"Chaos on the Quays" - anger over North Quays shuttle
Video on Waterford Council's youtube channel showing the bus cross the bridge
Anger is still palpable over the decision to scrap the shuttle bus on the Sustainable Transport Bridge.
The shuttle bus was initially planned to take passengers from Ferrybank to Waterford City and was heralded as a major element to the North Quays Strategic Development Zone (SDZ). The announcement that the shuttle was to be scrapped caused major uproar across Waterford and Kilkenny.
At the December meeting of the Metropolitan Council, councillors heard that the National Transport Authority (NTA) are still considering options for public transportation between Ferrybank and Waterford.
Councillor Jim Griffin spoke on the level of public disappointment over the shuttle: "They're very disappointed that the sustainable bridge going to the North Quays hasn't transport on it."
Director of Services Michael Quinn informed the Council: "Bus Connects is the current working proposal for public transport that would result in an opening of capacity for public trasport on the Ferrybank side, and is very much the priority for the NTA."
Mr Quinn said further: "The shuttle bus idea was very much driven by the original reach here on the North Quays, with Michael Street being a significant retail development as well with the North Quays.
"Obviously, those plans have changed completely, I've made it very clear from my point of view that I don't think the level of business would justify a shuttle bus."
Mr Quinn said that the NTA is looking at other options for the bridge, but warned: "It is a very different type of service to your standard public transport bus service. It is not a normal bus, it'll be a shorter bus."
Cllr Griffin responded: "Michael, I find we're allowing the NTA to dictate to us. The reason people in Ferrybank won't use public transport is because there's chaos on the Quays. They can't get to the hospital or shops in a timely manner."
He added: "Albeit its a smaller bus, but there's many people over there who would come here to shop and to work. We all agreed as councillors that we wanted to see this shuttle bus, or tram, or whatever its going to be. We should keep it on the list as a high priority and tell them what we want, not the other way around."
