Buses Mean Suffering to be Green

Claire Thompson, Waves PR

Bank holiday Monday. Maybe not spent working, but have found the time to blog. And, in what’s becoming a bit of a tradition, Mondays are eco.

Unusually, I have three topics front of mind.  If I commit two we’re doing well!

The first is the parlous state of our bus system.

There has never been a better time for bus companies to clean up. As families economise and run single cars, and eco (even the dirty green variety) becomes chic, the buses stand to be the big winners. If I catch a bus into Reading, I save on parking hassles, expense and can even have a drink.

The reality, however, is that there is only one reason that any sane person would use a bus: that they have no choice. At least, that’s assuming that the performance of Reading Buses is standard throughout the UK.

Catching the bus in the first instance is a lottery. You need to know where the bus runs from. And which direction it travels. Once you have the right bus stop, this isn’t an issue. Finding the right bus stop is the  lottery itself – and there’s nothing on line that will be of any help. (Go on, I challenge you: find out where and when to get a bus from Woodley into Reading here.)

So assuming you find the right stop, the next hurdle is cash. ‘Please have the right money’ begs the signs. Yet there is no indication, whatsoever, of what that amount might be.   The bus drivers, behind screens, are unable to offer change. This, apparently, is one of the many measures to stop them being mugged.  The bus driver, it seems, is entitled to protection from other passengers. Passengers, however, can fend for themselves.

(Note: I have since been told that there is now something on all stops giving the fare.)

Oh, but silly me. I jumped the gun. There is a further hurdle I forgot to mention. At each stop you are required to know whether this is a stopping stop, or a request stop. (My terminology.)

I tried to catch a bus from an unfamiliar stop in Reading, only to see a bus whiz past, with the next one not for a further half hour.  Determined not to resort to bad habits, I resisted the urge to call a cab, and, wearing heels, resisted the urge to walk.

The next driver to pass was nonchalant about his colleague’s failure to stop. “You’ve gotta make a bit of effort, love.”

Right. So standing at the stop wearing a weary, hang-dog expression isn’t enough. I am now also required to make like a helicopter to attract the driver’s attention.

(Note: I have since been told that this is because I was at a ‘request’ stop. How I was supposed to know, since it was on a main throughfare, I don’t know, but hey, as the kids would say: my bad!)

Then there’s the journey itself. Assuming that you are safely on the bus, having tendered the right money, or accepted the loss of excess fare, the company you will be keeping will be a lottery.

Since no-one sane would choose to be treated like a potential criminal, a disproportionately large number of fellow occupants usually aren’t – unless they have no choice but to travel that way. Elderly people, too old to drive. Crowds of teenagers too young to drive.  Drunkards and drug addicts too out of their minds to drive (or walk). Shift workers too tired to drive. Students and public health workers too poor to afford a car.

This is a service whose time has come.  The imperative to be green AND save money has never been greater. Despite this, I hear that the service (Reading Buses) has had appalling financial results and is looking to make cut backs.

The buses themselves are clean, green and more or less on time (although the ‘text for your next bus time service can’t cope with late or missing buses – it’s somewhat theoretical.) And with petrol prices about to go up overnight, buses should be looking more appealing. But the barriers to using the service make it an unpleasant, frustrating experience.

For everyone’s sake, let’s hope that someone in Reading Buses reads this blog.  And tries to catch one of their own buses. Every day.  For a week.  Might be a lot more effective at making the service profitable than the cutbacks.

Reading Buses used to have a proud reputation. Today, no amount of PR could persuade people en masse onto a service like this.

(And it was over-ambitious to write the other two blogs, so it may well become eco-week!)

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