The Green Party has welcomed route changes announced by Dublin Bus today to relieve traffic congestion in and around the city centre.From next Monday 29th January the northbound 25, 25a, 25b, 25d, 37, 39, 39a, and 70 will travel via Tara Street rather than College Street.In addition southbound Xpresso services on the 25x, 27x, 32x, 33x, 39x, 41x, 51x, 66x, and 67x routes will now travel via Westland Row rather than Nassau Street. Ciarán Cuffe, chair of Dublin City Council's Transport Committee said:"Improving bus and tram times through the city centre makes sense, and is important that public transport runs smoothly especially during rush hour. I look forward to customers experiencing the benefits of these changes from next Monday. "However these changes should have been forseen, and discussed at an earlier stage. We have known for more than a year that the College Green Plaza would lag behind the opening of the Cross City Luas service."Looking further ahead, longer trams will be in place on the Luas Cross City by the end of March, and we want to ensure that trams that can transport 360 people aren't stuck in traffic. Dublin Bus and the National Transport Authority are current designing the BusConnnects project which will propose significant route changes later this year. It is crucial that all these service changes benefit those who come to work, study and relax in Dublin. Also, today's announcement that there will be more peak hour buses on the 46A from Foxrock Church in the morning peak, as well as more buses on the 15, 25a, 25b, 26, 66, 67 and 140 routes is a welcome improvement in bus services in the city"ENDSIssued and uploaded 25th January 2018