Whitmore Calls For L-Bus Expansion

Get on the bus, young Gus…

atest press release from Jennifer Whitmore TD, issued on Monday, April 27th 2026…

Social Democrats TD for Wicklow, Jennifer Whitmore, has called on the NTA to expand bus services at school opening and closing times amidst reports of overcrowding, and to align local bus timetables with these times.

“The L buses around Greystones are causing an awful lot of problems for commuters in the area, and one of those problems is that the buses that operating at busy times during the school day are not meeting the demand of the local area,” Deputy Whitmore explained.

“Not only is this causing chaos for schools and students, but it’s also making things difficult for bus users. I made a Facebook group this year to track issues with the L buses in Wicklow and a frequent poster in that group is a wheelchair user. He has told me on numerous occasions that the level of overcrowding on the bus when the schools close means that there are people pushed up against his wheelchair, and he often struggles to alight the bus as a result.”

“Safety must be a priority on bus services and overcrowding of this level is a serious concern to me. We need to see additional bus services added to busy school times to accommodate the local demand and ensure passenger safety for all local link users.”

“Another issues facing schools with the local link buses is that the timetables do not sync up with local school times. For example, an L2 passes by Greystones Community College just as the last bell of the day is ringing, this means that students are left waiting for 30 minutes after school for the next bus.”

“The solution to this is really simple – adjust the timetable by 5 minutes for the bus passing at the end of school time. I know that this is also an issue for other schools in the local area.”

“The issues with GoAhead services and school students do not stop there, though. Schools have reported to me that consistent ghost buses in the mornings are resulting in tens of students being late for school. Last Friday alone, 40 students were late to GCC because their bus never showed up and disappeared off the real time app. This is an issue I here about time and again.”

“The L2 bus is also consistently skipping stops along Sea Road, which is an issue I have raised again and again with GoAhead. There are frequent ghost buses, and overcrowding has become a serious issue on buses that come around the end of school time.”

“I am calling on the NTA to introduce additional bus services at busy school times. Safety on board must be prioritised and the levels of overcrowding that I am hearing about certainly do not appear to be safe. The NTA should also consider adjusting the bus timetables to better line up with school closing and opening times,” Deputy Whitmore concluded.

“I will also be writing to the NTA to request that they meet with me and with the principals of the local schools around Greystones to discuss how they can better accommodate schools and students in the area.”