Waterford buses to stop on roads with cars waiting behind them under new policy

Waterford buses will stop on the road with cars forced to wait behind them under a new policy, a council meeting has heard.

Senior Engineer Michael Murphy introduced the concept of in-line bus stops at the November Metropolitan District meeting of Waterford City and County Council.

In-line bus stops allows buses to collect passengers without having to pull in off the road. 

Mr Murphy said that there’s going to be in-line bus stops implemented on all Active Travel schemes moving forward, including on the Williamstown Road and Tramore Ring Road.

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He continued: “This is coming from the drivers of buses and bus companies. Basically, they don’t want to pull in off the road to pick up passengers because then they can’t get back out into the traffic.

“Cars don’t let them out so it’s causing delays and it’s upsetting the timetable.” Mr Murphy explained that “in other words, the traffic will have to stop behind the bus”.

He said that there are already two such bus stops in Waterford but they are going to become more prominent across the city and county in the coming years.

Mr Murphy was speaking at a meeting where several councillors raised the issue of traffic in the city centre.