Transport chiefs have promised to vanquish Dublin's "ghost" buses which are being caused by driver shortages and technical issues.
A bus service vanishing off Dublin Bus’ real-time information is a common occurrence in the capital. The phenomenon has been dubbed a ‘phantom’ or 'ghost' service by frustrated commuters left stranded at stops.
Chiefs from the National Transport Authority, Dublin Bus and Go-Ahead Ireland told TDs they are “working hard to fix” the software problems and bus driver shortages that are causing the disappearing services.
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It comes as new figures reveal Dublin Bus drivers reported being assaulted on 429 occasions since 2017. Over the same period, there were 461 assaults on passengers and 3,344 anti-social incidents which range from objects thrown at buses, assault on drivers, assaults on other passengers, robbery, graffiti, drug use and vandalism.
Sinn Fein TD Chris Andrews said the "worrying" stats must be impacting on driver levels.
National Transport Authority Chief Executive Officer Anne Graham admitted to TDs that the real time info had not been accurate in recent months.
She said: “There have been a number of complaints relating to the accuracy of the Real Time Passenger Information (RTPI). The RTPI on signs and on apps is driven by the Automatic Vehicle Location or the AVL systems on the buses."
The AVL systems are constantly monitoring the bus' progress along its route and uses prediction algorithms to produce realt time schedules on apps and signs.
She added: “The inaccuracy of the data in recent months was as a result of a higher than normal cancellation of services due to a lack of drivers as well as a technical fault.”
Ms Graham added a “number of fixes had been applied” and initial surveys have shown an improvement of services in recent weeks.
Acting Chief Executive of Dublin Bus Andrea Keane said software issues coinciding with bus driver shortages exacerbated the “ghost" bus issue.
She said:”The reliability has deteriorated in recent months and we are very aware that any prolonged inaccuracies with the RTPI system dilutes the confidence in these systems.”
“The technical issues with the RTPI system have unfortunately coincided with the driver recruitment challenges which has meant we have been cancelling more services than usual.
“These cancelled trips should be removed from the real-time system in a timely manner. But in some cases, this was not happening.”
Dublin Bus has 2,800 drivers and is looking to fill 150 vacancies with 290 new drivers hired this year. Go-Ahead Ireland said they have around 500 drivers and 45 vacancies.
The Acting Chief Executive said that “even with this number of new drivers, we are not keeping pace with the rate of network expansion and very much regret the impact this is having on customers”.
Ms Keane added that the “vast majority” of Dublin Bus services operate on time with 97% of all services on schedule during the first six months of this year.
Dublin Bus carried an average of over 400,000 customers a day during the week in October on 7,000 different trips each day. The numbers marked a return to pre-covd levels of customer demand.
Sinn Fein TD Chris Andrews, who obtained the stats on Dublin Bus assaults through a Parliamentary Question, told the Irish Daily Mirror the risk of assault must be “an element” of the staffing issue.
He said: "It is very upsetting that Dublin Bus drivers can't go to work without being afraid of getting attacked. There is a fairly high chance that you could be attacked or assaulted each week
"That has got to be very worrying and in terms of staff retention that has got to be an element to it. It highlights the need for a transport police."
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