…while I wait for the bus. Again.
There are towns and cities across the globe; in the developed, developing and (probably even) the under-developed world where you can turn up at a bus / tram / train stop and, with a high degree of certainty, expect a simple journey home. Not so Britain. No. We Brits have screwed up big time when it comes to public transport. I rarely swear on here but this time I’m not holding back. What a fucking shambles.
Although I’ve been cycling more than bussing my way into Halifax for the past few weeks since starting my new job, this morning – perhaps due to the cold – I thought I’d take the bus. The bus turned up late and stopped on the opposite side of the road to the bus stop. Minor inconveniences in the great pit of human suffering. I bought a return ticket on the encouragement of the driver. We were held up by traffic but so far, so reasonably OK. My expectations of public transport are not high and there wasn’t must to moan about apart from the slow progress of the vehicles. I even tweeted my thoughts:
I arrived at work and, well, worked.
The 537 bus home leaves the station on the half hour. So, as I left the office at 6:10pm in no rush. I should, however, have slowed down. The bus timetable isn’t as regular as I thought; 50 minutes past the hour in the early evening. Why? Who knows? Perhaps not even the bus company. But hang on… my return ticket? That’s for First Bus, the company that took me to work on the 537. The evening 537 is run by… Tiger, rendering my return ticket invalid.
I have 30 minutes to wait. The nearby Wetherspoons? Is it worth it? Ok. I’ll catch the 7:30pm bus. That’s Tiger as well. It will at least make the pint more pleasurable.
Cost of return ticket in morning – ยฃ4.20. Pint of beer – ยฃ2.05. Packet of crisps – 80p. Bus home on the Tiger bus – c. ยฃ3.50. Add it all up and it comes to ยฃ10.
Is there any wonder all those people prefer the car? What a fucking shambles. Again.
(And some of you voted out of the EU so we could furrow our own path… more like dig our own grave. Strewth.)
Categories: Cycling
Very true. Though one presumes that all the successful males are sitting in their, debt laden, ego extensions, dreaming of the unobtainable empty desert roads, that should come as part of the finance deal and everyone else is clogging up their roads.
Because we on our bicycles and buses are the failures.
I can remember in Sheffield when you could go anywhere on the buses for pennies (60s and 70s) and every bus was full, but then again the wealthy payed more rates for their big houses, to help fund the public purse etc. Progress !!!!
In the 50’s we were pressured into signing a shadowy deal with the US that means we went down the same “extreme petrol economy” route as them, all at the behest of the all-powerful oil companies. Consequently we do as little as possible in the way of alternatives. Notably, other European countries went down a more varied route.