Am I the only one who actually enjoys travelling by bus? People can be so negative about it!

[Wisteriabloom]

For context, I can't drive. I'm dyspraxic, (not everyone knows this), have struggled through a lot of lessons/tests over the years, to find my spatial awareness & hand/eye co-ordination just isn't up to it. I obviously found this frustrating, but accepted I'd never be a driver back in my 20's, I'm in my 40's now! So public transport is second nature to me!

I work part-time, 3 days a week somewhere that is half an hour bus ride away. (Bus stop is only 5 mins from my house). It's fine, I get on the bus, coffee in hand, and arrive at work 10 mins early. If it's been a particularly stressful day (sometimes it is!), I'm glad of the half hour ride home, just to gaze out of the window and de-stress!😀

My parents live 20 mins away by bus (coastal route, bus stop 5 mins away from their house). Nice easy journey.

Town is walking distance from us, but sometimes we like to go over to a City Centre, approx 40 mins train journey. (Dh does drive, but likes a day out without worrying about parking) so taking the train is an easy option!😀

I don't generally mention how I get to places, but if a driver knows I've caught a bus or train they seem to pity me/say how awful it must be🤔 It's really not, and I feel quite patronised at times!😲

Obviously if time is short/emergency/stuff to carry etc I'll take a taxi, and have done at times, but generally find public transport works fine for us! Do any other non-drivers have this issue?

I get car sick on buses, but I love train journeys, so I expect I'd like buses if it wasn't for the sickness.

I hate public transport. Hate hate hate it.

Here, buses are either packed to the rafters (pre - Covid) or stink of fried chicken/dope/BO/dirt, or (usually) both. Getting on the bus with shopping? Ha, FUCKING GOOD LUCK MATE. You didn't want to get your shopping home intact, did you? Soz. The 'luggage space' has a person/buggy/suitcase in it. On your lap it goes. Hope you have a big lap! Even more fun when you're standing! You can hold a week's worth of shopping in one hand, a kid in the other and cling on with your teeth, no?

Waiting for the bus in the rain when the shelter is full is soul destroying. Even more so when the bus is inevitably late. Extra points when it's dark too.

Waiting for the bus with a buggy is like a bloody lottery. Nine times out of ten you're out of luck, wait for the next one. Extra points for screaming child who wants to be fed/be changed/get out of buggy.

I get horrifically travel sick on buses so can only stare fixedly out of the window breathing through my mouth so as not to vom. Even music makes it worse, so no way to pass the time.

Trains: so full at rush hour you often could not get on/were wedged in so tightly you couldn't move or even get off sometimes. Full of utter, utter cunts. Commuted for four years daily; got a seat? Not one single solitary time. Not even when heavily pregnant.

If it's not rush hour, if you have nowhere to be (no kid thing that starts at a certain time, no work, no cinema show to catch, no time you need to meet a friend), and it's summer and the bus is on time, and you are travelling solo... I would tolerate it if no other choice. Grudgingly.

These mythical conditions are never ever ever fulfilled though.

Hence: the lovely car. Quiet, calm, non stinky, no waiting around, boot to put things in, my own music, kid safely stowed, no risk of whiplash from the emergency stop at every bus stop. I choose car.

I am so much happier now I can drive to work. I am a less rage filled person. I smile more. Public transport, and I am not exaggerating, had a significant negative effect on my mental health.

@Wisteriabloom

Dumbestnlonde - I love the sound of your purple and yellow buses!😀 And your little girl must have been the envy of her friends, horses at school pick-up! 🐴🐴😀

Well, she became quite popular at school after our visit

I do love the buses now - makes me think of days gone by... They don't have a card payment either; has to be cash.

One of my first jobs was in a country pub that was effectively on the same road that I lived on but about five miles away; we were on the very start of the edge of the Peak District, so it was just one long gradual climb on some lovely old buses that you might exect to see on Last of The Summer Wine or similar...... I swear, it sometimes felt that the few passengers on the bus heading up to Pudding Pie Hill needed to move up to the front to help the bus make the journey with
out having to stop

I regret not being able to drive. Tried it and just didn't feel safe and I felt Id be a danger to other people. The most annoying thing about bus travel, are the weirdos you get nowadays. I actually encountered a really strange woman who was annoyed because I was reading a book! I just tried to humor her as felt she could have become aggressive. Over the years I've got used to bus travel. I just wish people would leave me alone to read. What is it that folk seem to want to chat all the time and why can nobody wash? To be honest, Ive found people's hygiene on buses so awful, that I will probably continue to wear a mask on the bus. Pre Covid, Im convinced flu and cold that Ive had, have been caught on the bus. Our service has been cut since the Pandemic.

I'm retired and love using buses and do it out of choice as I have a car. I'm outside the M25 in a small market town with decent services every day except Sundays. I can travel through beautiful countryside, chat to interesting people (pre covid) and have no worries about parking. I used to bus into outer London to work until the direct route was cancelled. I'm lucky in that I have a bus pass as fares where I am are expensive as each town is 6 to 10 miles apart and I wouldn't rely on the bus if I had a hospital appt. I've just come back from Dorset and always take the open-top bus from Swanage over the Studland ferry to Bournemouth via the Chines - beautiful. Every couple of weeks I go to St Albans Market or Chelmsford just for the day out. When you spend most of the week on your own it's a great way to feel part of society and not as lonely.

Where i live you have to drive. Im about 2 mikes from the bus stop and only 3 buses a day passing through. 8:30, 1:15 and 5:20. So no good.

Can’t remember when I last got on a bus.

I love a bus too. If we had buses running near me I would use them a lot. We have one bus a month that goes to a nearby market town and back, our nearest small town 7 miles away has two buses Am and Pm. If I have to go into the office which is about 25 miles away I drive to the outskirts and then get on the park and ride, I would much rather daydream and people watch for 20 mins than get clutch foot and try to find a parking space. There is a snobbery about buses but I have got to an age where I don't care what others think and wish I could use them more. Your well facilitated his routes give me bus envy OP.

I've lived in London all my life, and when I first learnt to drive and had a car, in the 80s, I used it a lot in the city, drove to work etc., because I enjoyed it and it was possible to park. In time there were parking restrictions almost everywhere, and cheaper and better public transport services, so of course my car use decreased a lot. Once I hit 60 I traveled for free, so for the past 17 years the car has just been for shopping and some evening trips.
Do I love buses? In some ways, but increasing antisocial behaviour and people dumping their food wrapping and drinks cans on floors and seats makes using them less enjoyable. More cleaning now with the pandemic . . but now I get irritated by all the mask refusers (yes, I know some people are exempt. No way that applies to everyone I see).
We're contemplating a move, temporary or permanent, to Norfolk, and I would definitely want to use buses there when possible/practical. Relax on the journey, don't think about parking, better for the environment.

I like buses, but then I live in London where the service is very good.

At a class I used to go to (by bus, which saved the faff of trying to find anywhere to park) a fellow student used to say, ‘Buses are for losers!’ - and he was of an age to have a free bus pass!

I don’t think he even had any sort of car to brag about, which might perhaps have explained it, especially if he’d been rather younger and status-conscious about wheels.

Depends where you’re going. I happily used the bus when it was a 30 minute ride to my destination. But then I got a job in the city and it was 2hrs door-to-door, which is 4hrs a day of doing nothing but looking out of the window. I was constantly exhausted, suffered from migraines and vomiting due to travel sickness, and ended up losing the job because I wasn’t able to perform. When I eventually passed my driving test it was possible to drive to the city in 30 minutes instead of 2hrs (because the stupid bus went halfway round the world).

I’ll never forget staying at a smart rural hotel decades ago doing a lot of walking and asking reception for bus info. The woman on reception said very snootily - oh I don’t know about buses, I NEVER use them. She clearly was of the view, still prevalent in some remote rural socially deprived places, that ‘buses are for losers who can’t afford a car’. With eg 2 buses a day and requiring long walks to remote stops I can see how that view takes hold in a snobby way but it fosters lower use of the services, some of which cling on and are under real threat. I thank god I live where buses are plentiful and a feature of daily life for pretty much everyone.

We are rural, and the bus takes three times as long as driving to get to the nearest town. That said, if I want to go to the nearest city I prefer to use public transport. I either take the train or I drive to the park and ride and get the tram. TBH I wouldn't have chosen to live where we do if I couldn't drive.

I don't mind the bus, prefer the coach to driving too but buses don't operate on my work route so no choice but buy a car and drive (well every 2 hours)

@DancesWithDaffodils

I'm similar, 16 mins by car, 90 mins by bus, because only 3 direct buses a day (take 30 mins) not at the right times. I would rather not have to drive

We're rural. Buses? Haahaa. Expensive and infrequent.

I like buses. I love a Megabus when the front seat is empty and you can see everything.

With eg 2 buses a day and requiring long walks to remote stops I can see how that view takes hold in a snobby way but it fosters lower use of the services, some of which cling on and are under real threat.

Yes and it makes it more and more difficult for people to manage as they get older.

My PILs live in a nice, fairly well-off commuter village that used to have great public transport connections when they moved there in the 70s and now has close to nothing. Wasn’t a problem when they both drove everywhere, but now they’re getting older and have health issues and are seriously looking at cutting down massively/giving up on driving in the next few years. But the bus services are terrible now and the taxi services aren’t great, so their options are very limited.

vampirethriller

I like buses. I love a Megabus when the front seat is empty and you can see everything.“

Yes, this! Wanted to see my mum a couple of years ago but the budget was very tight. So gritted my teeth and booked Megabus to London, from NW and took lunch. brilliant! I got the upstairs, front seat both ways (was almost empty on the return journey) and it cost a tenner each way. No idea how they do it. Even got back half an hour ahead of schedule.
Would very happily use again. In fact, might even splash out on Megabus Gold

I get everywhere by public transport, my siblings and parents drive. I tried lessons when 18 but couldn't coordinate all controls. I do get the pity look when colleagues realise I can't drive, neither can husband. We just walk or public transport. I need two buses to get to walk, but second bus will delay me so get Uber. I don't mind that expense as I think it's still affordable

I love love love the bus. I drive when I have to but it’s never my first choice.

However Covid has put an end to my bus escapades - I can’t wait to just head into the shops on the bus again

The bus would be OK if it were reliable.

Ds (aged 17) was at the bus stop yesterday 10 minutes before the time it was due to leave. 20 mins later there was still no sign and he was panicking that he was going to be late for his new job.

And a 30 minute journey in the car takes 55 minutes on the bus.

I love the bus! Especially when the front seat on the top deck is free.

The only downside is that it can really stink, of people. As much as I love the bus I always think of it when we all fall out about how often you need to wash.

The biggest problem I have with using buses as my main method of transport is the attitude of some other people tbh!
I've made sure that I live somewhere that meets my wants and needs, one of those is the need to use public transport to get around. Some people seem to find that utterly mind boggling though, like because I don't have a driving license I can't possibly arrange my life around it, to suit me.

I met a friend for lunch pre covid. She chose the place, renowned for shit parking. I got a lecture about how she didn't want to be waiting around for me 'off the bus'. I waited nearly 40 minutes as she couldn't find anywhere to park, having been on time myself! And wasn't in the slightest apologetic. And it's that attitude I find I see in some people, that her waiting for me should my bus be held up is selfish and unreasonable to expect, yet if a driver is late because they can't find somewhere to park, well that's ok.

To take an anti-bus tone, excellent services here, apart from getting home from work. I have rearranged my hours so that I can leave a five and try to get home in fifty minutes to pick up dd from after-school club. The day I had to wait until 6 for a bus to arrive? Oh that was hilarious!

Especially as a single Mum in the days when you can’t ask a friend to pick up dd because safeguarding/covid/whatever new reason they have thought of.

I love buses! Seriously I am very passionate about them
There's a glamping place nearby with two kitted out buses to stay in, I would love that!
I grew up in a major city with brilliant public transport. Cheap, regular and reliable.
Now I live semi rurally, I have a free (disabled) bus pass. The bus service is inadequate. I waited at the bus stop Tuesday for an hour and a half for a bus that didn't turn up. I have the app on my phone, it said it was due then didn't arrive so I waited for the next one which didn't arrive either
The buses are very infrequent and unreliable. They often breakdown and have got a terrible reputation.
And when I take dc on the bus with me, despite my free bus pass, the cost is very expensive compared to city transport prices. Last month I spent almost £15 on a day ticket for 2 dc's .
When I take them to the City with my free bus pass, their day tickets are £1 each.
But, I still love buses.
I just wish our local ones were better.