'I don’t think we’ve ever had as many complaints': ‘Panic’ at lack of buses in Cork city

Cork taxi drivers are increasingly picking up people who are “panicking” about a bus not showing up to take them to work in the mornings, with one saying that the past 12 months have been the worst he’s ever seen for complaints about buses.

It comes as the frequency of several bus routes in the city was reduced amid ongoing driver recruitment and retention issues.

People have said that they often have to hail a taxi after waiting a long time at a bus stop.

Cork taxi driver representative Bobby Lynch told The Echo: “I wouldn’t be out that early every morning, but just this morning I picked a lady up in Mayfield who was panicking — she was late because of the bus not showing up.

“A lot of people tell us they’re frustrated with wondering will the bus come, will it not come. I don’t think we’ve ever had as many complaints about the buses as we have in the last 12 months.”

A Freedom of Information request by The Echo earlier this year revealed Cork people were increasingly reliant on taxis to get them to and from work due to buses not showing up.

One person said: “Over the last two weeks, I have had to use a taxi in order to arrive to work on time eight times — spending in excess of €250.”

Mr Lynch added: “The NTA [National Transport Authority] are in charge of the buses as well as the taxis and they’re clearly not doing a good job. The bus drivers must be getting some stick from people, but it’s not their fault — I wouldn’t blame them one bit.

“We are trying to help people get to work and get home from work on time, but the traffic needs to be sorted out in Cork.”

He added that the terms and conditions of bus drivers should be looked at to help tackle the driver shortage which is impacting on the issues regarding buses in the city.

Mr Lynch said: “We do often see people panicking at the bus stops in the morning, especially when we’re passing the stop with someone already in the car and they try to wave you down. It’s an awful thing. You can be fired from your job over timekeeping. There’s also people late for hospital appointments, panicking looking at the app on their phones. It’s a disgrace. All we can do is try to help people out the best we can.”

The National Transport Authority was contacted for comment.