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On the
Buses with Disgruntled of Writtle
A look at Public
Transport in our Village |
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There has been much debate over
the years about Public Transport and why it is good for us and our
community. Being a good sort of chap, and having now resided in Essex for 6
years or so without ever using a bus I thought I really ought to try it
before passing any comments.
The last time there was any real fuss about our local buses was when they
removed one of the two services and we were left with only the anticlockwise
route. I also remember something about the morning services being
overcrowded (I bet the vicar would like to say that!) which I believe was
sorted out by using a bigger Bus.
Before I go into the details of my Bus Experience let's examine the role of
a local bus service and what we should expect from it and what would make us
use it more
frequently. I must admit, I am biased being a regular car user, but I shall
try to put forward a case for not using the car if I can find it.
Probably the main reason we are encouraged to use the buses is to ease road
congestion and possibly reduce carbon emissions and so reduce global
warming. Buses are
considered a cheap efficient mode of moving people about from A to B.
So let us look at the requirements and compare them to the goods supplied.
To this end I shall examine several differing need scenarios ( I have being
trying to use that phrase for sometime!)
1 Getting to work early in the morning (leaving prior to 0730)
2 Getting to work in the morning (after 0840)
3 Mother and children going shopping
4 Family shopping excursion
5 Other
In the interests of fairness I will only pass comments on my experience of
using the Writtle Bus. Hopefully you, the bus user, will supply me with the
facts and comments about your experiences on the Buses.
So get your fingers tapping and forward your experiences to me via the Feedback
Form page or via editor@disgruntled-of-writtle.co.k
On the Buses in Writtle the Editors
View.
On the 13th March after day of mental preparations I set off to catch the
Bus to work early in the morning. I had been informed that the Bus arrived
at Loves walk at 0715 so
to make sure I did not miss it I arrived at 0710. The day in question was
dull, drizzly and cold and I was not real dressed for Bus waiting. After a
few minutes I was cold and miserable, so after 10 minutes youy can imagine
how I felt. Anyway at 0720 ( according to my ticket, I still have it) I
alighted on to the Bus and asked for a single to
the Waterhouse Lane end of Beeches Road, after several minutes of button
pressing £0.80 changed hands and I received a bus ticket in return. I
looked around the crowded
bus to try and locate a suitable seat. The bus was probably a 40+ seater and
2 other passengers were on the Bus. This really caused havoc to my preset
plans of
interviewing the passengers on a packed bus, but with only two other
passengers, one reading a book and the other in a trance like gaze I thought
plan B was in order. Shut up and do nothing. And so my travels on the 45
began, of we went down Lodge Road, into Writtle Road, along Waterhouse Lane
and through the Westland Estate and finally arrived at the end of Beeches
Road. The journey I believe took about 20 minutes and during that time had
picked up about 6 more passengers.
My initial thoughts on using the service rather than my car are:
Its far to expensive and also I believe the cost of that journey has just
gone up to £0.90, this was done with no prior notice to the customers.
Its not very convenient, I have a 5 minute walk at each end, which means I
would have to catch a much earlier bus to get to work on time.
I am working on a comparitive cost study of motor car ownership and otrher
modes of transport (buses and taxis) which I will publish later in the
month.
Enough Rambling!
Get your views and experiences of the buses to me as soon as possible by the
Feedback
Form or
by editor@disgruntled-of-writtle.co.k
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