185 bus (I have found it to be exceptionally poor)

[EDNate]

Hi,

As a new resident of ED (lower part of Upland road), I have found the 185 bus to be exceptionally poor. It is one of the only poor options for residents of the lower parts of Upland, Barry, Friern and Dunstan's road travelling to the West end during peak times. We take the 185 up to Vauxhall tube and onto green park. The 185 seems to average every 8-20 minutes compared to the 176 and 197 buses which average every 3-5 coming up LL from Forest hill. The 176 and 197 seem significantly less busy!

It regularly takes 60-75 minutes to travel to green park, only 5 miles !

Please don't reply telling me to cycle. I don't feel safe driving in London yet alone riding a bicycle in the bus lane in the dark when raining ! Other routes to the west end are equally as shoddy (London bridge from Ed + Jubilee is spoiled by the distance to tube from train platforms, west dulwich and p13 bus are even less frequent)

What are others experiences with the 185, and do they have similar thoughts ? Am I missing the full picture on the 176/197?

Seems like an additional bus route from ED to Brixton is desperately needed to get us on the tube.

Thanks

[Sue]

I don't really have a problem with the 185.

If I'm doing something time critical I use the Bus Countdown app (or Google maps, sometimes more reliable) to see when there is one due before I leave home.

You could always get a 176 or 40 to Camberwell Green, if one comes first, then change there and get the first bus up to Vauxhall, though it's a bit of a pain as you have to walk round the corner.

I just looked on Google Maps and it's reckoning around 40 minutes from my house (North Cross Road area) to Green Park tube at the moment by public transport. Obviously it will depend on the time you are travelling and how heavy the trafffic is.

[rendelharris]

Why don't you get off the 185 at Denmark Hill (this would give you the option of using the 176 as well) and take the train to Victoria and walk/tube/bus it (0.75 miles) to Green Park from there? Got to be quicker than trying to get a bus up Camberwell New Road in rush hour.

[KidKruger]

12 or 197 to Peckham, then train to Victoria. then leg it to GP.

[Applespider]

I find the 185 more frequent than 176/197. At rush hour, it takes an age to get from Denmark Hill to Vauxhall. I usually follow rendallharris?s advice to get off at Denmark Hill or Oeckham Rye and take train to Victoria. If you get a tube to Green spark anyhow, it?s likely to cap fare. They aren?t quite as well timed as in the past but bring my commute from near Horniman to Victoria down to 40-45minutes.

Until a week or so ago, the 176/197 were on diversion between Sydenham and the Hornima. That did make them less likely to get snarled up in the South Circular traffic which has been dreadful through Forest Hill since they changed the road layout at the Horniman a couple of years ago. That diversion did make those routes substantially quieter and the 185 busier during October.

I do entirely understand the disinclination to even think about cycling at this time of year - and I am a cyclist! But don?t rule it out once the lighter nights return. The council cycle training is amazing for boosting confidence and skills. Honestly, I find riding into Victoria less stressful than driving it these days.

There are two bus routes over to Brixton. The P4 (would advise school holidays only) as otherwise it can take 45 minutes to go three miles. And the 37 though you?d be changing at Goose Green - and by the time I get there, I usually think it?s as easy to carry on to Denmark Hill. I?m not sure where they?d put a third without just duplicating one or other of the existing routes. If you can walk down towards North Dulwich, both buses speed up from there.

[Jules-and-Boo]

I get the bus to Victoria, takes less than an hour from Goose Green. Presume you checked out transport before you moved?

[apbremer]

West Dulwich is only 12 mins to Victoria unless leaves on line.

[singalto]

Denmark Hill to Victoria is quick.

[PSJ]

Try Citymapper mate.

[Robert Poste's Child]

With more bus routes being reduced, it's usually quicker to get whatever comes first and change a couple of times.

Have you tried bus to FHill, overground to Canada Water, Jubilee to Green Park? Could do the same via PRye or DHill, but at rush hour buses are probably faster in the other direction.

[mary123]

Local buses from Dulwich are very long and guaranteed around an hour's journey minimum for a 3 plus mile route.. it's a pain

[Sally Eva]

the 37 goes from East dulwich to Brixton.

Re cycling: there are very safe routes -- probably take 40 mins -- they don't involve bus lanes.

[KalamityKel]

mary123 Wrote:

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> Local buses from Dulwich are very long and

> guaranteed around an hour's journey minimum for a

> 3 plus mile route.. it's a pain

This has always been the case. It hasn't changed. It's not really so much a pain, you can at least plan for it.

Granted if you're new to a particular route then it can seem a bit "really it takes this long?" but it can easily become part of the daily commute.

Regarding the 185, if you're not a fan of waiting around or prefer to feel like you're making progress on your journey, bus hop. Get whichever bus comes along to Camberwell, then a choice of 185, 436 or 36 to Vauxhall and then whichever from there. It does feel like you're moving.

Been doing this route the best part of 15 years.

[EDNate]

PSJ Wrote:

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> Try Citymapper mate.

I use it. I am complaining about a particular bus service which is shown as quickest from my door.

[EDNate]

rendelharris Wrote:

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> Why don't you get off the 185 at Denmark Hill

> (this would give you the option of using the 176

> as well) and take the train to Victoria and

> walk/tube/bus it (0.75 miles) to Green Park from

> there? Got to be quicker than trying to get a bus

> up Camberwell New Road in rush hour.

I have done it a few times but tend to avoid getting tube from Victoria during rush hour due to the over crowding where they hold people back at the gates coming down into the station.

[EDNate]

Jules-and-Boo Wrote:

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> I get the bus to Victoria, takes less than an hour

> from Goose Green. Presume you checked out

> transport before you moved?

You presume correct. We were very aware, but still ok to vent isn't it ?

[EDNate]

singalto Wrote:

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> Denmark Hill to Victoria is quick.

That's not the entire journey

[EDNate]

Sally Eva Wrote:

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> the 37 goes from East dulwich to Brixton.

>

> Re cycling: there are very safe routes -- probably

> take 40 mins -- they don't involve bus lanes.

Right but this post is specifically for those of us in the lower parts of ED where walking up to GG for the 37 would take us 20+ minutes and then 30+ minutes on that bus to get to victoria and yet again we are looking at over an hour !

[Sue]

EDNate Wrote:

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> singalto Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > Denmark Hill to Victoria is quick.

>

>

> That's not the entire journey

You asked for other people's experience, and a lot of people above have given helpful suggestions.

If none of those suggestions are acceptable to you, it's hard to see what you can do other than to move again - somewhere which is more convenient to you for your transport requirements .....

When my workplace relocated, I used to sometimes have a nearly two hour journey back from work in the rush hour. It was annoying, but it's part and parcel of living in London.

ETA: When I moved to East Dulwich, it was because it was relatively easy to get from here to where I was then working.

I deliberately didn't move to a part of East Dulwich which would not have been so easy, being either a long walk or a bus ride from the station.

You have to weigh up pros and cons. I assume you chose the house/flat and area where you are now living for a reason.

[rendelharris]

EDNate Wrote:

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> Right but this post is specifically for those of

> us in the lower parts of ED where walking up to GG

> for the 37 would take us 20+ minutes and then 30+

> minutes on that bus to get to victoria and yet

> again we are looking at over an hour !

The very furthest (easternmost) end of Upland road is almost exactly half a mile by road from the 37 stop on LL, at what pace do you walk?!

[Siduhe]

According to some recent TUC research, an hour's bus journey isn't too bad, but it confirms that travel by bus is getting generally slower.

The TUC, which carried out the latest research, said that government spending had failed to keep pace with demand for travel....

The longest average commuting times were by train, at almost two hours 11 minutes to and from work, a rise of nearly four minutes. The biggest rise was for bus travellers, at one hour 19 minutes, up by seven minutes. For drivers commuting times increased by almost three minutes to 52.2 minutes.

The longest average commuting time was in London, at one hour 21 minutes. The shortest was in Northern Ireland at 46 minutes there and back.

I travel to work by bus most days from the Grove Tavern end of Lordship Lane. Yes it's slow and massively impacted by small changes like occasional roadworks, but it's convenient in the sense that it's end to end and I don't have to change modes of transport or queue up to get on a train.

[nxjen]

?yet again we are looking at over an hour?

Well yes, it?s all part of living in East Dulwich. If you?re planning on staying here, best to get used to it, like many of us have already.

[Cardelia]

rendelharris Wrote:

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> EDNate Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

>

> > Right but this post is specifically for those

> of

> > us in the lower parts of ED where walking up to

> GG

> > for the 37 would take us 20+ minutes and then

> 30+

> > minutes on that bus to get to victoria and yet

> > again we are looking at over an hour !

>

> The very furthest (easternmost) end of Upland road

> is almost exactly half a mile by road from the 37

> stop on LL, at what pace do you walk?!

The OP said they lived on the "lower part of Upland road". Picking the Upland Road/Dunstans Road junction as an example, the distance to the Goose Green roundabout is 1.2 miles. That's easily a 20 minute walk at average pace.

I occasionally have to travel to Victoria in rush hour and in my experience the quickest way is to take the Southeastern trains from Denmark Hill (or Peckham Rye if that's more convenient). My advice is to learn which entrances to the underground are kept open during the morning rush at Victoria, because it's usually possible to get down to the Victoria Line within 5 minutes of stepping off a mainline train even if the main gates to the tube are closed and the queue is back onto the station concourse. Cardinal Place is always open, for example.

[Goodrich1]

I think the OP is right however. Because we get used to a problem doesn't mean that it isn't a problem. The 185 bus route is infinitely slower and much less frequent than the other routes. It needs more investment.

[sandyman]

Feel free to vent but if you don?t like cycling, driving, crowds, walking from train to underground maybe south London life isn?t for you!

But as I said, do vent, I feel your pain!

FWIW I?d get a crappy bike, leave it at herne hill, get overground to Victoria and walk. Less than 45 mins, no waiting for snail-like buses, bosh.

Or as suggested earlier do some bus hopping - at least it?s cheaper than when u had to pay every time.