REARVIEW:THIS WEEK I tried to put a family member on a bus from Letterkenny, Co Donegal, to Dublin. A seemingly simple task. Yet performing a simple search of timetables on the Bus Éireann website, I was left feeling that maybe I needed a degree in advanced information technology.
I made the silly mistake of clicking on “timetables”, thinking that it might be a straightforward listing of buses and times. No such luck. I eventually found a bus leaving at 9.55 from Letterkenny IT, via Donegal town, and arriving in Busáras many hours later. Result, I think. Think again.
Arriving at Letterkenny IT bus stop, there is no sign of the 9.55, but there’s a phone number for the bus station. The nice lady on the phone says the next bus is at 11.20 from the station.
Now whatever about a battle-hardened hack used to the perils of Irish public transport, think of the thousands of tourists left scratching their heads. Then remember that when they reach Dublin’s fair city, the timetables on most stops still only list the departure times from the terminus. That means you have to work out where your stop is on the route, traffic flow at that particular time, and the likely delays at stops.
For full-blooded Dubs it’s a challenge: for a visitor from outside the Pale it’s akin to decoding the DNA sequence of the bus driver.
We are now seeing some signs of progress with digital screens at selected bus stops. But before we bow in awe of the technology, it’s hardly new on the market. This sort of thing should have been introduced 10 years ago when instead we were spending on multiple roundabouts with traffic lights.
Perhaps one day they will even master the mind-melting idea of making the online timetables understandable for the average visitor as well. Or am I hoping for too much? No wonder car hire remains so popular.