, and personal experience were used in order to classify the predominant land use classes.
Given that the majority of Public Transport trips in Dublin currently are for work trips, some 32% (DTO, 2006 pp 42), the main enterprise areas were mapped. These mainly take the form of industrial estate type development along M50 and surrounding the airport complex.
Upon initial investigation of the land uses within the study area it was found to be a predominantly residential area with very few zoned employment uses within the area. As such, it was decided to expand the land use study further west in order to identify possible major trip destinations for those living within the study area.
A number of potential trip generating origin / destinations' were identified and can be summarized as follows: two universities, three major hospitals, a number of major industrial / employment areas, four planned key development centres and Dublin Airport complex. The table below provides the classification of each of the areas identified.
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Employment Enterprise
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/ Most enterprise is located around the M50 orbital motorway and can be summarized into the follow areas Finglas Ballycoolin M1 / M50 Junction including Clonsaugh Airport Swords Airside Area / Back of the Airport
University
Dublin City University (DCU) Future DIT Grangegorman
National Hospitals
Beaumount Hospital Matter Hospital Temple Street Childrens Hospital Rotunda Maternity Hospital
Residential
The remaining area is predominately residential in nature
Table 3 - Identified areas of Land use Study When the land use map is examined it becomes quite clear that land uses and potential major trip generators are highly dispersed throughout the Northern area of the city. The North Eastern quadrant area presents a number of barriers to the orbital sections of the proposed network in that the major employment areas are located either in the city centre, along the M50 and the northern cross route or outside of the study area completely. This may lead to a deficit in potential passenger numbers for any potential service given that distances and therefore journey times will increase.
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Figure 18 - Land use study of extended North Eastern Quadrant.
3. Route Analysis The following sections provide discussion and analysis in the context of the chosen orbital routes in the study area.
Population As part of the modelling carried out for the NTA 2030 Vision Draft Strategy, the NTA produced two hot-spot type maps of where they believe areas of intense employment and population density will be located in 2030. A word of caution must be given when interpreting these images as population projections for Ireland are notoriously difficult to predict accurately. A special thank you to Jeremy Ryan for providing me with larger productions of the projection maps than those included in the 2030 Vision Draft document.
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Figure 19 - Chosen Bus Lines overlaying on NTA Population Density Projection (NTA, 2011)
After receiving the maps, the chosen lines for scrutiny were plotted over these along with some of the main interchange points. From an initial observation of the population projection map, it became clear the inner three orbital lines would directly serve the more dense areas of population density, namely the areas of 5000 - 10000 population density under this scenario in 2030
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Figure 20 Chosen Bus Lines overlaying on NTA Employment Density Projection (NTA. 2011)
Interestingly when one reviews the lines overlaying the map of employment density it becomes clear that the northernmost two lines and the innermost loop line will serve the major employment density bands of 50 - 500 and 500 - 5000 density per km directly and potentially serve quite a large number of these work trips.
Journey Times According to the literature as discussed by Mees (2010), the main purpose of the network is as a viable alternative to the car in major cities and as such the time taken to complete a journey by Public Transport must be competitive beside that of the car in such a dispersed environment where there is less restriction on car use. An analysis of the journey times of four identified lines was conducted on Wednesday, 4th May 2011.
It must be noted that these lines are planned in a manner to extend beyond the boundary of the study area and in some instances as complete city orbitals. The journey times study was undertaken in a car at weekends by driving the routes which are not currently served by bus, with time being measured by a Casio Stopwatch. One of the routes is currently served by a Dublin Bus service 17A which runs from Blanchardstown to Baldoyle via Ballymun, Santry, Beaumont Hospital and Coolock.
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Table 4 - Showing Journey Times
A full breakdown of the intermediate timings of the routes is attached at Appendix 1. It must be noted that the results of this study are limited due to the fact that they were conducted in a car and not on a bus except for line 3, which has an existing bus serving the route.
Interchange Case Study Good integration of services and facilities at interchange is a key element of making the transfer based network successful. There has been little or no research into the design of how interchanges work or how they should work in Dublin. As such it was decided that a small outline case study of some of the challenges which will be faced by the responsible bodies when planning and implementation of interchange or transfer points.
The intersection of the 17A bus route and the Swords Road QBC was chosen due to the proximity of the current stops to the researcher and the view that it would provide a very good example of the major obstacles relating to interchange between the orbital lines and the radial QBC routes. The case study area is shown below.
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Figure 21- Case Study Area
The route of the current 17A is shown in blue and turns left off Coolock Lane onto the Swords Road and immediately turns right onto Santry Avenue. Services operating along the Swords Road QBC are indicated by the Red Line, a service of 10 minute frequency is operated along this corridor.
Figure 22- Stop Locations and Walk Routes
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Origin Stop
Distance (m)
Destination Stop
Number of Pedestrian Crossings
Number of Walk Minutes
Stop 1
314
Stop 8
0
4
Stop 1
383
Stop 7
2
4-6
Stop 1
513
Stop 3
3
6-9
Stop 1
432
Stop 4
4
4-8
Stop 2
441
Stop 8
3
4-8
Stop 2
509
Stop 7
5
5 - 10
Stop 2
564
Stop 3
0
5-7
Stop 2
490
Stop 4
3
4-8
Stop 5
227
Stop 8
2
3-5
Stop 5
252
Stop 7
0
3-4
Stop 5
752
Stop 3
5
8 - 12
Stop 5
593
Stop 4
2
6-8
Stop 6
223
Stop 8
5
3-8
Stop 6
250
Stop 7
3
3-6
Stop 6
683
Stop 3
3
6-9
Stop 6
522
Stop 4
0
4-6
Table 5 - Walk Distances between stops
One thing that is clear from both the maps and the table is that the stops in Santry Village (Stops 7 & 8) at the Swiss Cottage are the closest and, by definition of the least pedestrian crossings required to change between routes, the safest to transfer to. Best practice as regards providing transfer suggest that transfer stop should be located as close as possible to one another.
An audit of services available at each of the stops was also carried out, the results of which can be summarized as follows. Stops 1, 2, 7 and 8 have shelters. There is a stainless steel poll at stop 8 for future instalment of a Real Time Passenger Information (RTPI) electronic sign and as such one can say access to information is poor.
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Figure 23- Photo of Stop 2 shelter
The area around stops 5 and 6 on Santry Avenue are of very poor quality, there is no information at the stops, the timetable is missing, there is no map, no shelter, and no waiting or seating at the stops. At stop 6, the footpath could be considered quite unsafe given that it is level with the road with a very small curb and is broken and rutted in parts, see Figure 23.
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Figure 24- Photo of the Poor Stop Quality of Stop 6
There is potential to improve this area of interchange. One way would be to reroute the 17A through the North wood development and back onto Santry Avenue some 900 metres further west. This would allow for two direct interchange stops between orbital and radial routes were the current stopping arrangement retained alongside the direct service of a newly constructed residential area. This however would leave the full length of Santry Avenue without any Bus Service.
4. Semi-structured Interviews Three interviews were conducted during the research with some key stakeholders in the potential development of an integrated orbital network for Dublin. The interviewees are listed below: ●
James Leahy - Dublin based Public Transport advocate.
●
Jeremey Ryan - Project Manager at the National Transport Authority.
●
Ray Coyne - Network Direct Manage at Dublin Bus.
The notes taken at these interviews are attached at Appendix 2.
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The interviews were conducted in an informal semi-structured format, with the participants asked one simple question at the beginning: “what do you think are the main barrier to the implementation of an orbital network?” The interview proceeded with that as the main focus. Each interviewee responded with a large range of barriers to implementation. Even though each of them were at different levels and performing different roles, a number of common barriers emerged and these are discussed in the following paragraphs.
Ticketing According to the literature discussed earlier by Nielsen (2005) and Mees (2010), the integrated network is based on the idea of transfer. In order for this to be implemented successfully a raft of easy to use integrated fares allowing for easy transfer must be introduced. Interestingly, all of the participants cited issues with ticketing as a major barrier for the implementation.
While all acknowledged that the upcoming operation of the new integrated ticket may have some impact and improved the ease of transfer, it is only an e-purse type system and is not truly integrated. Each transport provider - Luas, Dublin Bus and Irish Rail -will still have their own separate fare systems. Ray Coyne, said that it was his understanding that the mechanism by which the e-purse will operate is that the current Dublin Bus prepaid cards will be preloaded on it, rather than actually integrated or heavily discounted like fare system of the used by the oyster card in London. It is the opinion of this researcher that while this so-called “integrated” ticket will provide a major increase in those using multiple routes to reach a destination.
James Leahy suggested that as a stop gap until the NTA get on with researching and introducing a zonal fare system, the CIE holding company of Irish Rail and Dublin Bus, could introduce its own in house zonal system. I would be inclined to agree with James Leahy on this as this would constitute some progress towards a truly integrated fare.
The Institutions Two of the respondents cited the institutions as a barrier to implementation. Jeremy Ryan felt that it is the simple fact that the organisations which are doing the land use planning for the city area are not those which were planning the bus services. Although this disconnect is
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slowly being fixed now that the NTA set the contract and the terms for the bus services within the city.
James Leahy, in contrast, believes it is a fact that the institutions involved in the planning and implementation of the public service contracts have not been given a clear remit and have not been fully integrated. He also cites the problem of private operators given free reign on any routes which prove to be marginally profitable in terms of what type of service is provided and such.
The Economic Situation All respondents cited the current economic situation and the position of the State finances as a barrier to implementation. It is a simple reality today that the State has much less money available to invest in public transport. Dublin Bus is operating with a much reduced fleet size compared to years gone by, down from a peak of 1600 to 1000 buses. Its state subsidy has been cut and the reduced travel demand caused by higher unemployment is reducing revenues.
James Leahy makes the point that unfortunately, since, orbital routes are the less profitable routes - a statement backed up by Ray Coyne - they would be easier to remove from the network to save money. Dublin Bus passenger numbers have also fallen, and as such revenues have also fallen.
Barriers at Interchange Good quality interchange is a key element of any networked transport grid. All participants cited that once all planning and design has been completed another barrier must be overcome as the quality of current interchanges, where they exist, is very poor. James Leahy argues that there has been little or no research into the area of designing and implementing quality interchange points. Both Jeremy and Ray say that the information provided at stops currently needs to be improved.
All participants agreed that information at interchange is key to the success of any network and that this is lacking somewhat currently in Dublin. Various solutions were mooted, including the Real Time Passenger Information signs in addition to simple mapping and signage directing passengers to the onward service.
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Ray believes that it is the simple things for the current orbitals which need to be improved such as basic shelter with simple maps informing people of what services they can interchange with alongside simple signage which would direct passengers to the stop which they need to be at to make the transfer. He admitted Dublin Bus are trying to remedy some of these issues as part of the Network Direct programme but a lot of work still needs to be done.
Leahy suggest that the design of interchanges should be considered, giving thought to how footpaths, signage, distance between interchanges, covered walkways etc. This is quite a big field of study which is not being covered in great detail as part of this dissertation, but it is worth recognising that it also presents yet another barrier to the operation of the network.
Catchment and difference between on-peak and off-peak Frequencies must remain at high levels throughout the network if it is to be successful and as such, differences in demand between peak and off-peak hours presents yet another barrier. Best practice would suggest there should be no difference in frequencies. However, both the NTA and Dublin Bus highlighted the problem of what may be required at the peak and off-peak times is different. Jeremy Ryan suggested that while the orbital services may be justifiable at peak times, you may slow the buses and change the routes to serve different needs during the off-peak times.
Dublin Bus admits that at least a 10 minute frequency at the peak time is key for the operation of the orbitals. However when it comes to off-peak frequencies should be reduced, the 17A the top earning Dublin Bus orbital operates with high occupancy at peak times but very low at off peak. Through their research Dublin Bus has found that the maximum offpeak frequency that is acceptable to passengers is 20 minutes; any lower frequency than this and they may as well operate only once an hour.
All participants highlighted that there are no major trip generators or origins/destinations located within the North Eastern Quadrant of the city along some of the identified orbital lines. Public Transport by its nature needs passengers to feed it and the catchment population available certainly presents a barrier to providing the network. As you cannot operate a network effectively if you cannot cover the majority of costs involved in providing
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the network. Both Jeremy Ryan and Ray Coyne highlighted that demand across the transport network in Dublin thins severely during the off peak periods.
Costs Undoubtedly cost is a major barrier when implementing a new network of routes into a city. All respondents acknowledged that orbital lines are less profitable than their radial counterparts. The orbital services must provide a reliable services and part of this is to operate at high frequency; otherwise people are less likely to use the service. According to Ray, when asked about using smaller buses to provide orbital services over the current double-deckers, 75% of the operating cost of a bus is the driver. He said Dublin Bus have studied the possibility of introducing smaller capacity buses in the 40 - 50 seat range, however given that a fuel saving of 15% is easily achieved it can.
5. Policy Review A policy review of the following documents was carried out. ●
2030 Vision - Draft Transport Strategy for the Greater Dublin Area.
●
Dublin City Development Plan 2011 - 2017
The format for the review of transport policy was carried out systematically beginning with the highest level documents and falling down to the lower documents of the planning hierarchy. Each document will be discussed individually in the following sections with a final overall discussion of whether they match or not.
2030 Vision - a Draft Strategy for the Greater Dublin Area - National Transport Authority This document was prepared through a process of public consultation and is the long-term transport Strategy which will guide all transport planning in the Greater Dublin Area (Counties Dublin, Kildare, Meath and Wicklow) until 2030. (NTA, 2011)
Chapter 10 of the strategy deals with Public Transport and contains separate sections for both bus and rail policies. Given that there are continuing constraints being placed on the public finances, according to the Chartered Institute of Logistic and Transport (CILT), the bus strategy is very weak.
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“The section on the role of bus is very disappointing and shows very little ambition to exploit this mode more fully, particularly in a period where there is likely to be a continuing constraint on the public finances” (CILT, 2011).
There is a dominant focus on rail projects throughout the strategy which is endorsing or proposing some five heavy rail and light rail projects.
Turning once again to the section on bus, there would appear to be no policies proposing the provision of new Quality Bus Corridor infrastructure (QBC). Instead it simply categorizes the current QBC’s into two levels, level 1 and level 2. Either the strategy does not appear to demonstrate any reason for this classification, however it proposes that some of the Level 1 Corridors could be upgraded to Bus Rapid Transit standard, but one must question what does this mean. There is no explanation of what the NTA actually consider BRT to be.
From the interviews it became clear that the majority of people have the idea that the major direction of travel in Dublin is to the city centre in the radial fashion. The NTA’s own strategy and its supporting documentation show that some 56% of Dublin transport trips are not to the centre of the city but are orbital trips. Figure 24 below, has been taken from 2030 Vision and shows that a significant portion of trips go from one zone to another, so the 56% percent figure is not representative of all networked trips made in Dublin. This in itself should be enough to demonstrate that there is a strong case for developing a high quality multi modal transport network for Dublin.
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Figure 25- Trip direction. (NTA 2011, ch4 pp9)
Also of note from the strategy is the mode share targets of the plan aim to have 55% of all transport trips made by public transport in 2030. There is a dominant focus on the provision of rail type projects, both light rail (Luas & Metro) and heavy rail (DART), for the city. There is only one project identified which is orbital in nature, namely Metro West.
As has been seen earlier in this paper, the NTA strategy map only contains two orbital proposals as part of the strategy, which are drawn on the Bus Strategy Map (NTA. 2011 ch9. pp9). There is a clear lack of vision when it comes to orbital elements of the network grid, which as we know from the literature is a key element for creating multiple transfer / interchange points.
Population and employment projections are also published within the strategy which have been used earlier in this dissertation. (see Figure 18 & 19.) It must be noted that these projections are wrong if one lays the Key Development (District) Centres from the Dublin City
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Development Plans on this map. There is a glaring lack of colour at the location of the Northside KDC on the hot spot map.
Two scenarios for future population growth were used when preparing the strategy: Scenario A – ‘compliance with minimum RPG targets and policies’ and scenario B – ‘Large town and rail focused development, also compliant with RPG policies’.”(NTA, 2011. Ch4 pp 4) Scenario B was chosen by the NTA for producing forecasts of growth distribution and settlement patterns. According to the strategy, Scenario B is “Large town and rail focused development, whilst remaining consistent with the RPGs, assumes a greater consolidation of population within the Metropolitan area and Large growth Hinterland towns, particularly in the vicinity of rail stations”.
Distribution scenario B is based on DEHLG 2022 regional forecasts and Draft RPGs GDA county level distributions up to 2022 and extrapolated by the NTA to 2030. It states that population growth locations are indicative.
Figure 26- DCC Key Development Centres overlaid on the NTA population projection map.
An Bord Pleanala recently granted permission for an application on the site of the future Northside Town Centre comprising 1, 300 residential units, 45,000 sq. metres of retail space,
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a new town centre and associated employment uses, which according to the application would yield a net increase in population of 3, 400 to 3, 460. Given that this development is supported by the land use plan for the area, and that the highest planning body in the land has given it the rubber stamp, it is astonishing that it does not seem to have registered in the 2030 Vision strategy's projection modelling.
From what has been highlighted above the population and employment forecasts are based around concentrations at rail stations. There does not appear to be an alternative scenario considered should the rail projects fail to materialize and also that the dominant focus is around rail development without any focus on other modes providing transport.
In terms of providing the network the strategy has produced two maps, one showing the rail proposals and the other showing the QBC corridors. The focus of this dissertation is on the implementation of a multi-modal network and the remit of the NTA is to provide for this. Surely it would have made sense to produce a map showing the future main public transport network i.e. a combined bus and rail map. This is not case, as, can be seen below.
Figures 27& 28- Left: Rail Map. Right: Bus Map (NTA, 2011)
Under the legislation for the implementation this strategy, once approved by the Minister for Transport, will be signed in to law and will become a binding strategy over the Greater Dublin Area. Given the lack of clarity and uncertainty surrounding some of the proposed projects contained in the strategy and the lack of clear objectives of what must be achieved in terms of the public transport aside from rail projects. It is difficult to see how the mode share targets can be achieved. An implementation strategy is to be prepared within 9 months of the approval of the strategy. This is a document which is prepared every 5 years and details how and what the proposals are to be achieved in each 5 year period. in 2030 vision.
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It would appear that, yet, again through the journey of preparing a transport strategy, the failure demonstrated by Leahy (2008, pp 134) of Platform for Change, (DTO, 2005) which envisaged development occurring in defined locations along high capacity rail corridors, to deliver is once again the adopted vision.
Dublin City Development Plan 2011 - 2017 The Dublin City development plan sets out the spatial framework for the city within the context of the National Development Plan, National Spatial Strategy, National Climate Change Strategy, Smarter Travel – A Sustainable Transport Future, Regional Planning Guidelines for the Greater Dublin Area and Transport 21. Note that there is no mention of either 2030 Vision or Platform for Change.
The first section of the development plan comprises a core strategy which the entire plan is framed around. Key principles of the core strategy include creating “a compact, quality, green, well connected city, which generates a dynamic, mixed use environment for living, working and cultural interaction” and one of the priorities of this is connecting and sustaining the city’s infrastructure.
As part of the core strategy, Dublin City Council identified 10 Key Development Areas and 8 Key District Centres. These are the main centres where population and employment are to be targeted during the life of the development plan and will make up the future urban structure of the city. The purpose of the Key District Centres (KDC’s) are to act as anchors for suburbs by providing a comprehensive range of commercial and community services. Three of the KDC’s are located within the study area along the major radial transport routes except for Northside, see Figure 29below.
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Figure 29- Dublin City Development Plan - Core Strategy Map (DCC, 2011. Pp 12)
“Chapter 5: Connecting and Sustaining the Cities Infrastructure” of the Dublin City development plan sets policy in relation to mode-share, percentage of trips attributed to a particular mode, that by 2017 55% percent of the total number trips should be made by Public Transport. The plan recognises that an essential part of this is the integration of Dublin’s transport modes. It contains policies to support the:
“the development of an integrated public transport network with efficient interchange between transport modes” (DCC, 2011. SI.3).
Objectives include supporting the integration of ticketing across all modes within two years of adoption and provision of real time passenger information (RTPI) (DCC, 2011. SIO. 4 & 5 pp 55).
Given that the city plan was published and adopted prior to the publication of 2030 Vision one would not expect it to commit to implementing its policies. However objective SIO7 is to “implement the Quality Bus Corridor Network measures outlined in the National Transportation Authority’s A Platform for Change...” (DCC, 2011. pp56). Platform for Change
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is the previous transport strategy based on projections from the 1990’s (Leahy, 2008) and shows a much larger number of QBC’s to be developed than is shown in 2030 Vision. As such the city plan will need to be amended in order to support the higher level policy as set out in NTA, 2030 Vision.
The Dublin City Development Plan is the land use plan for the city while 2030 Vision is to be the transport plan for the City and surrounding area. Taking just one example of the QBC’s above, it has become clear that these plans do not match up even though under legislation they must heed each other.
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5. Conclusions Upon completion of the research a number of conclusions were drawn and these are listed as follows: ●
While recent work by Dublin Bus continues to simplify the network it is still too complex to map effectively within the city centre.
●
There is a focus on corridors between the city centre and certain destinations with very little thought having been demonstrated towards multi-destinational network thinking.
●
Employment is generally located within the centre of the city, along the M50 and further north of the M50 with very few major employment locations located within the inner suburbs. This presents challenges for designing the network to accommodate those travel demands.
●
Population and Employment location projections from the 2030 Vision strategy support the routing of the lines surveyed when densities and potential for trip generation is considered. However if this scenario fails to materialize, as has been the case with population projections in Ireland before, there is a need to have an outline alternative plan.
●
Journey times of the surveyed routes are reasonable for travel within the study area and beyond. However as these form the basis for a much larger city wide network the journey times from end to end may pose some operational barriers.
●
Integrated ticketing is a major barrier. While the NTA have the powers to force transport providers to use a particular fare system, there appears to be no immediate plans to introduce a single network-wide multi-modal fare system. This is a big barrier that stops people from thinking of public transport as a network due to the multitude of separate fare systems.
●
The higher cost of providing the orbital services - by definition of less passenger demand and revenue being collected - was cited during the interviews as a barrier to
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implementation. It is astonishing that the driver is 75% of the overall cost of running a bus, for Dublin Bus, this needs to be reduced. ●
Tendering of the transport routes is a step in the right direction to achieving more efficient services. However, in the absence of a clear vision of what the transport network should look like some day, we may ask what is the point?
●
Interchange currently can be considered a barrier, with very little research in this country having been directed at its implementation and design. As seen from the case study, information is at least a starting point to alleviating this barrier.
●
Finally, as demonstrated in the policy review, a significant barrier is that there appears to be very little thought being put into the truly integrated public transport network, and the absence of even an overall integrated strategy map for bus and rail. There are inconsistencies in the projection model used for the preparation of 2030 Vision and the land use plans which are in effect implementing this future plan at the local level.
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6. Recommendation Three main recommendations are advised as a result of the research into the barriers associated with implementation of the orbital elements of a rapid transit network for Dublin. These are as follows:
The first recommendation is to combine both the bus and rail strategies of 2030 vision into one strategy map and to highlight the main places which the public transport network is being designed to serve in order to provide a clear concise vision of what is the end goal.
Secondly a zonal fare system should be introduced in Dublin where all revenues are collected by one body, ideally the transport authority, with the overall revenues being pooled in order to cross-subsidise the lines which will not generate sufficient revenues to break even.
Finally the inconsistencies of policy at the different levels of both land use and transport plans must be addressed either through the redrawing of plans or the adoption of amendments to enable the synergies.
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Central Statistics Office (2006) POWCAR Dataset, CSO, Dublin
CILT (2011) Submission by the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport on the Greater Dublin Area Draft Transport Strategy 2011 - 2030, CILT, Dublin
Dublin City Council. (2011) “Dublin City Development Plan 2011 - 2017”. Development Plan. Dublin City Council, Dublin
Department of Transport (2008) Dublin Transport Act, Office of the Attorney General, Dublin Section 9, (2). Available online at: http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2008/en/act/pub/0015/print.html#sec9
Dublin Transport Office et al. (2006) Greater Dublin Area Household Survey 2006, pp 42. DTO, Dublin.
Fingal County Council. (2011) “Fingal County Development Plan 2011 - 2017”. Development Plan. Dublin City Council, Dublin
Leahy, J. (2008) “Bus Rapid Transit as an alternative to light rail transit in Dublin”. MSc Sustainable Development, Dublin Institute of Technology, Dublin. McInerney, D. & Walsh, C. (2009) Spatial distribution of urban land ‐use change in the Dublin city‐region: 1990‐ 2006 , Irish Geography, 42:2, 207‐223 Mees, P. (2000) A Very Public Solution: Transport in the Dispersed City, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne
Mees, P. (2010) Transport for Suburbia: Beyond the Automobile Age, Earthscan, London
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MVA (2005) Dublin Bus Network Review, Project Report, Dublin Bus, Dublin
National Transport Authority (Ireland) (2011) 2030 Vision: Greater Dublin Area Draft Transport Strategy 2011-2030, NTA, Dublin
NTA. (2011) 2030 Vision Draft Strategy, pp Ch4 page 4. “GDA forecast based on DEHLg regional forecasts to 2022 (2008), Metropolitan and Hinterland distributions are based on DEHLg gateway targets (October 2009) and NTA interpretation of RPG policies. scenarios with lower overall population forecasts (-20%) have also been examined.”
Nielsen, G. (2005) Hi Trans Best Practice Guide 2: Public Transport - Planning the networks, EU North Sea Region/ Rogland County Council, Oslo
Nix, James. (2004) "Investing in sustainable urban transport in Dublin and its commuting hinterland - an analysis of current policy in the context of its review". Masters. Paper 1. http://arrow.dit.ie/busmas/1
Public Transport Statistics Bulletin GB: 2007 Edition. Department for Transport Statistics Bulletin SB(07)22, Table C, and 1995/96 data from 2006 edition supplement, table1
Van Roos, Robert. (2011) Dutch Experience with Bus based transit – Zuidtangent in Amsterdam. Lecture. CILT Eastern Section,
BRT Conference, Dun Laoighaire. Papers
available online at: www.cilt.ie
Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens (2011) Paris: Mini plan de Métro, RATP, Paris. Available online at http://www.ratp.fr/informer/pdf/orienter/f_plan.php?fm=pdf&loc=reseaux&nompdf=minimetro
Thomson, J. M. and T. Mathoff (2003) ‘Keeping up with the Joneses: Radial vs. multidestinational transit in decentralizing regions’, Journal of the American Planning Association, vol. 69, no. 3, pp296-312
Urban Environment Project. (2011) Urban Environment Project: Digital Atlas, UCD, Dublin UK government Department for Transport. (2006) Putting Passenger’s First. Report, DfT, London. pp 23.
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Ventikidis, A. (2010) Designing an Integrated Map for a Visionary Public Transport System for Dublin, National College of Art and Design, Dublin (http://www.venetikidis.com/ArisV/DUBLIN_TRANSPORT_MAP.html
Vuchic, V. (2005) Urban Trasnit: Operations, planning and economics, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, New Jersey
Williams, B., Hughes, B., and Shiels, P., (2007) SCS housing study 2007: urban sprawl and market fragmentation within the Greater Dublin Area. Society of Chartered Surveyors.
White, P. (2008) Factors affecting the decline of Bus Use in the Metropolitan Areas, Project Report, University of Westminster, London
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Appendix 1 – Large Format Maps and Tables
66 Dublin Institute of Technology – BSc. Spatial Planning
43 Swords
42 Portmarnock Sand's Hotel
The Hill
Kinsealy
128 Clongriffin Rail Station
Seabury
Clare Hall
Malahide Road N32 Junction
79 Castletimon
27a
Priorswood Road
Northside Shopping Centre
Beaumont Hospital
104
Skelly’s Lane Ardlea Road
Blunden Drive Edenmore Park
Barryscourt Road Greencastle Road
27 Springdale Road
Malahide Road Coolock
Harmonstown Road
14 Santry Shantalla Road
Sybil Hill Road
Beaumont Road
Mount Prospect Avenue
Artane Roundabout
Collins Avenue
Clontarf Road Conquer Hill Road
104 Donnycarney Fairview North Strand Connolly Rail Station
Eden Quay
43
42
27a
O’Connell Bridge*
Heuston Rail Station Ballyfermot Road Spiddal Park
Parkwest
79
Dame Street
Rail
Luas
Route Information *Routes 14, 27, 79, 128 do not stop on O’Connell Bridge.
Rathmines
Cork Street Crumlin Road
Terenure
Greenhills Road
Templeogue
Tallaght (The Square)
Map Key Hospital
St. Stephens Green
Rathmines Road Upper Beaumont Avenue Scholarstown Road
Jobstown
City West
27
Braemor Park Ballinteer Avenue
Dundrum Ballycullen
128
14
70
270
Dunboyne
239
Dunboyne Rail Station
39a
39
Liffey Valley Shopping Centre
Ongar Green
Lucan Esker Church
Latchford
Clonee
38a
38
Lucan Village
238
220 238
Westmanstown
39
Tyrrelstown
Lady’s Well
39a
Clonsilla Rail Station
Damastown
Littlepace
Ongar Link Road
39
Castlecurragh
Mulhuddart
37*
17a 76/a/b
236
236 239 270
239
IT Blanchardstown
Corduff
Huntstown
Snugborough Road
Blanchardstown Centre
Blanchardstown Corporate Park
Ballycoolin Cappagh Hospital
37
Coolmine Fire Station Blanchardstown Road Sth.
39a
Finglas South
239 Carpenterstown Coolmine Rail Station Laurel Lodge Road
Finglas Village
39 38
Connolly Hospital
Glasnevin Avenue
N3 bypass
Blanchardstown Village
M50 Palmerstown
Beaumont Hospital
Kilbarrack Howth Junction Rail Station
17a
Navan Road Phoenix Park Rail Station
37
Ashtown Roundabout Ashtown Rail Station
Fonthill Road
Navan Road Garda Station
Neilstown Road Coldcut Road
Cabra Cross
Clondalkin Garda Station
Blackhorse Avenue
New Road Newlands Cross
Aughrim Street
Old Cabra Road Railway Bridge
Belgard Road
Cabra Road / Carnlough Road Berkeley Road / Mater Hospital O’Connell Street
Prussia Street
Tallaght The Square
Stoneybatter Stanhope Street School
Fettercairn / Balrothery
College Street Aston Quay
76a/b
Tonlegee Road
38a
Ballyfermot Road Cherry Orchard Hospital
76
Oscar Traynor Road
Navan Road M50
Castlenock Road Castleknock Gate
Old Lucan Road West County Hotel
Northside Shopping Centre
Navan Road Bradys Restaurant
38
220
Ballymun
38a Laurel Lodge Castleknock Rail Station Myos Pub
Silloge
DCU
39a
38
Poppintree
St. Stephen’s Green
Map Key
Merrion Row
Hospital
UCD Belfield Campus
39a
Baggot Street Grand Canal
37
39
70
38
Rail
Luas
Route Information *Route 37 will be extended to the Blanchardstown Centre at a later date.
38a
Operative Date: 31/10/2010
140
13
IKEA
4 Harristown
Lanesborough
Charlestown Shopping Centre
83
19
Balbutcher Lane Charlestown Link Road McKee Road
St. Margaret’s Road
Jamestown Road
Glasanon Road Finglas Road
Grove Park Road Beneavin Road
Griffith Parade
Ballymun Shopping Centre
Glasnevin Avenue Ballygall Road East Glasnevin Cemetry
Wadelai
Glasnevin Hill Ballymun Road (DCU)
Phibsboro Road Western Way O’Connell Street
Merrion Square St. Stephen’s Green
Ballsbridge
Earlsfort Terrace
Blackrock
Rathmines
Monkstown Avenue
Dame Street
South Great George’s Street Kelly’s Corner St. James’s Hospital
Harold’s Cross
Inchicore
Rathmines
Naas Road
Kenilworth Park
Woodford Walk
Sundrive Road
Watery Lane Clondalkin Village Convent Road Bawnogue
Stanaway Avenue
83
4 Terenure Templeogue
Kimmage Cross Road
Tallaght Road
Cromwellsfort Road
Tallaght N81
Limekiln Avenue
Killinarden Heights Kiltipper Way
19
Grange Castle
13
Map Key Hospital
Rail
Luas
Ellensborough
140
Route 1 The point on 00:00:00 EastWall Road North Strand Fire 1:40.3 Station
Route 2 00:00:00 Albert College 01:43:03
Swords QBC (Whitehall)
Route 17A
Route 3
00:00:00 Ballymun Cross
00:00:00 Ballymun Cross
03:05:00 Santry @ Centra
03:10:00
0:35.8
wait time at lights
00:51:01
0:28.2
Ballybough Lights opposite Drumcondra Station Cross Guns wait time at the lights outside porter house
00:43:00 Grace Park Road
Coolock Garda Station 04:26:00 Malahide Road
02:00:00 Donnycarney
04:10:00
01:21:06 Killester Dart 06:38:10 Killester Village
0:44.2 2:57.0 1:27.6
06:00:00
Fire Station @ Tonegee Road
Santry @Coolock Lane Entrance to 07:35:00 Beaumont Hospital 01:30:00 Kilmore
Route 4 Malahide Village at 00:00:00 Marine Hotel 09:45:00 Kinsealy 06:00:00 Bridge over M1 00:55:00 Cloughran
03:21:00 Clonsaugh
05:00:00 Airport
01:18:00 Kilbarrack
05:05:00 Clarehall
12:43:00 Harristown
01:40:00 Baldoyle
03:20:00
Bridge over Railway
00:55:00 Baldoyle 7:54.1
Total Time
6:55.6
Total Time
25 Minutes Total Time Approx
25 minutes Total Time
28 minutes 43
Total Time
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Appendix 2 – Interviews
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Email as sent to participants: Hi X, Colin Broderick from the DIT Spatial Planning course here, I am a 4th year student on the course currently writing my dissertation. My research question is: "A land use and transportation study of the north eastern quadrant of Dublin City, to identify the barriers to the implementation of an orbital rapid transit network?" I got your contact details from James Leahy from Bike to Work. As part of my research methodology I am conducting a number of semi-structured interviews with some of the key bodies and stake holders in the area of the Bus Network. I would be delighted if you were free at some stage next week in order to conduct a brief interview framed around the research question above? Any help with this is much appreciated! Kind Regards, Colin Broderick
Notes were taken at all interviews and subsequently typed up afterwards. The notes are as follows.
Interview - James Leahy, BiketoWork.ie 11/04/2011 What would you envisage the Dublin network to look like? A number of orbitals which would include orbitals both inside and outside of the M50 ring and the North and South Circular roads. Express buses would operate on the M50. Local and express services throughout the GDA really need to be implemented. What in your opinion are the main barriers to the implementation of and orbital network in Dublin? The institutions have not been fully sorted out as yet. The very idea that some routes are economical enough for private operators to be given free reign with the types of services that are provided on marginally profitable routes is wrong. For instance the DTI was set up some 15 years ago and still there has been no major changes in how the Dublin network is operated or planned. Metro North - the construction will cause untold havoc in terms of service disruption thanks to major chunks of the city being dug up. As part of the plan for metro north a new network of local bus services would be introduced in order to feed passengers to the metro line which would be out of walking and cycling distance. In typical Irish style instead of reorganising the services before hand or even setting out a clear vision of what the end point would be after the metro project is complete, they will instead wait until the project is complete before planning this ‘new’ network!
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Zonal Fare System - There has been no work or research published into the idea of producing an integrated fare system for the city. Even if CIE were to introduce an in house integrated zonal fare system for the Bus and Heavy Rail services this would make a huge difference and remove the major barrier to the orbital network which is that people are penalized for transferring. The incoming ‘integrated ticket’ is not enough on it’s own, people are not stupid! Dublin Bus Financial Situation - Dublin Bus’s subsidy was recently reduced by the new budget and such orbitals are less profitable to run compared to the radial routes and as such would be the easier routes to remove from the network in order to save money. According to a recent Dublin City Council completed by the citizen's of the city among other things people ranked transport as one of the major issues with the city. Dublin Bus is being left to manage a declining bus service meanwhile the NTA are not providing the clear tactical vision that is required to overall and integrate the network. As has been hinted at by the new Transport Minister Leo Vradker, Bus Services in the capital may see an extra bit of investment which may have not been allocated before as the various reviews of the major infrastructure projects, Metro North and DART Underground, continue. A very small pot of money may become available to upgrade possibly some of the major radial QBC routes to higher BRT standards. In terms of the segregation of the orbitals, do you think this would be required? For full BRT projects yes, however as the orbitals would not be carrying the massive amounts of people an hour that some of the radial QBCs would, full segregation may not be required. For instance look at some of the radial QBCs do not require QBC on both sides of the road, merely at the chock points along the route. Enforcement of the lane is an issue, however it is easily solved as in London where there is a camera on the bus and if a car uses the lane illegally and holds up the bus. The driver presses a button which takes a number plate picture and the motorist is mailed a fine in the post, it is a very simple and straight forward solution. Interchange is also an issue - This is something there has been very little thought put into in the Dublin Context. There are various issues in relation to the design and location of stops, the footpaths leading passengers between stops, distances to interchange, provision of covered walk walks, etc. This is quiet a wider world and may not be the best thing to pursue in order to keep your study nice and tight.
Interview - Jeremey Ryan , Project Manager, National Transport Authority 13/04/2011 First of all thank you for having me along Jeremy. The Quality Bus Network Office are now part of the NTA. What in your opinion are the main barriers to the implementation of and orbital network in Dublin?
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Institutional Barriers - Those planning were not those planning the bus services. Information - When changing if people do not know the area or the buses unclear information as to how or where to change buses will act as a barrier. Issues such as where will the next service depart from, is it close to the stop or not? Journey Times and Reliability! There are 250 less buses now then there was in years gone by. The current public finances situation is making the subsidisation of services difficult. Orbital by there nature have no major destination, in that they generally serve low trip demand areas to low trip demand areas. Routes will certainly not be as easy as the radials as there has been no overall plan in the design and building of the roads in which the orbitals will run on and as such the road network may not be able to support the influx of the larger bus vehicles. Reliability may be hampered through the signalling at the major junctions where and orbital crosses one of the major radials, wait times here are much longer for the crossing roads. It is more difficult to sell the concept of the orbitals as they may not be entering any major destinations unlike the main orbitals. The NTA are working on a integrated transport network map and again a lack of one will prove as a barrier to the implementation of the orbitals due to a lack of information on there routes etc. There are also difficulties with how much information should be represented on these maps? Currently its roughly broken down to three distinct groups: • Tourist - more a centre city based map • The anerake map - one showing every single service in the city. • The in betwee - which may show the major high frequency service who just needs to get places. The NTA envisages there being only two orbitals and that the Northern one which passes through your study area will serve pretty much the same nodes as you show on your map such as Norht Fringe, Northside, Beaumont, Ballymun, Finglas and onto Blanchardstown (how to get it to blanch though?) Defining key routes and planning to go to the main trip centres like the hospitals and such. Another barrier is demand for such services, as you move further out from the centre of the city parking is much more plentiful and as such people will not exactly be forced into using public transport to get everywhere as using the car may be just as convenient. Lesser market. It is important to remember the main benefit from the radial QBC’s was that people can escape the congestion and the bus would run much faster than the alternate car. Getting people to use the service may prove challenging as people will be less inclined to use it if they can go to there destination as fast or quicker by car.
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Also if you try to go to every destination and have no major trip origin / destination levels of patronage could suffer. This is due to the fact of the majority of trips people make are from house to a Town Centre, people are much less likely to go from housing area to housing area. The service might do two very different things between the peak and off-peak times as the demand and requirements of the riders at these times maybe different.
Interview - Ray Coyne. Dublin Bus, Head of Dublin Bus Network Direct 26/04/11 To set the context Dublin Bus has gone from 1600 buses down to 1000 buses. What are the main barriers associated with implementing the orbital network? Integrated Ticketing - the upcoming integrated ticket is not going to be the oyster card that they say it will, for the time being at least. Just an e-purse that will support the current dublin bus prepaid tickets. Orbitals are more costly to run - much more ideal for a smaller bus operator with say 10 12 buses with a garage along the route to operate the service. The Dublin Bus garages are quiet remote from some of the orbital terminus's. Big Trip Generators - the largest trip generator is still the city centre area. The Car - Comparison with car journey times is a big issue, generally the orbital service will be slower than the car on any of the journeys, from internal research passengers much prefer certainty and reliability with journey times ranked 3rd. Crossing the radial QBC corridors and routes is also an obstacle as traffic signalling and priority is biased towards those corridors. The orbitals will need a high frequency at all times in order to be used effectively. Revenue profit returns are quiet small on those orbitals within the network which are currently in operation. For instance when you look at areas in the inner part of the north east quadrant the former 103 / 220 route never really seemed to generate much ridership and has in part been replaced by the 104, primarily a social service operating at very low frequency. 60 minutes. There are few major orbital trip generators in the north east, with the majority of people still travelling to the city centre. At this stage, most politicians, lobby groups and other stake holders are pretty happy to accept that operating orbital services are more costly than there radial cousins.
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Changing the routing's of some of unprofitable orbital / partial orbital has proven very difficult given there generally long established nature and major opposition from residents. As part of the Network Direct plan, Dublin Bus are trying to straighten out the orbital routes which they are currently operating as much as possible in order to minimize journey times and aid better efficiency of operation. Treat the orbital routes in the same fashion as the radials.
Operating Environment: Operational Costs - operating the orbitals can be quiet costly, simply reducing the vechicle capacity does not contain major benefits in reducing costs. Put bluntly 75% of the operating costs of the bus is the driver, smaller buses (40 - 45 seat, single deck) could deliver a 15% saving in fuel over their larger 75 seat double decker. The 17A route which operates in the North Eastern Area, sees roughly 60 - 70 person occupancy during the peak hours of operation, and is the highest ranking orbital in the network in terms of revenue generated. Peak and Off Peak Frequency: Frequency is key and as such at a peak routes should operate at a 10 minute headway, however a note of caution it is not cost effective from a Dublin Bus point of view to operate them on a sub 10 minute frequency as only there top performing radial services are able to support such a high frequency. Off-Peak - frequencies should operate within the 15 - 20 minute range. It has been found that if headway is more than 20 minutes services perform as well as if they were only once an hour. Speed - Testing the proposed orbitals against the speed of 22 km/h is reasonable to do so but do note that none of the radials operate at such a high average speed. For instance in the latest QBC monitoring report the average speeds are up to 18 km/h due to less traffic and less passengers. 22 km/h is a very fast average speed. For instance the 75 between Dundrum and Tallaght is a route which is under 22 km in length however on average takes almost 2 hours to complete its journey. Interchange Off bus ticketing, has been shown to be highly costly to run and operate, while maybe ideal it is not the most cost effective. As shown in London, however that failed as most users were on the oyster card which provided a much cheaper minimum fare! Information at interchanges is key! Even simple steps such as directing people with signage to the radial bus stop in order to change service is required. Facilities such as shelters and simple mapping information on how the network operates provides much needed gains in this area. Might be a good idea even to do a brief overview of interchange difficulties on the 17A and the Swords Road at Santry.
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Appendix 3 – CILT Bus Transit Conference Notes 74 Dublin Institute of Technology – BSc. Spatial Planning
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BRT Seminars, Dun Laoighaire 14/04/2011 - Chartered Institute of Transport and Logistics
Brendan Finn - International Practice: Bus with high level of service Bus based transit to cover all the areas. BRT as is marketed throughout the world is not new in its concept - restoring the earlier operating conditions for the bus. Tallaght Luas line was identified for a bus way some 25 years ago! BHLS - focus on reliability / quality for the 25,000 - 60,000 ppdpd (passengers per direction per day) BRT in dev in Belfast. Features of BRT => Service Plan Give the buses what they need - piece of road and let them do there thing. Nantes put wheelly symbols on there platforms where the wheelchair door will always be on the bus and as such people know to leave that door free - changes in behaviour. Curitiba has different colour buses to show the differen levels of service they provide. Image and Market is key: repositioning the project in the stakeholders minds is key! BHLS is the euro title to describe the smaller efforts that are not part of the mass transit BRT function. Key areas are: Reliability Marketing Comfort In a number of cities has been used as an alternate to LRT such as Nantes. Its about picking the transit system that is best suited for your needs and then choosing the technology that can best provide it. Table: Dublin +125% patronage thanks to QBCs Standards: - 1,500 - 2,500 pphpd and 10 - 20 Mph Political leaders are generally much more hospitable to the change from LRT when they are shown the major examples. Lets not forget that trams have managed to reposition
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themselves into a modern clean and efficient transport mode so Bus really needs to get the skates on and promote the quality of the mode!
Robert Jan Ross - Dutch HOV, Amersfort Public Transport Bus system was not optional - goes nowhere to nowhere driving all the time. South Tangent - Only 2 million guilders available initially for the project and the plan proposed was unsuccessful at achieving funding. In steps Robert Jan Ross, project budget went from 2 million to 300 million in a 6 month turn around. How does the driver drive the bus? On the way from the airport the bus driver was driving very fast, accelerating and decelerating hard, what would be described as the traditional bus driver. 500/600,000 people live in the area and part of the route way is made up of the motorways hard-shoulder. Began with a 6 minute headway and now down to 2 minutes at peak times. They also changed the front shape of the bus with a bigger curve, but not as massive as that on trams, it’s still a bus! Platforms - Bus door height usually 18cm but they had 28cm platforms in order to make it more tram like and it’s all about cutting the perception of the mode. Did a lot of research into where and what the passengers were in order to take the transport to them. Cost total 6 or 7 million per km. 8-10 Buses an hour. Barriers were put in for where cycle lanes and pedestrian ways crossed the busway. “Cyclists are like pedestrians” - ignore red lights. Running in the hardshoulder needs some work as the bus runs slower as it needs to be able to stop if people move into the shoulder to exit the motorway. They put an extra 20cm of concrete on the busway for the eventual possibility of converting to use as an LRT with tracks. Twente: Network Thinking BHLS in Trente How passengers behave in the network - people have to understand how to get around. Major research put into the fact that the mayor wanted a public transport system and not just a tram line. Tight integration with Bus and Train. Train info is shown on the Bus RTPI, working on getting bus info shown at NS rail stations.
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Rail info also available on the bus. Almere: Bus stops within 400m of every household. 30% of all trips made by bike in holland. 600m gap between stops Main thing to take from this project is it was different from others as it happened when the bus company was the one with the money to make the network happen and not the municipal government. Curtiba Model - more subsidy if you are doing well what you should be doing. Always space for cars / bikes - the PT network is essentially overbuilt because of the way Dutch people use public transport to travel around.
David Brent - Fastrack, Kent UK “Attractive reliable and credible...” BRT objective Selling the perception that it is different v.important. 19% of passengers switch from car. Sets out to their public that they are always striving for more, currently passenger numbers are at 2 million per year. 3 Far zones in the system, both on and off bus ticketing. 10 minute frequency - 18 hour operations. The service is all about journey time reliability hence the fastrack. 50% of the money for the service paid for by private developers. There is a display within houses which allow people to set alarms that alert them when service are arriving and also provide all info on the service and its operation. No building on the site was allowed until the fastrack service was fully operational. Wifi, leather seats etc. on the buses asked the RPA guy - not as important as convience frequency and reliabilty. 17 years from the time of signing was how long the free travel would last for residents. Free work trips with in the site. (Private dev site that is)
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Blue Line It will use land reserved for the eastern bypass motorway. Smarter Travel - objective is to provide more radical bus priority. Engineering Phase: Patronage Modeling Business Case Costing / Funding Vincents to Sidney Parade section out of the DLRcoco Boundary and not concrete as to when it will happen! Cost Benefit analysis outputs: 8.0 for High spec BRT 6.65 for Moderate quality bus 5.2 for LRT Fare revenue would pay for operational costs. Land would be acquired under license in order to reduce the costs dramatically. Geographic integration - orbital route provision. Info booth available in the county hall. Lessons: Top level commitment is a great thing to have - DLR CoCo Manager Persistence is key in any project such as this! 30 million construction cost (no acquisition costs) 3 million operating cost concept from sandyford LUAS to the DART. Belfield campus of 30,000 plugged into the Dublin Network. Can be delivered without any extra land take or impact on the eastern by-pass project.
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Ciara de Burca - Belfast Rapid Transit “Belfast on the move” - fully integrated public transport policy Rapid Transit Division at the regional office Reasearch shows that on average BRT v LRT is 4 - 5 times cheaper. 25, 000 jobs and 15, 000 houses in titanic quarter. Initial planning of the two lines did not allow for inter connection of the two just like the luas in Dublin. Peace walls and gates are still in operation in Belfast and as such are locked at night time restricting all movement after hours. All private investment in the project has dried up as a lot of the developers have gone bust due to the economic situation. The response is to complete the project in an incremental manner and seek additional funding as the project progresses rather than sit back and do nothing. Current Stage: Appointing consultants in order to prepare the outline business case for the lines. Preliminary design has been completed in house. Funding is secure up to 2015 for the Planning and the 1st Stage of implementation. Integration with the park n ride strategy of the masterplan. Belfast on the Move - Masterplan for transport in Belfast: Plaza on front of the city hall. University of Ulster is moving to a new campus along on of the routes. Objectives: Reduce dominance of the car. Curently 40% of trips in Belfast do not use the car though City Centre loop for the rapid BRT routes - 5 integrated halts will allow for transfer between all routes. 60% of city traffic has no destination with in Belfast, they are simply driving through as it is quiet easy to do. Cost 3.5 million pound cost Integration / Regeneration - the routes will go from low income to low income areas. Revenue streams from on bus advertising over the RTPI is being looked as a major revenue source.
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In an international context transport companies are incentivising bus drivers to drive more economically / environmentally through sharing a portion of the saving they make with them each year - has been seen to produce 10% savings in fuel costs.
Q and A Session: Good running way provided by the dutch system with reasonable priority but overall control. The Hague 3 months - ways of communication different in terms of the running of the project. Traffic Planners / Town Planners / Economists put in a room for 3 months to learn to leave there silos and engage with each others strengths. Speaking about the same things but with very different language for expressing it though. It is very easy to provide priority where you don't need it. HARD to put it where it is really needed, generally a reason it hasn't been put there yet. "Bus only stops at the Bus Stop!" - 10 min frequency is basically on the outside of what can be described as outside the scope of the turn and go operation. Realiability <=> Credibility: being able to judge between the timetable and the physical time using RTPI Integrated Rapid Public Transit Network is what we should all be working towards. (IRPTN) However in order to acheive this, like Belfast your CBD needs to prepared before it can be successfully implemented. Also in order for it to happen for the next few years Dublin needs a BRT Champion? No! Dublin needs a PUBLIC TRANSPORT champion! Public Transport needs to be put at the core and that the leader must convince policy makers etc. “Best way of serving the needs of the People” if BRT turns out to be the solution, that’s great, but it is more important how and what the network does! It does not have to be mode specific but go to Nantes and stand at a tram stop. You are not guaranteed to get on tram it may be a bus operating the same route. Full BRT may not be the right solution for Dublin however we should be looking at QBC+ and QBC++ - simply a grading issue that these are places where we can justify the extra expenditure. LRT talk for Lucan - why can’t land be bought and whack in a 140pax vechicle and provide the same levels of service. Vechicles for the service should be the major priority. (CdB) Dr. Brian Caulfield - TCD Civil Engineering Dept. Journal of Public transportation. Benefits of improved bus based systems:
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Buy in from the Public. Study on Public perception McDonnell et al (2006). Comfort and seat availability were key factors. While reliability much more important for Bus over Rail. “Public won’t pay for bad news” Transport 4 London. Spider maps can make public transport more successful. BRT v LRT - most cite price as the biggest problem. The impact on land values are not known when it comes to BRT however the upward effects from LRT are fact.
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