How cheap would buses need to be for you to use them?

[pixlestar 10]

It isn't particularly the cost that stops me using buses, it's the bad attitude of some of the drivers...on a rare bus journey recently we witnessed the driver get a great deal of pleasure out of watching an elderly man running for the bus...which was parked waiting at the bus stop...just as the would be passenger reached the doors, the driver closed them and drove off with a smug smirk on his face. Nice, I am sure it made his day. However....Karma never loses an address

[ANGELFIRE1 10]

I do not think I am better than anyone, but I would not travel by bus - if they paid me.

 

64 now and honestly cannot remember the last time I used a bus. It has to be going on for 50 years.

 

Angel1

[Boothybabe 10]

The thread about London getting rid of cash payments on buses got me thinking. it is currently £1 cheaper to travel by bus using an Oyster Card instead of cash and other forms of public transport are also heavily discounted too. As a result (and no doubt helped by congestion in London and congestion charging) London has the highest rate of commuters travelling by public transport in the UK.

 

How cheap would bus fares need to be in Sheffield for you to give up commuting by car and get on a bus?

 

They would have to be free, I would have to be the only passenger and they would have to go exactly where I want them too.

[Happ Hazzard 10]

Buses are fine if you work during the daytime in the city centre. For people who work different hours or who work on the outskirts of the city, it's far more of a challenge to use the bus. When I first started my job I was using the bus and it was taking 1 1/2 hours to get there in the morning and 2 hours to get home at night. This is a journey that takes me now 35 minutes in the morning in traffic and 20-25 minutes home at night.

[Tommo68 10]

I don't use buses unless I have to.

 

None of the following can be denied.

 

Bus travel is usually much slower than your own transport

 

Buses in sheffield are not reliable.

....often late and or missing, the route I usually use from town to home, 50% of the time is the bus more than 5 minutes late or missing. Broken down buses, which could mean anything, are usually not replaced.

 

Often when travelling out of town during the 'rush hours' you are unable to board your bus when it does arrive because it is full or it fills up from the stop at which you are waiting before you can board.

 

To get to many places you have to go by a very torturous route

....very time consuming

 

Journeys often involve a change of bus

....which implies another wait and an increased chance of the timetabled bus being late or missing.

 

Travelling by bus is contary to what some might state can prove expensive. .....especially when compared to using your own vehicle

 

The 'fare-stage' system for fare setting is for some extremely unfair and could easliy be replaced by a charge based on distance to be travelled

 

You can not take much with you on a bus

 

Moving around on a bus when preparing to get off or when getting to your seat can be dangerous especially when using the stairs and when there are bends.

 

Bus shelters are not effective shelters most of the time, and do not shelter you from the temperature

 

Using public transport outside normal office hours can, for some, be intimidating

....as can be waiting for a bus

 

People take dogs on buses...nuff said about that. No objection to dogs that assist people, they at least are trained usually clean and house trained.

 

Sometimes the previous occupant of your seat has had dirty or smelly clothing which in turn can affect your own clothing.

 

It can be unbearably hot and humid on a bus, admittedly seldom cold theses days

 

You are subjected to an increased risk of catching something by travelling on a bus, diseases, viruses and fleas through actual contact or proximity and just by breathing.

 

There are some very loud and unpleasant people on buses

...shouting, using mobile phones like the other person is hearing impaired, playing lound music even other peoples haedphones are ridicuously loud. In summer especially but at any time you can be subjest to other peoples body odour and bad breath. you have far more control over this in your own transport

 

Route planning is much simpler with your own transport. All you need is a destination Post Code. Going somewhere new on by bus and planning your journey is very time consuming and often frustrating.

....Try ringing up and asking or using the online route planner.

... I do not blame the drivers but often when you request to be informed when the bus has reached the required destination the driver forgets or sometimes does not know where you mean. Even when you plan your journey by the name of the bus stop rather than a landmark..shop..address etc.

 

One advantage I can see is that you can do some other activity on a bus, read, crossword etc but in the time I'd save using my own transport I could do some of those at home before I set off or when I get there.

 

Obviously they are good for people who for what ever reasons can not, may not, or choose not to drive.

 

Statistically, and I have looked at this carefully, you are less likely to be injured whilst travelling on a bus. Though you are increasingly subject to the dangers of being a pedestian which in turn is statistically better than than using your own transport

 

If you are injured on or by a bus I am told that it takes much longer (mean average) to get compensation that it would if you were in an accident in your own vehicle. This is not confirmed though my source is usually reliable

 

Some buses do have wi-fi ... what is not pointed out is that all fares contribute towards the cost of this and the equipment used to provide it.

 

 

Why is anyone comparing using public transport in and around sheffield with london?

.

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Edited April 13, 2014 by Tommo68

[Moosey 10]

If you are injured on or by a bus I am told that it takes much longer (mean average) to get compensation that it would if you were in an accident in your own vehicle. This is not confirmed though my source is usually reliable .

 

Your source is absolutely right. Transportation Claims, the bus insurers, are frankly a bloody nightmare. Only Zurich take longer to deal with matters in my experience. Zurich often work to a two month backlog and TC aren't far off that.

 

 

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[vwkittie 10]

My commute takes around the same length of time in a car as on the bus/tram (one hour) due to the awful traffic on the car route versus the quicker tram route.

 

Problems with missing buses/connections are pretty rare to be honest and usually only caused by major roadworks which would affect me if I was in a car anyway.

 

Overall I'd rather use public transport as it's a lot cheaper, don't have to find somewhere to park and I can just sit and read my book. Also I can go to the pub after work whenever I fancy!!

 

Mainly though I just HATE driving through traffic jams which is what trying to commute by car is every day, it's so frustrating and slow.

 

If the traffic and parking weren't an issue though I would prefer to use the car and probably nothing would make me use public transport instead.

[Zamo 10]

Some very interesting replies. It seems that for most people once we decide we need a car at least some of the time (and commit to buying and running one) then that is it... no more public transport!

 

It would appear reducing bus fares alone wouldn't be enough to tempt most people out of their cars. Perhaps the real problem is that it is too cheap to own and run a car!

[Moosey 10]

Some very interesting replies. It seems that for most people once we decide we need a car at least some of the time (and commit to buying and running one) then that is it... no more public transport!

 

It would appear reducing bus fares alone wouldn't be enough to tempt most people out of their cars. Perhaps the real problem is that it is too cheap to own and run a car!

 

It's not cheap to run a car at all - the fact is that for a lot of people logistics make public transport entirely unviable.

[tinfoilhat 11]

When I was a teenager before I could drive I would get a bus a lot. It was one to get to college, or one to get to work. It would be two to get to my girlfriends but it was only a 10 minute wait between the two and I was going to have sex so I didn't mind. This was in sleepy chesterfield a long time ago.

 

If I have to travel to my work it's 13 minutes in a car, I've timed it. I can stretch it out to 15 mins on one alternative route or 20 if I go another alternative route. I'd be hard pressed to do it under an hour and I suspect it would take a lot longer than that on a bus.

[Guest]

 

If I have to travel to my work it's 13 minutes in a car, I've timed it. I can stretch it out to 15 mins on one alternative route or 20 if I go another alternative route. I'd be hard pressed to do it under an hour and I suspect it would take a lot longer than that on a bus.

 

Am I reading this correctly? most people endeavour to shorten their journey time but this reads like you're actively trying to make your journey longer.

[tinfoilhat 11]

Am I reading this correctly? most people endeavour to shorten their journey time but this reads like you're actively trying to make your journey longer.

 

Far from it. The quickest way is down the m1. On occaision it's shut, or at least a lane of it is. So I could sit in traffic like a plank and wait for it to move or use an alternative route. I checked all 3 before we moved warehouse.