Timetabled bus didn't appear on multiple days this week - what can I do?

[miklcct]

A bus I wanted to take did not appear on 2 days in this week already. As a result I couldn't get to my destination on time and caused massive delay on my trip taking an alternative service.

I need to know what I can do to prevent such occurrence from happening in the future, such that I can know if the bus won't turn up and I can act accordingly or arrange alternate transport.

Specifically I need to know the information about Yellow Buses 3x for the following departures Mon - Fri, which is operated by the same vehicle with the same driver (duty number 351):

19:30 Bournemouth to Castlepoint
20:00 Castlepoint to Branksome (scheduled 20:07 Bournemouth Hospital)
20:34 Branksome to Castlepoint
21:10 Castlepoint to Bournemouth (scheduled 21:17 Bournemouth Hospital)

On Monday and Wednesday, I took the 19:30 and 21:10 departure for a round-trip between Bournemouth and the hospital which operated correctly. On Tuesday and Thursday, I intend to take the 20:00 departure but it didn't turn up at the hospital at 20:07 scheduled time. On both occasions I asked the driver of the following route 3 departure (20:10 from Bournemouth Hospital to Westbourne) and he also didn't see a 3x passed while he waited at the hospital for layover.

This route is a new route and it doesn't have live tracking enabled in the app, and bustimes.org also doesn't have any records as well. The app doesn't show anything about cancelled service as well (I have seen such notifications by its competitor morebus about a cancelled service due to traffic congestion).

I have already made complaint to the bus company and it replied that due to staff shortage some services aren't run, and forwarded my comment about showing notifications to the app team.

This route 3x is my most important link between my home and Littledown Centre, located just opposite to the hospital where I do my club trainings, and I rely on this route to get to/from the training just in time as the alternative morebus services X1/X2/X3/X6 don't have any departures in that time period. By taking the route 3x, I leave my home at the very last moment, travel at 50 mph on the A338 and arrive the training exactly at the moment it is scheduled to start, and once it finishes, the same bus will arrive at the bus stop and carry me back home, or stop me at the train station for the supermarket at 50 mph speed on the A338.

I would like advice how can I mitigate the effect if, due to any reason, the bus fails to turn up at the scheduled time.

1. This route is not real-time tracking enabled. How can I know if the bus is going to show up or not?
2. If the bus doesn't appear at the scheduled time and the meeting is time-critical, what should I do to get a taxi as fast as possible (as the difference between the bus and taxi is just a 3-minute loop around the train station, i.e. if I can't get a taxi within 3 minutes after the bus fails to appear, I will run late for that)?
3. If the bus consistently fails to appear on time as stated on the timetable, what consumer right do I have against the bus company?
4. In the long run, will using minicabs or hourly car rental from car clubs be better for me to get to my trainings in the shortest time possible while guaranteeing that I can get to/from there on time? Can they achieve >=99% on-time rate? Also, as minicabs are expensive, are there any discounts if I bulk book them in advance according to a schedule I give? I'm looking for alternatives to car ownership as owning a car is very expensive considering that I do very low mileages (around 2000-3000 miles per year only at my expected lifestyle), while ensuring that I can get the speed and reliability of a car (which a scheduled bus does if it runs 99% on schedule).

 

[30907]

If your schedule is so time-critical that you can make no allowance for delay, then you need to consider private transport AND research thoroughly all the possible alternative routes. A bicycle or moped might be cost effective?

 

[GALLANTON]

Catch an earlier bus and get a tea/coffee before you start your training?

 

[Starmill]

If you have already paid for the bus service and you're able to record consistently poor performance then in theory you can claim a "repeat performance" whatever that might mean in this case (a free bus ticket?) or alternatively a cash compensation sum. In theory you may be able to claim that against the bus operator for a single journey being missing but this may just me more hassle than it's worth. Already having paid for the service in advance is quite beneficial to any such claim.

A more practical solution is to email the company and ask for information about the reliability of the specific services. If they won't engage with your concerns about reliability, email the office of your MP - they're very likely to write to the bus company on your behalf requesting further information. They should be able to do that for you for free, although you may need to be patient with them.

 

[miklcct]

If your schedule is so time-critical that you can make no allowance for delay, then you need to consider private transport AND research thoroughly all the possible alternative routes. A bicycle or moped might be cost effective?

I have ruled out a bicycle or moped for this particular journey because it involves travelling at 50 mph on a dual-carriageway grade-segregated A-road. The 3-mile journey is done under 10 minutes on a bus, with a taxi giving me another 2-3 minutes of additional saving as the bus loops around the train station before running express.

 

[Dai Corner]

Is there anyone who attends the same event as you and could give you a lift?

 

[Gloster]

Realistically the only thing you can do is allow yourself extra time and get an earlier bus. I have a bus every ten minutes to the station that gives me a train to the hourly ferry, but I normally aim to get the previous bus to the one that should arrive in time for the train. If I can I get the bus before that, which means I can either walk down the street to the station or along the pier, so much the better. Welcome to the British transport ‘system‘: system is not really the right word as it suggests it is all one coherent mass in which each part connects up where it should, but it is far from that. You’ll get used to it eventually.

 

[yorkie]

I have ruled out a bicycle or moped for this particular journey because it involves travelling at 50 mph on a dual-carriageway grade-segregated A-road. The 3-mile journey is done under 10 minutes on a bus, with a taxi giving me another 2-3 minutes of additional saving as the bus loops around the train station before running express.

It's about a 20 minute cycle ride along what looks like a pleasant route via Vitality Stadium/King's Park, along quiet roads (e.g. Windham Road) and much of it is even off road.

 

[GALLANTON]

I have ruled out a bicycle or moped for this particular journey because it involves travelling at 50 mph on a dual-carriageway grade-segregated A-road. The 3-mile journey is done under 10 minutes on a bus, with a taxi giving me another 2-3 minutes of additional saving as the bus loops around the train station before running express.

There's plenty of Scooters out there that can easily do 50mph and you only need a provisional license and CBT certificate.

 

[miklcct]

It's about a 20 minute cycle ride along what looks like a pleasant route via Vitality Stadium/King's Park, along quiet roads (e.g. Windham Road) and much of it is even off road.

That will take double the time compared to taking a bus / taxi. I am asking for advice how to guard against bus not appearing on time, so any alternative routes / transport which take more than the time travelling by the express bus (which is nearly as fast as a taxi), or involving taking an earlier departure, is out of consideration to me, as I'm considering the case where the schedule is very tight.

 

[carlberry]

That will take double the time compared to taking a bus / taxi. I am asking for advice how to guard against bus not appearing on time, so any alternative routes / transport which take more than the time travelling by the express bus (which is nearly as fast as a taxi), or involving taking an earlier departure, is out of consideration to me, as I'm considering the case where the schedule is very tight.

You're asking for advice but refusing to consider any advice that isn't based on using the original timetable. The only way to reduce the risk is to allow more time or pre-book a taxi.

 

[yorkie]

That will take double the time compared to taking a bus / taxi. I am asking for advice how to guard against bus not appearing on time, so any alternative routes / transport which take more than the time travelling by the express bus (which is nearly as fast as a taxi), or involving taking an earlier departure, is out of consideration to me, as I'm considering the case where the schedule is very tight.

If cycling, taking an earlier bus, or taking a taxi are not viable, then you will either have to accept the possibility of being delayed or cancel the event/appointment.

 

[PeterC]

Firstly you seem to be ignoring certain issues over fuel supply that have affected all motorised transport in recent days. Bus services in many locations have been disrupted either because the company can't source adequate quanties of diesel or more likely due to roads being blocked by queues outside garages.

If the bus company has a social media feed then follow it. That is now I know about the cancellations on my local services.

 

[miklcct]

Another related question on this matter:

If I buy a long term ticket (e.g. 90 days or annual), and the bus company withdraw the most commonly route I use in network changes, will that mean my ticket is wasted?

This is a real concern for me as the route 3x I use has consistently low patronage (most of the time it's only me or 1 other passengers on board, seldom more than 5 and never more than 10) and I can't see, in any way, that the route will be sustainable.

 

[Starmill]

Another related question on this matter:

If I buy a long term ticket (e.g. 90 days or annual), and the bus company withdraw the most commonly route I use in network changes, will that mean my ticket is wasted?

This is a real concern for me as the route 3x I use has consistently low patronage (most of the time it's only me or 1 other passengers on board, seldom more than 5 and never more than 10) and I can't see, in any way, that the route will be sustainable.

The company would have no choice but to pay you a pro rata refund if this happened. Getting them to agree to it might be a bit of a challenge though depending on how responsive their customer services are.

 

[carlberry]

Another related question on this matter:

If I buy a long term ticket (e.g. 90 days or annual), and the bus company withdraw the most commonly route I use in network changes, will that mean my ticket is wasted?

This is a real concern for me as the route 3x I use has consistently low patronage (most of the time it's only me or 1 other passengers on board, seldom more than 5 and never more than 10) and I can't see, in any way, that the route will be sustainable.

If the ticket was tied to the route in some way (i.e. it's only valid on that route) then it's fairly clear. If it's a more general ticket that's available in any area or on any service then it would be down to the companies general terms which are on the website.

 

[miklcct]

If cycling, taking an earlier bus, or taking a taxi are not viable, then you will either have to accept the possibility of being delayed or cancel the event/appointment.

Taking occasional taxis is a viable option of me once the bus is known to be delayed, as long as it's not a frequent occurrence.

Also, I have heard that there are some insurance products on the market which I can buy and will get payout if a certain public transport service is delayed in China. Are there such kind of products in the UK to insure against bus delays?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 11 Oct 2021 ==

If cycling, taking an earlier bus, or taking a taxi are not viable, then you will either have to accept the possibility of being delayed or cancel the event/appointment.

The same bus has disappeared again for 3 out of 5 times I attempted to take it this month, and today it caused me serious delay to the event as I couldn't even see a taxi on the road after the bus failed to appear on the time, and I could only catch one until I got another bus to the train station.

I have made my second complaint to the bus company, and if the reply isn't satisfactory, I will escalate the matter. Meanwhile, how can I catch a taxi fast after I realise the bus doesn't come up on time? I have only a few minutes to do that before I will run late for the event.