asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he is aware that great hardship and inconvenience is caused to the public waiting for buses in inclement weather, and if he will consider having put in force a system of advance booking for long distance buses so as to obviate waiting in a queue when no seat is available.
Ceisteanna.—Questions. Oral Answers. - Long Distance Bus Services.
With a view to minimising the inconvenience caused to bus passengers waiting in queues at the Dublin terminus long distance buses of the Great Southern Railways Company are, in practically every case, brought to the hazards as early as one hour before the scheduled starting time in inclement weather. The question of a system of advance booking of tickets has been examined, but for many reasons has not been found practicable. The machinery involved would be very unwieldy and costly, and advance booking would lend itself to speculation in tickets. Even if a practical working arrangement could be reached there would be many disadvantages; for example, persons compelled to travel on business at short notice would be under a disadvantage as compared with holiday travellers, who would be in a position to make arrangements well in advance. Persons coming to the city from country areas on business might find themselves unable to return home on the same day unless they had secured return accommodation, which would involve correspondence and advance payment of fares. For these and other reasons it is not proposed to adopt a system of advance booking on omnibuses.
I realise what the Minister has said in the case of fully booking a bus up, but, surely, the company could issue priority tickets up to say three-quarters of the carrying capacity of the bus, leaving the remainder to be filled by casuals. In other places people are able to secure advance bookings, and surely it ought to be possible to do so in the open air. Will the Minister look into the matter again?
The matter has been fully examined, and I think the disadvantages outweigh the advantages.