Bus Stops

Serving communities nationwide by providing and improving Bus Stop infrastructure

Bus stops

Bus Stop Objective Statement 

NTA’s objective is to promote and grow public transport in Ireland and provide ease of access for people using public transport. This involves providing standardized stop identification through the installation of new TFI (Transport for Ireland) Bus Stop Poles, clear demarcations for buses to stop, and improving existing infrastructure as required in line with standards and guidelines. The NTA is responsible for overall funding, planning, and execution of bus stop projects and ensuring proper operation and maintenance of overall bus stop infrastructure nationwide.

Transport for Ireland (TFI) Bus Stop Flag

The TFI Flag is designed to represent a brand all over Ireland that provides the essential information to bus passengers. As part of the NTA’s Bus Connects Programme, all bus poles will become TFI Bus Stop Poles.

Approval for stopping locations

Since 1 February 2013, Local Authorities are responsible for the issuing and renewal of approval for the use of bus stops, whether existing or proposed.  This is in accordance with SI 12 of 2013 and Section 16 of the Road Traffic Act 2002.  Section 16 transfers the responsibilities for the location of bus stops from An Garda Síochána to the Local Authorities.

Consequently, on receipt of a formal offer of a bus route from the National Transport Authority (NTA), a bus/coach operator must also get approval from the relevant local authority for the use of a particular bus/coach stop location, whether this stop is existing or proposed.

Locating bus stops

NTA has implemented the Journey Planner platform which maps all active bus stops. With Journey planner, passengers can access any route information at one place either to plan their journey or to catch the nearest bus. Below is the link and interface of Journey Planner.

Journey Planner | Transport for Ireland

Bus stops Upgrade Programme

NTA is working nationwide to upgrade existing stops and provide new stops nationwide. Bus stop infrastructure upgrade projects are rolled out nationwide under the Dublin and Cork network redesigns and the Connecting Ireland initiative.

Projects Accomplished: As of year ending December 2023, the NTA has launched a number of new bus routes nationwide and installed associated bus stop infrastructure.  These routes include BusConnects Dublin including western and southern orbitals, the Eastern Commuter Corridor, Phoenix park, Carlow Town and Clonmel Town. New bus stop infrastructure has also been installed in various Local Authority areas including Galway, Cork, Kildare, Sligo, Mayo, Waterford, Clare Fingal, Offaly, Meath, Louth, Wicklow, Wexford and will continue into 2024.

Ongoing Projects Year 2024: At present NTA is working on main projects targeting significant developments in cities Dublin, Cork, Galway which will continue into 2024 and 2025 However, projects targeted to launch in year 2024 associated with Local Authority Areas mainly include Kerry, Donegal, Sligo, Portlaoise town, Laois, Offaly, Wexford and Waterford.

Continuous Improvement and Implementation of Best Practices

NTA is continuously striving to adopt and implement best practices in line with advancements occurring globally. As an example, for stops with Kassel Kerbs, NTA has initiated a practice to provide color contrast, texture difference for passengers to have better visibility of bus stops. This will also be included in NTA guidelines and basic design requirements.

To report any issues with bus stops

NTA has a platform for communities to raise their concerns, problems associated with bus stops infrastructure or regarding travel information. All such can be reported to info@nationaltransport.ie

Guidance for Local Authorities, Developers and Contractors

For Local Authorities, Developers or Contractors proposing to temporarily relocate a bus stop, please populate the form here: Relocation of a bus stop and return to info@nationaltransport.ie

For Local Authorities, Developers or Contractors installing new bus stop hardstands and retention sockets, please follow the attached Certification Procedure:

NTA is continuously reviewing and updating the standards as the Cycle Design Manual has been revised in September 2023.

In addition, other Guidelines including Bus Design Guidance Manual, Tactile Design Manual are being prepared.