On The Buses (well I had too)

#buses #publictransport #travel Here’s one you might like to read…

I have been back to driving buses for 6 months. I had previously started driving buses in 1999 and left in 2005 after reaching the giddy heights of Operations Manager with a well known international bus company.

I decided earlier this year, that I would return back into the bus driving world. After all I only wanted to work part time, possibly one or two days a week. So I called up a local company called Salisbury Red, which is part of the Go-Ahead bus group. The local Assistant Operations Manger, agreed that I should be able to get my license back (it expired when I was 45!). All I would need was a medical and then apply to DVLA. Salisbury Reds, agreed to pay for my medical. I sent off my license for it to return a couple of weeks later with my bus class of license added. I then arranged to complete my CPD and take the tests to pass that, which all took about a month, I passed. I had to wait another week for me ‘blue card’ to come back from DVLA and I was then up and running as a bus driver.

Now remember back, I said I only wanted to work one or two days a week! For some strange reason, the local union have some kind of agreement/rule that means they will only allow job share and this means working one full week and having the next off for Salisbury Reds.

All isn’t lost however because Go-Ahead have a coach company called Tourist Coaches based in Salisbury, where you can work as part time as you want! Some guys work 5 hours a week, some work 55 hours a week. So I started off in the summer working at English Heritage’s, (EH) beautiful world Heritage site ‘Stonehenge’. They have a shuttle bus which goes from the visitors centre to The Stones and back! It’s about 1.5 miles in each direction! There is no other traffic on this piece of road, other than the occasional farm vehicle and rogue member of the public. the EH staff welcome the visitors and direct them onto the bus, when the bus is full it heads off! And boy do the visitors come in there 1000’s! Peak season the site is open from 8-8 to general tourists with early morning and late evening ‘special viewings’ for an additional premium. The great thing about this particular ‘job’ from bus driving view is that there are no fares and no timetable (no stress). You just literally drive backwards and forwards and keep going. You can have comfort breaks, when needed to use facilities and there are two 40 min breaks during the shift. In the winter time the opening hours are greatly reduced. Meaning that the drivers hours are also reduced. These are currently 9-5. The shuttle buses are brand new. Meaning they are equipped with most driver and passenger comforts. The driving team are a really friendly bunch and quickly showed my the ropes and where everything was. Theres actually a nice canteen, which is the EH staff canteen but allow the bus drivers to use. As the opening hours have reduced, this has meant that I was asked to go and work some runs from the Tourist depot in Salisbury. These were up until a few weeks ago just school runs. But I now have my own shift one day a week (Mondays). I start at 0650hrs and work until 1723hrs. My routes are school runs, rural routes around Salisbury/Romsey Area and then a rural route from Salisbury to Amesbury! Once again the staff team of drivers etc are really friendly and soon helped me to settle into the team and I’ve learnt my own routes with the help of one of the long standing drivers ‘Len’. He spent a few weeks ‘piloting’ me around the routes and showing me the hazards etc to watch out for.

Driving a bus around the countryside has changed!

Now even the rural roads are busy, during the day time. Some places that I drive, there are no passing points. So often cars have to reverse back to find a passing point. So that we can squeeze past each other! Even on roads that are slightly wider. Cars pass my bus with just mm’s between us on a high frequency basis. I think that many of these cars do not even slow down, never mind proceed with caution! Then you have overhanging branches and trees that mean you cannot always get over to the edge of the road. Plus the puddles, oh boy when it rains there are some serious puddles around. Sometimes I think my bus should have a propeller and a rudder to steer me through them! Then there’s the soft muddy grass banks to watch out for. As I found out to my own cost. It’s dead easy to get a bus stuck in these! More about that one later…

Having said that. I actually love what I do (I know this is rare in bus driver circles). I don’t love it because I am a bus spotter. I love leaving the depot and being my own boss! I get to see our countryside in the prevailing seasons and weathers. I get to provide a lifeline for many folk, either for their work, school/college, shopping or just social. As long as I run to the timetable (there aren’t many jobs where you are NOT allowed to be early), follow the prescribed route, don’t keep damaging the bus or be rude to passenger (basically do the job) then nobody bothers you. There is little paperwork involved, there is a bit of cash handling, though majority of fares are paid by card or phone, these days. How does paying by phone actually work? I have no idea but it does so with very little needed from me! I get too meet some really nice people. They are generally friendly and want to get from A to B as quickly and comfortably as possible.

On the note of comfort. It’s surprising the differences, in even the same type of bus! The bus that I use is an ‘Optare Solo’ but each one is so different. Sure there are some that are nearing the end of the operational life. They rattle, a lot! They have old interior lighting and aren’t the quickest. One reaches a top speed of 40MPH and show it anything other than a horizontal road and that down to 20MPH! 🙂 the newer ones have air conditioning, power steering, are quieter, have LED lighting inside the bus passenger space and can reach the giddying speed of 56MPH, and are just more comfortable to drive!

The new fangled ticket machines are brilliant! The keep track of where you are. So if I am in ‘Whaddon’, thats where the ticket machines says you’re boarding the bus. If you want to got to Salisbury. The driver just makes sure thats the destination and the machines tells you the price for each ticket, single or return etc. paying by card, the passenger places their card or phone on the reader and the driver presses the ‘card’ button. Hears a beep and the ticket comes out! Easy as that!

What of the future of public transport?

Well I could talk about public ownership, investing in infrastructure etc etc to increase public transport usage, to fight the environmental climate change war?

However I am not going to……

Because I believe that public transport usage will only change. When we change our way of thinking about traveling.

Let me explain.

At the moment. There is absolutely nothing that compete with the personal use of a car! It gets us from A to B. It sits outside our house on the street or drive. You can get in it, turn the key, drive to your destination and arrive. Clean dry and relatively quickly but absolutely conveniently to each individual!

Using public transport, whether bus, train, ferry or taxi to move from A to B. Will involve the following; planning ahead, deciding on the route, looking at what buses and trains you’ll need to use. Thinking about what time you want to arrive and then using timetables, work out what time to leave.

So going from home (Tidworth, Wiltshire) to Southampton. In my car I look at what time i want or need to be there. Then just think about possible delays (time of travel, route etc) and plan my departure time accordingly. So if I need to be in Southampton for 9am on a weekday morning. Even though Soton is more or less 40 miles away. I would need to leave 1.5 hours before and check motorways etc for delays.

Same journey on public transport. Would involve a bus from Tidworth to Salisbury and then a train from Salisbury to Southampton. I have a bus stop a few hundred yards from my front door. However the bus arrival point is probably a mile away from the train station in Salisbury. So i could walk or get another bus or taxi! Then arriving in Southampton, depending on where I need to be in Southampton could mean yet more bus or taxi travel. So I would need to again know what time I want to be in Soton and using timetables plan my journey.

Seeing that in writing doesn’t portray the the difference in time needed by car versus public transport!

What I haven’t mentioned is cost. A single journey ticket from Tidworth to Salisbury Is around the £8 mark. However a weekly ticket is just £20. So the more frequent the travel, the cheaper it becomes. Not widely advertised!

By increasing the joined up approach to our public transport network. Including the use of interactive time tables and this type of street technology. To help us predict and know when the bus or train is going to arrive at its stop or station. This would potentially mean less time waiting around…. by making journeys more joined up from the major towns and cities. I think this would make the transition from car use much smoother and easier. Which in the long term would mean increased and more sustainable public transport usage!

Let me know you’re thoughts?