An example of why we don¡¦t want to use public transport
Discussion
Based on recent events, I thought I would share a couple of examples of why we (and I've no doubt many other people) try our best not to use the UK's public transport system. However firstly I will caveat this by stating that I think it's actually very good in London, just not outside of the capital.
For the last few years the wife and I have been living in Austria. We regularly used public transport as a means of getting about the city in which we lived. Public transport is not seen as the poor mans method of transportation. It is merely a well set up system to serve the public.
Our method of getting into the city would be through a combination of bus and then tram. I cannot remember a time when the bus was ever more than 5 minutes late, usually arriving within a minute of its scheduled time. The bus would then trundle to its end station whereby a tram would be ready and waiting to take the bus passengers the rest of the journey. It was a coordinated system that worked extremely well. On top of this it was costed according to a zone system. If you stayed in Zone 1, then you only needed one ticket for any means of transport within that zone.
Finally, every bus/tram stop has an up-to-date timetable and electronic tracking of the bus/trams to give an indication of how long before the next one at that particular stop.
Now we're back in the UK, things are very different. Until my new car arrives, we're a one-car family therefore the wife is using public transport. The first encounter of this was at our local bus stop, no timetable to be seen and a bus that finally turns up 20 minutes late. When mentioned to the bus driver, he just shrugs. Not a good start.
Then today it's really gone to pot. My wife had an appointment in a neighbouring town at 11:30. Now if she had a car, she could leave the house at 11:00 and guarantee being there in ample time. Instead she planned to get a bus to the train station, then a train to the neighbouring town. The train was at 10:15 and to ensure she caught it, and in light of her last bus not turning up on time experience, coupled with today's lovely weather, she got a taxi to the train station. It was the only reliable means.
Of course this is not the end of the story. Once at the train station they announced that the train would be, wait for it, 1 hour late. This means wifey will miss her appointment. A quick check with a taxi driver as to the cost to get there, but it's too much. She's also already got her train ticket and doesn¡¦t want to waste yet more money. So she perseveres and calls ahead to her appointment that she'll be late. Eventually the train turns up but then announces that it will not be completing the journey, instead stopping after less than 5 minutes of travel time at a station in the middle of the sticks. Apparently all onboard will then be ferried to their final destination by bus.
Everyone including the wife jumps off into the driving rain and waits for the bus. And they wait. And wait. And wait. In the end, and bearing in mind there are approximately 40 people here waiting for this phantom bus, they all form groups of 4 and club together to order taxis to their final destination, finally arriving late, stressed, rather lighter in their pockets than planned and wet through. What a complete and utter joke. And guess who'll be copping an ear full tonight
No wonder people prefer to use their cars. Just these 2 experiences are enough to put a person off ever relying on public transport as a reliable means of transportation.
Oh, and anyone who replies that this is a pathetic rant that only deserves 0/10 for lack of swearing can f
k OFF YOU fkING
For the last few years the wife and I have been living in Austria. We regularly used public transport as a means of getting about the city in which we lived. Public transport is not seen as the poor mans method of transportation. It is merely a well set up system to serve the public.
Our method of getting into the city would be through a combination of bus and then tram. I cannot remember a time when the bus was ever more than 5 minutes late, usually arriving within a minute of its scheduled time. The bus would then trundle to its end station whereby a tram would be ready and waiting to take the bus passengers the rest of the journey. It was a coordinated system that worked extremely well. On top of this it was costed according to a zone system. If you stayed in Zone 1, then you only needed one ticket for any means of transport within that zone.
Finally, every bus/tram stop has an up-to-date timetable and electronic tracking of the bus/trams to give an indication of how long before the next one at that particular stop.
Now we're back in the UK, things are very different. Until my new car arrives, we're a one-car family therefore the wife is using public transport. The first encounter of this was at our local bus stop, no timetable to be seen and a bus that finally turns up 20 minutes late. When mentioned to the bus driver, he just shrugs. Not a good start.
Then today it's really gone to pot. My wife had an appointment in a neighbouring town at 11:30. Now if she had a car, she could leave the house at 11:00 and guarantee being there in ample time. Instead she planned to get a bus to the train station, then a train to the neighbouring town. The train was at 10:15 and to ensure she caught it, and in light of her last bus not turning up on time experience, coupled with today's lovely weather, she got a taxi to the train station. It was the only reliable means.
Of course this is not the end of the story. Once at the train station they announced that the train would be, wait for it, 1 hour late. This means wifey will miss her appointment. A quick check with a taxi driver as to the cost to get there, but it's too much. She's also already got her train ticket and doesn¡¦t want to waste yet more money. So she perseveres and calls ahead to her appointment that she'll be late. Eventually the train turns up but then announces that it will not be completing the journey, instead stopping after less than 5 minutes of travel time at a station in the middle of the sticks. Apparently all onboard will then be ferried to their final destination by bus.
Everyone including the wife jumps off into the driving rain and waits for the bus. And they wait. And wait. And wait. In the end, and bearing in mind there are approximately 40 people here waiting for this phantom bus, they all form groups of 4 and club together to order taxis to their final destination, finally arriving late, stressed, rather lighter in their pockets than planned and wet through. What a complete and utter joke. And guess who'll be copping an ear full tonight
No wonder people prefer to use their cars. Just these 2 experiences are enough to put a person off ever relying on public transport as a reliable means of transportation.
Oh, and anyone who replies that this is a pathetic rant that only deserves 0/10 for lack of swearing can f
k OFF YOU fkING Welcome back to the UK.
I was waiting for a bus this morning as thought it would be easier than pratting around trying to park the car in town - get to the bus stop early, its raining, bus comes round the corner (half empty) & the behind the wheel simply carries on & doesnt stop.
I know he had seen me & the woman with the buggy as he looked over at us.
So i called the bus company to complain - the response from the tt on the phone?
Did you manage to get the drivers name......
wker.
I was waiting for a bus this morning as thought it would be easier than pratting around trying to park the car in town - get to the bus stop early, its raining, bus comes round the corner (half empty) & the
behind the wheel simply carries on & doesnt stop.I know he had seen me & the woman with the buggy as he looked over at us.
So i called the bus company to complain - the response from the t
t on the phone?Did you manage to get the drivers name......
w
ker.Every fking day I get the tube home at different times each evening.
Every time I rush out of the station to the bus stop in the distance.
Every fking time I see the bus arrive and leave without me!!!
I have to wait another 15-20 minutes for another one while two go past in the other direction, that may or may not decide to terminate it's journey half way thorough and turn around.
(I get off were the bus stand is, near my house)
I pay over £1600 a year for this service.
Drives me mad.
king day I get the tube home at different times each evening.Every time I rush out of the station to the bus stop in the distance.
Every f
king time I see the bus arrive and leave without me!!!I have to wait another 15-20 minutes for another one while two go past in the other direction, that may or may not decide to terminate it's journey half way thorough and turn around.
(I get off were the bus stand is, near my house)
I pay over £1600 a year for this service.
Drives me mad.
I can sympathize, OP. Spent a very pleasant week in Vienna last month, using nothing but the public transport system. Even my wife, without knowing a lick of German, was able to manage, because the system is so easy to understand and just works.
Back in the UK, I wouldn't dream of relying on the public transport system to get me anywhere on a reliable basis.
Could be worse though, you could be in the US. They make us look like a paragon of efficiency and availability on this front.
Back in the UK, I wouldn't dream of relying on the public transport system to get me anywhere on a reliable basis.
Could be worse though, you could be in the US. They make us look like a paragon of efficiency and availability on this front.
Mr Gear said:
What's all this nonsense about public transport being terrible "outside the capital"?
It's fking terrible INSIDE the capital too!
Agree mostly with this, the few times I've used it I've found the tube to be pretty good though. It's f
king terrible INSIDE the capital too!9/10 for the rant, purely on the last sentence.
ghibbett said:
However firstly I will caveat this by stating that I think it's actually very good in London, just not outside of the capital.
No, it's not, bus services are criminal, often failing to stop on request, not sticking to any timetable at all - I have actually experienced good bus services outisde London instead.Tube is so so except for the typicalnonsense called "signlling problems" (shared with the main railways in the UK), it should be faster especially for the price. How on earth can it take ONE HOUR to get from Uxbridge to Ealing with services on time and just one change ?
Edited by chris7676 on Wednesday 25th April 15:05
I very rarely use public transport.
I went on the Tyneside metro after watching a match at SJP a few years ago. This was the second time in in about 6 years I'd used it. The first resulted in me getting off 2 stops early due to a load of drunken nutcases kicking off with each other.
I stopped at Gosforth Regent Centre which is a busy stop. I walked past a gang of burberry capped idiots who were making dirty comments to a lone female who was obviously scared. I was alone but decided to ask them to watch their language. Cue the gang mentality. One came up to me and gave me attitude. I took his cap off him and stood on it and asked what he was going to do about it. Nothing apparently but his mates all started hurling snow balls and traffic cones at me. I managed to grab one of them by the throat but realised CCTV might incriminate me as he may or may not have been under 18. Hard to tell.
I decided to let go and walk away. They followed and circled like a pack of hyenas. None of them had the bottle to hit me but the threat was there. I admit to being scared as there was a lot of them.
This is why I tend not to use publuic transport. Too many wanabee gangsters wanting to make a name for themselves.
I went on the Tyneside metro after watching a match at SJP a few years ago. This was the second time in in about 6 years I'd used it. The first resulted in me getting off 2 stops early due to a load of drunken nutcases kicking off with each other.
I stopped at Gosforth Regent Centre which is a busy stop. I walked past a gang of burberry capped idiots who were making dirty comments to a lone female who was obviously scared. I was alone but decided to ask them to watch their language. Cue the gang mentality. One came up to me and gave me attitude. I took his cap off him and stood on it and asked what he was going to do about it. Nothing apparently but his mates all started hurling snow balls and traffic cones at me. I managed to grab one of them by the throat but realised CCTV might incriminate me as he may or may not have been under 18. Hard to tell.
I decided to let go and walk away. They followed and circled like a pack of hyenas. None of them had the bottle to hit me but the threat was there. I admit to being scared as there was a lot of them.
This is why I tend not to use publuic transport. Too many wanabee gangsters wanting to make a name for themselves.
The Eclipse BRT just opened linking Fareham to Gosport via a disused railway line. Leather seats, free wifi, on board visual/audio stop announcements.
Here's some pics I just found on flickr (not my own).
http://www.flickr.com/photos/southdown/6952827610/...
Will be interesting to see how that fares.
Here's some pics I just found on flickr (not my own).
http://www.flickr.com/photos/southdown/6952827610/...
Will be interesting to see how that fares.
The list 3 times the girlfiend has used the train I've had to collect her in the middle of the night from random stations due to trains being cancelled or not turning up. I'll only ever use the bloody things if I'm going to London (luckily not a regular occourance) as the main line services aren't too bad and it saves parking and congestion charge issues.
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