Buses

[Tâf]

Our local bus route into the city centre was every 15 minutes a few years ago.

Fares have tripled since then. The city has some of the highest fares in the UK.

Last year the route changed to every 20 minutes, and the fares went up again.

From today the bus is now every 30 minutes, with the early and late bus being cancelled, causing panic for many who travel from here to the centre to work.

This is despite almost every bus being standing room only most of the day.

The council says it is to reduce pollution, but an insider has given the game away. It's because the new buses have a limited warranty based on mileage, not time.

[El]

Same with ours. One an hour after 7pm 
What gets me more is the different bus services.  Stagecoach to town, first bus elsewhere and even a bloody blue bus on a different route so we have to pay 5.70 for an any bus day saver.
And we have no soddin bus pass at 60 here 

[fred]

no buses my way. 

[Mike]

Bus passes were always based on a  Womans pension age so it is going up all the time, I'll get mine when I'm 66 which will be the joint pension age then

[El]

Yep. I will also be 66 .
It's actually cheaper and easier to get in a taxi. Quite a few round here club together and taxi to town and back.  No waiting at bus stops . Plus I tend to get everybody else's illnesses if I go on a crowded bus.

[Tâf]

Pol said there is a new sign on the bus..... "FREE WIFI"... and beside it "Mobile phone use not allowed"

[Tâf]

Our neighbours from both sides were late into work on Monday as the earliest bus has been cancelled.

Drivers have not been given their waypoint timings, so don't know if they are early of late. If early they used to wait at certain points. So my mate saw 2 buses following each other towards his stop. The first stopped and told him to take the second one as his bus was crammed. The second one drove straight past so he ran after it. But the driver had been told to do set-downs only and return to depot because it was pointless having 2 buses close together.

[Tâf]

Not the buses fault, but I was on one into town today that got stuck behind a cyclist with a dayglo tabard "Be aware of cyclists". Almost 2 miles with him toddling along at walking speed in the middle of the road, ignoring the cycle lanes both sides.

And he was back for the return journey! The driver called for police assistance as the tailback was huge. But the response "Police will not attend" riled some passengers.

One bloke got off, chased after the cyclist and made him pull to the side. The bus driver stopped to let him reboard, and the cyclist was back in front again!!!

[Tâf]

And once we passed him (he turned off) we only travelled about 200 yards when the driver stopped, cut the engine and said he was going for a piss! 10 minutes!! It was a narrow road, so traffic built both ways in seconds.

I've never heard of a bus driver ever doing that!

[Tâf]

Cardiff Bus has been losing money for a few years. Not surprising as we haven't had a central bus station for years (thanks Labour).

So the boss is "leaving" (i.e. pushed).

The fares have risen steadily over the past few years, but today a single jumped from £1.80 to £2, and a return from £3.40 to £4!!!!

No more reductions for a return ticket 

And kids no longer pay half fare, they now pay £1.30 (up from 80p) and a return is £2.60 (up from £1.60).

[El]

Ours are crazy. The bus up and down to town is a stagecoach bus. Most of the rest are first bus with a few blue buses.
The fare to town is 3.70 or you can buy a day saver for £4.70 and use it all day. But only on stagecoach.
If you want to say go to hospital then that is a first bus. So now you have to buy  a £6 any bus all day ticket. No return fares here either.
It's actually cheaper to taxi if there are two of you and split the fare.

[K@]

Our bus goes every hour. Or, it's supposed to. Rarely does. The train's getting silly. You know how they keep fiddling around with things, so you never know when a train's likely, and you end up using some other means, then they close it, as nobody uses it? We're getting cancellations for all sorts of spurious reasons, too.

I think that's what they're up to, with ours, especially as they just spent £££ on "upgrading" it.

It's all so joined-up, too. Both are hourly and the train gets into the station precisely one minute after the bus for our village has left, so you have to wait fifty-nine minutes. for the next one.

[Lisa]

You'll get a new bus station when they finish it Tâf

[Tâf]

You'll get a new bus station when they finish it Tâf

I doubt our twins will see it finished....