€200,000 income potential from Ennis bus

ENNIS could soon have its own local bus service, with a study showing it could generate an income of more than €200,000 a year.

 

Efforts are now to be made to attract potential investors in the service, with a route dubbed ‘The Red Line’ from Clarecastle to the Gort Road Business Park already identified as being the most viable.

The proposed route, taking in the Clare Road, Clon Road, New Road, Steele’s Terrace and the Gort Road, was chosen due to the high concentration of jobs, estimated at 4,000, along the line.
Also taken into consideration were the more than 5,000 pupils living in and going to school in the Ennis area. If the route goes ahead St Flannan’s College, Rice College primary and secondary, Holy Family, Educate Together and the Gaelscoil would be directly on the proposed route, while Coláiste Muire, Ennis Community College and the Gaelcholáiste are within a five minute walk of Steele’s Terrace.

Demand for the service from people travelling for retail, recreation and leisure purposes is also expected to emerge, according to the research.

Michael Neylon, administrative officer for Tourism and Community Development with Clare County Council, undertook the study into the potential for a bus service in the county capital.

The results were outlined at this week’s meeting of Ennis Town Council, where Mr Neylon stated he believed the route would be a profitable enterprise for a potential bus operator.
The research concluded that a bus travelling from Clarecastle to the Gort Road Business Park would complete the route in 15 minutes. It has been estimated that around one fifth of people who live in the area, drive to work along the route and whose journey takes less than five minutes, would give up their car.

The study found that two buses travelling in opposite directions would provide an attractive service interval of 15 minutes. The research concluded that weekly ticket charges of €15 for 240 workers for 50 weeks and €10 for 70 students for 30 weeks would generate a total income of €201,000.

Data for the study was drawn from the Place of Work and School/College Anonymised Records based on Census 2011.
According to Ger Dollard, Ennis town manager, the study will be made available to interested parties to discuss the feasibility of delivering on the potential service. He described the proposed route as a “viable enterprise opportunity”.

“The objective of a town bus service has been a matter of consideration by the council and other parties for some time now. The valuable contribution of this study now demonstrates that the concentrations of population together with the demand arising from workers, pupils and the retail/recreation, leisure area demonstrates a feasibility for a town bus service along The Red Line,” he said.

Councillor Brian Meaney suggested that any potential service should interface with the train service, while Councillor Johnny Flynn commented that the Minister for Transport be contacted for funding. Councillor Paul O’Shea urged that any bus be wheelchair accessible. Mayor of Ennis Peter Considine stated that there should be active advertising carried out to encourage bus operators.

Mr Dollard emphasised that this would not be an Ennis Town Council-run service. He stated the operators would be the decision-makers and that the council would work with them.