I'm about to have a whinge. An unreasonable one, which ignores 'stuff'
like operational problems and the like.

Just what is it with London Buses and ME? Why can't they just get me
home in a reasonable time?

Take today. I sense my day is going to be bad when I get a 333 from
Streatham to Brixton. I swear that the drivers of this bus, and the
133, are on a permanent 'go slow'. Today, we were overtaken by
cyclists and six other buses whose drivers seemed to have a slight
sense of urgency. The tube was then held at Victoria to regulate the
service, but more of that another time.

On my way home, Regent Street - Streatham, I get to the bus stop on
Regent Street, at 2315hrs, just as a 159 passes. I never run for
buses, but a woman does. She runs all the way from Vigo Street to the
bus, which has stopped at the bus stop near Air Street. The bus waits.
And waits. She reaches the stop, and the driver closes the doors. He
won't let her on. He then drives forward literally two feet, and stops
at the traffic lights. He still won't let her on. He drives off.

Perhaps a combination of tube (tm), railway and walking might get you
home quicker than inferior bus travel.

On Apr 11, 1:48 am, Nick W hotmail.com> wrote:

I would normally get 38 to Victoria, Southern to Streatham Hill then
417 but the last train is at 2336 and the Victoria Line was closed
etc.

Railist wrote:

Thanks for the reminder. I was on a half-full bus the other day which
was driving slowly down an otherwise empty road. After a minute or two,
curiosity and impatience made me shift seats so I could see what was
immediately ahead of the bus - which was nothing. From my new vantage
point I could also see the driver in his mirror and lo, he was chatting
away on a mobile phone that was pressed to the side of his head. Nice.

ESB

On Apr 11, 1:10 am, Railist googlemail.com> wrote:

Ah yes , the famous regulate the service phrase that LU so love. Which
basically translates to "we can't run a decent service so to cover up
our incompetence we're going to delay you even more".

B2003

On Apr 11, 10:25 am, Ernst S Blofeld new-spectre-base.com>
wrote:

You should have taken the bus number and reported him to the police.
He was risking everyone on the bus and anyone in the nearby vicinity.

B2003

Ernst S Blofeld wrote:

Did you tell the police?

Boltar wrote:

Quite. Had he not stopped and had I not been preoccupied, in a hurry and
getting off the bus at the next stop, I would have. Perhaps someone else
on the bus did. That said, experience suggests that 'doing the right
thing' too often achieves nothing more than wasting my time and making
me even more irate than I was about the original incident.

ESB

On Thu, 10 Apr 2008, Railist wrote:

It isn't. It's me as well!

Normal service, then.

This is why i get so furious when people on here tell me that buses are a
perfectly good way to travel, that they can get from Pinner to London
Bridge in ten minutes with cast-iron reliability, etc. It's not true. It's
just not true. Bus travel is a lottery, and nothing more.

My completely serious suggestion would be to buy a bike. I've got one, and
avoid all forms of public transport like the plague. As a result, i get
where i'm going faster and more reliably, and much more enjoyably, than
any travelcard monkey making the same trip. Yes, faster - door to door, i
can even beat the Victoria line to work!

On 11 Apr, 13:44, Tom Anderson wrote:

Most of the time it isn't me.