Buses

[ckn]

T'other story of the week seems to be about buses and how valuable they are.  It even took an hour of the James O'Brien LBC show during the week where it was patronisingly covered as how valuable it was to the community but strangely lots of people didn't actually use it.

That mirrors my perception as well that too many people would rather walk than be seen on a bus.  My neighbour is like that, he drives to the train station every day, parks in his season-ticket non-guaranteed space car park, rants about it frequently that the spaces are too tiny and suffers in the huge queues getting in and out plus local traffic.  When I go to London, I walk the 5 minutes to the bus stop, wait for the bus that's scheduled once every 10 minutes then a comfortable 15 minute ride to the train station.  It simply doesn't occur to me that there's anything wrong with jumping on the bus, it's there, it's a public service, it's cheap and reliable, and I like it.

Am I missing something about why people look down their noses at buses?

[Old Frightful]

When you say "bus", do you mean them peasant wagon things?

[Bearman]

They really are fun. We travelled on one after the wedding the other week from Westminster Abbey to Harry and Megan’s reception. I have to say the canapés and champagne they served were excellent, 

Its no wonder they are so popular.

[gazza77]

For a semi rural area, we have a pretty good service, with up to two buses an hour, and a 7 day a week service that runs from early morning until late evening. There are always threats to cut it however, and the usage levels at times are pretty low. Numerous times I've been the only person keeping the driver company.

Personally I don't use it often, but that's circumstance not choice, as happy to jump on when needed. Cost is a potential issue at times however, as the cost for two for the journey from Hebden Bridge to home is only a matter of pence cheaper than a taxi. 

[Futtocks]

I live a minute away from bus stops that are on 4 different routes. Very useful services.

The flat rates and daily/weekly fare-capping are a bonus, as is the new rule that, if you take the return journey or switch to another bus within the hour, you don't pay a second time.

Plus, the fact that London buses are now card-only, you don't get the delays with the once-common idiot who doesn't accept that he/she can't get change paying for a £1.50 journey with a £20 note.

[ckn]

21 minutes ago, gazza77 said:

For a semi rural area, we have a pretty good service, with up to two buses an hour, and a 7 day a week service that runs from early morning until late evening. There are always threats to cut it however, and the usage levels at times are pretty low. Numerous times I've been the only person keeping the driver company.

Personally I don't use it often, but that's circumstance not choice, as happy to jump on when needed. Cost is a potential issue at times however, as the cost for two for the journey from Hebden Bridge to home is only a matter of pence cheaper than a taxi. 

It's £1.50 a bus ticket each way for me to the train station, so £3 a day.  The train station car park day-rate is £10.70, plus I'd need to drive there.

If I went there every day, I could get a non-guaranteed station car parking season ticket for £1994 a year.  Assuming 220 days working a year, that's £9 a day, not including car wear/tear and petrol.

[ckn]

4 minutes ago, Futtocks said:

I live a minute away from bus stops that are on 4 different routes. Very useful services.

The flat rates and daily/weekly fare-capping are a bonus, as is the new rule that, if you take the return journey or switch to another bus within the hour, you don't pay a second time.

Plus, the fact that London buses are now card-only, you don't get the delays with the once-common idiot who doesn't accept that he/she can't get change paying for a £1.50 journey with a £20 note.

Now, that's a nuisance.  I get the slight variant to that all the time, people who get onto the bus, get to the driver and then look astonished that they have to pay, they then dig out their coins one at a time, 5p in the slot, then 10p, then another 5p then a disagreement with the driver over how much is in there.

[gazza77]

10 minutes ago, ckn said:

Now, that's a nuisance.  I get the slight variant to that all the time, people who get onto the bus, get to the driver and then look astonished that they have to pay, they then dig out their coins one at a time, 5p in the slot, then 10p, then another 5p then a disagreement with the driver over how much is in there.

That sounds familiar to me, from when I used to commute into Leeds. 

[Marauder]

3 or 4 minute walk to the bus stop in one directions and the same the other way to the railway station, £3.20 and 50 minutes into Doncaster (12 miles)  on the bus and £2.90 and 20 minutes on the train, both services run twice an hour.

[Maximus Decimus]

There is a bus stop across the road from me that gets to Liverpool City centre in about 35 minutes. There are two different companies that have a bus every 15 minutes. 

I used to work in Liverpool and was late once because a telephone pole fell across the road. I also had a job in Warrington where I had to get the train and was late probably once a fortnight and countless times coming home. 

There is a different clientele that goes on the bus and once in a blue moon it can be a bit hairy but overall I would get the bus every time. 

[Futtocks]

Some of the new buses appearing on my local routes have much better air-con than the old ones - those old ones that had any at all, that is. Given the recent weather, that has become a major plus!

[Maximus Decimus]

3 minutes ago, Futtocks said:

Some of the new buses appearing on my local routes have much better air-con than the old ones - those old ones that had any at all, that is. Given the recent weather, that has become a major plus!

USB ports in the back of the seats too. 

[Griff9of13]

If I lived in London I'd use the bus all the time and probably get shut of the car, the service really is excellent. And at £1.50 per journey, capped at £3 per day (zones 1 and 2) very cheap. Elsewhere services and prices aren't so great. The difference? London is run and highly regulated by TFL, the rest of the country is a  deregulated free market free for all.

[Saintslass]

Buses here in St Helens are getting rarer and they are very expensive.  Arriva runs the majority of buses with Hattons (a local coach company) running a service of rackety old shebangs on a few routes (they are cheaper than Arriva).  I have used the bus service to get to jobs locally since I had to send my beat up old car to the car graveyard a few years back and whenever Lime Street station has closed to get to work in Liverpool. I don't like bus travel.  People are right on top of you (sometimes literally if the driver thinks he's trialling for Formula 1), some people are shall we say uncomfortable to be around (smelly or drunk or both for example), and boy are they hot in hot weather.  On the whole they are more reliable than Northern trains but for public transport give me trains over buses any day of the week.  (The bus to Liverpool is actually only slightly cheaper than the train to Liverpool but it takes at least twice as long - over an hour - with endless stops and far too many people in close proximity to get to Liverpool on the bus)

[Dave T]

A problem with buses is that understanding routes and how to pay is a pain and inconsistent.

I'm lucky that the Edinburgh system is excellent and cheap, but I'd never use a bus elsewhere. It really isn't simple to know how and where to get a bus to/from.

 

[getdownmonkeyman]

5 hours ago, Old Frightful said:

When you say "bus", do you mean them peasant wagon things?

Definite contender for post of the year.

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

Where are these strange lands where you can get a 15-minute bus ride for a mere one pound fifty?  Do tell!  Round here, fifteen minutes would cost you about three to four times that!

[Futtocks]

8 minutes ago, Wiltshire Warrior Dragon said:

Where are these strange lands where you can get a 15-minute bus ride for a mere one pound fifty?  Do tell!  Round here, fifteen minutes would cost you about three to four times that!

On London buses, every journey is £1.50, whether you're going one stop or the entire length of the route. It is a bit weird saying that something in London is great value for money, but there you go. The capital has got something right.

I could get on a 183 bus at the Golders Green bus station, travel all the way to Pinner (the other end of the route) and, if I chose to take the return journey within the hour, go free for that second part. That's nearly 2 and a half hours' travel for £1.50.

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

1 minute ago, Futtocks said:

On London buses, every journey is £1.50, whether you're going one stop or the entire length of the route. It is a bit weird saying that something in London is great value for money, but there you go. The capital has got something right.

Thanks for that, Futtocks.

it seems ironic that the ever London-centric government, back in Maggie's day, effectively sought to stop local authorities running cheap services, by not allowing them to run bus services at all.  Of course, the MPs voting in bus deregulation, back in the 80s, specifically excluded one area from this, where a degree of structure, regulation and order was still thought to be vital.  Er, the one including the Palace of Westminster...!  Hey ho, one rule for the city slickers and another for us provincial plebs!

[Futtocks]

5 minutes ago, Wiltshire Warrior Dragon said:

Thanks for that, Futtocks.

it seems ironic that the ever London-centric government, back in Maggie's day, effectively sought to stop local authorities running cheap services, by not allowing them to run bus services at all.  Of course, the MPs voting in bus deregulation, back in the 80s, specifically excluded one area from this, where a degree of structure, regulation and order was still thought to be vital.  Er, the one including the Palace of Westminster...!  Hey ho, one rule for the city slickers and another for us provincial plebs!

Some of the upsides of bus travel in the Capital has been pushed through by the Mayor, which puts him in my good books for that at least. Maybe Andy Burnham could have a go at something similar in Manchester, unless that's already happened.

Before London buses went cashless, the cash fares were noticeably higher than the contactless ones. Once it went card-only, I expected all fares to go up pretty fast, but they haven't (yet).

[ckn]

11 minutes ago, Wiltshire Warrior Dragon said:

Where are these strange lands where you can get a 15-minute bus ride for a mere one pound fifty?  Do tell!  Round here, fifteen minutes would cost you about three to four times that!

In Ipswich, an on-the-spot single ticket is £2 but you can use a pre-pay card, much like an Oyster card, for £15 for 10 tickets, it just tops up when you run out.  It's £4 for an all-day ticket for unlimited travel.

Ipswich Buses are town council owned but there's been a few predatory priced First Buses routes been put in in direct contest where they run at a loss trying to force the council to stop routes that are unprofitable.  The route I use had First on it for about a year then they gave up when most people shunned them and would prefer to use the council-owned service.

[Ullman]

4 hours ago, Johnoco said:

I remember the NightRider bus service they had in the 80's round here, which was a post nightclub service.

It was like a mobile punch up most times.

My last bus back from town on a Friday and Saturday night used to go through to Boothferry Estate where most of my mates lived.

It was a riot on wheels. I swear sometimes it felt like it was going over (a sensation probably exaggerated by the evening's beer). 

[timtum]

NIght buses down in that there London back in the 80's?  I'm astonished I still don't smell of sick.

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

3 minutes ago, Ullman said:

My last bus back from town on a Friday and Saturday night used to go through to Boothferry Estate where most of my mates lived.

It was a riot on wheels. I swear sometimes it felt like it was going over (a sensation probably exaggerated by the evening's beer). 

Buses in the evening?  Another strange and exotic land!  Next thing is you will be pulling my leg with tales of buses allegedly running on Sundays! 

The only destination I see on buses round here at times other than during the day, six days a week, is "Not-in-Service"  I presume this is an obscure village - a bit like, say, Ashton-in-Makerfield or Sherburn-in-Elmet - but I have yet to pinpoint it on any map of Wiltshire.  Nevertheless, I envy them their level of service!

[Ullman]

Off to get the bus into town now. Expect a Kevin Turvey style on the spot report.