Outer Dublin Metropolitan Area (ODMA) and Dublin Commuter (DCOM) Services
It is a statutory function of the National Transport Authority (NTA), under the Dublin Transport Authority Act 2008 and EU Regulation 1370/2007, to determine the appropriate mix of directly awarded and competitively tendered PSO services.
In 2015, the NTA sought expressions of interest from public transport operators to operate bus services on certain routes in the Outer Dublin Metropolitan Area and the Dublin Commuter Area. In 2016 to 2017, the NTA conducted a competitive tender process for the provision of 24 ODMA and 5 DCOM bus routes.
Following the assessment of both tenders, Go-Ahead Ireland (GAI) was identified as the Preferred Tenderer and was awarded a 5 year contract for the ODMA operation of these services in April 2018 and for DCOM in April 2019. A mobilisation phase commenced and the phased launch of routes took place through Q4 2018 and Q1 2019 for ODMA, and in Q4 2019 and Q1 2020 for DCOM.
All services operated under the new contracts will continue to be regulated by the Authority as they have been.
The Authority specifies details of:
- Bus services to be delivered
- Punctuality and reliability thresholds to meet
- Setting of fares
- Routes
- Vehicles for use on the services
- Customer service requirements
GAI now operate the specified services in return for an agreed fee, and will forward the collected fare revenues to the Authority.
The Authority will maintain full control over service delivery and standards across all routes, in exactly the same manner as now applies to Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann.
A proportion of the PSO payment is withheld each month and is only paid if the performance targets are met by GAI.
Timetables
Fixed Payment Notice
Fare evasion is a criminal offence that could lead to a fine of up to €1,000 and a court appearance. Random spot checks are carried out without warning on all public transport services to ensure that your ticket covers your entire journey.