People drenched waiting for a bus

AS bus usage increases throughout the county, members of the West Cork Municipal District are coming under increased pressure to have more shelters installed.

Cllr Caroline Cronin (FG) raised the issue as a notice of motion at a recent meeting of the West Cork Municipal District saying bus shelters are ‘a must’ wherever there is enough road frontage.

‘There are so many more bus routes now throughout West Cork – including the popular Skibbereen to Killarney route – that people are demanding shelters as part of a proper service,’ she said.

‘There are no bus shelters in many towns and villages, including Durrus and Schull. And in a lot of places there are not even signs for the bus stop.’

‘It’s time we offer people a modern transport system, one that includes bus shelters,’ she stated. ‘People need to be protected from the wind and rain and cold.’

Cllr Patrick Gerard Murphy (FF) said everyone was delighted with the expansion of the bus routes.

‘But we all know what our weather is like,’ he said. ‘If we are serious about the service it would be important to have bus shelters to make public transport as easy and user-friendly as possible.’

Cllr Joe Carroll (FF), a former bus driver, said he ‘made headlines’ 20 years ago, when he fought against the removal of an old phone box at Old Court near Skibbereen, simply because it gave elderly people shelter from the elements while waiting for their bus.

Cllr Danny Collins (Ind) said he had previously raised the issue at a full Council meeting. ‘There are people standing at the side of the road in all kinds of weather,’ said Cllr Collins. ‘Bus shelters should be considered a necessity.’

Cllr Karen Coakley (Ind) said schoolgoers are worst affected because, after getting soaked to the skin, they have to sit in their wet uniform all day.

Cllr Deirdre Kelly (FF) referred to a recent Western Division meeting at which a Council official recommended that individual applications be submitted.

‘I put in two for Dunmanway and got them,’ she added.

Meanwhile, the councillors were told that the local authority is rolling out bus shelters on a phased basis.