Buses

[andy_chesney]

well i've had to use the public transport the last two days and what a load of crap it is.

Firstly i had to get to the local town to get to mfi and the bank. i had to get the bus which involved a strole up the road to catch it, but to my amasement i had to get of and walk 30mins to the town bit to sort my gear out then walk another 30mins into the bank and get a another bus home doing the whole lot in reverse. I wouldn't mind but it should have only taken 1hr tops normally but this ended up at nearly 3 hrs.

Today i then had to get a bus to tamworth, a train to burton, a 20 min walk to burton town, then a 1 hour bus trip to my g/f work, then a lift to the solicitors, this was a total of 3.5 hrs, did what i had to do which took 30mins and the whole lot in reverse. A bloody whole day wasted could av done my job in 2 hrs total in the car

Im not surprised people don't use the buses etc as they are an utter waste of time, the government reckons its cheaper, yeah right, add up all my time and fees etc and thats got to work out more.

[keith_henson]

I agree with you 110% andy. My new employers English nature have the daftest idea.

They have a green policy i.e. no company cars for regional or travelling employees. So that means the first thing i shall have to use to travel from Wye (kent) to anywhere in the UK up to and including the scottich boarders is train, followed by bus, then and only then use a pool car which are fucking tiny 1.1 corsa`s. If all else fails and we cant use any of that lot or the public transport does not get us to where we need to go then we can use our own car!

I have spent the last 7 years using fu***ng public transport as a student and am really (exactly the same as you andy) not that happy with the situation the british transport system is in.

Wish english nature would give me a hydrogen powered car or a car that runs on chip fat!

Sorry for jacking the thread - had this on my mind for rather a while


Keith

[andy_chesney]

yeah they say that we need more people to use public transport, yet there seems to be less and less bus stops around and the ones we have are bleeding miles away from each other, then theres the ones that are right on top of each other so you have to stop every 10 yards, whats the point in that.

bet its cost me 15 quid in the last 2 days, probably be half that in my car

[chrisch]

I am very pro public transport and anti-car.

I lived for a while in Bristol.

To get from where I lived (fishponds) to the (rail) station meant a change of busses. Each journey cost about £1.50 IIRC. There was no ticket that you could buy that covered both legs.

About a minutes' walk from my house was a taxi firm. Fare to the station £2.00 (minicab).

Journey time by bus - about 30 mins. By cab about 11.

If you can't persuade me then there is no hope......

Chris

[diverdan]

What is a bus??????????????

[SoggyFox]

Originally Posted by diverdan

What is a bus??????????????

Those big red things that make randon manoeuvre's in front of you with no warning.

[keith_henson]

and supposedly have lanes dedicated to them in the city centres but never actually see any of the bar stewards in them!

[chrisch]

Originally Posted by diverdan

What is a bus??????????????

It is a jolly good means of moving people round cities, or at least it used to be until they were de-regulated......

Ask anyone from Sheffield (where they have bendy busses..)

Chris

[Mr T.]

I think public transport, per se, is an attribute to any mobile society - alas the routes and road infrastructure on which they are destined to travel (especially in London) is the travesty.

Barring the Tube, London, from the off, having grown up in a massively organic and nucleated manner, never stood a chance where public transport was concerned, and any town planning which did get a look in was restricted to Sir Christopher Wren's statements to Christ (St Paul's) and the city's refurbishment after the Great Fire - roads were/are pell-mell at best, where as other cities, like New York, for example, were strategically planned in eighth of a mile 'blocks' and wide parallel vistas and boulevards; ditto large portions of Paris. Puiblic Transport in these cities being a far more pleasurable experience.

Yes, London's a queer beast, in transport terms, and one reason I'm glad I only go there on business and don't have to commute to it.

[aclivity]

Well I am generally pro-car but I have to say recently (since moving from daaarrn saaaath back to god's own country - the north) I've made use of the train when heading back to London for meetings.

I can get a train at Wigan North Western (which is either a 10 minute cab ride for £4.50, or a 10 minute drive away with £5 to park all day) at 07:02 and be in Euston at 09:20. Walk to the office in London - 15 minutes or so - and be in meetings at 10:00 with time to stop for a coffee. Get the train home at 17:30, back in my house at 20:00 or therabouts.

I COULD NOT do that in a car, I'd have to either stay over or crash after spending 8 hours driving. Using the train means I can work if want to (as I did on Tuesday this week) or even read a book (I tried that in the car, I wouldn't advise it really). I can even have a little sleep (again, in the car this can be difficult).

And here's the BEST bit ... if I can get at least a weeks notice, I can usually get the tickets for around £22 each way. Add the £5 for the car park at Wigan, and it's still cheaper than driving and parking in London.