On 11 Apr, 13:44, Tom Anderson wrote:

On Thu, 10 Apr 2008, Railist wrote:
Just what is it with London Buses and ME?

It isn't. It's me as well!


Most of the time it isn't me.


According to the Mobile Journey Planner, there is a 417 due at 0024. The
countdown timer at the stop shows that it will be there in "10 mins".
Again I do the county thing - 3 x Route 57, 2 x Route 333, 1 x Route 59,
2 x Route 137, etc. etc. At 0034, the 417 is 'Due', and a 133 is in '3
minutes'. The 133 arrives 3 minutes later. Still no sign of the 417. It
eventually arrives five minutes after being 'Due'. I get home at 0059.

Normal service, then.


Well, no. Much of the time it works very well. I do broadly find the
bus service in London to be pretty reliable. When I get a moment later
I'll go over Railist's journey and look for ways of improving it -
specifically I'd imagine that a bit of bus hopping might be an idea
for this journey.


This is why i get so furious when people on here tell me that buses are a
perfectly good way to travel, that they can get from Pinner to London
Bridge in ten minutes with cast-iron reliability, etc. It's not true. It's
just not true. Bus travel is a lottery, and nothing more.


I suspect in part that's me your getting furious with, though those
views aren't an accurate reflection of what I think.

For longer journeys I wouldn't favour the bus if there's a rail
alternative, but for some journeys taking the bus can be as good if
not better than making a more convoluted rail journey.

There are a whole host of factors with regards to how good bus travel
will be, including when the journey is being made and the potential
for bus hopping along that route which can dramatically speed things
up. Of course to take advantage of this you need some local knowledge.

Bus travel can be something of a lottery, but simply saying it is
always a lottery and nothing more is blinkered.


My completely serious suggestion would be to buy a bike. I've got one, and
avoid all forms of public transport like the plague. As a result, i get
where i'm going faster and more reliably, and much more enjoyably, than
any travelcard monkey making the same trip. Yes, faster - door to door, i
can even beat the Victoria line to work!


Avoiding "all forms of public transport like the plague" and yet
having such an evidently great interest in it could strike one as
slightly odd!

Regarding your comments about cycling, I would certainly agree -
though for longer journeys across the capital (e.g. Croydon - central
London) the scales would begin to tip the other way. And for various
reasons it's not always convenient. But it is a seriously fast way of
getting around town, no doubt.