Madam, - I am concerned at the inefficiency and waste inherent in one familiar feature of the Dublin Bus service - the plethora of buses marked "As Seirbhís/Out of Service" that sail majestically past waiting would-be passengers. This is a cause of much frustration to myself and many others who converted to public transport in recent years. I know it is also a source of great puzzlement to visitors to the city.
Where are all these buses going? If the answer is "to the garage", or "to the city centre", or indeed to any location in Dublin, why can't they display their destination and be required to take passengers who are queuing up to go there, or en route to that destination?
At a time when the cost of diesel fuel has doubled in 12 months, Dublin Bus surely must eliminate this scandalous waste of resources to reduce its operating costs.
Reform of this endemic practice might also help to reduce the reported demand for further increases in the size of the fleet which, if conceded, can only increase the frequency of the "As Seirbhís" buses in the city. - Yours, etc,
VAL O'DONNELL,
Iona Park,
Dublin 9.