BBC Article "Britain's hidden transport crisis."

[TheGrandWazoo]

I actually wonder if WCM are losing interest in their Borders operations. The reluctance to increase service levels seems to suggest this.

It might simply be the realities of too few passengers and too few drivers?

 

[overthewater]

WCM happily brought the Border area off First 6 years ago. We all thought First did a poor job, however it seems maybe first weren't so bad after all, and no matter who runs the buses in the Borders now its wont be great.

 

[DunsBus]

It might simply be the realities of too few passengers and too few drivers?

Perhaps, but I'm sure you'll agree that a last bus which leaves late-afternoon is of no use to anyone.

WCM happily brought the Border area off First 6 years ago. We all thought First did a poor job, however it seems maybe first weren't so bad after all, and no matter who runs the buses in the Borders now its wont be great.

Borders bus services have been in decline since the days of SMT. First weren't daft when they quit the area.

 

[InOban]

No, the 253 is run entirely from the Berwick end. The last departure from Berwick is now mid-afternoon, with no Sunday service.

There is a later NatEx service which leaves Edinburgh at 2100 and gets into Berwick at 2230.

There's also a 17.50 Nat Ex from Berwick to Edinburgh, at least the Internet says there is.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Perhaps, but I'm sure you'll agree that a last bus which leaves late-afternoon is of no use to anyone.

Borders bus services have been in decline since the days of SMT. First weren't daft when they quit the area.

If it's pushing it back from 1650 to 1715, then that should be doable. If it's more than that, more journeys and later ones, then it's perhaps a bit more of a challenge.

To be honest, the 62 and 95 were always the best routes and were probably doing some heavy lifting in terms of overhead recovery etc. Once the railway came, that had a bit of an impact and selling out to West Coast probably made sense in economies of scale etc.

 

[Ken H]

Is the cross border nature of the service an issue here? There was some mention of this in reference to the 16B in the original article; a route like the 60 would obviously have even more significant border issues. Not just around legislation, but also the Scottish Borders Council not wanting to be seen to subdisiding a "Northumberland" service or encouraging travel to Berwick instead of Gala?

In a sane world the bus pass availability would be merged into one UK wide scheme.

 

[Jordan Adam]

This was only because the X7 due about 15 minutes earlier did not turn up. (I had already done the Xplore Dundee buses of interest by then).

Can't say I'm surprised, the X7 and services run by Arbroath more generally have truly been a farce of late.

I attempted to get the 7:15 X7 from Aberdeen to Dundee a few weeks back, upon boarding I was informed that the bus was only going to Arbroath and I'd need to swap on to a 39 or 73 as there was no driver to take over. I wasn't too bothered by it at that point as I knew there was a 39 from Arbroath to Dundee only 10 minutes or so after the X7.

Upon arriving in to Arbroath at least 30 passengers got off the X7 and joined the already long queue for the 39 to Dundee which turned out to be E200MMC 26113, by the time it had loaded us all on it was 20 minutes late, bus full and had to leave a few people behind, meanwhile the 39 in the other direction and a 27 were also at the bus station, double deckers and left with less than 5 passengers.

On route to Dundee 26113 left behind at least 20 people at various stops - not good on a route with an hourly service! Given the driver of the X7 and therefor control/management knew at least two hours ahead of time that the X7 wouldn't continue past Arbroath I really don't understand why they had 26113 on that 39 when it easily could've been swapped at the bus station with the decker on the other 39. It just shows a serious lack of former planning/leadership and made a bad situation even worse.

I honestly feel sorry for anyone who relies on the EScot X7, each day there's masses of cancellations and on at least one occasion there's been a gap in service of over four hours.

 

[DunsBus]

If it's pushing it back from 1650 to 1715, then that should be doable. If it's more than that, more journeys and later ones, then it's perhaps a bit more of a challenge.

To be honest, the 62 and 95 were always the best routes and were probably doing some heavy lifting in terms of overhead recovery etc. Once the railway came, that had a bit of an impact and selling out to West Coast probably made sense in economies of scale etc.

A last bus at 1715 would be an acceptable compromise.

 

[739678]

Can't say I'm surprised, the X7 and services run by Arbroath more generally have truly been a farce of late.

I attempted to get the 7:15 X7 from Aberdeen to Dundee a few weeks back, upon boarding I was informed that the bus was only going to Arbroath and I'd need to swap on to a 39 or 73 as there was no driver to take over. I wasn't too bothered by it at that point as I knew there was a 39 from Arbroath to Dundee only 10 minutes or so after the X7.

Upon arriving in to Arbroath at least 30 passengers got off the X7 and joined the already long queue for the 39 to Dundee which turned out to be E200MMC 26113, by the time it had loaded us all on it was 20 minutes late, bus full and had to leave a few people behind, meanwhile the 39 in the other direction and a 27 were also at the bus station, double deckers and left with less than 5 passengers.

On route to Dundee 26113 left behind at least 20 people at various stops - not good on a route with an hourly service! Given the driver of the X7 and therefor control/management knew at least two hours ahead of time that the X7 wouldn't continue past Arbroath I really don't understand why they had 26113 on that 39 when it easily could've been swapped at the bus station with the decker on the other 39. It just shows a serious lack of former planning/leadership and made a bad situation even worse.

I honestly feel sorry for anyone who relies on the EScot X7, each day there's masses of cancellations and on at least one occasion there's been a gap in service of over four hours.

The majority of Stagecoach services in Angus are a daily disaster at the moment. Highlights recent included a two and a half hour gap on the normally half hourly 73 service from Dundee to Carnoustie from midday onwards two weeks ago, a two and three quarter hour gap towards Dundee from Carnoustie on Friday 21st after 4.30pm, and on the first Sunday of the new timetable introduced at the start of the month to 'make services reliable', a three hour gap mid afternoon...

 

[Tetchytyke]

a step in an overall decline of drinking/evening culture. 2007 saw the smoking ban come in. We've seen an overall decline over time in the number of pubs - from 69k in 1980 to 46k in 2021. In 1980, nearly 90% of beer was drunk in pubs; now it's less than half, and that's aside being a nation that now drinks less.

This is very true. I used to work in students' unions, and revenue from bars and club nights had fallen through the floor long before Covid.

Sadly, we now need more in terms of support for buses, irrespective of the ownership model, and I fear that a change in PM isn't going to bode well for bus service support.

We're in the dying stages of a Conservative government, we're going to have a fire-sale privatisation of anything that isn't nailed down, and we're going to have brainwaves like £2 fares without a care as to how these will be funded. I fear for the future of public transport away from primary routes.

It is mad, however, that the last bus from Douglas to my house on a weeknight is 11.05 and on a weekend is 00.15, extending to 01.15 during the summer and on the run up to Christmas. It's a rural island with 80,000 people. The 00.15 and 01.15 buses run across the island, and they're full. I struggle to comprehend how the IOM can do this yet relatively big towns in the UK cannot.

 

[Falcon1200]

In England and Wales local authorities have powers to pay for bus services which aren't commercially viable.

Indeed, and in something of a contrast to the doom and gloom, from this Sunday Stagecoach Oxford are re-introducing the Sunday 14/14A service between the JR Hospital and Oxford Rail station, thanks to a Council subsidy.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

This is very true. I used to work in students' unions, and revenue from bars and club nights had fallen through the floor long before Covid.


We're in the dying stages of a Conservative government, we're going to have a fire-sale privatisation of anything that isn't nailed down, and we're going to have brainwaves like £2 fares without a care as to how these will be funded. I fear for the future of public transport away from primary routes.

It is mad, however, that the last bus from Douglas to my house on a weeknight is 11.05 and on a weekend is 00.15, extending to 01.15 during the summer and on the run up to Christmas. It's a rural island with 80,000 people. The 00.15 and 01.15 buses run across the island, and they're full. I struggle to comprehend how the IOM can do this yet relatively big towns in the UK cannot.

Certainly, the Fri/Sat buses from Bath out to my 'hood are busy and even the earlier ones to about 2000 are. All evening runs are commercial (think there's a bit of de minimis stuff going on) but on a dark Tuesday night, it's certainly a lot quieter. In the round, they're probably ok but I can see why a few busy runs isn't sufficient on other routes to pay their way and then you get into decreasing circles.

 

[Geordie driver]

Local to me, Thursday to Sunday, many evening services do quite well, in no small part to the drinkers magnet that is Newcastle city centre. Our local " service" ,43 Newcastle to Cramlington has been cut to one an hour ( from 2 an hour) in the evening to improve " reliability".

On a recent Saturday ,the busiest evening of the week, the last 2 failed to operate.

So our last bus was 21 05 with no warning on the app. Loads of people left stranded. Shameful.

Taxis and Uber are doing a roaring trade.

I can remember when they would have been in deep doo dah with the traffic commissioners for the numerous services they fail to operate. Nothing seems to happen now.

What is the point in having registrations?

To return to my original post, why have the BBC labelled this as " hidden"? It's a big talking point across the nation, people are furious. Its in no way hidden.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Local to me, Thursday to Sunday, many evening services do quite well, in no small part to the drinkers magnet that is Newcastle city centre. Our local " service" ,43 Newcastle to Cramlington has been cut to one an hour ( from 2 an hour) in the evening to improve " reliability".

On a recent Saturday ,the busiest evening of the week, the last 2 failed to operate.

So our last bus was 21 05 with no warning on the app. Loads of people left stranded. Shameful.

Taxis and Uber are doing a roaring trade.

I can remember when they would have been in deep doo dah with the traffic commissioners for the numerous services they fail to operate. Nothing seems to happen now.

What is the point in having registrations?

To return to my original post, why have the BBC labelled this as " hidden"? It's a big talking point across the nation, people are furious. Its in no way hidden.

In any ordinary world, the TCs would be taking them to task. However, there are so many firms dropping so many journeys and trying to battle against a massive shortage of staff that they probably don't know where to start.

In >35 years of travelling by bus, I've never felt less confident of the service reliability than at the moment. That's irrespective of where I've been travelling.

 

[Tetchytyke]

I can remember when they would have been in deep doo dah with the traffic commissioners for the numerous services they fail to operate. Nothing seems to happen now.

The TCs have never been all that good at pulling up the big operators. They'll nail the odd smaller operator to make themselves look tough, but the big boys rarely get any sanctions. It's nothing new.

To return to my original post, why have the BBC labelled this as " hidden"? It's a big talking point across the nation, people are furious. Its in no way hidden.

It's a localised talking point amongst people who use buses. Wider than that, not really, and it certainly suits the operators and, more importantly the Government, to cast it as temporary local issues rather than a nationwide problem.

In >35 years of travelling by bus, I've never felt less confident of the service reliability than at the moment. That's irrespective of where I've been travelling.

I've escaped Mona's Isle for a few days and treated myself to a GM Wayfarer today whilst Mrs Tetchy hit the shops.

My buses from New Mills to Glossop, Glossop to Stalybridge, and Wigan to Chorley all ran bang on time.

The trains? Three cancellations out of three intended journeys.

The entire system is crumbling I can only think that it's deliberate.

 

[markymark2000]

Local to me, Thursday to Sunday, many evening services do quite well, in no small part to the drinkers magnet that is Newcastle city centre. Our local " service" ,43 Newcastle to Cramlington has been cut to one an hour ( from 2 an hour) in the evening to improve " reliability".

On a recent Saturday ,the busiest evening of the week, the last 2 failed to operate.

So our last bus was 21 05 with no warning on the app. Loads of people left stranded. Shameful.

Taxis and Uber are doing a roaring trade.

I think a number of buses would be busier with people travelling home but the issue is that the trip may make money but it's can't cross subsidise the rest of the time when the bus is empty. Patronage tends to slow down around 7pm and so then keeping a bus going until 9, 10, 11pm, means you are not only covering the costs of that trip but also the costs of all of the other trips in between which the driver did.

Purely for example, a town circular, 30 min round trip, runs twice per hour. If the usage drops off around 7pm, you then have 4 hours to keep that bus going while it makes very little money and then 11pm you have a full and standing bus and somehow that bus then has to cover the costs of all of the other trips.


There are calls in Liverpool for more night buses but sadly the 2 main operators have zero intention of growing patronage or attempting to run any kind of night bus. I don't think the local management and commercial teams have a clue what they are doing with their endless mess ups. Run bare minimum they can get away then cry poverty for more funding for anything beyond bare minimum.

I can remember when they would have been in deep doo dah with the traffic commissioners for the numerous services they fail to operate. Nothing seems to happen now.

What is the point in having registrations?

There isn't much point. Run what you want, when you want.

In any ordinary world, the TCs would be taking them to task. However, there are so many firms dropping so many journeys and trying to battle against a massive shortage of staff that they probably don't know where to start.

Start with those with daft amount of cancellations. Now, it's not as if they can't get reliability data given bus open data has the timetables and tracking. Plus companies should be reporting dead mileage. Combine all of that, you can see what the punctuality percentage is. Anyone with a worse than 75% should be targeted.

The TCs have never been all that good at pulling up the big operators. They'll nail the odd smaller operator to make themselves look tough, but the big boys rarely get any sanctions. It's nothing new.

Very much like Warringtons Own Buses having a cut to their licence (due to the MOT thing) for a short time and the cut still meant they had 10 or so more licences than vehicles in their fleet. Meaningless sanction.

 

[30907]

The BBC must have a different idea of " hidden" to mine, what I suspect they mean is it doesn't affect them in London.

As it comes under the heading of Tayside and Central Scotland, do you mean Glasgow?

 

[Geordie driver]

As it comes under the heading of Tayside and Central Scotland, do you mean Glasgow?

The article was on the front page of the BBC news website, or I wouldn't have seen it.

Would they report the funding crisis for Transport for London as "hidden"?

I doesn't affect the large majority of the country but they wouldn't describe it as hidden.

 

[HullRailMan]

The article was on the front page of the BBC news website, or I wouldn't have seen it.

Would they report the funding crisis for Transport for London as "hidden"?

I doesn't affect the large majority of the country but they wouldn't describe it as hidden.

I merely think it’s described as “hidden” because it doesn’t attract a great deal of national attention by either the media or government, certainly compared to rail issues.
TfL attracts media attention because it’s entertaining to pitch as a mayor v govt issue, plus the cash sums involved are significant. Unless there are issues with buses concentrated in an area with a vocal mayor (eg Manchester), it’s hard to find a voice loud enough to interest the national media.

 

[overthewater]

You have to wonder why more drivers seem to have left the Arbroath depot? Is it because before covid the Nno73 had conductors so the drivers had an easy life. Now the conductors are gone and well, the same drivers have to do a lot more work and most I bet felt.. nah I'm off.

 

[duncombec]

I can remember when they would have been in deep doo dah with the traffic commissioners for the numerous services they fail to operate. Nothing seems to happen now.

What is the point in having registrations?

To return to my original post, why have the BBC labelled this as " hidden"? It's a big talking point across the nation, people are furious. Its in no way hidden.

It's a localised talking point amongst people who use buses. Wider than that, not really, and it certainly suits the operators and, more importantly the Government, to cast it as temporary local issues rather than a nationwide problem.

As others have said, it's labelled as "hidden" because it is for the vast majority of the population. Look at it another way: disregarding this forum, and the Arriva website, have you heard about bus strikes in Kent and changes to Kent County Council subsidised services on the local news in Newcastle? I'd suggest not, just as the closure of Jesmond depot hasn't made mine. Yet I know all about the problems Avanti had last Saturday (in addition to their regular problems) even though I didn't use them. I know all about airport problems over the summer even though I didn't go near one to fly from. You probably heard about the queues at Dover even though it's at the opposite end of the country to you.

Simply put, what is "hidden" from most of the population, including bus users, is that it isn't a localised problem, but a nationalised one. There was even a story on the local paper's website last week where it had to be pointed out to them that the driver shortage was affecting Arriva just as much, if not more, as Stagecoach, just that Stagecoach were actively telling passengers which journeys were cancelled so it was more obvious!

It is a hidden crisis to everyone who isn't a bus enthusiast or works in the industry - only a few weeks ago there was an extensive discussion on the rail side of the forum about rail replacement expectations, and rail passengers basically offended that there weren't the usual legions of buses ready to transport them to their next station as there usually would be.

I can remember when they would have been in deep doo dah with the traffic commissioners for the numerous services they fail to operate. Nothing seems to happen now.

What is the point in having registrations?

The TCs have never been all that good at pulling up the big operators. They'll nail the odd smaller operator to make themselves look tough, but the big boys rarely get any sanctions. It's nothing new.

It's because they are simply understaffed with a remit that precludes their active investigation into operators.

As operators have been told many times and in many forums - the TCs can only act upon evidence provided to them by their staff in DVSA and the local transport authorities. Their place is to judge, not to gather evidence. [...]

Certain local authorities such as Devon seem much more pro active in supplying investigation to the TC than others. You’ll note theres regularly Devon based operators up in front for failing to operate registered services

Here we have a collection of answers, all of which I'd suggest are more accurate than "they can't be bothered". Traffic Commissioners (TC) are a government department - they've had budget and staff cuts, as have local authorities. There simply isn't a pool of staff who can swan around the country with a timetable and a watch on a whim: the few staff they have are following up on reports, or trying to find vehicles that are simply unsafe to be on the road. My local authority has a public transport staff of about two, and I can imagine there are plenty of others where it's a small department with an office the size of a broom cupboard, if they actually have anyone dedicated to it at all... I imagine the TCs would love a pool of staff they could just say "right, you and you, go and check PLC' buses timekeeping today, you check maintenance at Minipendent's depot, and you investigate the report we had from Shire County Council", but they don't.

That's not to say it's acceptable that it is that way, but unless a shedload more money arrives for enforcement, it isn't going to improve, any more than the operational situation won't. We might like the consider the bus service we had if the rail budget was spent on it, or the rail service we'd have if the bus budget was spent on it. Not on this thread, but worth considering before we start throwing insults around.

(I copied some quotes from the Southampton Minilink thread here, as there is a definite cross-over between points on TC enforcement.)

 

[Dai Corner]

Are any DVSA staff, local authorities, user groups or or individuals mining Bus Open Data(BODS) to monitor reliability and punctuality? I'd have though one data analyst with a PC could do the work of dozens of people sat at the side of the road with timetables and notebooks.

The railways have had their Public Performance Measures (PPM) published for years. Now the bus industry (in England) has a similar level of data available to use.

 

[duncombec]

Are any DVSA staff, local authorities, user groups or or individuals mining Bus Open Data(BODS) to monitor reliability and punctuality? I'd have though one data analyst with a PC could do the work of dozens of people sat at the side of the road with timetables and notebooks.

I can't imagine that would be suitable for anything other than an initial investigation and where to send your already limited team, being circumstantial evidence at best. How would you account for ticket machine errors, duplicate machine coding, or poor GPS signal in rural areas meaning no GPS ping recorded?

I could have walked home last Saturday evening with no bus showing on bustimes. It turned up anyway, and this vehicle is known to have a tracking error, even though the journeys run. Because of how different machines are coded and report, it is quite possible to have two ticket machines tracking under the same number, which means they bounce back and forth between locations. At the most recent changes over a bank holiday weekend, the BODS feed was updated to take into account the new services. This gave the impression that services being withdrawn after operation on Saturday didn't operate that day. They did, all day.

None of those items could be picked up by someone in an office.

 

[M803UYA]

Here we have a collection of answers, all of which I'd suggest are more accurate than "they can't be bothered". Traffic Commissioners (TC) are a government department - they've had budget and staff cuts, as have local authorities. There simply isn't a pool of staff who can swan around the country with a timetable and a watch on a whim: the few staff they have are following up on reports, or trying to find vehicles that are simply unsafe to be on the road. My local authority has a public transport staff of about two, and I can imagine there are plenty of others where it's a small department with an office the size of a broom cupboard, if they actually have anyone dedicated to it at all... I imagine the TCs would love a pool of staff they could just say "right, you and you, go and check PLC' buses timekeeping today, you check maintenance at Minipendent's depot, and you investigate the report we had from Shire County Council", but they don't.

That's not to say it's acceptable that it is that way, but unless a shedload more money arrives for enforcement, it isn't going to improve, any more than the operational situation won't. We might like the consider the bus service we had if the rail budget was spent on it, or the rail service we'd have if the bus budget was spent on it. Not on this thread, but worth considering before we start throwing insults around.

(I copied some quotes from the Southampton Minilink thread here, as there is a definite cross-over between points on TC enforcement.)

The Traffic Commissioner's office acts on intelligence received. So if a driver is reporting their employer for running unsafe vehicles, or bus users are reporting continual failures to run to timetable, then they will act on the intelligence they receive. They're not a proactive organisation, as you correctly point out.

 

[geoffk]

I remember Eastern Scottish buses having them in the mid 1980s!

Birmingham had "no spitting" signs. Weren't these usually found in coal mining areas though? On the subject of this thread, the future for buses doesn't look good and we in Exeter are waiting for a further round of service changes next weekend. Not all of these are cuts - there are some improved frequencies (to services which had a cut earlier this year) and some new links. Some contracts have been won by Plymouth City Bus so it will be an interesting few days.

I can't comment on the Dundee/Perth situation as I don't know the area. Dial-a-Ride type operation has been seen as a solution in rural areas for a number of years but i think the jury is still out on its benefits for regular travellers including workers.

 

[richw]

My local authority has a public transport staff of about two, and I can imagine there are plenty of others where it's a small department with an office the size of a broom cupboard, if they actually have anyone dedicated to it at all

The current investigation and public inquiry taking place this week into stagecoach southwest non running of timetable is predominantly Exeter based as an Exeter city councillor took it upon herself to monitor having been heavily impacted herself by non running buses. She set up a Facebook group to engage with local users, and gather intelligence on which routes to monitor further, and went out and gathered more evidence.

 

[Dai Corner]

I can't imagine that would be suitable for anything other than an initial investigation and where to send your already limited team, being circumstantial evidence at best. How would you account for ticket machine errors, duplicate machine coding, or poor GPS signal in rural areas meaning no GPS ping recorded?

I could have walked home last Saturday evening with no bus showing on bustimes. It turned up anyway, and this vehicle is known to have a tracking error, even though the journeys run. Because of how different machines are coded and report, it is quite possible to have two ticket machines tracking under the same number, which means they bounce back and forth between locations. At the most recent changes over a bank holiday weekend, the BODS feed was updated to take into account the new services. This gave the impression that services being withdrawn after operation on Saturday didn't operate that day. They did, all day.

None of those items could be picked up by someone in an office.

Once operators learned that they'd receive queries from investigators which were time-consuming to respond to I expect they'd sort out these sorts of issues. This would be to the benefit of passengers using tracking services too.

 

[Titfield]

The Traffic Commissioner's office acts on intelligence received. So if a driver is reporting their employer for running unsafe vehicles, or bus users are reporting continual failures to run to timetable, then they will act on the intelligence they receive. They're not a proactive organisation, as you correctly point out.

The problem over the past few years is that the number of DVSA staff carrying out checks whether they are a TE (Traffic Examiner) or VE (Vehicle Examiner) or BM (Bus Monitor punctuality and reliability) has declined very considerably thus the number of reports being sent to the TC for further action ie Public Inquiry has also reduced. Some of the staff issues are due to budget cuts, some due to recruitment difficulties.

The reality is that if passengers or other interested parties are aware of poor punctuality, reliability, poor maintenance standards they need to report this to both the OTC and DVSA and hope that if sufficient others do likewise it will be escalated for investigation.

 

[Ken H]

The problem over the past few years is that the number of DVSA staff carrying out checks whether they are a TE (Traffic Examiner) or VE (Vehicle Examiner) or BM (Bus Monitor punctuality and reliability) has declined very considerably thus the number of reports being sent to the TC for further action ie Public Inquiry has also reduced. Some of the staff issues are due to budget cuts, some due to recruitment difficulties.

The reality is that if passengers or other interested parties are aware of poor punctuality, reliability, poor maintenance standards they need to report this to both the OTC and DVSA and hope that if sufficient others do likewise it will be escalated for investigation.

So the Traffic Commissioners find that some journeys are not covered by a bus company. They will interview the company who will show them their staff numbers, sickness numbers etc and show they don't have the resources to run the services in the timetable. So then what? All operators are the same. Taking the route off one operator who can't cover it to another who can't cover it will achieve what exactly?

 

[Geordie driver]

The idea people are unaware this is a national problem is untrue.

Look at any of the major operators and they are quick to blame the national bus driver shortage, it's their stock answer.

There is, of course, no shortage, this is just an excuse to avoid admitting how poor they are at running their business.

I live in a fairly ordinary estate, every day we have kids who want to get about or have to go to school, people with no access to a car, disabled, people going for a drink, workers going into town (common here for car owners to travel into the city by public transport, parking prohibitively expensive), people who care about the environment,heavens to Betsy even the odd enthusiast.

Out of maybe 50 people in my immediate locale I can only think of 2 or 3 that never use the buses. For many of those who do, they are vulnerable. Not sure how people imagine bus use is out here in the wilds of Tyne and Wear, it's not like London but we still use them. Or we would if they ran.