An ode to UK public transport

In Aberdeen First is even worse, if they aren't trying to run over pedestrians and cyclists they are going through red lights. I have seen not nor did then run reds than cyclists! Stagecoach buses are driven much more responsibly and have better service in terms of turning up on time and notifying users in advance of timetable changes.
I have also seen foamers get to walk around with employees around the buses in the yard to take pictures up close of the buses in movement.

Try living in Bristol.

>>1069644
I like the idea of free competition in UK in case of public transport, but the amount of different companies with different, messed up prices seems very confusing. Only London has a ''unified'' system of trains, trams, metros and buses while places like Manchester have a separate tram system, dozens bus companies etc.

File: lastbus.jpg (345KB, 1991x1334px) Image search: [Google]

345KB, 1991x1334px

>>1069791
Competition doesn't really exist with transport.
It's not like going into a shop and selecting one brand of product over another.
Having 2 bus companies operating similar routes just seems wasteful. Twice the pollution, and once you've bought your ticket you just have to use the same operator.

It only works with the London system where the operators are simply fulfilling tenders issued by government (TfL), so the routes are efficiently set to meet demand and ticketing is not confusing (oyster card).

The idea of bus wars with drivers literally fighting to collect passengers and timetables being changed at the last minute to be 1 minute before a rival just seems dangerous and wasteful. And once the other company is out of business you just get the old prices (or higher) and the service declines again.

sadik kahn

>>1069794
?

>>1069793
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxi_wars_in_South_Africa
this if we had truly free market busses

I miss the late 113 bus from Preston to Wigan, getting in Wigan at about 0015, turning around and going back north as far as shevington vale, IIRC it got to shevington at about 0040 or so, very very comfy bus and hardly anyone else ever on it

>>1069791
>I like the idea of free competition in UK in case of public transport

You might like the idea of it, and so do I, but in practice it's a fucking nightmare.

I live in the North East and there are so many fucking bus companies, and their tickets don't apply to others at all. It means you can't buy day tickets that apply for the whole system, and the prices for transport are daftly high anyway.

The metro's good I suppose. When it's on time. Which is never.

I lived in London for three years then moved up to the Midlands. Buses here are an absolute nightmare clusterfuck, there are like 20 different companies servicing the city alone each of which only run a few routes all with different websites, pricing schemes, timetables and all with their own fucking version of the Oyster card which is completely useless unless you commute on the same bus every day (granted probably a large proportion of bus users seeing as you'd have to be mental to try and take one somewhere you've never been before).

Why the hell would UK double decker bus have so little capacity? That capacity is almost just as much as single decker elsewhere in the world...

The shitty bus system is to prevent terrorist attacks. If the terrorist doesn't know when a bus will arrive it stops their plans.

>>1077962
Many years and a shitty job ago I had to depend on a single bus to get to work, said bus was never ever on time and consistently 10 minutes late so I eventually just scheduled around this.

Of course one day it actually shows up on time fucking me over and making me late to work.