Poor bus service in Milton Keynes

I used to get the bus In the morning from my village In Mk to the trainstation, now Ive just given up as Is was getting up to near 45 mins late, so I'd obiously miss my train! I think the service is crap! they really need to sort it out.

Whilst there can always be excuses after excuses for late buses, or even buses that don't run at all.............
........there is never any excuse for

.........a bus departing it's stops ahead of the scheduled time
........ a bus driving straight past bus stops without stopping for passengers wishing to get on
........a bus going a completely random route for no reason

All of these are regular occurences to the fun of using bus services in Milton Keynes, in my experience.

One more time for those who don't listen...

It's not Milton Keynes Council that 'grant' MK Metro the right to run the services, it's a commercial operation by the bus operator just like the airlines and is the same as it is everywhere else in the country...except London!!!

Ha! I'm about to start working in Bicester (Branch consolidation apparently) so will be making the journey the other way. I've every faith that the X5 will be efficeint in getting me to and from Bicester/MK in good time although I will be on a tight schedule.

However, having used the buses in MK for years I dare not bother with them and will be cycling to and from the train station.

Currently I work in the City Centre and get the # 9 to work and back. I've grown fed up of it though. It only runs every half an hour and has a pretty good record in just not showing up. At all.

Standing around in the cold for half an hour in the morning because the scheduled bus hasn't turned up and getting to work late doesn't exactly fill me with good cheer in the morning.

I've lost count of the number of times i've had to leave work a bit early and race to the bus stop outside the Winter Gardens because the bus has a habit of whooshing past the stop there 5 minutes before its scheduled time. I've also lost count of the number of times i've missed the bus due to it being early and then had to wait another 30 mins plus for the next one to turn up, all the while in the rain and cold while every other commuter has long disappeared. Great way to end the day.

MK Metro are gash and why MK Council keep on granting them the contract to run the bus service is beyond me.

you really dont know what your on about. the reason that the bus service in milton keynes is so bad is because it was designed as a drivers city, and the grid road system makes it virtually impossible to run an effective bus service that covers all of milton keynes.

"Common Sense" is absolutely right that MK is run as a "driver's city".

The surprising fact is, though, that it didn't have to be, as its grid of streets was originally supposed to support a network of trams!

I live in a popular residential suburb and work for one of the largest employers in Milton Keynes, with only ten minutes' drive between them. However, the buses run just once every two hours on weekdays - the first one would get me in to work an hour early at 8am, the second an hour late at 10am, and the last bus home leaves before 6pm so working overtime is not possible unless I drive or get a taxi. What's more, the buses (which are NOT empty) are in a very poor state of repair.

I was amused by Common Sense's idea of sabotaging car parks to get drivers onto the buses, but surely there could be a bit of carrot along with the stick??

Atlease twice a week I need to call a taxi as the either the bus is running late or have not come at all. It is the worst bus service in UK.

"The simple fact is that many MK residents have a bit of cash to burn (if you don't you end up living a little bit closer to the centre... *ahem*).
It would be unfeasible to operate a London-style bus service for a relatively small percentage of residents who don't have their own transport. In additon, most of the people I know who do not drive seem more than happy to spend £5-10 on taxes fairs (or if not happy, they still do so)." ("Common Sense")

Yeah, right. Well, many Oxford residents have quite a bit of cash to burn too, but that doesn't stop Oxford (where I used to live) from having an absolutely excellent bus service. I'd love to take the bus more often not because I don't own my own transport (though why should there be any shame in that?) but because I care about the size of my carbon footprint. And if you know many people who are happy to spend £5-£10 each way on taxi fares on a regular basis, then you must move in quite different circles to us mere mortals with families to feed, mortgages to pay, and salaries of less than twice the national average.

Public transport in Milton Keynes is much worse than in any other city I've lived in, and there's absolutely no excuse for it. If there were more frequent services and more routes, then more people would see it as an option - exactly as is the case in Oxford, London, Manchester, etc. City councils don't run public transport any more, but they can play a role in developing it.

MK is a driver's city. Look at the grid network and the general distribution of housing. While you may state that this is supposed to be for better public transport, it simply provides better roads for all drivers.


The simple fact is that many MK residents have a bit of cash to burn (if you don't you end up living a little bit closer to the centre... *ahem*).
It would be unfeasible to operate a London-style bus service for a relatively small percentage of residents who don't have their own transport. In additon, most of the people I know who do not drive seem more than happy to spend £5-10 on taxes fairs (or if not happy, they still do so).

Typically MK buses are rather empty. Until you see buses refusing passengers because they're full you won't see an increase in the frequency of the services. Also, buses travelling on major local routes are actually quite frequent at 15-20 mins during normal daylight operating hours.

I myself don't drive. I also work evenings. The late-afternoon/evening bus service in MK is pathetic, especially - as some people noted - if you live a ways out from the centre in an area which isn't considered to be on a major route.

However, if you can manage to figure out how to apply for a travel or saver card, the bus service is the best and cheapest option available to you. You'll just have to put up with 30 min to 1 hour buses on minor routes. Tough luck, but it's that, get your own transport, or sabotage the many, many carparks that make millions in revenue each year so that no one with money can take their cars into the city centre and HAVE to use public transport.

I was waiting today for my bus for 50 minutes! I was freezing cold, tired after a long working day and appalled but at least I was on my way home. But story is not ending here. After all that the driver took the wrong route and stopped 20 minutes away from my bus stop. Not the greatest experience, isn’t it? I am very happy for the majority of people who is pleased with the service of MK Metro. But I was not once late to my work because the bus didn’t turn up or when I waited for the bus from work for more than 20 minutes. When you have such a bad experience would you praise of people for their work? Very poor service!!!

MK Metro do a pretty good job not perfect but not bad -- its the council who seem totally disinterested in provision of Bus Services in Milton Keynes

Timetables at Bus Stops which are provided by the Council are wrong and often show different times to the timetable leaflets.

When the council start to take public transport seriously then perhaps things will improve in Milton Keynes. To have the last bus at night leaving around 22.30hrs for a place the size Milton Keynes is ridiculous especially where there is a lot to do at night -- but unless the council will pay for later and more frequent evening and weekend buses then things wont change.

Yes MK Metro could improve but more improvement could come from the council, who despite saying they want more people to use the buses and not their cars are not making any strides towards achieveing that

...and to add what the others just below have said, why do people just state that something is rubbish rather than being critical and make suggestions?

If something is bad then fine. But for you to complain and then not try and do something about it is just stupid!