Buses are £2 per journey or you can get a day ticket for a fiver.Public transport is deliberately kept shit and expensive as the people who make decisions don't use it, but are driven around in chauffeured limousines with police escorts. Petrol duty has not been raised now for some years. If only we could say the same of train fares!
With the apps that track the vehicles, buy a ticket and even show how full it is, there’s never been a better time for buses since deregulation.Buses are £2 per journey or you can get a day ticket for a fiver.
You can get combined bus/tram/train tickets for a bit more.
Benefits are
No struggling to find a parking space.
You can have a drink or 3 without worrying.
No purchase price or running costs.
The benefits far outweigh the minuses.
Depends where you live.Buses are £2 per journey or you can get a day ticket for a fiver.
You can get combined bus/tram/train tickets for a bit more.
Benefits are
No struggling to find a parking space.
You can have a drink or 3 without worrying.
No purchase price or running costs.
The benefits far outweigh the minuses.
I suppose if people don’t use them then they can’t run them unless subsidised and that just won’t happen. The argument I guess is that the further away from city or town you live, the better the surroundings but at a price, the price being you are further away from work, shops and entertainment. Can’t really have it both ways.Depends where you live.
People living in outlying villages often only have only a few busses per day, which don't often run particularly early or late. When I lived in my previous house there was 4 busses per day on weekdays, 2 on Saturday and none on Sundays.
Weekday busses were 0705, 1105, 1505 & 1905 which was no use to anyone with a normal 9 to 5 job
Even if that did work in practice, which it demonstrably doesn't work in reality... what is the ultimate end point to this fallacy of never ending economic growth achieved by never ending population growth?
Even if that did work in practice, which it demonstrably doesn't work in reality... what is the ultimate end point to this fallacy of never ending economic growth achieved by never ending population growth?
Make sure you get the lights on the way out!I think we need a no child policy for two generations.
Buses are fine if I want to go to Bury.Buses are £2 per journey or you can get a day ticket for a fiver.
You can get combined bus/tram/train tickets for a bit more.
Benefits are
No struggling to find a parking space.
You can have a drink or 3 without worrying.
No purchase price or running costs.
The benefits far outweigh the minuses.
The question is why would you!Buses are fine if I want to go to Bury.
They're absolutely shite if I want to go to (say) Shrewsbury or York. And for some journeys, they simply do not exist. For example, try going to Barnsley or Sheffield by bus. Good luck with that.
True, York is an absolute dump.The question is why would you!
I was referring to services in the Manchester area tbf.Buses are fine if I want to go to Bury.
They're absolutely shite if I want to go to (say) Shrewsbury or York. And for some journeys, they simply do not exist. For example, try going to Barnsley or Sheffield by bus. Good luck with that.
You'd think wouldn't you, however, trying to be greener a few weeks back I decided to get the bus into stockport for friday beer night from home, rather than my usual Uber. Went onto the stagecoach app, and the only ticket I could buy was £6. Now obviously i'm not expert on buses, but my understanding was the price was capped at £2 per journey. Checked with a mate who confirmed that was the case, so I decided to pay on the bus.With the apps that track the vehicles, buy a ticket and even show how full it is, there’s never been a better time for buses since deregulation.
You really haven't thought that through have youI think we need a no child policy for two generations.
Yes it sometimes fails still. We don't have any Stagecoach services near us so I don't know the app but I now only use the Bee Network and TransDev apps. There is another service I could use which is Diamond Buses I think but it's a poor route so I don't use it and it will be a BN route next month anyway. At one stage it used to be 4 apps - TransDev, Diamond, Go and Vision - which was a nightmare switching from one to another deciding which was the best bus to wait for. I have seen an improved service in the BN network area regarding 'ghost' buses (those that show on the app but don't arrive), whether that will continue remains to be seen. However if time is of the essence then obviously taxis are always going to be a better option. If you're happy with £18 (I assume £9 each way) vs £4 (£2 each way, although the £5 day ticket is better for flexibility) then that's fine.You'd think wouldn't you, however, trying to be greener a few weeks back I decided to get the bus into stockport for friday beer night from home, rather than my usual Uber. Went onto the stagecoach app, and the only ticket I could buy was £6. Now obviously i'm not expert on buses, but my understanding was the price was capped at £2 per journey. Checked with a mate who confirmed that was the case, so I decided to pay on the bus.
Trundled down to the bus stop 5 minutes before the on time (according to the app) bus. 20 minutes later, I'm going to be late, it's raining and the bus still hasn't turned up. The app is now telling me the next one is due in 15 minutes. So I book my Uber.
Uber is there in 2 minutes, I'm at the pub on time, and it cost me about £9
I tried the bus again a few weeks later for the stockport beer festival, with almost identical results.
So, in summary, public transport is, in my admittedly limited recent experience, just as shit as its always been
I'd much rather pay the £4 than 18, though in all honesty, it would be bus there and taxi back, but the main priority is actually getting there.Yes it sometimes fails still. We don't have any Stagecoach services near us so I don't know the app but I now only use the Bee Network and TransDev apps. There is another service I could use which is Diamond Buses I think but it's a poor route so I don't use it and it will be a BN route next month anyway. At one stage it used to be 4 apps - TransDev, Diamond, Go and Vision - which was a nightmare switching from one to another deciding which was the best bus to wait for. I have seen an improved service in the BN network area regarding 'ghost' buses (those that show on the app but don't arrive), whether that will continue remains to be seen. However if time is of the essence then obviously taxis are always going to be a better option. If you're happy with £18 (I assume £9 each way) vs £4 (£2 each way, although the £5 day ticket is better for flexibility) then that's fine.
That said, a lot of areas will need to see more passengers to justify the services and better services to attract the passengers. Very difficult to fix that.
I have noticed in the Bee Network app that only day tickets (£5) plus some longer day ones are possible so yes you would need to pay on the bus for a single. Eventually they will be looking at tap on tap off and so you could do journeys by tram one way, then by bus return and the price be capped but it's a while away yet.I'd much rather pay the £4 than 18, though in all honesty, it would be bus there and taxi back, but the main priority is actually getting there.
Kids chauffeured to school and back...record levels of childhood obesity...wonder if there is a link?
But it depends where you live. Suburbs of a big city, no issues. Rural areas, many people have never seen a bus, never mind used one, because the service is so poor.I find the repeated assertions that public transport is absolutely terrible really strange. I don't drive, have never lived with anyone with a car and virtually never use taxis so I've used public transport almost exclusively for more than 40 years and have very rarely had any problems.
I had a job a few years ago which required three bus journeys each way every day (I'm not saying I recommend this btw, I wouldn't take a job that far away again). I was late for work twice in two years - there were people who drove to the same place who were up to 30 minutes late at least once a week (often more) because of traffic. It always felt like the expense and sheer hassle of owning a car just isn't worth it.