The National Transport Authority has said that as the roll-out of the Bus Connects programme in the greater Dublin area passes the halfway mark this weekend, resistance to change is common but the project has resulted in an increase in bus users.
It comes as residents in Glasnevin in north Dublin have said new Bus Connects routes which begin this weekend will leave their community at a disadvantage.
However at the other end of the route in Bray, Co Wicklow, locals have said the service, which has been delayed for several months, will bring significant benefits.
The number 11 route has serviced Glasnevin since the 1970s but this Sunday the route will no longer do so.
Instead, the 19 route will now stop in housing estates in the area on its way from Dublin Airport to the city centre.
New E1 and E2 buses will also operate on a 24/7 basis at mostly ten-minute intervals, nearby from north Dublin to beyond Bray.
However, many residents in Glasnevin are unhappy with the changes and they have made it known with posters in their windows, petitions signed by more than 4,000 people and a protest before last November's election.
Kevina McGill from the Wadelai housing estate said people are very upset.
She said: "This new 19 bus service that will serve highly populated areas of Ballymun and our estates is coming from Dublin Airport.
"We're very concerned about the capacity, because naturally, it'll be very packed coming from the airport."
Ms McGill said there will "be further developments in the area".
"There's new businesses and new companies that have moved into the area as well," she said.
"So we feel by the time it comes down here and we won't be able to get on the bus," she added.
She said the "other problem" with the service is "that room has to be made on those bus services for luggage".
"It gives a big problem for wheelchair users, old people with walkers and buggies, to be able to access the bus," she added.
Deirdre Martin, from the Wadelai Hillcrest and District Residents Association, said local concerns, particularly about older residents, have not been listened to
"25% of our residents in this community are over 65 - the national average is 15.3% - so there's a lot of concern for our elderly residents," she said.
Ms Martin said: "Since 2019 we've been attending all the consultation meetings.
"They haven't listened to any of our concerns whilst they meet the public representatives, that's our TDs and councillors.
"They are not willing to meet the residents association."
Standing at the 11 route's terminus to make his way to work in Clonskeagh, Sean Heffernan, from Glasnevin Downs, said he is not sure about details of the changes to the bus routes, but they may force him back to his car.
"This bus drops you directly to doorstep, so I don't know how to get to work in future once this bus is gone," he said.
Mr Heffernan said he will have "to find another way to get to get to work", adding this may involve his car "which is not what I want to do at all".
Adia Clancy is concerned about the impact it will have on her journey to school in the city centre.
"I'll have to get off and wait for another bus nearly every single day, which probably will impact me getting to school on time," she said.
The removal of this bus route was supposed to happen at the end of last year, but it became a big issue in the run up to the General Election.
The National Transport Authority said they delayed the changes until the new year so as not to cause confusion in the run up to Christmas.
Due to local objections to the loss of a cross-city services, they also agreed that in the coming months the 19 route will terminate in Merrion Square instead of Parnell Square as originally planned.
However, the delay in the roll-out of this phase of Bus Connects had a knock-on effect to the delivery of new routes elsewhere in the city.
Green Party Councillor for the on Bray Municipal Council Erika Doyle said the people of the Co Wicklow commuter town have been waiting for a long time for a reliable bus service.
"I think people were a little annoyed and I think some people thought that it was politically motivated as well," she said.
"We had a really unusual situation where we had very senior politicians actually welcoming the delay, trying to create a good news story out of it, whereas for the people of Bray, we just didn't get our bus service in time for Christmas," she added.
Ms Doyle described this as "very disappointing".
But she added the town is "happy that it's here now".
"I think it will make a huge difference. We are essentially on the outskirts of Dublin, here in Bray outside of the regular commuting hours, it can be difficult to access the city centre, so it will make a huge difference to people," she said.
Ms Doyle said the reliability of the service is key to its success, adding that not providing a bus to the Luas was a missed opportunity.
As the Bus Connects project passes the halfway mark, resistance to change has been an issue for the roll-out since it began in 2022.
However, interim CEO of the National Transport Authority Hugh Cregan said the programme has had a positive impact on bus usage in the areas its operating in.
Mr Cregan said: "Change is very hard, as you can imagine, for a lot of people, but we had a massive consultation exercise before we started with change.
"What we're seeing now is that when some people have had to make some changes to the journey, the overall effect has been really beneficial for the city."
He said areas where Bus Connects has been introduced have "seen an uplift in passengers of about a third higher than those areas where we haven't introduced it yet".
"So that tells us the Bus Connects is working better for more people, making the bus system more useful," he added.
Mr Cregan said there is "11 phases" to the roll-out.
"This phase on Sunday will be phase six, so we intend to complete the roll-out, assuming we have the resources available, drivers, mechanics in particular, by the end of next year," he said.
"That's our target," he added.
The new E spine begins operating on Sunday, but residents in Glasnevin say they have received no information locally about the changes.
Ms Martin has called on the NTA to meet them directly and hear their concerns.
She said people feel "let down" by the NTA, adding they also "feel somewhat let down too by the politicians".
"What we would like from the NTA is to sit down with us very soon and obviously for us to continually monitor the capacity and the frequency of those buses to ensure that it actually meets the needs of our population and the users of those service," she said.
