Catch the Bus Week - 1st to 8th July 2019

[whole diary]

[bobm]

https://www.swindonbus.co.uk/catch-bus-week

Catch the Bus Week highlights how central the bus is to communities around the country and aims to inspire people to leave the car at home and take the bus to their next destination.

This year’s Catch the Bus Week will focus on loneliness and how buses can stay help people to stay connected. This is to highlight the important role that buses play in helping to tackle isolation. A recent survey of 2,000 people commissioned by Greener Journeys found that A third of people (33 per cent) deliberately catch the bus to have some human contact.

Continues....

[welshman]

It would be nice, wouldn't it?  I have 5 journeys in the next 6 days.

Later today, I'm travelling 25 miles to a meeting.  It will take me 35 minutes by car.  By public transport it would take me at least two hours and probably three to get there and I wouldn't be able to return tonight by public transport. 

Tomorrow, I have 60 miles each way, almost all dual carriageway or motorway.  I have to be there by 10 and back by 5.  It will take me 3.5 hours each way by public transport, mainly train. By car, 2 hours 20 minutes there and back.

On Saturday I have a 20 mile each way journey, almost all dual carriageway, which takes less than 30 minutes by car.  It would take me over an hour by bus to get there and nearly 3 to get back (by bus and train), given that I can't leave to return until the early evening so the last "direct" bus back will have left.

On Sunday I have the same 20 mile each way journey.  I can't get there in time by public transport that morning.   If I could it would take me 3 hours to get back.

I have to repeat the first journey on Tuesday.  The same applies - can't get back the same day because of the time of return.

[grahame]

It would be nice, wouldn't it?  I have 5 journeys in the next 6 days.

Later today, I'm travelling 25 miles to a meeting.  It will take me 35 minutes by car.  By public transport it would take me at least two hours and probably three to get there and I wouldn't be able to return tonight by public transport.  ....

[snip]

For many journeys ... public transport just does not work.   I had a series like this the other week - three days of driving - and I fear I have a drive (ironically to a RailFuture meeting) next week because East-West rail isn't open from Oxford to Milton Keynes yet, and the first bus alternative gets me there after the meeting has started.

However, there are many cases where public transport works - mostly on "heavy flow" routes where it has maximum potential impact.


From a Facebook post of mine a few minutes ago:

This is "Catch the Bus" week ... but you can catch the bus (and the train) from Melksham all year. Why drive into Bath, Bristol, Chippenham, Trowbridge or Swindon when you can use public transport and let someone else drive.

Buses (D3 and X72) run to BATH from Melksham up to 4 times an hour Monday to Saturday and every 2 hours on Sunday

For BRISTOL, 18 trains a day (16 on Saturday, 13 on Sunday) connect at Chippenham or Trowbridge for services to Bristol Temple Meads

CHIPPENHAM and TROWBRIDGE are served by x34 buses from Melksham (and trains 7 days a week).

9 trains a day (8 on Satuirday, 7 ion Sunday) run to SWINDON with connections onwards to Reading and London, to Cheltenham Spa, to South Wales ...

Melksham Rail User Group at http://www.mrug.org.uk



That provides practical travel out of Melksham to Bath, Bristol, Chippenham, Trowbridge and Swindon - (*where* in those towns/cities may be another matter) but - agreed with Welshman - no nice solution for some other places such as Taunton, Milton Keynes, Shepton Mallet, ...

Of course, ardent campaigners will look to justify public transport for any journey ... I was amused earlier to pick up a web page suggesting some really low-flow public transport journeys such as Carrick-on-Suir to Scarborough!