The National Transport Authority has said it is considering revising a new BusConnects route in Dublin just a month after it began operating over concerns by residents who say it is causing chaos for commuters.
Locals in Chapelizod claim at rush hour some bus journey times between the village and the city centre are taking almost the same time as walking and that services are being delayed and cancelled because of congestion.
The 80 bus service began operating on 19 October through Chapelizod village after it replaced the previous 26 service, which ran from Liffey Valley in west Dublin traversing the north quays to Merrion Square.
Residents said the previous service took around half an hour to reach the O'Connell Bridge area, calling it a frequent and reliable bus.
However they said the new route, which runs from Liffey Valley to Rathmines in the south of the city, is causing multiple problems for bus users.
This, they said, is because instead of travelling along the quays, the route crosses the River Liffey at Smithfield and regularly gets caught in congestion at rush hour.
Locals said this leads to the service being delayed and sometimes cancelled, adding that those who attempt to get off buses and connect to other services find them full to capacity.
Watch: Resident says BusConnect's 'failures' negatively impact daily life
Nick Stefanvoic, who lives in Chapelizod, said new services are impacting people across the community.
He said there are children "who cannot get to school on time, parents end up driving them and as result, they are late for work".
"There are young mothers in the area with newborn babies who try and make it to hospital appointments, who unfortunately have to miss those appointments," he said.
"There are workers across the city who try to get to connecting services such as the DART or the Luas but commutes that previously used to take approximately one hour are now close to three hours," he added.
Mr Stefanvoic said Chapelizod "is a community of over 4,000 people, so it's not a small area".
He added: "We have engaged with the National Transport Authority at every stage during the planning permission cycle.
During public consultations in 2018 and 2019, there was a petition signed by over 1,000 residents asking for services not be cut."
He said the community "is stranded by BusConnect", adding that "unfortunately, we haven't received a response, let alone any action".
"The National Transport Authority are not engaging with any of us," he said.
Renna Nakyama, who recently moved to the area, said she has noticed a change in the reliability of the bus service.
She said: "We had the 26 bus before and it was way easier to get into town.
"The 80, it's delayed a lot of the times.
"It says it's coming in one minute and then it comes half an hour later."
Martin Murphy, who has lived in Chapelizod for more than a decade, described the services as a "disaster".
"When you look back over the years, there was five to six buses which ran through the village now that's all stopped," he said.
Adding to local frustrations is the fact that there are a number of frequent and more direct services to Dublin city centre that run on the C-spine of the bus service across the bypass above Chapelizod village.
However, pedestrians have no direct access to this route and a promised ramp to access the area has not yet materialised.
After midnight, two of the C-spine services also run through the village and locals have asked why these cannot also service the area by day.
Locals are planning a protest in the area this weekend to express their frustrations around the new service.
Jen Cummins, Social Democrats TD for the area, said she has been inundated with complaints about the service since it began last month.
Ms Cummins said when she held a public meeting about the issue, she had to split locals into two separate rooms to hear their concerns, such was the turnout.
She has called on the National Transport Authority to find a swift and workable solution to the problems.
"Instead of improving public transport services in the area as intended, BusConnects has just made life significantly harder for people," she said.
Concerns about the bus route have also been raised with the Minister for Transport by the Fianna Fáil TD Catherine Ardagh.
Sinn Féin TD Máire Devine said she has received around 150 submissions from locals on the issue.
However, she said that she has not had any response from the NTA to queries about the new route.
"I've requested the Oireachtas Committee for Transport to invite the new head of the NTA to testify regarding BusConnects and I intend to present her with all this resident feedback," she said.
The National Transport Authority said journey times between Chapelizod are broadly the same in the mornings and slightly longer in the evenings.
However, it said that the initial quality of the service has not been as high as needed.
The NTA said it is working to address this and that it is looking at potentially revising the route.
It said: "We acknowledge that the changes require some passengers to make their journey in a different way.
"In some instances, people who previously had to interchange will now have a direct service, while others may now have to interchange where previously they did not."
The NTA said it considers that the new network "offers improved overall connectivity".
The authority said it is "aware that the initial quality of service on phase seven routes was not as high as needed", adding that "transport operators and the NTA have been working to address this".
"Bus cancellations do occur for a variety of reasons, such as a shortage of drivers or traffic congestion and delays," it said.
"Buses that are meant to reach the end of a trip in sufficient time to make the return journey may get held up in heavier than usual congestion and are not then in position to undertake the scheduled return journey - that journey then has to be cancelled, impacting passengers," it added.
The NTA said that "data provided indicates cancellations are well within contractual standards, with less than 2% of services cancelled over the first three weeks of November".
It said: "We have compared actual journey times in the peak morning period from Chapelizod to the city centre in September and November, and the data shows they are broadly the same."
The NTA said evening journeys are "slightly longer" and experience delays due to congestion that can "create gaps in services".
It added: "Notwithstanding the above, the NTA is reviewing options for revising the routing of route 80 through the city centre, including an option of it continuing along the quays and interlinking with another bus route east of the city.
"This work is at an early stage and we will provide updates at a later point."
