Hi all,
following a discussion in our meetings about the new Bus Connect service
in Dublin, here is an overview I've found of how the system should work.
Quote from this document:
https://busconnects.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/fullreport_chapter_7.pdf
Overview
The proposed network would organize bus routes into six categories
according to their role in the network structure. These are:
* Spines.
* Spine Branches.
* Orbitals.
* Other Radials.
* Locals.
* Peak Only Services.
Spines: Simple, Frequent Routes Across the Core
In the proposed network, most of the bus routes that flow into
the centre of Dublin are reorganized into eight spines.
Spines are very frequent routes. With a bus coming every 3 to 8
minutes, there is always a bus coming soon. This high frequency
makes it very fast to connect from one spine to another, and to
other frequent services like DART, Luas, and the frequent orbitals.
Most spines would operate cross-city, meaning that buses don't
end in City Centre, but continue across the centre and to the
other side of Dublin.
Spines are designated by the letters A to H. Each bus would
be designated by a letter followed by a digit (e.g. "A1") where
the letter indicates the spine and the digit indicates the specific
branch the bus follows (see "Spine Branches" below).
A customer would be able to navigate much of inner Dublin by
treating the letter as identifying a single line, and ignoring the
number. Signage and information in this area should use a term
like "all A buses," to reinforce this simplicity.
Spine Branches
A spine is not a route in itself. Rather, it is a combination of two to
five bus routes that operate with staggered timetables to provide
high frequency on the "spine" segment.
Each of these routes in a spine branch. No interchange is
required where the branches merge to form the spine.
Branches leading to and from the same spine share a letter (e.g.
"A") but have different numbers (e.g. "A1", "A2", "A3, "A4").
Most spine branches are proposed with all-day frequencies every
10 to 15 minutes.
Orbitals
Orbitals are routes that connect multiple neighbourhoods and
destinations but do not run into the City Centre. They tend to run
perpendicular to the spines and other radial routes. Together,
orbitals and spines form a web-shaped grid.
* N1-N9 are North Orbitals. These are east-west routes across
the northern side of the city, numbered outward from the
city centre.
* S1-S9 are South Orbitals. These are east-west routes across
the southern side of the city, numbered outward from the
city centre.
* W1-W9 are West Orbitals. These are north-south routes
across the western side of the city, numbered outward from
the city centre.
* O is the innermost orbital route, running near the canals. It
is the only one that forms a complete loop around the city.
The O orbital would run every 8 minutes on weekdays. Five other
key orbitals would run every 10 to 15 minutes. A further three
would run every 20 to 30 minutes all day, but with higher frequencies at
peak hours.
Other Categories
There are three other categories of service, which carry numbers
without an initial letter:
* Numbered Radials. In some areas, main roads run too far
apart for radial service to be provided entirely through the
spine-and-branch system. In these places, radial routes are
numbered between 1 and 99. The frequency on routes 1 to
99 varies by route and anticipated level of demand.
* Suburban Locals. These routes cover outer suburban areas
and connect them to major suburban centres and interchanges where
passengers can connect to spines, orbitals,
or rail services. Local routes are numbered from 200 to 299.
* Peak-only services. These are routes run only during the
peak period. Peak-only routes are numbered from 300 to
399. The design and function of peak-only routes may vary:
» In some cases, they provide direct service to City Centre
in places where this is not available in the midday.
» In some cases, they provide faster or express service to
City Centre in places where the journey on a local route
would be very long.
Adrian
