Public transport...

Markatomic · 25 Jun 2007 at 12:26

People are always saying use public transport, for which there are many reasons not to... one of them being that its not that cheap. But heres something I didnt know. You can't buy a return ticket on a bus if its before 8:30am where i live.
Who the hell things theses things up, so the small saving you might make getting a return is null and void for the early commuter.
Not sure why but this has really annoyed me...
Im sticking to my own transport.
mark

trojan698 · 25 Jun 2007 at 12:28

OK, thanks.

Glaucus · 25 Jun 2007 at 12:30

public transport out side of london and a few northern cities is rubbish and anyone who says use it, doesn't know what there talking about.

Public transport is stupidly expensive, unreliable, doesn't got where you want without about 3 changes and if you work shift work, doesn't even run at the right times.

[TW]Fox · 25 Jun 2007 at 12:36

Sometimes its not all that bad. I'm off to Worcestershire at the weekend to visit the GF, would cost me about £40-50 in fuel in the car, just bought a return train ticket for £33.80, where I will be able to sit on the train, plug the laptop in, sit back, and browse the web for the duration of the journey.

Joy.

trojan698 · 25 Jun 2007 at 12:36

The problem with public transport outside the city is not enough people use it. If they did, it would be more timely and less costly. But it's a catch 22 situation really, people wont use it when it's expensive and rubbish, so it'll just continue to be crap.

ArmyofHarmony · 25 Jun 2007 at 12:38

If I could drive, i'd take a car everytime,

public transport is terrible, fact... buses never turn up when they are meant to, and then 3 buses in a row appear. Or you wait ages, and a bus thats full goes past you.

The rules on return tickets are disgraceful as well. The best thing about the bus back in the day was that you got burger king vouchers for buy one get one free on the the tickets

Glaucus · 25 Jun 2007 at 12:39

[TW]Fox said:
Sometimes its not all that bad. I'm off to Worcestershire at the weekend to visit the GF, would cost me about £40-50 in fuel in the car, just bought a return train ticket for £33.80, where I will be able to sit on the train, plug the laptop in, sit back, and browse the web for the duration of the journey.

Joy.

yeh sometimes when it's one person it can be good. but as soon as you get 2 people, it half's the cost of petrol for a car, yet doubles the price for a train.

A group of us used to go visit a load of mates from uni all over the place. we always checked train tickets, but could never afford them compared to a car, which meant one person would have to be sensible on the drink saterday night.

Vonhelmet · 25 Jun 2007 at 13:13

I use the train in Manchester. I'm very lucky if I get a seat in the morning, and the evenings can be a bit of a joke too, especially if they decide to only send two carriages when 4 is barely enough at the best of times.

allllec · 25 Jun 2007 at 13:20

I personally dont mind trains (I live in Reading). they are by no means ideal but i just kinda like them. however still car > train imo.

but busses. not only are they like you've said above they are usualy freezing cold (in the winter anyway). stupidly expensive. £2.50 to get a return into the town center here. £1.70 on the train. and just the people you get on them. i dont think you should feel threatend when you get on a bus to be honest..

SiD the Turtle · 25 Jun 2007 at 13:25

[TW]Fox said:
Sometimes its not all that bad. I'm off to Worcestershire at the weekend to visit the GF, would cost me about £40-50 in fuel in the car, just bought a return train ticket for £33.80, where I will be able to sit on the train, plug the laptop in, sit back, and browse the web for the duration of the journey.

Joy.

That's if you get a seat. I often do long commutes by train and I find it madness that you pay for the right to go on a train, but not a seat (unless you know in advance and can book a seat).

allllec said:
I personally dont mind trains (I live in Reading). they are by no means ideal but i just kinda like them. however still car > train imo.

but busses. not only are they like you've said above they are usualy freezing cold (in the winter anyway). stupidly expensive. £2.50 to get a return into the town center here. £1.70 on the train. and just the people you get on them. i dont think you should feel threatend when you get on a bus to be honest..

Back when I was at Reading Uni I hated buses. Smelly, overcrowded and slow. Taking a car in these days is a lot quicker.

[TW]Fox · 25 Jun 2007 at 13:25

SiD the Turtle said:
That's if you get a seat. I often to long commutes by train and I find it madness that you pay for the right to go on a train, but not a seat (unless you know in advance and can book a seat).

I've made reservations but even so, it's rarely ever standing room only on trains in this area.

SiD the Turtle · 25 Jun 2007 at 13:27

[TW]Fox said:
I've made reservations but even so, it's rarely ever standing room only on trains in this area.

I suppose it does depend on route. I often spend my days standing in the cramped doorway of a Virgin Train heading up the west coast.

V4NT0M · 25 Jun 2007 at 13:27

Its tru you know, you wait 30 mins for a bus then 3 come all at once, and the only bus thats not on time is the one you're waiting for! Thankfully I walk to work now

HEADRAT · 25 Jun 2007 at 13:29

We need an intergrated transport policy, unfortunately we don't have one!

HEADRAT

sniffy · 25 Jun 2007 at 13:30

Buses outside of London are indeed awful.

They seem to change the time table every other week here yet give no indication they've done so. I hate them with a passion. I can't wait til I'm driving.

shifty_uk · 25 Jun 2007 at 13:31

SiD the Turtle said:
That's if you get a seat. I often do long commutes by train and I find it madness that you pay for the right to go on a train, but not a seat (unless you know in advance and can book a seat).

At least there is an area for standing on trains. Busses are:

SiD the Turtle said:
Smelly, overcrowded and slow.

...among countless other things.

Trains are far from perfect, but their much better than busses. Less chavs, less traffic, less in your face passengers screaming down their mobile phones, or even worse...playing music on their phones(on loud speaker).

Glaucus · 25 Jun 2007 at 13:32

HEADRAT said:
We need an intergrated transport policy, unfortunately we don't have one!

HEADRAT

yep this is the other problem, you get a train to where ever, then you have to wait 30mins for a bus to finish the journey off.

why dont buses, trains and planes talk to each other.

ALso why don't buses/trains lay on extra for wembly stadium. Going week Sunday and the last bus/train back is around 10:30. which is very much likely before the event finishes.

Tute · 25 Jun 2007 at 13:36

[TW]Fox said:
Sometimes its not all that bad. I'm off to Worcestershire at the weekend to visit the GF, would cost me about £40-50 in fuel in the car, just bought a return train ticket for £33.80, where I will be able to sit on the train, plug the laptop in, sit back, and browse the web for the duration of the journey.

Joy.

Gawd, what company is that with?

When I used to commute from Reading to Exeter and back again, often the trains were ridiculously overcrowded, smelly, and you could forget about plugging a laptop in! :eek:

HEADRAT · 25 Jun 2007 at 13:42

How the government can be serious about getting people out of the cars and onto public transport just makes me

I commute into London once a week and to be honest there is no other realistic way the train/tube, it's expensive £44 return but the service isn't bad. Getting from my village to the train station is just impossible though, it would take 90 minutes by bus or 20 mins in the car!

Until there is a realistic alternative people will have to own/use a car, I always love the line when the talk about "congestion charging" and they talk about people "choosing" to use their cars at "peak times". Yeah it's called the "rush hour" and people have to get to work, unless they change school start times and force employers to offer flexible start times then they will have to realise that anything introduced to stop people using their cars at these peaks times without an alternative is just "a tax on going to work" :mad:

tomwalker · 25 Jun 2007 at 13:43

Speaking of trains...I tried to get from Birmingham to Leeds today. I paid £51 for my tickets so I got to New Street station ready for my train which arrives perfectly on time which was great.

However when we reached Derby we were told we had to get off as the train wasn't able to go all the way to Leeds due to the bad weather. So I then have to wait for another train which is only going to Sheffield. 30 minutes later this train arrives and then sets off for Sheffield.

About 10 minutes into the journey the train stops and over the tannoy comes a message about a tree on the line and signal problems. 45 minutes later still in the same position and a good 1 hour at least to Leeds another message is read out saying that the train is heading back to Derby and a recommendation to not travel today.

So having wasted a good 6 hours today trying to get to Leeds, here I am back at home. Also to top it all off I tried to ring customer support at Virgin for a refund only to be told there is technical problems and to call back in a couple of hours. :rolleyes: