Some see this as a deliberate attack on the elderly
Marketing strategist Caroline Leonard lives in Enniskerry with her 22-year-old daughter and relies on the bus following major surgery last year. She has been campaigning with the Keep Enniskerry Connected group to save the iconic 44 route and the 185. ‘I like change and tried to look at the positives of Bus Connects. But I couldn’t see any logic. Under the proposals we’ll be disconnected, completely isolated. We will no longer have a direct bus into the centre of town. They basically want to join the 44 with the 185 into one route, the 213. But the proposed route will terminate at UCD which means we’ll no longer have a line via Dundrum to the city centre. This is an unviable proposal for our community. Tourist attraction: Powerscourt It will have a huge impact on our area which already suffers from poor infrastructure.
There are two new housing developments in Wicklow County Council’s plans — 200 houses with business units and a medical centre — how can they go ahead if there’s no bus servicing them?
Since I had brain surgery last year I’ve been unable to drive. The bus is my lifeline especially as I begin to regain my confidence and return to normal life.
There are a number of housing estates in the area with ageing populations so the 185 isn’t just a bus service, it’s a community service. Older people use it to go to their doctor in Bray or do their shopping. One lady travels with her oxygen tank. They are totally reliant on the bus service. Some people see the proposals as an ageist deliberate attack on elderly people.
Many people, including students who’ve been away for the summer, are only hearing about the proposals now and are upset because they need a bus service to get to lectures in the city centre.
There’s also a tourism element. The 44 brings people to the Dublin and Wicklow mountains. The Powerscourt Estate is home to one of the top ten gardens in the world and gets a lot of visitors using the 44 from town or the 185 from Bray Dart station. That opportunity will no longer exist so there’s a very serious knock-on effect for local businesses.
If I want to go into town in the evening to see friends, I’ll have to change at UCD to get home later on. That’s not something I’m willing to do at night, it’s not realistic. Following the tragic death of Jastine Valdez during the summer, young women are already being escorted to bus stops by their parents and now they want to take those bus stops away?
Where the NTA is concerned, I don’t think the right hand knows what the left hand is doing. We want answers.