Public transport is terrible

[Rob Goes Walking]

I'd need a campsite before I start the walk and probably when I finish, a lot of them are cash only, then there's buses, they don't all have contactless payment.

I meant carry one as well as your notes not instead of. Mostly for the pubs (but anywhere that takes them really, they're more convenient than cash). They don't weigh much.

[gunwharfman]

If my memory is correct the availability of good reliable buses (and trains) began to end in the Thatcher era, when instead of seeing public transport as a social service for the nation, 'they' decided that profit was everything! Now we live in an age, where in the south in particular, there is so much congestion and bad air, why do so many people still crave for that 150mph Mercedes, BMW or Audie car and spend most of their time never really getting above 40mph, or stuck in a traffic jam rarely getting above 5mph?

I'm lucky, I live in Portsmouth and have a bus pass, the buses around me are always whizzing around all over the place!

The other problem I have experienced is a kind of snootiness towards them, buses, as one of my neighbours has said often "are just so Asda!"

[Requiem]

Public Transport to a vast majority (sweeping statement?) is only terrible when they choose to use it - and therein is the problem. Most people never use PT as they have a Car and find it far more convenient, easier and (lets face it) better because they don't have to sit next to a stranger.


Public Transport in the rural / upland / non Town/City areas I'd suggest is predominantly used by residents of those areas who are either financially/socially disadvantaged enough not to be able to use a car or are the tiny minority who would prefer to use it.


Because of the above - Public Transport will never be good for those of us who want it to be 'as good as using a car but without having to park it where it'll get broken into' - This is why PT isn't profitable in rural areas, this is why its little used etc blah blah. The cause of Terrible Public Transport is ourselves. If its terrible when we want to use it once for the first time in 5 years rather than use our car then .. well .. wheres the surprise in that?


I love Public Transport - Trains and Buses let you stare out of the window at places and people you pass. My favourite route is an obscure Chesterfield to Castleton via Buxton. It takes an impressive 1hour10mins and takes in Eyam and Tideswell as well as some stunning views of Hill Forts, deep limestone Dales and amazing twisty roads.
Its also usually deserted. See above.


Roy

[Rob Goes Walking]

The other problem I have experienced is a kind of snootiness towards them, buses, as one of my neighbours has said often "are just so Asda!"

That's OK, if your neighbour fancies themselves as Hyacinth Bucket leave them to it, it's not a problem. I've worked at ASDA, there's nothing wrong with ASDA. If you are worried by such snootiness I feel sorry for you.

[Ronin83]

Because of the above - Public Transport will never be good for those of us who want it to be 'as good as using a car but without having to park it where it'll get broken into' - This is why PT isn't profitable in rural areas, this is why its little used etc blah blah. The cause of Terrible Public Transport is ourselves. If its terrible when we want to use it once for the first time in 5 years rather than use our car then .. well .. wheres the surprise in that?

I don't agree.
Many people like myself want to use PT.
I hate driving.
The problem is that it's mostly waaaaaaaay over priced and bad. If it was either good OR cheap it would make sense.
If you want something to change(our society actually NEEDS to change) you have to design a new system which makes the old one irrelevant.
If PT was reliable, efficient, affordable etc etc then cars would be pointless, at least for most. Hell if it were just affordable!

[pleb]

PT isnt all bad by any means, have had many a walk by PT that turns out fine.

[Rob Goes Walking]

Hell if it were just affordable!

When you factor in the cost of petrol, insuring, parking, maintaining and purchasing a car it looks more affordable. If you've already shelled out for a car then less so but if you haven't it's not too bad. I think how much you use it is an important factor too, the more you use it the more a car becomes the cheaper option.

[April]

Public Transport in the rural / upland / non Town/City areas I'd suggest is predominantly used by residents of those areas who are either financially/socially disadvantaged enough not to be able to use a car or are the tiny minority who would prefer to use it.

Most of the people who use the 73 Caldbeck Rambler either can't drive or are too old to drive. In some of the villages they only have this one bus in a week.

This is why PT isn't profitable in rural areas, this is why its little used etc blah blah.

The 73 is packed most weeks and we end up standing to allow others to sit. We have campaigned to keep the bus running all year round. It stops after tomorrow for the winter, leaving the villagers with no public transport at all.

I don't think it is our fault that PT isn't great. IMO PT should be subsidised by government and not ran commercially for profit.

[gunwharfman]

"Its so Asda" is a term that I've heard a lot where I live and naturally gets picked up and used by local people including schoochildren. Its certainly doesn't bother me. You are right though, we did have a 'Mrs Boquet, but she has now moved to Swindon! Her greatest pleausure used to be, to tell people she was going on holiday and that she had been on holiday, but as her husband told us once she disliked being on holiday! That was because that when on holiday she couldn't tell people that she was going, or had been.

To my knowledge it doesn't happen in my city but when I take the bus, for example as I did from Penrith to Carlisle, it felt like I was part of an exclusive club. Everyone seemed to know each other and all of the bus drivers as well. Everyone was chatting away about this and that, it was very nice to my ears.

[barewirewalker]

It seems that most rural PT is subsidized for school runs, to get school children to urban based education centers from the rural areas, only the retired really have the available time at compatible hours to use these transport routes, but it can really show how PT opens up the countryside.

[Dovegirl]

Some bus services are subsidised by local authorities, who see them as an easy target for cuts.


The Campaign for Better Transport is an informative resource and has guidance on how to campaign to save buses
https://bettertransport.org.uk/
       

[gunwharfman]

In the abscence of a bus, you could consider hitchiking. Easy to do, I do it a lot, usually because I hate being in the wrong place at the wrong end of the day. That is, miles away from a pub and a meal!

[Rob Goes Walking]

In the abscence of a bus, you could consider hitchiking. Easy to do, I do it a lot, usually because I hate being in the wrong place at the wrong end of the day. That is, miles away from a pub and a meal!

Really? I've tried it a couple of times and nobody ever picks me up. You must look like good company or something!

[pleb]

Saturday went on a group walk with friends of dalesrail, Ben Rhydding to Guiseley. Train from Leeds had 6 of us, tried to get off at BR..........doors didnt open, no chance to get off, train pulled away n we had to carry on to Ilkley, 5 min further on.
Was cos of train strikes, the woman walking up n down looking at tickets must have been relief to cover the strikes. We told her but nowt she could do, we had to get the same train back as it turned around at Ilkley, back to Ben Rhydding.
Perfect example of why guards/conductors are needed on the trains!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[glovepuppet]

I don't agree.
Many people like myself want to use PT.

I'm with Ronin83 here. although I have a car, I would love to use PT far more, especially for walking.


Like others have mentioned, we too have had our bus service dropped during the daytime. There are work-time buses, but after about 8.30am and 4.30pm, none. This now means that pensioners eligible for a free bus pass have no buses available during the permitted hours of use! 


Of course, this has an immediate effect on those living in a village, especially the elderly who may need to get to the shops, doctors, etc, and who now struggle.


The justification was that the service wasn't used. But in some ways, the service before was so poor it was virtually a self-fulfilling prophesy. I live in a modest village between Northampton, Kettering and Market Harborough. There were no buses to Harborough at all. Kettering and Northampton are about 16 miles apart, but the bus service between the two took over 2 hours - 1.25 hours for the 9 mile trip to central Northampton.


There are areas that do it well - Pembroke Coast Path and Norfolk Coast Path to name a couple. But, like others, I have looked at doing the Ridgeway and given up over the PT logistics.


Such a shame - how do we expect folks to make more use of PT when all the decisions made actively detract from using it?