Milton Keynes bus service very poor
Bus service in Milton Keynes, what flaming bus service? It's in a right mess and if you are thinking of leaving the car at home and taking the bus I'd advise you to think again!
I've been working in Milton Keynes for over a year now and I usually commute to work on my motorcycle. This has all worked out quite well even though it is more than 20 miles of single carriageway and the traffic is sometimes less than fluid. One day however, this young lady wasn't watching where she was going and parked her four wheeled contraption directly in the path of my bike causing me to have a major bum twitch before striking the side of her car.
Okay, this isn't quite as bad as it sounds as I had a lucky escape and was able to borrow a bike from a friend whilst the insurance companies dragged their heels and finally sorted out some money for me. The problem is that there is the odd day when I need to come to work by public transport, for example when the roads are too icy or if my bike is being serviced etc.
Getting to Milton Keynes from Bicester is bad enough as there are only two suitable buses in the morning; one these is at 7.15 and the other at 8.25. The 7.15 bus gets me to the rail and bus station for 8 Oclock and the other one gets me there at ten past nine. This would be great if I worked at the rail station, unfortunately I don't, because I work on the other side of town up at Kents Hill.
As most of the taxis charge around 8.00 each way I figured that its probably a good idea to check out the local bus service. That was when I realised how bad things were in Milton Keynes. I discovered that firstly there are very few buses actually go out to Kents Hill, and secondly the ones that DO are very infrequent with only one every 30 minutes at rush hour if you're lucky. Whilst looking at the timetable I noticed that some of the buses, particularly on a Sunday only run as every two hours Not exactly a flexible user friendly bus service!
Wasn't the big idea was to encourage people to ditch their cars and use public transport? Well they're not doing very well here in Milton Keynes are they?
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Bus number 1 did not show up. I have waited for freezing 40 minutes. They shouldnt be putting it on timetable if it wouldnt show up. What a piece of shit!!
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Surprise surprise the number 4 didn't show AGAIN. We'd been waiting for 30 mins!!
-5
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Absolutely with you on that Claire. I used to 'try' and get around Milton Keynes on a regular basis but found the public transport there very frustrating indeed. It's a town designed for car drivers I'm afraid.
-4
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In summer this year 2011 the bus driver wouldn't stop for my son to pick him up from school, text me to say what happened so i waited at the bus stop, at the other, end and confronted the driver, he said "you got a car, you should pick him up from school!! ) We, the public, are paying his sodding wages!, the gaul of the man.
Then this week the bus taking my son to school didn't turn up, he waited 20 mins for the next one, that also happened a couple of days ago, and the same bus, when comming back is supposed to stop at Two Mile Ash school, but because of the horrendous parking by parents at the school the buses can't get past the school at kicking out time (15.30) , so because of this the buses have been bypassing two mile ash altogether! But they don't put this info on the timetable on-line! My son said 2 women got very irate with the driver cos he didn't stop at the school and they had to pick their kids up.
And the bus in question.......the number 4.
The service is appauling at the moment, and yes i did complain! :)
Then this week the bus taking my son to school didn't turn up, he waited 20 mins for the next one, that also happened a couple of days ago, and the same bus, when comming back is supposed to stop at Two Mile Ash school, but because of the horrendous parking by parents at the school the buses can't get past the school at kicking out time (15.30) , so because of this the buses have been bypassing two mile ash altogether! But they don't put this info on the timetable on-line! My son said 2 women got very irate with the driver cos he didn't stop at the school and they had to pick their kids up.
And the bus in question.......the number 4.
The service is appauling at the moment, and yes i did complain! :)
-2
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Well, actually, since they re-organised the busses a couple of months ago, for us in NORTH furzton, it's worked out pretty well, instead of one number 7 bus coming every half hour, we now have the 7 and the 7a coming every 10 mins! But their are winners and losers, north emerson valley gets NO service, it hasent for 3 years since they removed the 9 and 16 routes, but i'm not complaining, ever since they re-organised and modernised, it's been great!!!
+3
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Stuart Westley - 10-Apr-11 23:23
I note the comments of people living in Olney1 Be grateful you don't live in Emberton since last year all buses to MK have been stopped. In a village where the percentage of senior citizens is much higher than the average this is a disgrace.
+7
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METRO BUSES IN MILTON KEYNES WERE ABSLOLUTLY APAULING. I could not believe it, today, 01/08/10, I got the bus from the city MK at 18:07 on the 8a. I was the only one on the bus. After about 10 mins we got near to shenley lodge and the stupid bus driver stoped in the middle of the lane, put the emergancy lights on and started haveing a consversation on the phone! I could not beleive it. A long time late I accidentally pressed the stop sign and the bus driver was shouting at me. I was absolutly appauled and I want to make a formal complaint!
+5
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Keturah Johnson - 1-Aug-10 18:55
Hmmm ... I'm going into the centre today. Taking the kids on the bus. Buses leave on a Saturday, every 20 minutes, 3 minutes walk from my front door. The bus trip will take 15 minutes. As fast as by car. Seems pretty good to me.
-4
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Home from home - 24-Jul-10 09:54
I also use the buses from Olney and can honestly say that Arriva provides the worst public transport service that I have ever used. I have used buses all over the country but never experienced such unreliability - buses usually late, often not arriving at all, breaking down with no replacements available etc. One issue is drivers cutting up the bypass instead of picking up in Sherington village. When two of us wrote to customer services to say that a bus had not arrived, we were told that the service had been running and that our complaint could not be taken further. In other words, nothing was going to be done. Arriva runs the MK service for profit, most of the service is not subsidised by the Council. The Council therefore has no way to sanction Arriva for poor service. Now that Arriva has been sold to a German company, I wonder if anything will change? Or will it be new owners, same management attitude? MK Council really should take responsibility for this and give the local community a reliable way to travel around that does not involve cars.
-7
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Lena R, Olney - 14-May-10 10:56
I have been living in Olney for the past 5 months and rely on the buses as I do not drive. While the buses from Olney are usually on time going in to Milton Keynes. At least once a week I am finding some of the buses from Milton Keynes to Olney just dont bother to turn up. Tonight I went for the 16.40 bus from MK to Olney, guess what, it never turned up, I was waiting from 6.30pm to 7.30pm in temps of 1 degrees. This is not an acceptable service. I asked the driver if he knew why the previous bus did not come, he was very polite and said he did not know. My daughter got the VT99 bus from MK bus station at 5.55pm to Luton Airport and was in Dublin at 9.28,pm, I arrived in Olney at 8.15pm. This is a third world service, its a disgrace to Arriva the bus company. And to top it all, on Sundays the last bus to Olney from MK is at 17.40! We cant even go to a film, or visit friends. Come on Arriva...cop on. This is UK not the backwaters of some outback in Timbucktoo!
-6
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I went to live in milton keynes a very long time ago,lol, I only stayed for a week.It was so dead.
It was like a ghost town, but known as toy town when they first started to build it up(1983).
It was only occupied by the youths from M.K's and surounding area's that want to cause trouble and set fire to the mall.
I have a couple of friends that have taken jobs there in the past and given them up because of the area.
It was like a ghost town, but known as toy town when they first started to build it up(1983).
It was only occupied by the youths from M.K's and surounding area's that want to cause trouble and set fire to the mall.
I have a couple of friends that have taken jobs there in the past and given them up because of the area.
+12
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It's not like it's any better anywhere else in the country.
+5
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Hi Cyclebus. I wrote this gripe a while ago and no longer work in Milton Keynes. Interesting to see that things haven't really changed much. I must say that I don't miss MK at all.
+7
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Free of Milton Keynes at last - 26-Aug-09 16:17
My solution would be to build a railway line connecting Bicester to Milton Keynes, etc. This would allow for frequent, quick travel between towns in the Milton Keynes area!
+8
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Interesting responses to a good gripe. Most people who have lived in any other town than MK will tend to say that the MK bus service stinks. When I visited, I arrived by train, and I couldn't believe what was going on. Basically, it seems that the decision has been made that the people who matter all drive cars, so the bus service is an after-thought. And it ain't even cheap! When I talked to people, it was clear that many people were forced to buy a car whether they liked it or not, cycled everywhere, or made plans to leave MK.
Personally I prefer cycling, but the MK cycle lanes, though safe, are very slow, because they meander and loop all over the shop. Cyclists actually have destinations in mind, it's not always Sunday afternoon!
It's not always comfortable or feasible for everyone to cycle, and the bus service in MK really is unbelievably bad. I doubt if 'the majority' of residents think it is fine. The regional transport department should be given a season to sort it out, or the whole lot fired. How the hell are Arriva holding onto their contract? If the bus service is sometimes under-used, there's a very good reason - you have to forget about the bus when you're going out after dark. Just in this gripe, look how many MK people have said they are looking forward to buying a motor. End result: Even fewer passengers on the bus outside peak hours...
Personally I prefer cycling, but the MK cycle lanes, though safe, are very slow, because they meander and loop all over the shop. Cyclists actually have destinations in mind, it's not always Sunday afternoon!
It's not always comfortable or feasible for everyone to cycle, and the bus service in MK really is unbelievably bad. I doubt if 'the majority' of residents think it is fine. The regional transport department should be given a season to sort it out, or the whole lot fired. How the hell are Arriva holding onto their contract? If the bus service is sometimes under-used, there's a very good reason - you have to forget about the bus when you're going out after dark. Just in this gripe, look how many MK people have said they are looking forward to buying a motor. End result: Even fewer passengers on the bus outside peak hours...
+5
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I got on a mk metro bus sev 4 on the 23rd of april and I showed the driver my week ticket which expires on the 23rd of April which means the end of the day and he let me on then called me again and said that I need to buy a new 1 and I explained to him it runs out on the end of the day and he sed no and he snatched it out of my hand and made me get off. at 8am and had to wait 30 min for a bus and only ad till 9am to get into college. this really got me annoyed and frustrated , if only I could drive
+11
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Aron James , Two Mile Ash - 30-Apr-09 19:26
I use the number 4/4A service and my journey to work is 3.5 miles, it is quicker and less stressful to walk it! They either drive past even though you have your arm out very significantly and if they are so blind as to not see then they should not be driving. or they turn up early and do not wait for their alloted time at the stop or there are no buses at all for 30/40 minutes then one turns up that is so full that they do not stop anyway. Also, the drivers treat bus users like we are scum on the bottom of their foot. AND if this was not enough, when you phone 08444004411 which is the very loosley named 'customer service' line, you hear adverts for international calling services and do not get through to anyone. To try and appease the disgusted and disgruntled customers, MK Metro are holding a 'have your say' Bus service surgery on Thursday 26th March 2009 near macdonalds in the center. They have ensured that us people that travel out of the city cannot attend as it is between 10am and 15.00. MK Metro are not a service, they are a source of stress.
-2
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Tracy Steel, Campbell Park - 24-Mar-09 09:27
I am a requent bus user in Bletchley, on two occasions recently, I have had reason to ask a question of a bus driver, both times, they have made signs at me that they do not speak English (Polish) I asked an English driver in the bus next to us who was standing outside why my driver hadn't answered my question and he said "don't ask him anything, he doesn't speak English. I have e-mailed the bus company and they have assured me that all their drivers are trained to NVQ2 in Customer Service, amazing, how did they manage to acheive this qualification with no English language skills, does anyone have an answer to this? I contacted the local paper and they said they have had quite a number of these complaints.
-6
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I think the buses take too long and go through too many estates, instead of being quicker and staying on the major routes would be better.
-7
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The number 7/7A bus service is terrible. I am waiting up to 40 mins for the bus (to get to the train station for work) cause the earliest it has turned up is 7.33am and the latest is 8.05am, a few times it hasn't turned up at all. Every day there is a different driver and almost every day the drivers ask me for directions.
I am going to have to get a car this year cause standing for 40mins in very cold temperatures and the stress isn't doing my health any good
I am going to have to get a car this year cause standing for 40mins in very cold temperatures and the stress isn't doing my health any good
-1
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