Bus Timetables

[UncleEbenezer]

Was singing in a concert this evening. Took the bus into town, with just a light fleece over the penguin outfit.

Simplifying a bit, I have two bus routes into town, taking me to within a couple of minutes walk of the venue. One costs £2, the other £3.80. So I naturally aim to use the £2 route.

Looked at the timetable, there's a bus at 18:31 on the cheaper route. That'll do nicely to be there by seven. So I wandered down to the stop, arriving in reasonable time.

Just to double-check (as one does), I looked at the timetable at the bus stop. Not 18:31, but 18:26. Aaargh! Next bus won't get me there in time.

Look again at the online timetable. In the smallprint, "From April 1st 2018". AAARGH!!!!!

Run to the stop for the other route (damn, shouldn't be running in these clothes), catch the 18:42, begrudge the higher fare. Doubly so when, a moment later, I realise I could've bought a £3 travel-anywhere-after-18:30 ticket, and the driver never mentioned it.

[madhatter]

The thrills of relying on bus timetables! I received a Freedom Pass a few years ago and have made far more use of buses every month than over many years before.

However, I have never liked waiting at bus stops an agreeable pastime. It I knew the bus was going to take more than a few minutes I’d rather walk to the next stop.

In fact the biggest single factor in getting my first smartphone just over a year ago was that it could tell me when the next bus was coming, where it was going and even where the nearest stops were. The Bus Times app shows all this and Citymapper also allows journeys to be planned combining bus, train and tube, in London and a few other main centres. They also usually show the actual live bus times rather than just the timetable.

They are not perfect but do take most of the hassle out a trip via public transport.

[tjh290633]

UncleE, have you tried the Traveline app? It should have current timetables loaded, but is not infallible.

Also clicking on bus stops on Google Maps often gives you the next departures from that stop.

TJH.

[bungeejumper]

The incomprehensibility of bus routes (and timetables) is one of the reasons why I so rarely use them. Buses are useless to anyone who doesn't already know the geography intimately, or who doesn't care what time he/she arrives.

Quite a lot of our rural bus routes are called Loopy Loop, or Wagglebus, or Pram'n'codgerbus, or something similarly descriptive, which ought indicate to the unwary that the sign over the door says Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here. A three mile door to door distance will take an hour and ten minutes (and eleven miles) by the time you've done the post office, the day centre and four McDonalds stops.

If anything, it's worse in town. Put me in a city I don't know, and how the hell am I supposed to know whether I want the Number 881C or the 442 (except Tuesdays), either of which may or may not take me in the general compass direction I'm after? And if I ask the driver and he says "werll, do you want to go to go to the Chamberlain Square end or the Todbridge interchange end?, cos if so you need a Number 666 from the bus station and change at White Hill", I know I'm buggered before I've even started my journey. Might as well satnav it with the car, or walk it, because either is likely to be quicker.

I daresay there are smartphone apps that will guide me seamlessly through the bus-route maze, but you know what? I can't be [expletive deleted] to find out. Yep, I'm one of those evil old diehards who don't want to spend their whole time riding around glumly with their noses pressed up against the gorilla glass. I am my own worst enemy. I'd rather walk.

Bah!

BJ

[Rhyd6]

Don't know what you lot are moaning about, at least you have buses. The last regular one ran through our village 17 years ago.

R6

[bungeejumper]

Don't know what you lot are moaning about, at least you have buses. The last regular one ran through our village 17 years ago.

Look on the bright side. It must surely have reached the bus terminus by now? Give it another 17 years, and it'll be back on the outward run again. Tut tut, some people have no patience.

BJ

[tjh290633]

If anything, it's worse in town. Put me in a city I don't know, and how the hell am I supposed to know whether I want the Number 881C or the 442 (except Tuesdays), either of which may or may not take me in the general compass direction I'm after? And if I ask the driver and he says "werll, do you want to go to go to the Chamberlain Square end or the Todbridge interchange end?, cos if so you need a Number 666 from the bus station and change at White Hill", I know I'm buggered before I've even started my journey. Might as well satnav it with the car, or walk it, because either is likely to be quicker.

I daresay there are smartphone apps that will guide me seamlessly through the bus-route maze, but you know what? I can't be [expletive deleted] to find out. Yep, I'm one of those evil old diehards who don't want to spend their whole time riding around glumly with their noses pressed up against the gorilla glass. I am my own worst enemy. I'd rather walk.

My approach to strange towns is to use Google Maps. I click on the nearest bus stop and see which buses stop there, then on one where I wish to go and do likewise. If the same number serves both, then you have found a direct route. It works well in London.

The usual answer if you ask locally is "If it was me I wouldn't start from here", as the irishman said. However you might strike lucky and find a local map with all the services shown.

TJH

[scotia]

On one occasion the ignorance of a seasonal timetable worked to our advantage. We looked up the summer Ferry timetable to Gigha (it was Easter), and planned a trip. As we approached the pier, we saw the Ferry had just arrived, and we ran aboard, announcing that we had just made it. The crew looked at us in a puzzled fashion, and explained that there was no scheduled Ferry at this time (it was the Winter Timetable - with much less frequent crossings), and they had only come over from Gigha with a special load. However they quite happily agreed to make the return trip. The Camellias and Rhododendrons in Achamore gardens are worth a visit