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HAVE YOU TRIED to figure out how much to pay on a Dublin Bus route you’re not familiar with in the past?
It’s all zones, ages and Leap Cards. Not to mention the numerous price increases in recent months.
But the company has now come up with a solution to make calculating fares easier on commuters.
The online calculator will tell passengers how much cash to have ready – or let them know how much will be charged to their Leap Cards.
If a customer is not familiar with the location of their nearest bus stop or wants to view their full journey, a Google mapping facility is available when selecting the boarding and alighting stops. The calculator also provides information on children’s fares.
The facility is now live on the company’s website and is being developed for the Dublin Bus smartphone app.
A step-by-step guide is available here.
Late last year, users of public transport saw the price of one-off tickets increase by as much as 17.9 per cent. Short trips now cost €1.65 on Dublin Bus while longer journeys are generally about €2.80.
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“HAVE YOU TRIED to figure out how much to pay on a Dublin Bus route you’re not familiar with in the past?”
No, I just ask the Driver…………….
Exactly. Instead of getting rid of paying for tickets on buses, like just about every other city in the civilised world, Dublin Bus spends money on an app almost no one will use. There, in a nutshell, is what is wrong with it.
A majority of Dublin bus drivers are rude pigs!
Very seldom you’ll find a happy one in his job. We get it that they’re going ’round in circles on their routes, but a bit of manners never hurt in the day to day job.
emily
Chill, have a salad and walked……
“walk” dammit
Ah come on now Boy that’s not fair at all now is it? It’s a rough job. Especially on some of the worse routes.
Most drivers are sound, but some are nothing but jobsworths!
I hate being asked after I already put in my fare how far I’m planning to go…
“Eh, as far as 2.15 will take me.. ye dzope!”
@Big Pat – I usually use Dublin bus routes in South Dublin/city centre and it’s crude at the way almost all of them won’t even bid you hello, let alone a thank you or an acknowledgement when you thank them at the end of your spin.
They may be drivers but they’re also represent of Bus Eireann in our capital. They also should provide appropriate customer service skills to paying customers.
From my experience about 80/90% of their attitudes stink.
Dublin Bus, Bus Eireann, Iarnród Eireann. None of their frontline staff give a f*ck about customer service.
Being the only game in town I dont see why they would….
Most of them in my experience would be quite nice. The odd muppet, but sure you get them everywhere!
I had that app years ago,as service goes down,fare goes up,simples
See. That’s your problem… Your from South Dublin. ;-)
I have a friend who drives for Dublin buses and he is not rude or unfriendly and he works lots of different hours and works hard so don’t tar every one with the same brush.
I laughed out loud (LOL) when I read that Becky,thanks!
@Leanord Washington – That’s like me saying ‘you’re black’ but what would be the point in that? What difference would it make? None! Nothing! You’re as equal to me as I am to you, irrelevant of race, religion, colour, sexuality, gender, etc..
And for your information, I work in south Dublin. Live in city centre, and i am from south cork originally, so no it’s not because ‘I’m from south Dublin’
I don’t like people who gather us all up stereotypes or labels – or rude bus drivers!
Im only messing lad. Hence the winking face.
What kind of lol was that a good lol or a bad lol ? :-)
@Becky Mary Eaton – Good to hear that. Sounds cool. ;-)
@Leanord Washington – Ohhh-Kay. I withdraw my comment in excitement. ;-)
Thanks :-)
I pictured your comment quoted on an advert at a bus stop for Dublin Bus is all,no offence intended ;)
None taken :-)
I’ve come across some really bad bus drivers, but I have also come across some who were really decent. Have been on a bus with a couple who were willing to go well above and beyond what is expected of them, including putting themselves in danger to resolve anti social behaviour on the bus and dropping people home when they fell asleep upstairs and ended up back in the garage (oops)..
They’re people like the rest of us, some of them enjoy their jobs, some obviously hate it.. You definitely couldn’t tar them all with the same brush..
The app on the other hand is complete twaddle.. The 46a has a tremendous habit of disappearing and reappearing..
We need a zonal fare system in Dublin. The App is just like putting gourmet barbecue sauce on rotten meat.
Exactly – we need a zone system that is the same for all transport. It’s bizarre that the LUAS has managed to create 10 fare zones while only having 2 lines.
I agree.. In my student days I got the monthly student pass for the Bus and LUAS, which was excellent value. Now that I’m technically an adult, transport in Ireland is soo expensive.
Bizarre also that 10km’s on the bus is €2.80 and 2-3km’s is €2.50.
I wished they would have sorted out their website first. If your not familiar with the area you are going its difficult to understand.
And while we are there, I really wish bus eireann, Dublin bus and Irish rail would but the journey of the traveller first and combine a route planner. Just recently I was trying to work out a route and couldn’t figure out why I could get on a bus but wasn’t able to get off at the same stop so when I called Dublin bus they told me it was because they can’t take business off bus eireann grid. Solution – continue on the bus past needed bus stop, for approx 15 mins, get off, cross the road, get on another bus, travel for 15 mins and get off at the stop immediately across the road from original stop! Madness!
Hahaha. Thats the most Irish thing Ive read today!
Transport for Ireland have an integrated Journey Planner and Smartphone app. http://www.a-b.ie is a short link to it.
Yes the Journey Planner is fully integrated across all transport and is really handy.
Vancouver has a great system, they have three zones with zone 1 being the cheapest so you know how much you have to pay. Same ticket can be used as often as wanted in an hour and half. If you have a zone one ticket and need to go to next zone you just ask bus driver to add on the difference rather than buying a new ticket.
It still amazes me how some people still haven’t got their head around using the pre-paid smart cards or leap card yet. Every other civilized country can do it right but not here…
Nor can most people get their head around internet banking as opposed tk cheques….
TK Cheques? Are they to buy the red lemonade and cream soda?
Simon this is a genuine question, does the leap card offer a better alternative to cash for the occasional user or is it for more regular travellers?
Ye get a cheaper fare with it Ted so its better for all round. If ye a frequent user get a pass, much cheaper in the long run, unlimited travel
Leap card is only cheaper if you know the discount you should get otherwise in my experience the bus drivers charge you full fair. I’ve seen bus drives charge €1.65 when people shouldve gotten the city centre fair. Systems like in Perth where you tag on then off and the computer does the calculating is where we should be heading but well whenever do we do something that makes sense….
If you will be getting more than two buses in a day then a rambler ticket is the way to go.
I still haven’t seen anything about a maximum day bus fare for the leap card that compares to the rambler. I remember calling up to ask how this would work when the leap card came out and they said that ramblers would be available on the leap card within 6 months, but I guess that never happened.. The individual fares are cheaper, but on the 30 day one the maximum you’re spending per day is €4.17, that’s a return journey on the 46a from the city centre to Belfield on the leap card. If you are travelling much further it doesn’t make sense to use the leap card for the bus at all.
On the flipside the leap card is great for the Luas and Dart. It’s so nice not having to use the machine (with invariably a que) if your dart / Luas is about to go, just tag on and off.. Lovely..
I think it’s a good idea. It will save time if people use it before making a trip.
Of course it is, especially with having to have the correct fare or else getting the change back on the paper receipt. Saves you handing over €3 for a €2.65 journey and then throwing the change receipt away.
And they wont allow charities to collect and cash the change receipts…….big cash cow for Dublin Bus.
That’s not true my man. A friend of mine works for Dublin bus and all change tickets go to charity. Look at Dublin bus QCA awards. Nearly a million given to charities last year.
Good man Leonard, the amount of misinformation that does the rounds online is incredible!
Well yes, but (amazingly) not everyone is in a position to do that, for one reason or another.
No it does not all go to charities dublin bus issues as statement on the profit they make they make from unclaimed receipts. My neighbour works from them and when people don’t take the receipt he keeps them and he went in and cashed them in. I’d have no problem naming him as he’s a w….r
Sorry guys… Im behind the curve on this. I do recall that was their policy but now glad to hear they will cash large volumes of change receipts for charity. Apologies Dublin Bus.
That’s another lie gwen my friend is with me now and just said he would be sacked on the spot. Now tell me im wrong. Please.
So you dont get change back???you get a ticket with your change on it where do you cash it in.
It’s no lie lennord he did this few years back I was shocked when he said it. He got a refund of €250. He’s a money pinching …. That’s why I said I’d no proble in naming him
(Leonard) sorry spelt ur name incorrect there. And yes I agree he should have been sacked but that miner to the other stuff he did does in dublin bus
Impossible. They can tell by the change tickets
Sorry. Its impossible he would of been sacked on the spot. All the refund tickets will have a code on them that are traced back to a driver. So for example if i walked in wit 250 euro worth of change tickets that my mate gave me, straight away ill be asked “do i only ever travel on that drivers bus?” your neighbour must be tellin porkie pies
Can’t say I would be too surprised if drivers were cashing them in. Doubt the teller cares that much about the codes on the tickets….
Hi Gwen if you feel strongly on the issue and believe your statement is genuine you should go directly to his employer and address it with them as it can be quite damaging to make such statements online about someone. And could even leave you liable for defamation.
Is your “change” not printed on the ticket issued? Unbelievable, that people are still using cash when LEAP is available and cheaper.
I can never understand how poor the websites, maps, timetables etc are for irish public transport. Londons tube, which caters for millions every day, has had an excellent, well designed, user friendly and now iconic map for 90 years (also available as a free app) Last week i tried to get from tralee to killarney and it took three unanswered phonecalls and nearly 20 mins online to just get the times for buses between two towns that are only 20 mins away from each other. God help any tourist that tries to get anywhere!
Tube has a much higher usage and has had billions of pounds poured into it in 150 years.
I agree – zones make far more sense. Like the way the Luas works. Just have 3 zones and stick a price guide on the bus stops.
Their routing and number system is a confusing mess as well though- but that’s another day’s work.
Luas now has 10 zones – 5 per line. This is also ridiculous.
Interesting to see how the price you pay actually changes. In my experience you can be lucky and pay less for a journey with one driver and more with the next for the same trip! And yes the majority of them are ignorant pr*cks quite a lot of the time!
My dad drives for Bus Eireann, he is known as the “happy bus driver” despite the amount of stick they’ve got to put up with. Don’t tar them all with the same brush, at the end of the day we don’t know what troubles they are dealing with in their lives, just a point to think about.
I got a bus the other day; one that I wasn’t familiar with and the bus driver couldn’t have been more friendly or helpful. It really makes a difference.
Great news but I said some.
Dublin bus should teach some of their drivers some manners.
My change receipt goes into a bus shaped Trocaire box thing in work towards some charity.
For those asking for a Zonal system, you will undoubtedly end up paying more
Flat and capped daily rates. Simple. Just how much money would be saved doing this? For one that calculator wouldn’t need to been developed. Customers would know up front how much to pay.
It’s easy enough to work out the cost of a fair. You just look up what stage you are at and take it away from the stage you are going to count the difference and then there’s a list at the bus stop. I’m not a regular user but know how to do simple math
The Dublin Bus fare stages are overly complicated. Yes, it’s easy to subtract fare stages, but it’s not easy to work out routes you’re not familiar with. Their app isn’t much good either if you’re unsure of the stop number (it has problems recognising Stephen’s Green as a destination). The introduction of the LEAP card was the opportunity to improve things, but after many years and €55 million to date they just came up with essentially the same system – only without cash.
“present the card to the card-reader at the bus-driver and ask for the ticket you want the bus driver will then “write” the required ticket to your card and deduct the fare from your credit.” The tag on system only works if you’re using maximum fare. The system also isn’t integrated, so if you want to use another bus, LUAS or DART for your journey you have to pay for separate fares.
In Perth they have simple fare zones and a ticket is transferable between bus and train for 2 hours. All public transport within the CBD is also FREE.
In London the bus is a simple tag on system (using the superior OYSTER card) and one fare £1.40 with a daily price cap of £4.40
Why they spent €55 million on a system (LEAP) that doesn’t have the full benefits of a truly integrated system like OYSTER is beyond me.
The bus fares are just ridiculous sometimes. From the city centre to Lucan is €2.80, from Lucan to Maynooth is €2.80, yet a bus from the city centre all the way to Maynooth is still €2.80!
Once they include this as an app, it will be very useful but another little step for Dublin Bus
bout time! It was never clear!! Robbed people blind for years!
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