London Buses - Why do I bother?
 

I'm about to have a whinge. An unreasonable one, which ignores 'stuff'
like operational problems and the like.


Just what is it with London Buses and ME? Why can't they just get me
home in a reasonable time?

Take today. I sense my day is going to be bad when I get a 333 from
Streatham to Brixton. I swear that the drivers of this bus, and the
133, are on a permanent 'go slow'. Today, we were overtaken by
cyclists and six other buses whose drivers seemed to have a slight
sense of urgency. The tube was then held at Victoria to regulate the
service, but more of that another time.

On my way home, Regent Street - Streatham, I get to the bus stop on
Regent Street, at 2315hrs, just as a 159 passes. I never run for
buses, but a woman does. She runs all the way from Vigo Street to the
bus, which has stopped at the bus stop near Air Street. The bus waits.
And waits. She reaches the stop, and the driver closes the doors. He
won't let her on. He then drives forward literally two feet, and stops
at the traffic lights. He still won't let her on. He drives off.

By 2335 I have counted 3 x Route 12s, 2 x Route 453's, 3 x Route 15s
and 3 x Route 94s. No sign of an 88, 3 or 159 which most of the people
waiting want. At 2337, another 159 appears. It waits at the stop until
2342, for some reason. By 2357, we have reached Whitehall. There are
no obvious traffic problems, even with the roadworks at Haymarket.

The bus trundles to Streatham, and at 0020, I get off. 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.

And the most frustrating thing about it is that this is not the first
time I've had these kind of journeys, and there is nothing anyone will
do about it.

London Buses - Why do I bother?
 

Perhaps a combination of tube (tm), railway and walking might get you
home quicker than inferior bus travel.

London Buses - Why do I bother?
 

On Apr 11, 1:48*am, Nick W wrote:
Perhaps a combination of tube (tm), railway and walking might get you
home quicker than inferior bus travel.

I would normally get 38 to Victoria, Southern to Streatham Hill then
417 but the last train is at 2336 and the Victoria Line was closed
etc.

London Buses - Why do I bother?
 

Railist wrote:
I swear that the drivers of this bus, and the 133,
are on a permanent 'go slow'.

Thanks for the reminder. I was on a half-full bus the other day which
was driving slowly down an otherwise empty road. After a minute or two,
curiosity and impatience made me shift seats so I could see what was
immediately ahead of the bus - which was nothing. From my new vantage
point I could also see the driver in his mirror and lo, he was chatting
away on a mobile phone that was pressed to the side of his head. Nice.

ESB

London Buses - Why do I bother?
 

On Apr 11, 1:10 am, Railist wrote:
sense of urgency. The tube was then held at Victoria to regulate the
service, but more of that another time.

Ah yes , the famous regulate the service phrase that LU so love. Which
basically translates to "we can't run a decent service so to cover up
our incompetence we're going to delay you even more".

B2003

London Buses - Why do I bother?
 

On Apr 11, 10:25 am, Ernst S Blofeld
wrote:
point I could also see the driver in his mirror and lo, he was chatting
away on a mobile phone that was pressed to the side of his head. Nice.

You should have taken the bus number and reported him to the police.
He was risking everyone on the bus and anyone in the nearby vicinity.

B2003

London Buses - Why do I bother?
 

Ernst S Blofeld wrote:
Railist wrote:
I swear that the drivers of this bus, and the 133,
are on a permanent 'go slow'.

Thanks for the reminder. I was on a half-full bus the other day which
was driving slowly down an otherwise empty road. After a minute or
two, curiosity and impatience made me shift seats so I could see what
was immediately ahead of the bus - which was nothing. From my new
vantage point I could also see the driver in his mirror and lo, he
was chatting away on a mobile phone that was pressed to the side of
his head. Nice.

Did you tell the police?

London Buses - Why do I bother?
 

Boltar wrote:
You should have taken the bus number and reported him to the police.
He was risking everyone on the bus and anyone in the nearby vicinity.

Quite. Had he not stopped and had I not been preoccupied, in a hurry and
getting off the bus at the next stop, I would have. Perhaps someone else
on the bus did. That said, experience suggests that 'doing the right
thing' too often achieves nothing more than wasting my time and making
me even more irate than I was about the original incident.

ESB

London Buses - Why do I bother?
 

On Thu, 10 Apr 2008, Railist wrote:

Just what is it with London Buses and ME?

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

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.

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.

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!

tom

--
Ed editor textorum probatissimus est -- Cicero, De officiis IV.7

London Buses - Why do I bother?
 

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.