Is it just me or are the East Dulwich buses worse since Boris got in?

[RosieH]

Keef, for sure he didn't decide just to f*ck us - he wants to f*ck the entire bus system so that his voters in their 4x4 juggernauts can own the roads and mow down the plebeian likes of us, and then they can eat the road kill, except that might adulterate the pedigree bloodline resulting in mutant pin heads (the likes of which were on Jeremy Kyle today) which would stop their needing such enormous vehicles to keep their gargantuan heads and well-nourished bouffants intact, so we could all revert to using the bus and we'll be happy again.

[James]

I'm not suggesting that Boris has it in for East Dulwich people! (Although I reckon the village would be definitely more his thing). I was just wondering whether anyone else had noticed the buses round here getting worse and whether this might be symptomatic of a change of priorities since the new mayor started. Perhaps we will get new dedicated lanes for drivers of 4x4s soon...

[hibbs]

I think its down to the Councils having to spend all the remaining cash in their budgets before the year end, hence why the last quarter of every year there seem to be soooooooo many road works...

[Keef]

I'm not for or against Boris, just not sure if the mayor has anything to do with the buses playing up over the last couple of weeks.

[James]

Been more than a few weeks in my opinion, seems like a steady decline post-Ken. Perhaps I am imagining it, fuelled by my rampant distrust of Boris.

[Al&Em]

Bus drivers are getting a lot of bad press at the moment here - to show the flip side my number 40 driver this evening gave me a lift round to the bus stand rather than insisting on turfing me out at the last stop by the Plough - as I'm on crutches made my day. Thanks Mr Driver. You're a good egg and a fine example to your colleagues.

Al

[mightyroar]

Boris, its his fault for sure

[chloecat]

Another ED bus which doesnt seem to run anymore is the p13! It's bad enough that it only runs three/two times an hour, but when you're waiting in the cold for fifteen minutes and it doesnt show up and then you have to wait another half hour (a hundred metres from your house round the corner), it gets mighty frustrating!

Anyone know any other quick ways to get to Streatham?

and please don't say bicycle. quickest way to kill yourself in london is on two wheels.

[Huguenot]

I don't know why the bus companies don't invest in GPS tracker websites.

Surely the convenience benefit will outweight the terrorist threat?

[Applespider]

I asked about the prospect of being able to see buses in realtime on a website last time I complained to TFL or at least a few more of those bus-stops with arrival info screens.

They said that the new iBus they're rolling out (i.e. those talking buses that drive many of us nuts) had taken precedence but that once it worked for all buses (May 09), then they were going to look at how it could be used online etc. I want an iBus app for my iPhone.

[FoodStories]

Well I don't know if it's got anything to do with Boris or not but I am totally fed up with the 484 service. Why they don't just make it a double decker I don't know...

[Jeremy]

They really need to start rolling out those arrival display things to more bus stops... although I admit that making them vandal-proof may not be a cheap exercise.

[Sue]

The 176 service seemed to have improved a while back, but recently it seems to have deteriorated again. Waiting for ages in bitter cold is not my idea of fun .....

[SeanMacGabhann]

it could be that the wait apperas to be longer because we are cold?

[Sue]

Probably does, but the service seemed to have got worse before the cold spell set in ....

And in Oxford Street on Tuesday evening there were shedloads of other buses with two or three of the same number passing, and not a single 176 .....

I waited so long I thought maybe they were still only running to/from Tottenham Court Road, though it didn't say so on the bus stop, so I actually started walking up to TCR - luckily a 176 arrived at the next bus stop in Oxford Street about the same time as I did ...

[SeanMacGabhann]

heh heh - we too were waiting for well over 30 mins for a 176 outside Somerset House this week - at least 2 or 3 of every other route passed by. I'm in agreement about the service going downhill really - I'm just not sure what the reason is. Seems a bit to easy to blame it on Boris...

[David Mc]

The 185 from Victoria is sh1te as well.

[Sue]

SeanMacGabhann Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> heh heh - we too were waiting for well over 30

> mins for a 176 outside Somerset House this week -

> at least 2 or 3 of every other route passed by.

> I'm in agreement about the service going downhill

> really - I'm just not sure what the reason is.

> Seems a bit to easy to blame it on Boris...

xxxx

It's bad in the mornings as well.

Soon I'm going to be ending up walking several stops further up the route - I've already moved up one, and still the buses arrive full when they eventually arrive!

:-$

[RosieH]

SeanMacGabhann Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Seems a bit to easy to blame it on Boris...

Sean, I know this is anathema to you, but stop being so bloody reasonable. S'all Boris's fault and no mistake. BRING BACK KEN.

[Nero]

I think I saw Mark outside S House earlier this week, waiting for the 176. I'd just finished work and I know only too well that they are rare at that time of the day. I hopped on a a 171 and then changed. Got home in record time, in fact - less than 30 mins, door to door. Generally, though, the buses have got a bit worse. I understand they will be less well funded because of the reduction in size of the congestion zone.

[SeanMacGabhann]

Hmmmph - you might well have seen Mark - I was right next to him, failing to persuade him to get a Camverwell bus and change there. I still haven't warmed up

;-)

[Sue]

Nero Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

I hopped on a a 171 and then

> changed. Got home in record time, in fact - less

> than 30 mins, door to door.

xxxxxx

Yeh I usually get the first bus that comes and then change, but sadly there are some starting points where that doesn't work, and Oxford Street is one of them .... unless I'm missing a trick somewhere ....

[Applespider]

Nope - it used to work when the 176 and the 12 stopped nearby each other and you could 'hover' between stops and get one whichever came first. But no longer - you have to place your bets and go for one or other - or stand on the corner of Oxford Circus and then sprint down Regent St or along Oxford St to Borders.

I've given up and usually just hop on the Victoria line to Brixton and then onto the P4.

Buses are getting worse in the mornings though - there are 5 bus routes scheduled to stop at my stop (all of which are schedule in 8-12 minute timeframes according to the timetable) and in the last few weeks, I've waited well over 10 minutes for any one of them to show up. The temporary traffic lights at the top of Court Lane aren't helping matters but this is before they hit the traffic there.

[dukesdenver]

I don't know what was going on last night but it took me almost two hours to get from Monument to ED. The last two 40s didn't turn up so I did a two-bus journey to Camberwell via Elephant. After half an hour and two 176s which were too full to get on I gave up and took a cab.

I got home freezing and thoroughly cheesed off, only to find a letter from Southwark Council Tax informing me that according to their records I am in arrears. So much for internet banking!

[Nero]

Victoria Line to Brixton and then the P4 sounds a good combination. Wd be better in the summer when you can walk through the park.