Whitmore Suggests Follow That Bus Tracking

Tracks of my tears…

atest press release from Deputy Jennifer Whitmore, issued on Wednesday, May 6th 2026…

Social Democrats TD for Wicklow, Jennifer Whitmore, has proposed a bus tracking system for GoAhead to address transparency issues with bus reliability today in the Dáil.

“The GoAhead buses in Wicklow are plagued with issues. From ghost buses to buses that simply refuse to follow their set route, I am receiving weekly reports from constituents in Wicklow with major issues with this service provider,” Deputy Whitmore explained.

“One of the big issues with GoAhead services in Wicklow is that buses that are showing on the real time app are not actually arriving to the stop. There are consistent ghost buses that do not seem to be logged on any sort of a system. This is leading to a huge level of distrust of the bus services in Wicklow.”

“I set up a Facebook group earlier this year in order to monitor the situation with GoAhead buses in Wicklow and it has made one thing in particular really clear to me – people in Wicklow are sick and tired of having a bus provider that they cannot rely on. If we want people to use public transport and leave the car at home, they need to have a healthy level of trust and faith in that transport system. GoAhead are undermining that on a weekly basis in Wicklow.”

“I recently learned that Dublin Bus is introducing a bus tracking system for their routes that they are set to pilot in September of this year. The motivation behind this new system is a desire to improve transparency and an acknowledgement from Dublin Bus that ghost buses are a major issue for their users. That very same issue plagues GoAhead services in Wicklow, and this sort of system would go a long way in addressing that, or at the very least in highlighting it so that concrete action can be taken.”

“I am constantly hearing from GoAhead and indeed the NTA that GoAhead are providing a great service, that their reliability levels are high, that they have very few cancellations and major delays. That simply is not what people on the ground are telling me. With a tracker system like Dublin Bus is set to pilot, the answer would be there in black and white.”

“People in Wicklow will use our public transport system if they can count on it, it’s important that Government and public service contractors do all in their power to deliver a system that is trustworthy and reliable.

“When I proposed the introduction of a bus tracker system for GoAhead with the Taoiseach in the Dáil today, he committed to raising it with the Minister for Transport,” Deputy Whitmore concluded. “I will be monitoring this closely and following up with the Minister and his team…

“Wicklow deserves a reliable public transport system that works for them.”