What's your opionion on buses? and their customer service either passenger or/and cyclist related.?

[Randombiker9]

So i've got a few things. I find most bus drivers are relatiively ok. My local bus company has always been fine dealing with when i've complained about close calls with buses whilst cycling. However there was this one time last year, that a customer said not to jump the queue we didn't even jump it and the driver told us off and told us not. We were confused as their was no queue and we didn't jump we were the last ones on. I personaly think he shouldn't of judge us just because a person said that.
There's been times where a driver leaves the doors open you get on and then say we're not ready yet. (They could just say Sorry, we're not ready yet to board).

But the worst thing is when buses break down or stop suddenly. The driver never says why just randomly gets out and for us it's like it seems for no reason as they haven't explained. That's the main thing they should improve
(This has happened more then 5 times)

(i was doing about customer service good and bad at college and this got me thinking about the buses because take other transports (except i have no clue about trams) tend to announce why they's stopped or there's been a problem causing delays like tree on line for trains or take planes. When i came back from holland we were stuck on the ground for a while but the pilot announced it was because of a problem with it not registering parking on air traffic control and then their was a problem with the air jetty.) What's the opion of buses in your area?

 

[classic33]

One company blamed their demise on people not using them. Blaming the use of taxi's by would be passengers.

If only their buses were a bit more reliable, the tickets transferrable when the bus you were on broke down. Why should you have to pay twice to complete the journey, purely and simply because the first one you got on, broke down? The company saw nothing wrong with doing it. But it wasn't uncommon to be waiting an hour for another bus only for payment to be demanded again.

The company that took them over are little better. Pre-paid passes are turned down on a regular basis. Especially later at night.

 

[raleighnut]

Can't stand the things.

 

[snorri]

Our buses are run as a profit making business rather than a public service, although some routes are subsidised. The fastest bus to my nearest sizeable town takes 55 minutes , twice as long as a car would take. The slower buses ie the evening buses take approx 83 minutes, or three times as long as a car, and not an attractive proposition particularly in winter when the heating is unable to compensate for lower outside temperatures.
If an early bus is delayed as happens when a load of tourists come aboard as they don't know where they are going and if or when they will want to come back, there is a ripple effect and buses for much of the day can run late.
Driving staff turnover is fast, and routes are rearranged with astonishing frequency, which recently resulted in me missing a connection because the bus took a wrong turn and proceeded on another route to the destination. There has been no response to my written complaint.
It is a rather sad thing that bus operators take advantage of the fact that the majority of bus passengers are barely capable of lodging complaints compared with air passengers on scheduled routes which frequently include politicians and industrial managerial types who are never to be seen on buses, and will probably bypass the normal complaint procedure and contact air company management directly in event of any service disruptions.
Meanwhile bus fares increase to compensate for the loss of passengers due to the ever falling costs of running a private car and buses are delayed due to increasing private car traffic obstructing roads and bus stops.
Buses are great, it's our parliamentarians that are letting us down.

 

[swee'pea99]

Buses in London are great. Just sayin'. The drivers are considerate to cyclists, the services are regular and reliable and the fares are reasonable. A while back they introduced a new scheme whereby you can pay once, then take a second ride on another bus free, so long as it's within an hour.

 

[Randombiker9]

One company blamed their demise on people not using them. Blaming the use of taxi's by would be passengers.

If only their buses were a bit more reliable, the tickets transferrable when the bus you were on broke down. Why should you have to pay twice to complete the journey, purely and simply because the first one you got on, broke down? The company saw nothing wrong with doing it. But it wasn't uncommon to be waiting an hour for another bus only for payment to be demanded again.

The company that took them over are little better. Pre-paid passes are turned down on a regular basis. Especially later at night.

Weird and yeah although if you have all day ticket. That's not too bad but if you have a single or return i agree. I use the mobile tickets on the app although sometimes it doesn't work if the screens a bit dark which i don't get because it should just work like normal when it's got good screen brightness.

Can't stand the things.

Is that because of similar reasons? or are your buses worse?

Our buses are run as a profit making business rather than a public service, although some routes are subsidised. The fastest bus to my nearest sizeable town takes 55 minutes , twice as long as a car would take. The slower buses ie the evening buses take approx 83 minutes, or three times as long as a car, and not an attractive proposition particularly in winter when the heating is unable to compensate for lower outside temperatures.
If an early bus is delayed as happens when a load of tourists come aboard as they don't know where they are going and if or when they will want to come back, there is a ripple effect and buses for much of the day can run late.
Driving staff turnover is fast, and routes are rearranged with astonishing frequency, which recently resulted in me missing a connection because the bus took a wrong turn and proceeded on another route to the destination. There has been no response to my written complaint.
It is a rather sad thing that bus operators take advantage of the fact that the majority of bus passengers are barely capable of lodging complaints compared with air passengers on scheduled routes which frequently include politicians and industrial managerial types who are never to be seen on buses, and will probably bypass the normal complaint procedure and contact air company management directly in event of any service disruptions.
Meanwhile bus fares increase to compensate for the loss of passengers due to the ever falling costs of running a private car and buses are delayed due to increasing private car traffic obstructing roads and bus stops.
Buses are great, it's our parliamentarians that are letting us down.

I understand that as here theres two different zones. when i get into town. I get the 2nd zone which means if you get all day it works on any bus untill 4am. Get the bus to my new college place it. A single in the normal area (1st zone bassically is a Single if your under 18 or 19-21 in college or uni. It's £1.40. For adults £2 All day is £2.50 for 18 and under or 19-21's in college uni £4 all day for adults in the 1st zone only. THe 2nd zone is even more confusing if you have all day in 1st zone but get a 2nd zone next you can only use it till the end of the 1st zone and then it's not valid anymore. With the 2nd zone the buses are ussually between 45 mins too an hour but like the cost it's £3.65 for a return if 18 and under or 19-21 and still in college but if your adult it's like £5.65 and with all day for 18 and under or 19-21 in college/uni. It's £4 and adults it's £7. The main thing that delays buses is road works or diversions in my area. They used to update on their facebook page why a bus is delayed or post that it's cancelled but they've seen to stop doing this.

Buses in London are great. Just sayin'. The drivers are considerate to cyclists, the services are regular and reliable and the fares are reasonable. A while back they introduced a new scheme whereby you can pay once, then take a second ride on another bus free, so long as it's within an hour.

They do a smiliar thing on the town buses in my area but i don't get the point of transfer because if the bus runs late or is delayed cancelled, by the time you get off and wait for another bus it will nearly be an hour and then won't be valid anymore. But the thing is compared to most towns. Isn't london a lot more aware of cyclists? and you guys also have a cyclist safety team which are police on bikes right?

The council in my area i was quite suprised but they actually have a leaflet on cycling safety, found it through online. I think the police are getting better with educating cyclisits as according to their facebook page in their recent open day (where they showed action of their police dogs and horses) they had a section on bicycle safety. Even now PCSO's are a warning people not to cycle on pavements and if they continued they could get fined. Although i still think lorries are the most aware, it seems like that they've had training with cyclists as in my area when i've looked back and if their behind a cyclist, motorbike or they stop near a horse rider. They give like double the sepration distance to those of cars, motorbikes, vans and buses. if so shouldn't all veichles have training on vulnearble users like cyclists motorbikes and horse riders or is this something driving instructors teach? (i've never learnt to drive and don't want to unless i have to. So i dunno whether you get taught about this or not?)

 

[Electric_Andy]

Good service, considering most of the routes are not designed for large buses. For the price, no complaints really

 

[Andy in Germany]

We're fortunate that public transport is centrally managed so we have a number of bus companies but the same tickets are valid in all of them, and also on trams, trains and Metro. I can go from our local tram stop to the centre by tram and bus without having to worry about different tickets, as I have a travel card for the areas I use public transport in.

This map probably makes it clearer. You buy tickets by the zone so the important thing is the zone boundaries not the mode of transport, which is why that plan shows tram/bus/rail routes as one colour. I have a zone 1/2 pass although I live out in the wilds of zone 3, but the central two zones will become one zone soon, so I'll be saving a fair bit each month.

If I don't have a pass for a journey I generally get a 'four journey ticket' which is valid for a year. I have to stamp this when I get on the tram/bus and then it is valid for two hours in one direction.

Buses are fairly reliable, although not perfect as Stuttgart's traffic is apalling, but the trams are generally on time. clean and you can carry a bike on them off peak (which of course isn't when I'm travelling, but still...)

The system is absolutely pants at information if there's a delay -basically it depends on the drivers mood as to whether he tells us anything except "Everybody out".

It's also rubbish at at connecting between modes. The bus to our village runs about every 30 minutes off-peak, and every fifteen at peak times, whereas the trams run every ten or twenty minutes. Guess how often a quirk of timing means you see the bus leave as you arrive in the tram. It's been like this for the 14 years I've lived here so I generally leave my bike at the tram stop and cycle home. This saves about 24€ a month as well, as the tram stop is on the zone boundary. Thankfully bike crime is pretty low, but I still make sure I ride an old bike to the tram stop.

 

[Drago]

Too many of them. Sure, villages need them to link to civilisation, but far too many in some urban areas. The Government should be promoting cycling for commuter journeys of under 10 miles, not yet another motorised vehicle puking out filth.

 

[Joey Shabadoo]

Ah buses. I got on one in North London in 1991. It was full of poor people though so I got off at the next stop.

 

[Dirk]

Buses?
They are very regular around here.
Every Tuesday and Thursday............

 

[Drago]

Because of the gross financial mismanagement of Northamptionshire County Council they're having to cut bus services to save money, leaving many folk stranded in their villages. One local lass in her early 20s is epileptic so cat drive or risk cycling, and not the bus service has been stopped she can't work, go shopping, get to the doctors, do pretty much anything. Thank my lucky stars I'm healthy enough to cycle.

 

[vickster]

It always astonishes me how many bus drivers are on their route for the first time...they seem to have no idea where the stops are, overtaking cyclists and pulling into a stop nanoseconds later

And these are saintly London bus drivers

I'd rather have a bus on the roads than twenty more cars however, especially as newer ones seem to be using a greener source of oomph than diesel

 

[Andy in Germany]

Because of the gross financial mismanagement of Northamptionshire County Council they're having to cut bus services to save money, leaving many folk stranded in their villages. One local lass in her early 20s is epileptic so cat drive or risk cycling, and not the bus service has been stopped she can't work, go shopping, get to the doctors, do pretty much anything. Thank my lucky stars I'm healthy enough to cycle.

That's one difference here as well: someone with elipepsy [Edit: Epilepsy, sorry] is entitled to transport, so it would have to be provided one way or the other so she could get to work.

 

[Drago]

She had her free disabled his pass until the council blew the budget buying a shiny new £55,000,000 headquarters building that they didnt need, torpedoeing a hole in the budget well below the waterline. Then there's the VIP box at the Saints ruby ground that they bought with public funds. How no one got prosecuted over any of this is beyond me.

The real kicker is that these chumps mismanaged the county council and wreck it, so now there's take of creating a unitary authority to bail them out. I'm under South Northants council, who are a paragon of efficiency and thrift. If it went unitary they'd have to bin their contract sharing are agreements with the neighbouring council across the border in Oxfordshire, so even more people suffer, and everyone's council tax rises to pay for the idiocy of a few people.