100 signatures reached
To: National Transport Authority and Dublin Bus
Extra 84X buses needed for Bray and Greystones
1 Provide extra buses on the 84x Route
2 Limit the departure stops on the 84x Route
Why is this important?
The 84x bus service is a popular service for commuters in Kilcoole, Newcastle, Greystones and Bray.
Recently the National Transport Authority have been asked by Wicklow County Council members and by other local representatives to increase the 84x service. In response to these requests The National Transport Authority told Wicklow County Council on Monday 4th March "There are no promises, we will see what happens in the months ahead". This response is not good enough and we are now publicly petitioning on this issue.
In the last few years there has been increased demand on the service because of increased housing in Greystones and surrounding areas. The increased demand has meant increased usage and consequently the following: congestion on the service, commuters not being able to regularly use the service because the buses are so full, increased car usage, decreased quality of life due to increased traffic congestion.
In 2018 Wicklow County Council recently did some research on commuters living in County Wicklow and found some interesting data on commuters including students and employees. It found that there is a large demand for commuting from Bray and Greystones into Dublin. It found that 77% of commuters who use buses in County Wicklow are unhappy with their commute. It also found that 69% of County Wicklow Commuters would like more frequent bus services. (Source Wicklow County Council 2018 Commuter survey (https://www.wicklow.ie/Portals/0/Documents/Business/Business-Environment/Wicklow-Facts-Figures/Commuter%20Study%20Report.pdf)
A large reason for this is increased demand in the Greystones/Kilcoole area. Since the last census there are roughly about 1 thousand houses that have been built or are at present being built in the Greystones area (Source: Wicklow County Council Meeting September 2018 https://www.wicklow.ie/Portals/0/Documents/Council%20Meetings/Minutes-Agendas/2018/10%2009%2018%20SPECIAL%20MEETING%20COUNTY%20COUNCIL.pdf) . This includes the Marine area at Greystones, Wavely estate, Seagreen estate, Glenheron estate amongst others. In the Greystones area there is already quite a high percentage of local residents who commute for work (22.9%) according to the last census. (Source Oireachtas constituency census dashboards http://dashboards.oireachtas.ie/dashboard.php?s=transport&q=t1)
Given the above; a) the fact that Wicklow residents overall who commute by bus are unhappy with the service provided, b) the fact that many citizens in Bray and Greystones feel there are not enough buses and that they drive as a result and c) the fact there are a thousand new houses in the Greystones area since the 2016 census. We respectfully request the NTA and Dublin Bus to provide extra 84x morning buses.
In addition to this a large number of commuters in Bray and Greystones repeatedly get left behind on the evening service commute to Bray and Greystones from Dublin City Centre. The 84x is congested and full on an extremely regular basis. Many commuters who live in areas such as Foxrock, Deansgrange use the 84x and these commuters can often use other services along the N11 corridor including the 46a and 145. They feel it is completely unfair for them that users who can use other alternate routes such as the 145 or 46a mean they cannot use the evening service to get to Bray or Greystones. In order to maximise use for commuters in Bray and Greystones and encourage commuters to use alternate routes available to them we respectfully request that the 84x would not allow passengers to disembark between UCD and Loughlinstown Hospital.
We believe these 2 changes would increase commuter satisfaction for County Wicklow Bus Commuters and also would increase the quality of life overall for citizens in Bray and Greystones.