Dublin Bus has been fined over a quarter of a million euro by the National Transport Authority in the first half of 2019.
The NTA measures the performance of Dublin Bus in four-week periods, of which there are 13 in a year. €165,096.69 of the fines were for "failure to meet punctuality target" and were incurred during five of the first six periods of the year.
€65,228.47 of the fines came during the sixth four-week period of the year for "failure to operate scheduled services."
The remaining €38,455.19 was deducted at the end of the second quarter for "failure to meet service quality target."
According to the NTA, this includes "such aspects as bus equipment, bus driver, cleanliness, customer care and customer information."
In total, Dublin Bus has been fined €268,780.35 so far this year.
Last year, fines increased massively in the latter half of the year, with over €600,000 incurred in the final seven periods of the year for failure to operate scheduled services.
In a statement to JOE, the NTA said: "In accordance with the terms of their contracts with the NTA Dublin Bus are required to meet targets in relation to punctuality, reliability and service quality and the operators are liable to deductions in the event that the targets set out in the relevant contracts are not met."
The NTA noted that it "does not impose deductions on operators where the failure to meet the agreed targets was outside their control due to events such as severe weather, road closures, abnormal traffic congestion or anti-social behaviour."
Dublin Bus has been contacted for comment.
