Do you use buses?

TATT, if you can find out - even by simple observation - the number or company of your local bus service then perhaps you can google them for all information. I do this all the time when I'm going on any journey long or short. I use this in conjunction with physical timetables when I can get hold of them. These are usually to be found on the buses themselves, in larger bus stations and tourist offices. Haven't experienced many difficulties using this method.

I would love to use buses. Unfortunately I have to drive 2 miles to a car park, pay a standard £1 fee no matter for how long in the day then walk to a bus station or drive 18 miles to a free park and ride. Bus service is non existent really. Don't know why I even bother with a bus pass.

Just about the same here 4allweknow, I'd have to drive to a bus stop and find somewhere to park - so I may as well drive into town.
And then there's the problem of carrying a week's groceries home - or maybe if you have a bus service you shop every day .... ?

I do use a bus but it's the Park & Ride one, about 8 miles from home. We live in the middle if the countryside down a long drive, miles from any sort of service. In that respect, I envy my friend in Greater London as she is always on the bus - a choice of several routes, all within a few minutes walk and of course free as she's over 60. Plus of course she has free travel on the trains & tube ...but I wouldn't move, too fast a pace down there for this country bumpkin!

I'm on the bus to Pikates now. I did potter by the car but then toughened up and rushed. I got my 60's Oyster Card and it was the best birthday gift ever, ko exaggeration.
I do realise how lucky we are living in an area with regular buses and only 8 minutes to the train platform My mobile app helps and living on a busy road no longer bothers me. It's so convenient to be near a bus stop.
I'll never understand why people use cars for short journeys when they're not rushing and have a free service. I do slip when running late.
In Ireland it's free
Fo seniors all over for trains, buses, trams, etc the way it should be. It's quality of life to get out and or away

If it weren’t for dear old Ken Livingstone those of us enjoying freedom/ bus passes wouldn’t have them . I used buses all the time in London and took them for granted. Now, in Tory Hampshire I have to rely on cabs. Public transport is sparse and although partly funded by council tax benefits mainly the shareholders of bus companies. That is why most buses are
run on profitable routes. Our travel should be in public ownership not in the hands of a selfish few. The retired with cars are mostly unaware of issues around austerity and the misery it has caused. When will they ever learn.

We have a very good bus service and I use the time to read, usually frantically trying to finish the book for Book Club. There's never a dull moment on the No. 17!

Simple answer is No but I would use a bus if we had one that went where I wanted to go at a reasonable time of day.
Our village bus service is all but non - existent.

I live in Littlehampton and we have a really good bus service. The no. 700 bus leaves every 10 minutes to Brighton, via Worthing. It goes the other way, every 20 minutes, to Chichester via Bognor Regis and Havant. You can then get a bus from Chichester to Portsmouth. We once went to Brighton and then on to Eastbourne, it took quite a few hours but we are retired and it was free travel; and we could both look out of the window and see the scenery.

All the time , love them especially if they arrive on time. Even if they don't as long as i won't be late for an appointment i am happy to sit and wait for the next one. I have chatted to so many different people at bus stops and on the bus. Wouldn't be without my bus pass either it is very necessary for me. I can and do drive sometimes but i don't enjoy driving any longer. Too many cars and lorries on the roads now adays. Buses are a god send at the hospital as i don't rack up car park charges and can stay quite happily not worrying about this. Long may they reign.

I use the bus to go to town as I just don't fancy driving there and finding a parking space. Nottingham CC has waged a war against the private motorist for many years and it's so congested now it isn't worth the aggro. I have a Mango card and should get a bus pass next year unless the goalposts are moved yet again.

However I use my little car for the weekly shop as I can't carry many bags. Waiting at a cold, wet and windy bus stop is not my idea of fun. I dread not being able to drive.

I regularly use the bus. It gives me the chance to look at animals in the fields, other people's gardens, and to chill a bit. No parking issues either which is great. If ever bus passes are removed (as is threatened occasionally) I will joining protest marches!

wish I could nearest bus stop i further away than I am able to walk.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

It would be nice if we had one. I have a bus pass but no bus. It was cut out of our village several years ago, and now we have to walk 20 minutes to catch one. OK if you have the right shoes on and no shopping.

My friend has had to give up driving. She hasn't used a bus or train in years so is absolutely clueless about timetables, looking online for travel directions, planning ahead for return trips, even dressing warmly and carrying an umbrella.

I've never driven so am expert at all the above!

We have a good bus service in Folkestone but I only use it to go to Canterbury which costs over £7.00 a couple of times a year as I'm so annoyed not getting my bus pass at 60yrs, my small insignificant protest (my husband bus pass holder smiles about) But come April 2021 I'll be a TWIRLY!!!@

I have recently moved from Scotland, where you get a bus pass at 60 to NE England where you don’t get one till age 66.
I’m ok as I qualified for my pass but DH still has a couple of years to wait and is very miffed at having to pay. The buses here are very frequent and reliable and there really is no point in driving into town, finding somewhere to park etc etc when you can go by bus.
I’ve got the Moovit app on my mobile and it’s brilliant. It covers all of the UK, gives real-time bus arrivals and you can track your route as you travel. It’s really useful if you are not sure of your destination as you can set it to notify you that the bus is approaching your stop.

I have to use buses now,but I've had a bus pass since before the age was changed,so I'm lucky.It can take a lot longer to get to places than by car,but I've had to get used to it.I just hope they don't take away our bus passes,it's such a big saving to not have bus fares to pay.I wish we could use it before 9.30 on a weekday,it makes the first "pensioner" bus so busy.

Only use the buses to go into city centers Nottingham or Derby, where the traffic and parking are appalling and I can use my bus pass.

I love my Freedom Pass and think it's a massive privilege to have free use of all London buses, trains and even a discount of the river boats! I also live in Cornwall part of the time and think the locals down there get a terrible deal, public transport-wise. I did once, though, get a free bus ride all the way from Bodmin Parkway station to the centre of Padstow - took forever but felt great to see the centres of villages I'd always previously whizzed past in the car.

blueskies Yes, Ken Livingstone did bring in Freedom passes for Londoners but (and I'm no Tory) it was Boris who - when the national bus pass age moved up to 65 - introduced the London free Oyster so the Londoners could still have them at 60 rather than have to wait another 5 years. I LOVE my Freedom Pass - I'm always out and about using it.

I get the bus to work as bus station is nearer to office than nearest car park . But prefer the car but saving the mileage so can do longer trips out and about after I retire end of the month ?

I have a free bus pass but I've never had the need to use it yet. I stopped once near to a bus stop in town to post a letter and a bloke tried to get into my car saying his bus hadn't turned up. I soon told him I had no intention of giving a strange man a lift, especially one who felt entitled to have one.

Yes I use the bus a lot. I don't drive and although my husband does I like my independence. I wouldn't live anywhere not on a bus route. Our local service is not great though. Sometimes buses are missing. Waiting at the bus stop with others can be a bonding experience eveyone ends up talking to each other complaining about the missing bus. Then when it eventually turns up we are so grateful it has actually arrived we forget about complaining!