There was high drama in Dublin Council in the course of the past few months in a will-they-won’t-they game of chicken on the plans to put bus gates on Dublin’s north and south quays. Dublin City Council with support of the elected councillors agreed to prioritise buses on certain sections of the roads in an attempt to improve transport in the city centre.
Galway is in the process of doing the same thing. One aspect of the Galway City Centre BusConnects project is a bus gate on the Salmon Weir bridge and a similar restriction on College Road. This will reduce private car traffic on that artery, allowing buses, taxis and bikes better access. A bus gate is not a physical gate, but any private cars driving through between 7am and 7pm will be subject to a fine.
I have been watching developments in Dublin and is keen that we get our plans right in Galway. Here in Galway I keep hearing that people are reluctant to use the bus because it is unreliable.
Giving buses priority on some roads is key to changing that. More reliability and greater frequency of buses is key to solving Galway’s transport problems, because when more people feel buses are reliable they take the bus making the roads freer for all traffic, including those who need to use cars. But we have to get the bus gates right.
The current plan in Galway is to rely on Garda enforcement, as they are doing in Dublin. In-person enforcement is labour intensive and inconsistent. A camera system would be more effective and fairer to those who chose to keep the rules. It should also allow for exceptions such as cars with disabled parking permits to prioritise that group.
But before we even get to the point of having the bus gates in place, we have to complete the planning process and implement the plan. In Dublin, a small number of business interests pushed back on the plan, partly because it would impact car-park revenue, and partly because some businesses still feel that more car traffic equals more retail sales when in reality the opposite is usually true. Better bus systems are what actually drive retail sales in most instances.
Heavy lobbying put Dublin City Chief Executive Richard Shakespeare under a lot of pressure – but he showed some metal and proceeded with the transport improvements and the bus gates started operation this week. There is no doubt that similar pressure will be applied in Galway and I hope that the city councillors and city executive will show similar resolve.
Galway City Council is still awaiting a decision from An Bord Planála on the City Centre BusConnects project which is one of a number of BusConnects projects for the city.
