It is a stupid mess of ticketing and services in what is a very small country that could easily have a fully integrated network.
BE was arbitrarily split in two with some very stupid exclusions now for those unlucky enough to have to pay for their travel in certain places. The supposedly commercial Expressway wasn't commercial when they were expected to run for months with no passengers, revenue or state support in lockdown while the private sector quickly withdrew nearly all other commercial routes. The subsequent losses incurred have now resulted in a number of those routes being withdrawn.
Those poor privates who might face unfair competition are holders of unending FREE licences that block or severely restrict competition on those routes while imposing no service provision, fare, disability access or quality rules.
The leap card ticket johncrossley is asking about is effectively a replacement for the old Medium/Long/Giant hop commuter tickets that had roughly the same zones, those tickets however were valid on all Bus Eireann, Dublin Bus and Irish Rail services within the zones; progress NTA style.
Ah come on - that's a bit of a one sided view of history.
Bus Éireann had zero legal competition for years under Irish public transport legislation, and that could not perpetuate under EU competition law. Whether you like it or not, that's the situation. The split of commercial Expressway and PSO routes was one that they agreed with the National Transport Authority - it was not imposed on them. But it had to happen. Otherwise you'd have had one operator a route receiving State aid, and another not.
The old situation just could not continue legally - there would have been a string of legal cases brought against the Irish government or the National Transport Authority.
Some commercial operators did remain operating alongside Bus Éireann Expressway during the first Covid lockdown - so don't tarnish them all. BÉ also cut services during that time. They did not simply leave everything running. They were free to cut Expressway routes too at that time. Both private operators and Expressway were entitled to avail of State support for commercial routes during the second half of last year.
The private commercial coach operators and BÉ Expressway are subject to the exact same regulation in terms of how close they can operate departures to one another, coach type, and both are entitled to charge whatever fares they like.
The writing has been on the wall for some BÉ Expressway routes since well before Covid hit, as frankly the company was very slow to change in the face of new competition, and has operating costs that are too high. The private competition has resulted in much longer operating hours and has forced BE to up their game. They were very slow to recognise the potential of the motorway network, and that left a barn door wide open for private operators to drive through on certain routes, and BÉ is paying the price for that now.
The speed limit in Ireland for buses that are designed for standing passengers is 65kph with coaches at 100kph, that isn't the only reason coaches are much more widely used on service buses here but it is a factor.
That zone map doesn't really reflect the variety of services or route variations available in those zones. There are some orbital routes that connect some of the towns as well; 190 Drogheda-Navan-Trim (hourly), 166 Dundalk-Cavan (once a day via some proper backroads)
Dundalk can be reached on the hourly 100 from Drogheda but beware it finishes early as it has always been a combined service with the 100X with that being the only one running in the evenings, arbitrarily splitting up the services like they are two unconnected companies has been a right mess for those who might want to actually use the services.
Dundalk-Drogheda is also served by the 168 which takes a much more rural route.
The routes from Drogheda including the 101 to Dublin and the 105 that connects with the 103 in Ashbourne can get coaches, single or double deck buses. The 103 is the only Bus Eireann route to Dublin that is nearly always bus operated
As well as the 109 Cavan is also served by the 111/a, these appear to be listed as seperate routes to/from Delvin, they certainly used to be through buses but there is a 15/20 min connection now.
There are a handful of services to/from Newbridge on the 120 route running via Clane (and more backroads) The regular 120 to Edenderry connects a few times a day to the 120C service to Enfield where you can catch the 115 route or in the other direction to Tullamore where you would need to go straight back or pay for the train or private operator.
On the 126 the route from Newbridge to Kildare is not direct (private operator Dublin Coach runs that mainly with ex-Stagecoach VanHool deckers) but via the Curragh army camp and some backroads, the handful that are listed for Japanese Gardens take a different longer route and the one that is listed as Suncroft takes a longer route again.
It's a pity the availability on Expressway was removed as the likes of Dublin-Arklow direct and back via Rathdrum and Wicklow is not available without paying more.
Hopefully some of that is of use for your trip.
Just to clarify, the 111 and 111A are two separate routes, operated by separate vehicles.
The one thing that is very poor now, is BÉ timetable and ticketing information. It is like pulling hen's teeth trying to find out what routes the LEAP zones apply to, and properly formatted timetable pdfs have vanished from the website for most routes since early last year. In fact the maintenance of the website has been shocking.
My understanding is that LEAP 24 hour Orange Zone tickets can certainly be used on the following services:
Go Ahead Ireland: 120, 120c/d, 126, 130 (timetables are at the bottom of the page here:
https://www.goaheadireland.ie/services)
Bus Éireann (ex-Dublin): 101, 101X, 103, 103X, 105X, 109, 109A, 109B, 109X, 111, 111X, 115, 132, 133, 133X
Bus Éireann (regional): 100, 105, 107, 108, 111A, 115C, 133B, 133L, 163. 166, 167, 168, 182A, 187, 190 plus the D1, D2, D4, D5, 173 in Drogheda, 174 in Dundalk, and the N1 & N2 in Navanz
I am not sure if the ticket is valid on the 160, 161, 162, or the 182 beyond Ardee to Monaghan - I am still trying to get a clear answer on the boundaries!
You can get individual route maps for all of the routes here:
https://www.transportforireland.ie/getting-around/by-bus/route-maps/
Other handy cross-country routes are operated by Local Link (managed by the NTA). These offer useful connections which are not covered by the regional ticket but are reasonably priced. They go via back roads and smaller towns/villages.
Useful Local Link routes can be found here:
https://www.transportforireland.ie/tfi-local-link/ - Scroll down the page to "Regular Rural Bus Service Timetables" and then select the areas as below:
Cavan Monaghan:
Route 176 - Cavan-Monaghan
Carlow Kilkenny Wicklow:
Route 183 - Wicklow-Glendalough
Route 800 - Carlow-Arklow (via Tullow)
Kildare South Dublin
Route 883 - Athy-Newbridge
Louth Meath Fingal
Route 195 - Ashbourne-Balbriggan
