Bus shelters essential in Bundoran to attract more to use public transport

A call for two weather resistant bus shelters for the West and East End of Bundoran was made at the monthly meeting of the Donegal Municipal District, held at the Public Services Centre at Drumlonagher in Donegal Town today.

The call was made following a motion from Cllr Michael McMahon who said that it was "very very important if we are trying to get people to use these services."

He said that there was little point in trying to get more people to use public transport, if they were going to be left out in the wind and rain, while waiting for the bus to arrive.

He said that in Bundoran's case, they were talking about visitors' luggage as well and then you had mothers with children and older people who can't be left in inclement weather, exposed to the elements and the vagaries of a seaside climate.

"We are promoting a public service and we need to back this up and we need to negotiate with both (Bus Éireann and Ulster Bus).

His motion had asked: "That this MD in conjunction with Bus Eireann and Ulster Bus try to get two bus shelters erected in Bundoran".

Addressing fellow councillors he said that passengers, when soaked were then being forced then sit on a bus to try and get dry before reaching their destination or a child going or coming to school, who had been waiting at a bus stop getting drenched, was not something that bodes well for trying to increase numbers to use such services and particularly in Bundoran. Neither would it enhance the chances of improving the country's carbon footprint.

It might also help in terms of people not picking up flus and colds, he suggested.

Cllr McMahon said that it also backed up a delegation of three students from the AVS in Donegal Town.

They had addressed the earlier part of the MD meeting and a project that they were working on with a goal that could see a greater alignment of local bus services, especially local link bus services, to be more school time and with a GPS type update for users in real time.

In welcoming the motion, his party colleague, Cllr Noel Jordan, referenced school children coming into Donegal Town from outlying areas such as Dunkineely.

Cllr Jordan said that there was a requirement for what he said were designated spots for school children to be dropped off and collected from, as well as the need for a shelter of sorts.

He said that the new stretch of road that had been created needed to be looked at, in terms of finding a suitable slip road, where this could be implemented

Mark Sweeney, Acting Area Manager for Roads and Transportation pointed out that such matters came under the remit of  and funding from the National Transport Authority (NTA)

In choosing a location for a shelter, safety issues were also paramount, such as it potentially blocking a footpath. He said that the NTA were currently working through a list for bus shelter funding and that it was based on the number of services that stop at a particular location, more than five a day. 

Cllr McMahon said that he was happy to liaise with the area manager in terms of locations, which he felt might be suitable for the bus stop locations and indicated that local sponsorship could also be forthcoming to expedite matters.

Note: A current bus shelter at East End currently only caters for passengers in the Sligo direction, while the one in he West End only caters for passengers going in the Ballyshannon/Donegal Town direction.