Dedicated shuttle bus service planned to “bridge gaps” in Dublin’s Liffey Cycle Route

Please note: This news was only valid on April 1st.

Dublin City Centre Council is expected to announce its plans to operate a dedicated shuttle bus service to allow people to cycle between the many disjointed sections of the city’s Liffey Cycle Route.

There will be a number of bus routes (see map below), including LQ1, which will take people from The Croppies Acre on Wolfe Tone Quay to where the cycle path starts off again for Arran Quay.

Some routes also differ in what they allow people cycling to bypass — LQ4 will fill in a gap where there are no cycle tracks at all, while LQ6 will cost a little extra but will bypass sections where buses regularly block the cycle track while pulling in and out of bus stops.

On a section of the Liffey’s quays where the cycle track ends on one side of the street and starts on another without any formal crossover point, at Church Street just before the Four Courts, a special bus with doors on both sides will run bus route LQ2 which will pick bicycles up and drop them across the road.

One source, who has in-depth knowledge of the plans, said: “This is simpler than having enough political will to make cycling both safe and attractive along the quays.”

The council is expected to outline today how only smaller cargo bicycles will be able to fit on the buses. However, not everybody is happy with the planned restrictions.

I Bike The Liffey, a campaign group, said: “This is shocking. All sorts of bicycles should be allowed on the buses.”

Others have said that the bus plan is not the right solution and access to the city centre needs to be improved.

A spokesperson for the It Says Traders But We’re Mainly Car Park Owners Association said: “This plan for buses is not dealing with the real issue. The quays should be made cycling-only after the Liffey is drained. The riverbed would be the perfect place for a new 6-lane motorway with access tunnels to car parks under all of your favourite department stores.”

“Expecting shoppers to get on a train, tram, or bus or to cycle is just too much to ask for,” the spokesperson said.

The It Says Traders But We’re Mainly Car Park Owners Association added: “We know that most shoppers already get the bus and, for those who don’t or cannot use public transport, nobody had or is going to ban access to car parks, but we’ll keep pretending otherwise and the Irish Times and RTE will publish what we say…. we’re off the record on that part, ok?”

A random driver interviewed by RTE said that the car park owners are right. They said: “Currently, when I’m driving from Kildare to the Docklands, I have to drive up to Bachelors Walk, and then the bus gate means I have to drive up O’Connell Street, and up around Parnell Square. There’s no way I could adjust my route before that in any way. That would be oppression.”

The random person added: “What do you mean do I care that buses carry more people? Do you care that I might have to carry the children, their granny, the dog, whose name is Bubbles…. the dog, not my mother-in-law… and the fridge too?”

Dublin City Centre Council is understood to be examining the proposals from the We’re Mainly Car Park Owners Association. But, for now, it is expected to push ahead with the shuttle bus idea.

There were calls to make the bus a free service, but this was rejected, and it will cost €1 for each gap. For €0.50, you’ll be able to stay on the bus for a second gap.

This charge is partly to fund the service and partly to compensate motorists who are delayed by the bus pulling in and out. The bus stops will also be installed by removing part of the cycle paths to avoid further delay to motorists.

UPDATED: It’s understood that Dublin City Centre Council has obtained some of the buses to run the service after London’s new Silvertown Tunnel will be opening only for walking, cycling and public transport.

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