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Appalling bus service?

(15 Posts)
Rosie51 Fri 17-Jan-25 18:20:10

tanith Happily London buses are great if I need to use one if you miss one there will 2 more in a minute. unhappily not true of all of London. My part of SE London is not well served at all. The nearest service is every 15 minutes, but I've often waited much longer, and that basically takes you to where you get a wider choice of routes. West and north London are much better served for buses and as for the non-existent tube lines, they hardly extend to the SE at all, whereas north London has loads.

Madmeg Fri 17-Jan-25 17:27:08

It is almost a mile down the hill to our village and bus/train stops. That's okay, but the climb back up is not on for me. In fact when my first DD was born, I pushed her in her pram (Huge Silver Cross!) down to the local church to arrange her christening and after pushing it back up I declared Never Again!

Granmarderby10 Fri 17-Jan-25 14:45:28

keepingquiet I don’t drive and it would be useful for me to be able to travel by bus to suburbs that run parallel to my area without travelling into the city, which nowdays holds no draw for me other than to get a bus back in virtually the same direction. Bonkers isn’t it.

Bus services are still focussed on getting to the city, fine if that’s where you work, but there is a massive cohort still uncatered for and it is more often than not women with children in pushchairs, or caregivers travelling to family to provide support.
The entire system needs a different mindset over what and who buses serve.

In a smaller town/city short journeys are also more expensive especially when run by separate operators with no integrated fares policy in place.

lixy Fri 17-Jan-25 14:34:29

The bus service here is great and in my mum’s home town of Brighton it is just amazing.

Having got my bus pass now I was planning to go on a bus holiday this Summer, travelling up the East coast. From the mixed entries above it looks as though I could be in for an ‘interesting’ time!

DamaskRose Fri 17-Jan-25 14:30:08

Not good in the north of Scotland either, they seem to keep changing the stops and routes.

Cumbrianmale56 Fri 17-Jan-25 14:26:09

There is a bus stop two minutes walk from me that has a service every half hour into town. Not bad for a smaller town and, while most people locally drive, the bus is there for those who can't drive.

tanith Tue 14-Jan-25 19:42:04

Happily London buses are great if I need to use one if you miss one there will 2 more in a minute. As Charleygirl says the bus to Heathrow is 5 min walk away and wherever I need to go there will be a bus I can catch. I’m sorry not everywhere is as well served.

Charleygirl5 Tue 14-Jan-25 18:48:40

I live on the outskirts of London, and one bus goes to Heathrow. Our two bus routes run a fabulous service every 5 minutes or less.

My problem is that the bus stop is 1/4 mile away, and I have a mega problem getting there.

Bridie22 Tue 14-Jan-25 18:09:08

No point in consulting timetables here with Arriva, it's a case of just turn up and hope for the best.
If I have any appointments I go earlier than said time, hate being late.

theworriedwell Tue 14-Jan-25 17:20:27

I have a great bus service but I suppose people who are unhappy are more likely to bother to report it. I am trying to be more proactive about praising good service.

Oopsadaisy1 Tue 14-Jan-25 16:42:51

No bus service here either, I have to drive 5 miles to a bus stop.

keepingquiet Tue 14-Jan-25 16:40:56

I am very lucky as I have a bus stop across the road which takes me to nearest town and runs every fifteen minutes.

However, if I want to go to the next village where most of my family live the bus is every hour, from a stop I have to walk to, and takes almost an hour to get there.

So, yes it's great if you want to go shopping but to see my family I have to take the car!

Barleyfields Tue 14-Jan-25 16:36:23

Same here. Buses are an extinct species here.

Luckygirl3 Tue 14-Jan-25 16:33:20

Bus service? - what is this thing? We do not have one at all!

CountessFosco Tue 14-Jan-25 16:28:39

If anyone else is suffering from an erratic, unreliable, atrocious, appalling non-service [this is Arriva BTW], then after research, probably the best place to complain is :
www.gov.uk/guidance/report-a-bus-or-coach-service-or-driver#report-buses-arriving-late-early-not-stopping-or-not-turning-up
When accessing Trustpilot, lo and behold 93% of people were dissatisfied with their bus service. So much for not using our cars for a cleaner environment!