Dublin Bus is the workhorse of the city with bus commuters accounting for two-thirds of all journeys taken on public transport.
In the absence of projects such as the Metro North and the Dart Interconnector being introducted within the next decade, bus services will remain crucial.
For that reason changing the route network is the simplest and quickest way of improving public transport.
The National Transport Authority also believes that an expansion of bus lanes and the introduction of rapid transit corridors can increase passenger numbers by 50 per cent on the 130 million journeys on Dublin Bus a year.
The outline of a €1 billion redesign was unveiled by Jarrett Walker, a public transport planning expert, in Dublin yesterday.
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He said that an interconnecting network, achieved through more orbital routes that avoid the city centre and more frequent services, can speed up journey times despite the need to change buses.
Think of the route maps of the London Underground or Paris Metro for an idea of how it might look.
People are more reluctant to use buses when they have to change. However, the NTA and Mr Walker are convinced that the promise of faster journey times, aided by more reliable services and better information facilities and bus shelters, will make the prospect more acceptable. While route changes could be introduced in a “big bang” as early as late next year, other measures to make bus transport more attractive, such as the extension of bus lanes, will take longer, although some changes have already been introduced.
Routes that cross from one side of the city to another instead of ending in the city centre and bus stops and apps with real-time information have made travel by bus a more palatable option in recent years.
Persuading Dublin commuters to get on and off more regularly might be one journey too far — however solid the theory behind it is.