Well isn't a truck bigger? Why is a bus less stable, what if you go really slowly and carefully on the main routes with passengers only on the bottom wouldn't that be ok? I presume a double decker is worse than a normal bus, how about using normal buses if they are safer?
Buses have to pull into busstops at the end of the road where the slush collects and it's dangerous to brake and accelerate. They carry passengers who are walking about, climing up and down stairs and standing between seats which means any sudden motion could cause injuries. They can't simply switch to single decker buses because there are only about 30 of them left in the city.
Where I am we have an inch of snow and -6 today but I've brought the kids to school all week and I've not heard of any public transport not working so I don't see how Dublin Bus is any different, this doesn't happen in Stockholm, Minneapolis, Bonn etc.
I don't see how anyone can rationally compare a city which rarely gets heavy snowfall with a city which regularly gets lots of snow. Buying the requirement amount of heavy machinery to keep streets clear during heavy snowfall would (rightly) be criticised as a waste of money in Dublin. The only point I will concede is that the local authorities should have had larger stocks of salt and grit but even that is a moot point when you consider they're using 2-3 normal supplies of salt each day.
Instead of a helicopter how about an army truck to do the bus routes, I'm sure people wouldn't mind as long as they could get to and from work.
You're assuming the army have 1,200 trucks (which can hold 94 people each) and 94 drivers all standing around doing nothing and can be taught routes and
sent out with a few days notice.
I would have thought with the volume of traffic day and night that if the buses and cars are constantly on the roads it would keep them clear?
The opposite is true. After a heavy snowfall, the heavy trafficed routes were like bottles because of the effect of thousands of cars impacting the snow and ice.
What should have been done is
- the DoT/DoEHLG should have had its own reserves of grit and salt to be distributed to areas running out
- the government should have convened an emergency group meeting to make sure the authorities had proper plans to tackle the affected areas
- in Dublin, the city councils should have focused their gritting efforts on hills, ramps and humback bridges. Fairview was effectively shut down because of the canal bridge even though the rest of the road was fine. Ditto for the M50 at several points.
- the local authority and gardai should have had a plan for rolling road closures in order to effectively grit the roads at short notice during the day. They couldn't do it properly on Wednesdsay because of the congestion caused by everyone trying to leave early.
