Deadline is looming for submissions to BusConnects plan 

THE deadline for submissions to the National Transport Authority’s BusConnects plan is this Friday, September 28.

The NTA have been inviting members of the public to engage in the consultation process of the plan which will mean sweeping changes to the delivery of public transport to Dublin city and county.

A number of meetings, organised by community activists and public representatives, have been taking place in the capital in recent weeks to discuss the plans. 

A working group from Rush Community Council is just one of those involved. 

Lorraine Allen, a member of the group, believes the BusConnects plan will hugely impact the community’s transport links.  

“We’ve had a plan of community activation in place over the last few weeks,” said Ms Allen.  

“We have been collecting submissions in Rush through the various community groups, online at bus stops, and over the weekend in Echlin Court and at St Maur’s Church.  

“Residents have been so welcoming of the campaign and are actively seeking out our submission letters to sign. We’ve also invited the NTA and consultants from BusConnects to meet with us.”

Ms Allen added: “The team here have had 1,400 submissions from the residents of Rush, in addition to those made online.”

Meanwhile Dublin Fingal TD Louise O’Reilly (SF) has called on the Minister for Transport Shane Ross and the National Transport Authority to take on board the “serious concerns” of local residents in its public consultation on BusConnects.

“We need an improvement in bus services in North Dublin, as congestion and poor infrastructure are proving problematic for the network,” said Deputy Reilly.

“However, a central part of any plan must be the views and suggestions of those who use the service.”

The NTA’s BusConnects plan aims to streamline bus services across the city making them faster and more frequent for passengers.

The proposals will see buses using main spines that run through the city and connect with orbital and local routes.

Buses will run every four to eight minutes along each spine and the NTA says there will be frequent local and orbital routes feeding into them, meaning passengers will never be waiting long.

The cost of travelling on the new network will be determined by time instead of distance with 90-minute fares covering a journey using a combination of bus, DART and Luas.

A short distance will also be available. People currently paying a €2.15 fare for single journey of six to 13 stops are expected to see an increase of around 20 cent while longer distance fares will decrease by approximately the same amount.

For more information on the plan, visit www.busconnects.ie