When I first came to Bristol last October, the paper was full of horror stories about the buses. Why, I thought. Granted I had only used the 8/9 which travel around central Bristol but there didn't seem to be any problems.
How naive.
My girlfriend was the first to experience problems when she had to wait in the cold for 50 minutes on a Saturday for the number 8 bus. This is a bus that is supposed to come every 10/15 minutes. The old cliché proved true when 3 turned up at once.
Then it was my turn. I had a job interview in Fishponds and I purchased the First City Line timetable, worked out my route and which bus to catch. Not wanting to be late, I picked a bus that should have delivered me to my destination with twenty minutes to spare. The bus arrived on time but took over 35 minutes (it should have been 15) meaning I was late for the interview.
Luckily, I still got a second interview the week after. This time I was taking no chances and made sure I got to the bus stop an hour before my interview. This meant that three buses would have to not turn up in order for me to be late.
Guess what?
None of the buses turned up which meant a mad dash across Bristol City Centre to find a cab, a £10.00 fare and I was late again. I didn't get the job.
Since then, when travelling on the buses, I have kept my ears opened and heard a number of horror stories and noticed how the buses do seem to travel in packs of two or threes.
I complained in writing and this was dismissed by the head office who offered no real apology or excuse. One of the depot's received the letter and sent me back my cab fare but it was in bus tickets.
I'll probably have to complain after I use them.
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this op was of no relevance to me but is very helpful should you be near the Bristol area. Hopefully it will save someone else the trouble you had. good one!
LICARUS 06.03.2001 15:04
This sounds horrendous, for it to happen once in unfortunate and could be said 'one of those things' but for it to happen 3 times, a nightmare! I live in a rural area and from what i can gather the buses are pretty good. I myself don't have cause to use them as I either drive to where i need to go, or walk.
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Mar 6th, 2001
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