Anyone else on the 40 bus this morning (and other bus issues)

[ratty]

I have just been on a bus to work for the first time in ages (left my car in Lewisham last night because I got sloshed on Guinness after work). I fooking hated every single second of it! It took an hour from ED to Hilly Fields - usually takes 10 mins in me car!

Stuck behind 2 bin lorries and countless arrrsehole van drivers.

GRRRRRRR!

rant off

[Moos]

I like London buses too (and not just in East Dulwich, hint hint) - so much better than going - shudder - underground. The views are much more interesting than on the trains. If you just get up a fraction earlier, you can get a seat and it's tickety-boo.

Bike? No way.

[edenial]

Try going up the stairs to look for a seat as the driver hurtles around a corner, when 8 months pregnant (the 'priority' seats mean nothing unfortunately). And I normally do cycle, but getting on a bus seems the lesser of 2 evils when pregnant (or maybe not!).

[Applespider]

It has been diverted off-route since it started at ED station.

I generally like buses when they're running along bus-lane routes when they're faster. Better for people-watching than Tubes/trains, easier to get off if there is a problem or traffic delay and generally, since there are more stops than stations, they get you closer to your destination.

And aside from the sadistic bus-drivers who pull off just after you run up a hill to reach em, I don't mind drivers either. They get a hell of a lot more stick than most other public transport workers from passengers while trying to drive through London traffic. There are friendly and unfriendly people in most jobs having good or bad days after all. And every so often a driver does wait for you, or slows down and picks you up away from the stop that you were running for and cheers you up immensely.

The bumpiest route though has to be the 63 - it seems to dive all over the ship. I do find it a little unnerving though when the 176 goes down DKH like the driver wanted to be Lewis Hamilton.

And no, even though I'm defending em, I don't work (or know anyone who does) for TFL or any kind of bus company! ;-)

[SeanMacGabhann]

I have noticed something about driving speeds in London

When discussed as a concept they are uniformly appalling - congestion, other drivers, buses, roadworks etc all mean that, according to what I hear, driving in London is a NIGHTMARE!

until... until..

When compared to buses, apparently all journeys by car suddenly become graceful, hop-skip-and-a-jump journeys in glorious sunshine that never take more than 20 minutes

All I'm saying is - both of these things can't be right

[Moos]

Try going up the stairs to look for a seat as the driver hurtles around a corner, when 8 months pregnant (the 'priority' seats mean nothing unfortunately).

I have, I sympathise!

Had a very funny encounter on a bus once on the way back from a scan at King's. Unsurprisingly, there was another pregnant woman who got on at the King's stop. Now I was 6 months along or so, but she was super-pregnant - 10 days overdue as it turned out and looking like a balloon on legs as you do at that stage. No-one stood up for her, so I asked someone to move for her, which they did.

When a seat finally became free I did sit down, and the woman in the seat behind me tapped me on the shoulder and said 'I'd have stood up for you, but I've got a bad back'. Then the woman next to me then said 'I'd have stood up for you, but I've got all these bags'. Then the woman in front said 'I'd have stood up, but I can't get out of my seat' and glared at the woman (whom I think didn't speak English) next to her!

By this time I was really embarrassed, especially as I didn't really need a seat that day for a short journey and was feelign fine. But afterwards I laughed my socks off.

[Shaggy]

I was there. It happened at 8.40, so I switched to the train (which was late) and a tube (which was delayed.) The police arrived at ED station just before the 8.54 to LB, judging from the sirens.

[Sue]

Jeremy Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

>I hate the way you never know when the next one's

> going to come, because they don't (can't) run to

> any sort of timetable, and we don't have those red

> dot-matrix info boards here. Even if we did,

> they'd probably get smashed up.

xxxxxx

What really irritates me is when the 176 (and probably other buses) stops for ages in the Walworth Road, and a voice comes over the PA saying "this bus will stop here for several minutes to regulate the service."

So OK, then six don't all come along at once - but a bus load of passengers has had to sit and wait :)

[Sue]

Original thread and last two posts were specifically about ED/ED buses ???

And why has someone changed the title of my thread so that it looks as if it was me who wrote it?

:-S

[Jeremy]

SeanMacGabhann Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I have noticed something about driving speeds in

> London

>

> When discussed as a concept they are uniformly

> appalling - congestion, other drivers, buses,

> roadworks etc all mean that, according to what I

> hear, driving in London is a NIGHTMARE!

>

> until... until..

>

> When compared to buses, apparently all journeys by

> car suddenly become graceful, hop-skip-and-a-jump

> journeys in glorious sunshine that never take more

> than 20 minutes

>

> All I'm saying is - both of these things can't be

> right

Fair point, driving in London is rarely a pleasure. But it's all relative. A car suffers from none of the "5 points of hatred" I outlined earlier, it takes you from door to door, and obviously does not stop at bus stops. It doesn't seem unreasonable to suggest that most journeys would be twice as fast by car than by bus.

(not trying to promote driving as such... just countering the argument).

[SeanMacGabhann]

Sorry Sue - because the thread is about bus grievances now. The thread title was amended as per Admin's Forum Rules for clarity

of the last 2 posts you mention, one was about the incident and one was about Walworth Rd and 176. After 2 pages it seems clear that it's no longer about the 40 or ED but If the whole thread comes back to the incident it can always be de-Lounged?

Jeremy - agreed. I would always expect car journeys to be quicker than bus journeys. So when I listen to any London phone in I jsut wish I heard more bus passengers complain and fewer drivers

[Brendan]

If the drivers weren?t such cunts and the general public had an intuitive understanding of the concepts ?lady? and ?gentleman? the bus would be a far more preferable way to travel and a lot more people would choose it over their cars.

[Moos]

Some of them need a better understanding of the word 'wash'.

[Keef]

I hate the way they crawl along, sometimes "rocking" back and forth, as if intentionally trying to make the passengers sick.

I hate the dickheads who get on without paying, and then insist on staying put even after the drivers has turned off the engine.

I hate the kids who sit there playing stupid music on their phones, as if they're daring someone to challenge them.

Agree, agree and agree!

I use buses A LOT, both to get to and from work, and then to travel around the borough of Greenwich going to appointments most days. I try to read my book (fortunately I'm not one to get travel sick doing this), but the kids phone music and just general noise levels actually makes me feel sick!

RE: The jerking start/stopping thing, I think the 176 is the worst for this when travelling down hill between E Dulwich library and the police station! Sure it happens elsewhere, but always notice it here, and it really can get the stomach churning!

Having said all that, I'd be stuck without them, and driving is not an option for me, so I guess they're better than nothing.

[ClareC]

Has anyone else noticed the (in)frequency of the 176 of a morning? I waited around 20 mins for one yesterday morning, when one fimally came it was abolutely ram packed! This as happened on a fairly regular basis :(

[SeanMacGabhann]

Clare - I usually get a 40 by the Plough. I always look out for a 176 or 185 however because they can whisk a lot of people from the Q before the 40 kicks off it's journey and most mornings I can say at least 176 has arrived before a 40 - and I'm normally never waiting more than 5 mins. this would be about 7:20am?

That said:

1) the roadworks along LL are playing havoc with toutes as soon as teh road gets busier

2) just this week, I have noticed fewer buses come along

[ratty]

Just to clarify my earlier statement- the bus in question was the 484 which goes sooooooo around the houses it's not true, whereas my driving route to work (Hilly Fields) is down nunhead lane and up drakefell - which is a doddle!

I shall be bussing to e&c on Friday morning for my sins. I will try and keep an open mind about it!

[Keef]

Yeah that 484 to Brockley does take ages! Used to get it to school every day years ago.

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Just arrived back and had to run for the sal volatile. On the 185 back from Pimlico - trundled into the newish bus thingy at Vauxhall. Maiden daughter pointed out the urinals. OPEN URINALS a la Paris. What will be next - holes in the ground?

One can't actually see anything (I did crane my neck in the interests of journalism), but really!

[HonaloochieB]

Peckhamgatecrasher Wrote:

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> Just arrived back and had to run for the sal

> volatile. On the 185 back from Pimlico - trundled

> into the newish bus thingy at Vauxhall. Maiden

> daughter pointed out the urinals. OPEN URINALS a

> la Paris. What will be next - holes in the

> ground?

>

> One can't actually see anything (I did crane my

> neck in the interests of journalism), but really

There's one, the rising up out of the ground type being set up in Brixton as we speak.

The one in Vauxhall has been there for some time. It's not a bad thing all round.

If anyone 'sneaks a peak' and a chap is not 'at his best', then there's always the 'well what do you expect with the wind off the Thames' response.

Works for me. Apparently.

[indiepanda]

Moos Wrote:

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> Some of them need a better understanding of the

> word 'wash'.

so true. I had to get the bus to Waterloo on Monday morning and the chap I sat down next to was none too fragrant. I wanted to move to another seat but felt it would look too rude so I gritted my teeth and tried not to breathe too deeply!

Still while buses can be a pain, on the whole having been used to living outside of London where buses outside of rush hour are rarer than hen's teeth, I think the service really isn't that bad.

[Moos]

Well said IP. One does need a cast-iron stomach, what with generously-scented fellow passengers and the lurching, but for me the journey is 20 precious minutes before work and 20 after when I can read my book and be all alone. (in a crowd)

[Cassius]

Moos Wrote:

but for me the journey is 20

> precious minutes before work and 20 after when I

> can read my book and be all alone. (in a crowd)

And that is exactly why I resist all calls to cycle to work. Sometimes it feels that my commute is my only 'me' time that I have and I NEED it.

[indiepanda]

Moos Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Well said IP. One does need a cast-iron stomach,

> what with generously-scented fellow passengers and

> the lurching, but for me the journey is 20

> precious minutes before work and 20 after when I

> can read my book and be all alone. (in a crowd)

Yes, I like having time to stick my nose in a book too. And for all their faults bus is still less stuffy and smelly than the tube can be in summer. I moved here from SW London and the district line in rush hour could be horrible if you didn't get a seat, which at least half the time I didn't being a couple of stops up from the start of the line.

Cycling certainly doesn't appeal - quite apart from the logistical headaches of getting a smart suit to work without crumpling it in a backpack, I think I'd be terrified by the buses, especially the bendy ones.

[Sue]

ClareC Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Has anyone else noticed the (in)frequency of the

> 176 of a morning? I waited around 20 mins for one

> yesterday morning, when one fimally came it was

> abolutely ram packed! This as happened on a

> fairly regular basis :(

xxxxxxxx

Yes, seems to have got worse lately :(