Plans for 2016 include new buses, additional services and improved priority for buses throughout the city.

Dublin Bus has reported an increase in our passenger numbers for 2015. Passengers travelling on our 110 public service obligation routes and our commercial services have increased by 2.5% to 122 million. Our commercial services include Airlink and Dublin Bus Tours which all experienced growth in 2015. 

This positive trend is continuing into the New Year despite a challenging operational environment for buses in the city centre with on-going Luas Cross City construction works and increased traffic volumes. 61% of all public transport trips into Dublin city centre are on Dublin Bus and in 2016, we will continue to work with the National Transport Authority and Dublin City Council to combat congestion and provide a quality service for our customers. This includes extending our Centralised Bus Priority Project to all bus corridors in the Greater Dublin Area by the end of 2016. The Project uses our Automated Vehicle Location (AVL) technology system on each bus to analyse particular areas of congestion and give green light priority to buses at certain junctions.  This will result in reduced journey times for customers and improved service reliability. 

In order to meet the increase in demand for our services, we will review the key growth areas in the city in conjunction with the National Transport Authority and will introduce improvements to frequencies on existing routes in 2016 while also examining the opportunity for new services to enhance our network offering.  

Also, in 2016, we will acquire 110 new buses into the fleet. 30 buses will be new additions to the fleet and 80 of these will replace older vehicles as part of our fleet replacement programme.  The buses will enter service on a phased basis from summer 2016 and will further enhance the comfort and reliability of our services for customers. We are uniquely placed to cater for increased customer demand throughout Dublin and the addition of new buses into the fleet is important to ensure we can achieve this in a timely manner. 

We are also continuing our recruitment of new drivers to meet this increasing demand for our services. Last year 176 new drivers were employed to cater for additional demand and to ensure that a quality service continues to be delivered for customers. The application process for professional bus drivers is open for 2016 and we hope to employ in the region of an additional 100 drivers this year.  We currently employ approximately 2,500 bus drivers who operate 110 routes in the Greater Dublin Area. 

Dublin Bus remains the largest public transport provider in the country. These initiatives will contribute to a sustainable mode of public transport which meets the needs of commuters throughout the Greater Dublin Area.