Catching the bus is a selfish fight for comfort and reaching your destination alive!
By Kayleigh Peters
BUSES! Yes, catching the bus is no longer a safe, stress free daily task. It’s become, what I would describe as The Transport Games—not The Hunger Games—The Transport Games. You have to tactfully and skilfully fight your way through the crowds to survive the dilemmas and problems that come your way, on what you expect to be an average bus journey.
Catching the bus is something I literally detest—not that I looked forward to the hour plus bus journey before—but it leaves me feeling fatigued, which is just what I need after a long, laborious day at Sixth Form.
I can’t recall the number of times I’ve found myself without a seat on the bus, and have been left standing, holding on for dear life in the cramped and claustrophobic conditions, whilst the bus driver continues to let another 10 people on the bus when there is clearly too much physical contact between you and your fellow bus riders already. It’s a death trap, I mean the other day I nearly found myself in a game of human dominoes, having to hold up
two people who’d fallen after an abrupt stop, and decided to use me to regain their balance! Like I said, surviving the bus requires skill and tactics; making sure you get that seat you deserve on the bus at 4:15 when school and college kids are out in their masses, is all about Timing, Tactics and Teamwork— the 3 Ts.
TIMING
As we all know, in order to get a seat you need to be at the front of the so called ‘queue’, otherwise you’ve got no hope. Although, referring to it as a queue sounds a bit too nice and friendly. I think it’s more like the beginning of The Hunger Games when everyone rushes to get their supplies from the Cornucopia. It’s a first come, first served basis—the quicker and more ruthless you are, the better your bus journey will be in terms of comfort. I would say being at the front of the bundle requires you to get to the bus stop at least 10 minutes before your bus. It would also help if the buses turned up on time, but obviously that is too much to ask.
TACTICS
Being at the front of the queue is all well and good, but standing in a place where the bus is likely to stop is vital. It’s all about judgement—I’ve been caught out several times by waiting directly at the bus stop only to see the bus stop 5 metres away, which is safe to say has cost me a seat many times. You need to observe the environment around you, especially if there is already a bus at your bus stop.
TEAMWORK
Finally, you need a friend. If you have a friend, who’s like me and can fit into small spaces between people and make their way to the front of the bundle, they can save you that vital seat that you deserve. On the other hand, having someone who’s tall can also be an advantage, as they can help you through the crowd to board the bus.
These bus companies make ridiculously large amounts of money a month. Particularly from us students. For example, the bus company makes £105 a month from me with a monthly ticket or £6.50 for a return per day. Just imagine the sums they rake in a month from every student and the rest of the general public that use their bus company. Yet they still fail to provide us with the quality service we deserve and pay for.
Firstly, the actual quality of the buses is atrocious; not all of the lights work, the seats are dirty, there’s always rubbish scattered everywhere. Yes, I understand that lots of people use the bus, but surely someone could clean it or at least remove the empty bottles and food packets in those 15 minutes it just sits in the bus park, whilst the driver has a cup of tea despite it already running several minutes late. One time, I witnessed someone losing a chunk of their hair, as a result of chewing gum getting lodged in their locks.
They also fail to provide us with enough buses at peak times of the day, for example, in the morning from around 7:30—8:30am and 4:00– 4:45pm. For the one and a half years I’ve been catching the bus, this has always been a problem, it goes from one extreme to the other. They either send 3 double-deckers within a minute of the previous one or one single for everyone who catches the bus and even then, it doesn’t come at the time it says on the timetable. The amount of times the bus has just driven past people is uncountable, it’s even worse when it’s someone who’s maybe a bit older than you or not as able bodied as you.
One thing I can congratulate them on is their consistency in being so inconsistent! Thank you for consistently making me late for lessons, waiting for an hour for the bus, and just being a ‘great’ bus service! “May the odds be ever in your favour”… or not?!
