Non-motoring > Have Bus Pass will stand around for ages. Miscellaneous
Thread Author: R.P. Replies: 15
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New Thu 31 Oct 19 10:45 
 Have Bus Pass will stand around for ages. - R.P.
Yesterday's mini adventure was to Conwy to meet up with two former colleagues from Victim Support. I could have driven, but Conwy has become a fine place to partake of a couple of local beers ( Purple Moose - aka Mws Piws and Snowdonia Larger, the latter served in a pub used to film bits of Peaky Blinders) so the temptation to drink was too much. Decided to take advantage of the Bus Pass - it was never going to be easy involving three changes of Arriva buses with critical timing. Started badly with the first bus being 10 minutes late thus missing the first change in the next town had to wait 20 minutes...next bus was on time and deposited me at a village off the A55 to connect to the next bus, I arrived on time (back up plan was to stay onboard to Rhyl and catch a train from Rhyl to Conwy) the connection never arrived either early or late and I managed to get a lift just before the next scheduled bus arrived 10 minutes late..Traffic was horrendous with a firework display in Llandudno attracting the hordes and had to battle our way into town. Caught a train home to Rhyl(15 minutes) and Mrs RP collected me from the station on her way home from her parents' place. I use my bus pass for leisure purposes - but it must be a nightmare for people who depend on Arriva's awful service.
Last edited by: R.P. on Thu 31 Oct 19 at 10:54
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New Thu 31 Oct 19 11:10 
 Have Bus Pass will stand around for ages. - Robin O'Reliant
I use mine when I'm not time dependent. I'm lucky living in a rural area with no congestion as they are almost always on time. One thing that amuses me is the lack of coordination between public transport services. I catch the bus from Haverfordwest station on the way home and quite often the bus will pull away from the stop as a train arrives at the platform discharging passengers who then have to wait an hour for the next bus. It seems a crazy way to run the services when HMG are trying to encourage us to leave our cars at home and use public transport.
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New Thu 31 Oct 19 11:24 
 Have Bus Pass will stand around for ages. - R.P.
Transport for Wales has got off to an inauspicious start sadly. Hopefully this integration will happen. The last bus home from Rhyl is at 2310 - Last train arrives at 2148 ( I'd hae had to hang around for an hour !)...Arriva's bus app is a work of fiction ! :-) Won't stop me using it again maybe in the summer when it's warmer to stand in a bus stop for hours !
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New Thu 31 Oct 19 12:25 
 Have Bus Pass will stand around for ages. - bathtub tom
I'm fortunate in only living a couple of miles out of town, with three bus routes nearby, one of which runs (allegedly) every twelve minutes.
I usually cycle.

I suppose some here have 'Freedom' passes - I'm jealous.
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New Thu 31 Oct 19 12:41 
 Have Bus Pass will stand around for ages. - R.P.
It was £5.50 for a return ticket before my 60th birthday !
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New Thu 31 Oct 19 13:39 
 Have Bus Pass will stand around for ages. - CGNorwich
I normally walk into the city, about two miles each way. Encumbered by shopping I decided to use my bus pass, the first time in eighteen months I think. At the the next stop one of Norwich’s beggars boarded with a ferret in one of those cat carrier boxes. Not sure what smelled the worst the beggar or the ferret. Got off the bus early and walked the rest of the way.
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New Thu 31 Oct 19 13:49 
 Have Bus Pass will stand around for ages. - Crankcase
Can't say I've been looking forward to my bus pass for my whole life, which is just as well, as the goalposts (along with the state pension age) have moved.

I'm now 57 but it's another decade before I can get a bus pass, (or state pension, which as I understand it is going to be so reduced by the COPE amount it will be about £20 a week anyway).

Not that there'll be any such thing, or indeed, busses, by then.
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New Thu 31 Oct 19 14:44 
 Have Bus Pass will stand around for ages. - Zero
I am a year away from my bus pass. There is no way I will be standing in a bus stop or climbing up into a bus with the great unwashed. Dont do coach holiday either, the very most bus i will tolerate is a 5 minute run from long term parking to airport terminal.

If they still had routemasters with open rear deck you would easily find me hopping on and off in central london tho. As I used to.
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New Thu 31 Oct 19 15:31 
 Have Bus Pass will stand around for ages. - smokie
Yeah I remember as a kid getting a Red Rover ticket for the day, hopping on and off buses and tubes all day for next to nothing.

I've got a couple of years till my bus pass but I feel I could become an irregular user. I see quite a few oldies waiting for buses, not sure where they might be going though. At the moment I walk to local stuff mostly.

Most of the buses round here seem to go round pretty empty - we don't have unwashed!! :-)
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New Thu 31 Oct 19 14:45 
 Have Bus Pass will stand around for ages. - Zero
>> I normally walk into the city, about two miles each way. Encumbered by shopping I
>> decided to use my bus pass, the first time in eighteen months I think. At
>> the the next stop one of Norwich’s beggars boarded with a ferret in one of
>> those cat carrier boxes. Not sure what smelled the worst the beggar or the ferret.
>> Got off the bus early and walked the rest of the way.

Only in Norfuk
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New Thu 31 Oct 19 15:20 
 Have Bus Pass will stand around for ages. - Duncan
>> At
>> the the next stop one of Norwich’s beggars boarded with a ferret in one of
>> those cat carrier boxes. Not sure what smelled the worst the beggar or the ferret.
>> Got off the bus early and walked the rest of the way.
>>

How many fingers did he have on each hand?
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New Thu 31 Oct 19 16:24 
 Have Bus Pass will stand around for ages. - helicopter
I use the bus pass quite a lot as I live a mile from the town centre and tend to walk in and bus back with shopping.The service is every quarter of an hour but it is very much an indirect route taking in all the outskirts of the town before heading for the centre so takes 25 minutes in and 15 minutes back. The longest I have waited to catch one is 25 minutes.

It does come on handy when I go up to London by train and can then hop on and off buses at will and we also have a service direct to Gatwick ,

In the summer SWMBO and I would quite often jump on a bus to Worthing or Brighton and have a lunch down there without worrying about driving back.
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New Thu 31 Oct 19 18:33 
 Have Bus Pass will stand around for ages. - Dulwich Estate II
At last, one small advantage of living in London - The Freedom Pass. I use it all time on our very frequent buses and the tube, trams and local trains. When going away on hols I use it to get to Heathrow airport. The area within which it works is pretty big - pretty much anywhere within the M25 ring.

www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/services/freedom-pass/using-pass/freedom-pass-travel-map

I can go for days, even weeks without using a car. This has led to a flat battery on occasions.
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New Thu 31 Oct 19 20:36 
 Have Bus Pass will stand around for ages. - Fullchat
I had the pleasure of riding in the top floor of a Flixbus from Dresden to Berlin (Schoenefeld) airport very early in the morning a week ago.
Not pleasant. Had a distinct whiff of the cell block. If you've never been in a cell bock in the early hours the smell of sweaty socks and trainers is one of those significant life events you will never be able to purge.
So yes 'The Great Unwashed' :)
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New Thu 31 Oct 19 21:28 
 Have Bus Pass will stand around for ages. - Robin O'Reliant
I like to show I'm a "Man of the people" now and again so I hold my nose from time to time and get among the lower orders.

One has to.
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New Thu 31 Oct 19 23:07 
 Have Bus Pass will stand around for ages. - Kevin
I spent most of my teenage years being bussed 10 miles each way to and from school by a company called Yorkshire Traction. I reckon I've served my fair share of time on buses.
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