How negative everyone is (and wrong)
Firstly, last week on Pat Kenny, there was a guy who was talking about building a metro and saying that we should do it. He was giving his reasons why, and there was a discussion about the costs and how it would compare to the Luas, and to QBCs.
He talked about the running costs of these (not the setup costs as these are once off) I don't remember the exact figures he gave, but it was something along the lines of 5000 per passenger per year for a bus (98 passengers * 5k = 0.5million to run a bus per year - insurance/tax/diesel/wages/wages for back office/upkeep of QBC/depreciation costs of bus etc etc).
For the Luas, the running costs are something like 1k per passenger (as the Luas can hold about 200-250 passengers), and for the metro, it is something like 500 per passenger.
So, ignoring the metro, and looking at these figures,
The Luas can transport 5000 people per hour into town.
Assuming a bus takes 98 passengers (a figure someone else used), you would need 50 buses.
I would believe the insurance costs of a bus are substantially higher as they are using the same road as cars (even if it is their own lane). Luas has its own dedicated road (for the most part).
You would need to pay twice the number of drivers for buses, and need 2 actual buses compared to the one tram. (actually, it will be closer to 4 to 1 - see later)
Anyways, load of figures, but if you think about it, it is substantially cheaper to run the Luas - once it is setup.
It is much greener than diesel from buses.
It is quicker to get people into town - and because of this, you will only need about 13 Luas trams (and drivers) per 50 buses.
It is quieter, and while some people will see the negative in this, it is a positive to anyone living near the line.
I am not bothering to talk about the setup costs as this is irrelevant. Over the course of 100 years, the cost of the Luas line is tiny - and there is no reason why this wouldn't run for 100 years).
Another negative I heard was about the MadCow Roundabout.
I know this roundabout extemely well, and anyone who travels it will know that the lights can be synched to a stage where the tram will cross the on/off ramps and main road when the lights are normally red.
I agree that this will be a huge success - at least as big as the Dart. Look at the uproar and inconvience when this closed at the weekends.
Plus, one final thing - it gives the city a huge boost and I have to say I think we are getting there and becoming quite a modern city, with that, the M50 extention, the M1.
Just remember what it was like 20 years ago!
Nation of begrudgers is right.