Bus service in the UK is terrible
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The Government tells us we should leave our cars at home and use public transport more. My car has been in the garage for the last 8 days, awaiting to be seen by a very busy mechanic who has not had time to look at it yet over Easter. Consequently I am having to use public transport to get to work. |
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Instead of my usual 20 minute commute to work, leaving at 8.00 to get there for 8.30, I now have to leave my house at 7.20 to catch the 7.30 bus. This bus then takes me on a 10 minute journey in the opposite direction so that I can catch another one that goes to my destination. Well I get off this first bus and walk another 200 yards in the wrong direction, wait at a busy crossing for the lights to change, cross the street and walk another 200 yards to the bus stop. I then have to wait 20 minutes for the second bus which is at least going in the right direction. This bus takes another 20 minutes to get to my destination, stopping every few minutes along the way. |
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On the way home I have to wait 30 minutes for the connection which would increase my travelling time to an hour, so instead I have been taking my walking boots to work and walking that final lap home. It takes about 45 minutes walking at a steady pace, but it is a lot better than standing around wondering when the bus will turn up. In a couple of days I will be staying at a friends house and so will have to catch another bus on a different route. I jumped on one bus today and checked with the driver if it was the right one, and he replied "huh?". I repeated my question. He shrugged. "dunno". I had to ask the PASSENGERS if the bus was going in my direction!! Thank you God that it is not raining and please let my car be fixed soon because the bus service here in the UK is terrible! By: Emmy |
Comments from visitors
i've lost count the number of times a bus hasn't turned up. surely a big company like Stagecoach should know how to run a proper service
+2
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fed up passenger - 31-Aug-11 22:01
Here in the U.S., bus service is also terrible - right here in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles MTA sucks! Terrible service. The bus drivers are almost always late, and when they do arrive at the bus stops, they are usually rude and surly. Oftentimes, these drivers don't show up at all, and there are too few arrival times, so if a bus doesn't show up, it can take up to an hour for the next one to arrive.
+4
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A Disgruntled Bus Rider - 29-Nov-10 00:27
What I find ironic is several weeks ago the union for Milton Keynes Bus Drivers said that the local tory candidate should get some experience of the real world before trying to become an MP because he wouldn't be able to relate to the average working person.
I say this is ironic because most the bus service has no sympathy what so ever to the average working person. Evident by their cancelling services at a whim, turning up late, or even driving straight past the bus stop.
I say this is ironic because most the bus service has no sympathy what so ever to the average working person. Evident by their cancelling services at a whim, turning up late, or even driving straight past the bus stop.
+9
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When you go to S.E. Asia, you realise just how good public transport can be. Most people there just don't bother with cars as it's so much easier to take a bus/metro/ferry. The other good thing is department stores that run a free minibus service to bring customers to their shops. I think they do that for Bingo here but it would be good if out-of-town supermarkets did it too.
+2
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Learn to drive a bus you silly old fat pink lady. If you drive a car you will clog the roads even more with your incapable driving. It's pork pies like yourself who drive 4x4s. Let's crush your transporters.
+3
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I hate travelling on buses, the drivers are rude and miserable, where I live they are always overcrowded and people always eat on buses despite there being notices saying not to. I'm learning to drive as soon as I can afford to because travelling just takes too long on the buses.
+6
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Blame the second world war for not properly wiping out all of our grotty cities. Blame the town planners and transportation chiefs for creating cities like Milton Keynes or Peterborough, or for designing awful places like Southampton, Plymouth, Exeter, Basingstoke London and so on. Blame our useless political system which promises everything and does nothing. Who needs the Olympic Games when we don't have a proper public transportation system or hospitals or health service.
+3
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Green Grow the Rushes Oh - 4-May-09 23:12
Yes, the bus services are awful, but they hold all the cards don't they? I don't condone violence and vandalism, yet after waiting 45 minutes for three buses that don't turn up, in the cold and rain, wind, snow etc, I feel like trashing the bus stop!
+5
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No driving Licence = No Job, you can forget even getting an offer of an interview ,your cv went out in the first batch to the paper recycling bin along with the Junk Mail, now how do you pay for your lessons at roughly £30.00/Hour and Driving Test? in order to get a job to earn money.....public transport doesn't get you to work on time or out to different offices/sites and back, or pick up the bosses wife from the Airport, does it...
-2
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dolmusses are a good idea but the way they run them is dangerous as they are over full of passengers. Anyway to the main gripe I totally agree the public transport is so awful it's untrue!
I had a job in a town 6 miles from where I live I bought a "new" second hand car which was in the totally undriveable. So I looked at getting there on the bus guess what there were no buses that would get me they for the start of my shift and the last bus was about 10 minutes after my late shift ended, only problem was it was a 20 walk to the bus stop!
I had to give up that job in the end because I could not get there anymore. Please do not say walk because I can not walk that far as I have arthritus.
I saw another job only 4 miles away the other day so again I checked the bus timetables and found that I would have to catch 3 buses just to get there and would take one and a half hours!
Thats 6 buses each day and that would work out very expensive as I would have to leave the county and enter a different county so I could not but a travelcard.
The government need to wake up and realise this public transport problem. People can't and won't leave their cars at home while the transport system is in such a terrible state as it is today.
I had a job in a town 6 miles from where I live I bought a "new" second hand car which was in the totally undriveable. So I looked at getting there on the bus guess what there were no buses that would get me they for the start of my shift and the last bus was about 10 minutes after my late shift ended, only problem was it was a 20 walk to the bus stop!
I had to give up that job in the end because I could not get there anymore. Please do not say walk because I can not walk that far as I have arthritus.
I saw another job only 4 miles away the other day so again I checked the bus timetables and found that I would have to catch 3 buses just to get there and would take one and a half hours!
Thats 6 buses each day and that would work out very expensive as I would have to leave the county and enter a different county so I could not but a travelcard.
The government need to wake up and realise this public transport problem. People can't and won't leave their cars at home while the transport system is in such a terrible state as it is today.
+4
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In Turkey, everyday all day private minibuses [called dolmusses] run up and down all the main A-roads picking up passengers. But I suppose we are not advanced as Turkey.
-6
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It is about par for bus services in the UK(doutfull if you can call them a service though).
The general concept of bus services is that they are run for the convienience of the staff & management. The other aim is to ensure buses do not run when you want them or go to where you want them. To add to the fun it is normally made as difficult as it can be to obtain information about bus service, Another prime aim is to ensure that the buses do not run in accordance with the timetable.
In summary UK bus services are totally useless
The general concept of bus services is that they are run for the convienience of the staff & management. The other aim is to ensure buses do not run when you want them or go to where you want them. To add to the fun it is normally made as difficult as it can be to obtain information about bus service, Another prime aim is to ensure that the buses do not run in accordance with the timetable.
In summary UK bus services are totally useless
+4
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I wonder if anyone has realised . . . that if we all give up our cars to use public transport to stop congestion and pollution . . . .
There'd have to be so many buses on the road to accommodate us all, we'd be back to square one with the congestion in no time at all. They'd never get enough buses on the roads!! And we still wouldn't be going anywhere fast!!
Think about it. :)
There'd have to be so many buses on the road to accommodate us all, we'd be back to square one with the congestion in no time at all. They'd never get enough buses on the roads!! And we still wouldn't be going anywhere fast!!
Think about it. :)
+3
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You got to be kidding. Use a bus. I learnt to drive simply because I got fed up with them.
Bad time keeping, Dirty buses, rude and obnoxious drivers, bus passes that arn't worth the card they are written on, ect. I could go on for ages on this subject.
Bad time keeping, Dirty buses, rude and obnoxious drivers, bus passes that arn't worth the card they are written on, ect. I could go on for ages on this subject.
+7
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Well, use the bus, what bus, got rid of them years ago as away of safing money. Yes have put back a bus service, but wait for this it, the local bus service covers 2 major housing estate, Thatcham West Berskhire, that one point the bus goes round a 1.5 mile circle of the thatcham. That the mid point of the bus ride were nearly started from in the first place.
Come to understand the bus drivers on that route drive like complete maniacs, not joking, drive like everybody in their way, the over braking from tall gating is scares the heck out of me. Got of the bus and knew the bus was in trouble as was a alarm buzzer was sounding. Looked to the back of the bus and coolant leaking out of the buss, the driver was happy to drive the bus untill went bang.
104 not my fav number. :-(
Come to understand the bus drivers on that route drive like complete maniacs, not joking, drive like everybody in their way, the over braking from tall gating is scares the heck out of me. Got of the bus and knew the bus was in trouble as was a alarm buzzer was sounding. Looked to the back of the bus and coolant leaking out of the buss, the driver was happy to drive the bus untill went bang.
104 not my fav number. :-(
+8
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What gets me is when "Green" thinking takes any old idea and calls it a solution, however, woolly-minded. Bus use is fine in certain circumstances, that is on routes where there is demand. Demand will occur where bus use is as convenient as the car, in terms of perceived cost savings and travel time.
As far as serving rural locations goes, the bus is a complete waste of space. With privatisation any idea that such a service should be adequately subsidised has been consigned to the bin. So individuals living in rural areas, whatever the county, get a miserable bus deal in terms of travel times, frequency of service and inflated cost.
Yet the Greens still seem to think it essential for everyone living in rural areas to use the bus as a means of running their lives. This is as irritating as it is stupid!
As far as serving rural locations goes, the bus is a complete waste of space. With privatisation any idea that such a service should be adequately subsidised has been consigned to the bin. So individuals living in rural areas, whatever the county, get a miserable bus deal in terms of travel times, frequency of service and inflated cost.
Yet the Greens still seem to think it essential for everyone living in rural areas to use the bus as a means of running their lives. This is as irritating as it is stupid!
+6
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Ha, you're lucky Emmy. My nearest bus stop is a 15 minute walk along a narrow country road (where there is no footpath etc.). The bus stops there only 4 times a day during the week, if I wanted to get to my local train station to get into the city, I would need to walk 15 mins then get the 6.45am bus, to then wait for an hour standing about outside as the inside area at the train station is tiny and full of aggressive teenagers usually. Then eventually get the train which stops off about 5 times before eventually arriving. All in all I'd basically have to leave my house at 6.30am to go by public transport. By car, I leave at 7.30am so as you can see why the hell would I waste 2 hours (return) of my day waiting or sitting on grotty dirty buses & trains when I can go quickly and comfortable in my own car?
The Government has a hell of a lot to answer for. They cannot tell us to take public transport when in a lot of areas its not possible!
The Government has a hell of a lot to answer for. They cannot tell us to take public transport when in a lot of areas its not possible!
-8
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I knew he would be in here! Any post to do with a vehicle of any kind and Car crusher is there spewing his confused nonsense all over the place.
Unless you drive around in a car powered by old trabags and recyled garden waste he has to say something about the enviroment and how your killing the planet - regardless of the gripe!
Well Car Crusher, Im going to hassle you from now on.
Get a job, you Human virus!
Unless you drive around in a car powered by old trabags and recyled garden waste he has to say something about the enviroment and how your killing the planet - regardless of the gripe!
Well Car Crusher, Im going to hassle you from now on.
Get a job, you Human virus!
+2
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The Punto Kid - 22-May-07 12:04
You're right, I know very little about gliders. I do know that they are towed by a powered aircraft. This aircraft creates emissions that pollute the environment. It may only be a little but I guarantee you that it is more than my car.
If you want to preach about the environment and criticise others for what they do then you need to be squeeky clean yourself. Clearly you are not!
When you are then I might listen to you
If you want to preach about the environment and criticise others for what they do then you need to be squeeky clean yourself. Clearly you are not!
When you are then I might listen to you
+1
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Fraudie, you have clearly no idea about gliders. We rely on human power to move them on the ground. It doesn't take much energy to get a modern glider airborne. Once aloft we can travel whence we like, as long as we avoid controlled airspace.
A 4x4 would consume as much energy as a glider getting airborne merely travelling 1 mile across the ground.
A 4x4 would consume as much energy as a glider getting airborne merely travelling 1 mile across the ground.
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