A chara, – I sympathise and agree with Donal Lyons (June 20th) and his trials and tribulations with Dublin Bus’s Real Time Passenger Information System.
However, thankfully there is also a version in our native tongue (Fíor-Ama Córas Faisnéise do Phaisinéirí), so we can now count down the nóiméad until the bus is déanach, both in English and as Gaeilge. Interestingly, the screens do not show an t-am, so it’s impossible to work out exactly how déanach the bus is when it finally arrives at your stad.
Another feature of the system is the wheelchair symbol beside each route, which, given the regularity with which My Lyons’s phantom 14 buses appeared and disappeared from the system, probably suggests a quicker mode of transport to his destination.
Apparently there are rumblings of more route cuts as Dublin Bus continues to lose money (as well as phantom buses!) And for those who think Dublin Bus’s much (self) hyped Real Time App is the answer, its lucky you weren’t on Dame Street recently, or you would still be waiting for the (virtual) 68 bus – a no-show meant nearly a 90 min gap between buses. Waiting for Godot, perhaps, but definitely not Appy Days! – Is mise,