Is it unreasonable to expect buses to run roughly on time or even run at all?
I don't use public transport at all, but when my daughter chose a local college she took into account getting there.
Anyway she started Wednesday and we have either had to drop her off or pick her up every day because they just dont show. The service is hourly so it's not a case of another will be along shortly.
Just seems totally S**t to me.
Her college is bang opposite the massive new MK Dons football stadium, so she asked first time she got the bus to confirm the bus stopped at the MK College…no he said? opposite the MK Dons??….again he said no. Fortunately a lad behind her said 'yes you do mate, I go there every day'
WTF or is it me?

Oooh just realised that was a mini rant….a rantlet.

Public transport (in this country anyway), and particularly bus services, exists only to punish poor people for not having a car. 😐

Public transport (in this country anyway), and particularly bus services, exists only to punish poor people for not having a car.

He is not wrong outside london your f**ked! I use bus and train daily bus late 2 days a week ranging from 4 minutes to otal no show train late daily from 6 mins to 14 mins, which means I often miss the connecting train or bus. The bus drivers just shrug, I can see why public service employees get ause as it is the easiest way to vent your displeasure.

Aye, a couple of days each week, I have to use buses to get from where I finish work, to where I live. We're talking sometimes less than ten miles here. It can take over two hours, costs about nine quid and just to rub it in even more, the bus company has empty 'not in service' buses running on an almost direct route anyway.

Public transport in Edinburgh is great. Plenty of buses running to time and new and comfy.

apart of the issue was the deregulation of buses – it destroyed less profitable routes but eh worst of it was avoided here.

I regularly do a journey across to my parents, bus train train. always on time, cheaper than by car, comfy and clean.

You know whose fault it is, don't you?

of course. Thatcher 😉

Deregulation of the bus service did for decent rural busses

ours in york is shite too.
our village (of about 3000 people, 3 miles from york) has a half hourly bus service. if we are lucky.

back in christmas when it was proper cold etc we waited 45mins for a bus which never appeared, thats the 1st bus which never came (we were there 3 mins before it was due) and the 2nd which was 12 mins late by the time we sacked off going to town and went home instead.

add to the fact that the prices are rising year on year at a stupid rate, its a joke service.

if they supplied a regular, reliable and cheap service (such as edinburghs – a fantastic bus service as TJ said), then people would use it.
the reality is that it is too expensive, and people don't want to run the lottery of the bus not turning up and having to wait around for ages. the snow was not an issue on the roads, as they were all clear.

i guess its a self-fulfilling prophacy though, shit service, less people, less money, shitter service.

http://www.transportdirect.info/Web2/Home.aspx?repeatingloop=Y

Try this link, it has routes for buses and cars and also some cycle routing as well,quite a clever site.

If you want crap buses take a look at the Cambridge Guided Bus

15 months late opening, still no definite date and millions of pounds wasted

Even better is the cycle path that runs alongside it, more suitable for sailing in places

Edinburgh's bus service is fantastic tbh, y'all should move here. Good train services to other less nice places too.

About 20 years ago I used to live in MK and got the bus from Great Linford to the Industrial Estate in Bletchley, the one near the Lakes Estate.

Thank **** I don't have to do that anymore. The only buses I've used since have been a few in London, crap way to travel.

Can't she cycle?

Tijuana Taxi – you are so right.

Just boggling.

It does at least mean we now have the weirdest cycle track in the whole world.

Here is a pic of the cycleway, apparently they realise its not right and needs better drainage

I thought it was to be tarmac surface. a train would have been so much better.

Yes all thatcher,(Edinburgh apart cause it's still regulated to an extent by lothian council).
Most other operators with competition run a very tight timetable, so when bus runs late it misses out a run.
And rural areas are not profitable so unless it gets subsidised then no bus.
Evening service is also pants due to zilch profitability.

Will only get better(but much more expensive) when price of oil escalates beyond working to middle classes.

Deregulation of the bus service did for decent rural busses

+ 1

Had a lad giving me grief because I was 5 mins late this morning due to traffic and that as such he would be 10 mins late for work which was on route. Drivers don't get paid much and accordingly those that see it as just a job don't really give a shit as it's not that well paid.

Most drivers rely on OT to take home a decent wage.

I got my first full shift OT in 3 months yesterday. Due to the recession this winter has been the first time in many years that our depot has been able to retain enough drivers to cover all the duties without OT. Normally we can't train them as fast as they leave and we are the highest paying depot in the area.

The service does vary considerably from area to area.

High Wycombe (where I grew up):
I have never caught a bus on time, they're always late by anything from a few minutes to "sorry not in service." I went to two different schools by bus (though not at the same time obviously). The first (away from Wycombe) was just under 3 miles away and took too long (pricing was just about acceptable but not brilliant), the problem was that they NEVER ran a double decker in the morning despite the volume of usage; this meant that unless I got the stupid-0-clock bus then 99.9% of the time it would be full and I wouldn't be let on.
The other school I went to involved the bus going through the middle of town. It was just over 3 miles away but twice the price of where I'd been before, and with the poorly designed roads and stupid route it was almost quicker to walk (apart from the fact I had stupidly heavy books to carry). We weren't allowed to bring bikes.

Aberystwyth:
Despite being in the @rse end of nowhere the service is considerably better. It's reliable, much more frequent and sensibly priced (in comparison) and the drivers much more friendly. Evening and weekend service is pretty bare, but High Wycombe isn't much better.

If all public transport was re-nationalised and several railway lines rebuilt it would be so much better, and there'd be less cars on the road.

Interesting thought:
In the UK a train is late if it's about 10 mins overdue, you get nothing except "sorry". In Japan a train is late if it's 10 seconds overdue, where you then get a FULL refund and a letter to your boss/school explaining why you are late. Why can't we have that?

[double post] oops