hoots_min
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| posted on 8/8/08 at 06:42 PM |
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Public Transport
have realised the problem with public transport, in particular buses. Driving home this evening, thoroughly enjoying the sunshine and glorious roads,
making excellent  progress, having safely overtaken those wishing to do under the speed limit, when I hit (not literally) a queue of 4 cars stuck
behind a bus - doing 32 mph in a 60. this was the fastest he got up to and was downhill!!
Figured out the reason, he doesn't need to be at his next stop for another few minutes so there is no need for him to go any faster, meanwhile
queues are building up behind him and by the time we had a long enough straight there were at least 12 cars being forced to travel at his speed.
Now, if it takes me 25 mins to get home travelling at 60 mph it is going to take him at least 50 mins, plus the stops he has to make, so lets say 1
hour. Why would I want to sit on a bus for an hour when I can get home and spend precious time with my kids and pay almost as much in fare as I do in
petrol?
Solution - increase bus frequency such that they don't need to be at a specific stop at a specific time, i.e. the most any passenger would have
to spend at a bus stop waiting is 15 mins, use smaller buses and reduce the fares.
Cash injection required - yes
Ever Happen? - not in a million years.
Rant over. 
Thanks for listening.
Today is a good day: I achieved new heights of ineptitude.
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smart51
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| posted on 8/8/08 at 08:19 PM |
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its a bit of a catch 22. If everyone travelled by bus frequently there would be enough money in buses to run one every few minutes, and they'd
all be reasonably full because everyone travelled by bus. Because they ran so frequently, people would use them.
No city in the country will spend millions on new buses to put the service in place before there is demand. Nobody who has an alternative will use
buses until the service is good enough.
Who can think of a good way to get from here to there? I'd vote for them.
Interestingly, Hong Kong has a bus / train / tram / ferry service that runs so frequently, there is no timetable. Buses go to train stations and tube
station. Tube stations are build next to train stations. You can get from everywhere to everywhere without waiting and without having to find your
way from bus stop to tram stop. And you don't have to find exact fare for each leg of your journey.
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Peteff
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| posted on 8/8/08 at 10:19 PM |
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We were walking down the road the other day when a bus pulled up at a stop in front of us and the doors opened but nothing else happened. After we
passed it I turned round to look and an elderly woman was getting off with two carrier bags full of shopping, she got back on and got back off with
another two bags meaning the bus driver was sitting there for about 5 minutes in all and she then had to make her way home with four bags of shopping
from the bus stop after having carried it all the way across town to get to the bus stop. People don't only want to get somewhere, they also
have stuff to do when they get there and if everyone had a load of shopping to transport the buses would be the least convenient way to do it. She
would have free transport on the bus but I'd still rather have the convenience of the car for shopping and leisure.
yours, Pete
I went into the RSPCA office the other day. It was so small you could hardly swing a cat in there.
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