Buses !!!

Buses are for us poor destitute pensioners,!they are a means of transport, like cars but bigger ?

I live within a 10 minute walk to a bus route that goes to Heathrow so they are very frequent and I am extremely lucky.

Like tanith although a move outside London when I retired was something I had considered, transport without a car always came up trumps as well as fabulous on line grocery shopping.

We can send a text message to our bus company (the number is there on the bus stop sign) and within a few seconds the reply is texted back with the time of the next bus.
It's a free service and much appreciated.

I think bus services are generally good in towns and cities but I am just outside London and where we live the bus service is very poor. I have had cause to use them due to a medical need and have to say any bus journey takes 3 or more times as long as by car. Recently took a bus whuch should have taken about 20 minutes and we arrived 1.45 hours later. After a quick cuppa Jumped straight on to the next one to go back as didn't want to be late for school pick up. Grandson age 4 loved the trip though. Happy to be back driving and always feel for those reliant on public transport.

You beat me to it tiggypiro. Last time I caught a bus was when we were visiting London - 10 years ago.

What is a bus ??

Can't fault our bus service here in Ealing plenty of buses and electronic signs aren't often wrong I even use an app on my phone so I only leave the house when I know a bus I want is due within 8 mins as it takes me 5 to walk to the stop.
One of the reasons we've not moved out of London is the problems with transport in rural areas, when one can no longer drive it becomes a massive problem.

I've watched while a bus is shown as getting closer and closer, then vanishes. It must get beamed up to the Enterprise.

But that is not often. More often I see that a bus to suit me will be there in 5 minutes, so I wait, or perhaps fifteen - so I have time to nip into a shop for a paper or a bar of chocolate to eat while I stand there. If I am well-organised and have time to spare, I consult the website before leaving the house, particularly in winter.

The signs are very useful when I am getting home from the other side of town and don't know the times of relevant buses. I am all for them.

Elegran those electronic signs tell lies!!! I've often believed what they say only to be let down.

Here in Edinburgh most of the bus stops have an electronic display on a post nearby, showing which buses will be stopping there soon, and how many minutes it will be until they get there. It is so useful that when occasionally I have to use a stop which is not yet in the loop I am very frustrated at having to get out my glasses, read the timetables, and consult my mobile to see exactly what the time is.

There is also an website that can be visited from a mobile phone. If you are visiting the Lothian area it is worth using it. www.mybustracker.co.uk/?page=HelpMobile

The bus company does not lose out on bus passes Lillie. It's not a local initiative but a national one, to encourage 'the elderly' to keep active and thereby reduce the costs to the NHS and Social Services.

Now I want to praise a service. Where I live in London we have a community bus that does a 'figure 8' route, linking areas in the borough without a nearby bus with shopping centres and other local amenities. The complete route takes just under an hour and runs day-time only Mon-Fri, stopping wherever (traffic permitting) you flag it down. I am extremely lucky and live on the route so can get off at my front door with a heavy load of shopping. It is joint-funded by the local council and Transport for London and I know a lot of people are very grateful for it and would be housebound without it.

I have no complaints with London Transport, but that's a different kettle of fish. When I am in Devon and take the bus, there is a number on the bus post to text to see when the next bus is due, seems to work well.
I agree sadly it's often the most vulnerable and elderly who are affected, but on the other hand I do notice that I am one of the very few actually paying for my fare in country areas.

We must be very futunate here on The Wirral as we have a really good bus service and pleasent helpful drivers the timetables all seem to match up well with the train and ferry services and the across river service through the Mersey Tunnel is very frequent and on time.

On the whole we have a good service but what annoys us is the fact that the bus and tram company can't seem to run in tandem. You catch the bus to the tram terminus and the tram will pull out just as the bus pulls in, even though both are on time, so that you then have to wait for the next tram. On the return journey it frequently works the other way. You just get the tram doors open, and the bus pulls away!! It's only a matter of a few steps to get from one to the other. It can't even be classed as a walk. Unlike some of you, this is no more than an annoyance to us as both buses and trams run every ten minutes, but DH is apoplectic every time it happens. Where we lived before the bus service was every hour and they often missed one out. I have lived in villages where the bus service is a lottery and, as they say, once it's gone, you're high and dry!

As i was walking to the bus stop(which was a terminus) at 15:17 one day i saw the bus leave, it wasnt supposed to leave until 15:26 i called the bus company office ( number on the timetable at the stop) and asked the lady on the other end what time her office clock was showing, she replied "15:18" and explained that i had just watched the bus leave and asked what she was going to do about it,so she called the driver and made him return to the stop to pick me up, he was not happy and moaned like hell, all of this was reported to the company and they sent me a 1 month pre paid travel ticket. They removed their local office phone number from the timetable !

Most of the buses in my area are late, run past you and sometimes dont turn up at all, very annoying.

Good for you Swanny.

Some years ago when the bus shelter was being moved a group of us waited in the rain for a bus that didn't turn up. One passenger was disabled so we got a taxi and I wrote a letter to the bus company with the receipt to prove that we used one. The company did refund the taxi fare (a problem for me as I had to find everyone to return their money.) but my point was that we needed to know that the bus wasn't coming. At that time the bus station was close by, we didn't dare move from the stop but it wouldn't have been a problem for a member of staff to cross the he road and let us know.

I used to live on the south coast. Several years ago we had an unusual amount of snow fall overnight and I had to walk into work as the buses weren't running. No more snow fell through the day and the roads were cleared. I waited an hour for a bus home (even had a choice of routes) but not one arrived going my way. I took a taxi and sent a copy of the receipt to the bus company, along with an angry letter. Within a couple of days I got a profuse apology and my taxi fare refunded.

Sadly it will all be about 'health and safety'

There are some truly horrible bus drivers around. I lost count how many times my mum and dad were left stranded when a driver refused to drop the ramp down for the wheelchair or refused to pull close to the kerb or (the worst one yet on a Metro replacement bus) watched on his big fat backside as my dad lifted my mum out of her chair onto the internal step of the bus in order to fold the wheelchair up. I also think they get a "kick" out of watching (mainly elderly) people trying to run for a bus and deliberately driving past.

I think it would be helpful if all bus stops had notice boards to tell you when a bus is running late. There are some in the centre of towns and cities but that is of little use if you are stranded at a country bus stop.

Ten years ago, arm in a sling following a shoulder op, I was waiting for my bus outside Sainsbury's, on a very hot day. The driver completely ignored me and sailed past, leaving me waiting for the next one, an hour later. I phoned for a taxi and subsequently sent a letter to the Stagecoach management. Did I ever get a reply? What do you think? So I have total sympathy for your position, alternative, especially now that the bus from Stockport no longer passes my door.

Grrrrr, that driver, what a swine!

You can complain to the bus company, I find Twitter always gets a reply.
A quick google shows that some bus companies will consider claims for compensation so it's worth taking a look alternativegran

Gosh what hard luck. How infuriating that that bus driver wouldn't stop. What an annoying jobsworth! Very sorry to hear of your transport issues. Have you written to complain? I hope so.