'The Challenge' (and update on info blog)

First off, special thanks to Seabhcan who is after providing our Information blog with the 302 Caherdavin route and the 305 Coonagh route. We now have 6 bus routes and 28 destinations of interest on the blog. (link to the right). Please keep adding to this, it is the people of Limerick's only reference to which bus goes where.

On that note a MovingLimerick reader has posted a challenge which we feel should be completed:

We could make (a bus route map) ourselves. A perfect task for an online community. Why don't we make a map and send it to Bus Eireann?

So MovingLimerick is now calling all readers to work on a map and email it onto us at movinglimerick@gmail.com, if it is good we'll put it up on the blog. If not we'll still send it into Bus Éireann anyway to make a point! Please do this, if even one person ca manage their skills into this task Bus Éireann may sit up and create a map for all Limerick people and tourists!
We'll keep ye updated on how that goes...

Daf Bus? More like Daft...

At this stage we must have all ridden them, Daf Bus by WrightBus. These are the buses with less 'Stop buttons', less overhead handrails (the only ones are at the back of the bus and extremely awkward), no ad space and uncomfortable seats which are now falling apart.

These buses along with the Merc's were both brought in at the same time and are the ones that have defiantly not stood the test of time (although to be honest they were less comfortable from the beginning).

Anyway, long story short but it turns out the next order of buses looks to be solely coming from the company who brought Limerick the DafBus, WrightBus Ltd.

Bus Éireann must be taking the piss... I cant imagine buying from this crowd instead of Mercedes can save them money in the long run. They cant hold ads, they are falling apart and a law suit must be coming any day now from someone who fell because they couldnt hold onto something or their seat fell off when they went to sit down (as has happened me numerous times) or god only knows what else....

Do you...

You've all seen the signs 'please give up this seat to an elderly person', but how many of us actually do this?! This may be an interesting assesment of the people of Limerick.

DO YOU give up your seat?

Every day the bus overfills and spills, but do you stand up, tap someone on the shoulder and say 'hey, you can have my seat'? And where do you draw the line? Do you stand for elderly, pregant and injuried or go all out and stand for a lady also? In which case I must ask, have you ever sat down on a Limerick Bus?!?!?!?!?

What the.....?!?!?!?!?!?!

What has Sligo got that Limerick doesnt?

I know what your thinking.... 'nothing', this is in fact not true! Sligo, a small peripheral town in the west of Ireland, has a bus service that runs through the night on 3 of they're 4 routes!!! The 'Nightrider' finishes at 4.25AM, as apposed to Limericks last drop off at 11.20PM!

Let me put this in context for you:
Sligo population: 17,894
Limerick population: 100,000

Yet Limerick still depends on drunken drivers and taxis to do the night runs?!?!?

Helping to get Limerick Moving

At Bus Éireann offices people are paid to effectively run a bus service around Limerick City. As part of that service, they need to encourage people to use it and provide people with information on the routes and times. This has been they're biggest failing, and so because these people cant do it, we the people must unite and share our information for those who dont have any.

We have set up an incomplete page which includes:
Links to the official bus timetables (which you can use as a rough guide)
Full Bus Routes (including popular places which they stop at)
Search by place the bus you need to get on

Check out the page, the link is to the right... we really need your help in filling out the information for the citys other services.

Where does this bus actually go?

One reader of 'Moving Limerick' has a good point, one i often pondered myself.

Why is there no route map of the limerick bus system. How is a visitor to the city supposed to find out how to move around? Information seems to be on a word of mouth basis only.

Busing Limerick is a challenge even for those who regularly take the bus, for example: Getting a bus to the Crescent Shopping Centre, probably the buses most popular destination.

People are used to riding the 304 to the Crescent. Every second time i am on a 304A (Raheen via Greenfields) i hear someone panic questioning what bus they have gotten (and on that some drivers go straight up Hyde Rd others turn right and branch onto it later, confusing people more) and then virtually no-one knows that the 312 Ballycummin bus drops off to the crescent even though it is in fact the only bus service that mentions the Crescent Shopping Centre.

After the Raheen bus which I take daily I really couldnt tell you much about any of the other routes, Bus Éireann only give destinations, they need to provide maps of the city highlighting all the stops and routes.

ALSO, they should have an onboard speaker telling you where you are. Most people not used to getting a particular bus dont know when they are where they should be.
AKA, a voiceover "This is Crescent Shopping Centre, next stop Fr. Russell Road" followed by "This is Fr. Russell Road, next stop Regional Hospital"

I once thought a bus was heading from UL into the city and out to Raheen, by the time we had arrived in Moyross I figured we were mistaken, luckly the driver understood and let us stay on the bus for the return journey for free. Have you ever ended up on the wrong bus or gotten lost?

DO YOU.....

We're going to have this feature every few days, todays 'Do you' is:

DO YOU put your feet on the seats across on quiet rides?

Day in day out people put comfort above hygiene and pop their shoes up on the backward seats of the ‘4 person seaters’. Does it bug you to see people do this? Do you secretly do it but resent others for it? Does it really make a difference to anyone what people do with their feet when no-one is sitting there?

Had enough of this yet?

This city has the WORST public transport system in the world. How often have you waited over an hour for a bus which ‘runs every ten minutes’? How often have you had to stand on the bus when it eventually arrived? How often has the bus been littered with chips and crap? How often have you gotten on a bus and seen graffiti everywhere, only to return a month later to see the same graffiti in the same place?

Funding for our bus system must be atrocious because we really do get a horrible service, not just a poor service but often a really nasty service. It really is such a turn off… so this blog is set up for you to say what bugs you about moving around Limerick, not just on buses but any form of getting from place to place in the city. I’m going to get comments from Bus Éireann Limerick office management and seeing as its election time, local politicians.

Please comment on the posts with your own little stories or happenings while riding the bus or what not.