Diabolical bus company websites

[Mojo]

I don't often travel by bus (ordinary stage-carriage services) outside of London, but when I do, I all too often find myself frustrated at how difficult it is to get basic information about services from the websites of both the big players and smaller operators.

For instance, last month I wanted to catch the bus in Ashford (Kent), I know the operator is Stagecoach so I go to their main website http://www.stagecoachbus.com/. Under 'Find Bus Times' I select Ashford. Off it takes me to a page happily welcoming me to 'Stagecoach East Kent.' No timetables yet, but another option to 'Find Bus Times' - and I have to select the location again, from the full list of everywhere they serve across Britain! Not sure what the point of asking my location the first time.

Selecting Ashford again I am then required to select the route number. Not sure if anyone knows Ashford, but the principal bus routes are all lettered: A, B, C, D and E. Despite this, the list is sorted with numbers first, giving higher priority to school buses that run once per day each way! After a further two clicks I get my timetable (a PDF download), and I'm on my way!

It's a nightmare to get the information via Google on a mobile phone as you have to go through this rigmarole every time. In contrast, the First website allows me to go onto Google and type, for example, First Bristol 75 timetable and it's the first result. Route maps, ticketing information, etc. are all one click away.

Anyone else want to name and shame, or praise, the website of their local bus operator?

 

[Aictos]

I don't often travel by bus (ordinary stage-carriage services) outside of London, but when I do, I all too often find myself frustrated at how difficult it is to get basic information about services from the websites of both the big players and smaller operators.

For instance, last month I wanted to catch the bus in Ashford (Kent), I know the operator is Stagecoach so I go to their main website http://www.stagecoachbus.com/. Under 'Find Bus Times' I select Ashford. Off it takes me to a page happily welcoming me to 'Stagecoach East Kent.' No timetables yet, but another option to 'Find Bus Times' - and I have to select the location again, from the full list of everywhere they serve across Britain! Not sure what the point of asking my location the first time.

Selecting Ashford again I am then required to select the route number. Not sure if anyone knows Ashford, but the principal bus routes are all lettered: A, B, C, D and E. Despite this, the list is sorted with numbers first, giving higher priority to school buses that run once per day each way! After a further two clicks I get my timetable (a PDF download), and I'm on my way!

It's a nightmare to get the information via Google on a mobile phone as you have to go through this rigmarole every time. In contrast, the First website allows me to go onto Google and type, for example, First Bristol 75 timetable and it's the first result. Route maps, ticketing information, etc. are all one click away.

Anyone else want to name and shame, or praise, the website of their local bus operator?

Stagecoach is my local operator and the website is bloody awful BUT in their defense I think no matter where they operate, the Stagecoach Buses website needs nuking and redesigning with input from the people who actually have to use it ie you and me!!!

 

[Jordy]

The (recently redesigned) Nottingham City Transport website is rather good - if you resize your browser window you'll also see it's reactive and therefore good for mobile too. You're right about Stagecoach though, their website is awful - the "New improved Travel Information System" they mention on their homepage isn't much better!

 

[W-on-Sea]

I actually think, in practice, and in general, Stagecoach are an excellent bus operator - innovative, expansive, imaginative - I think they could teach pretty much all the other operators a thing or two. (My assertion is based, as a non-driver, having lived for four years in rural areas of Fife and Oxfordshire where Stagecoach subsidiaries operate, and also having lived in the area of their East London company too. There are very numerous instances of where they have successfully expanded commercial operations in rural areas - by providing a high standard of service and going about things a little differently - Stagecoach Gold being an obvious example).

However, I quite agree - their website (as concerns navigation/finding the required information) is atrocious! At least in the case of the two Stagecoach companies that operate near where I live now (Thames Transit/Stagecoach Oxfordshire and West/Cheltenham and Gloucester) the actual information provided on the website is pretty superlative - - even down to providing fare tables for individual routes in the case of the Oxfordshire company. But....it is indeed very badly signposted.

The other major local company....might struggle to organize the proverbial in a brewery, I think, whatever positive reputation Go-Ahead may have attained elsewhere in the country among certain of their other subsidiaries. I think the comments (and posts!) on the Thames Travel Facebook page (which can be accessed directly from their own website, too) speak for themselves.

https://www.facebook.com/ThamesTravel?fref=ts

All that said, my standard approach for finding bus timetables when I am travelling beyond a familiar area is, usually, NOT to rely on operators's timetables (Even the PDFs of timetables provided on the Thames Travel website contain errors), but instead to use Traveline for the appropriate region (e.g. http://www.travelinesoutheast.org.uk). This is not without its flaws (and the maps generated are, quite simply, rubbish, and not even claimed to be representative of reality).

I'm interested that you praise the arrangement of timetables on the First website - finding those of routes on the sub-page of their Essex company used to be a nightmare, when I had cause to look for such things, and a quick glance suggests it hasn't substantially changed.

 

[Statto]

I don't often travel by bus (ordinary stage-carriage services) outside of London, but when I do, I all too often find myself frustrated at how difficult it is to get basic information about services from the websites of both the big players and smaller operators.

For instance, last month I wanted to catch the bus in Ashford (Kent), I know the operator is Stagecoach so I go to their main website http://www.stagecoachbus.com/. Under 'Find Bus Times' I select Ashford. Off it takes me to a page happily welcoming me to 'Stagecoach East Kent.' No timetables yet, but another option to 'Find Bus Times' - and I have to select the location again, from the full list of everywhere they serve across Britain! Not sure what the point of asking my location the first time.

Selecting Ashford again I am then required to select the route number. Not sure if anyone knows Ashford, but the principal bus routes are all lettered: A, B, C, D and E. Despite this, the list is sorted with numbers first, giving higher priority to school buses that run once per day each way! After a further two clicks I get my timetable (a PDF download), and I'm on my way!

It's a nightmare to get the information via Google on a mobile phone as you have to go through this rigmarole every time. In contrast, the First website allows me to go onto Google and type, for example, First Bristol 75 timetable and it's the first result. Route maps, ticketing information, etc. are all one click away.

Anyone else want to name and shame, or praise, the website of their local bus operator?

You should try County or local Council websites some like Kent have great info for bus travel for all operators & don't fob you off with the usual go to Traveline garb. The Kent County Council bus map site http://www.kent.gov.uk/roads_and_transport/getting_around/bus_travel/bus_routes_and_maps.aspx


First not too much work getting to the timetable section but for maps can be patchy, for example First Glasgow produce this map http://www.firstgroup.com//ukbus/glasgow/assets/pdfs/maps/glasgow_network_map_2013.pdf but neighbouring First South East and Central Scotland haven't produced a map for Edinburgh for a couple of years, even then it's one of the schematic maps rather than the geographical map like Glasgow.

Arriva site is also annoying to get into the timetables so many sections even when you click the timetable & map link from the main page.

 

[Mojo]

You should try County or local Council websites some like Kent have great info for bus travel for all operators & don't fob you off with the usual go to Traveline garb. The Kent County Council bus map site http://www.kent.gov.uk/roads_and_transport/getting_around/bus_travel/bus_routes_and_maps.aspx

Unless I'm missing something then I wouldn't describe that as "great" - for it doesn't have the thing I'm actually looking for - timetables!

 

[Bullfield WEst]

It's impossible to find bus fares "on line" in Greater Manchester as the companies say its commercially sensitive information. Eh?

 

[bicbasher]

Go-Ahead's Brighton and Hove website is very good. They even have an app with 'Countdown' style information.

 

[bb21]

All that said, my standard approach for finding bus timetables when I am travelling beyond a familiar area is, usually, NOT to rely on operators's timetables (Even the PDFs of timetables provided on the Thames Travel website contain errors), but instead to use Traveline for the appropriate region (e.g. http://www.travelinesoutheast.org.uk). This is not without its flaws (and the maps generated are, quite simply, rubbish, and not even claimed to be representative of reality).

The biggest downfall I find with Traveline is that the timetables could be out-of-date by a long margin.

A few years back I wanted to get the bus from Leicester to Rugby. There was little information on the operator's website, so I resorted to using Traveline's timetable database. It showed departure times at 25 minutes past the hour, yet when I got to the bus station 15 minutes before my bus was due, I was horrified to find that the bus actually left at 5 minutes past the hour, and the times had been revised nine months beforehand. Needless to say I ended up going on the train the long way round and ditched the bus completely.

I'm interested that you praise the arrangement of timetables on the First website - finding those of routes on the sub-page of their Essex company used to be a nightmare, when I had cause to look for such things, and a quick glance suggests it hasn't substantially changed.

What First need to stop doing is grouping all timetables under one large subsidiary in one chunk. Somerset & Avon are a prime example. Why would a passenger visiting the website for timetable information be wanting to know about all the Route 1's they have in various towns around their operating area? What is wrong with dividing timetables up into finer locality? Yes, passengers will have one more click to make, but they are then presented with information that is far more relevant to them.

It's impossible to find bus fares "on line" in Greater Manchester as the companies say its commercially sensitive information. Eh?

This has historically been an issue. The municipals tend to be better and quite a few used to publish faretables online. Not really come across any NBC subsidiaries who did that.

 

[PG]

For the most part the timetable information provided by the Transport Direct (TD) site - which incidentally is provided by ATOS, the same company that provides the webTIS ticket sales platform to a number of TOCs - seems to be both up to date and accurate with the limitation that search results only return (up to) 5 journeys. Anyone wishing to view the timetable of a route provided needs to follow a link, which in most cases only goes to the local home page of the major groups subsidiary, rather than the actual page with the timetable.

As for fares, while TD gives details of both Advance and walk-up train fares, bus fare information is unavailable and almost always results in "Transport Direct does not currently have fare information for all parts of the journey". This has been the case for at least the past 6 years so I can only assume they have little/no inclination to obtain bus fare details, or bus operators just refuse to divulge fares for whatever reason

 

[ValleyLines142]

What First need to stop doing is grouping all timetables under one large subsidiary in one chunk. Somerset & Avon are a prime example. Why would a passenger visiting the website for timetable information be wanting to know about all the Route 1's they have in various towns around their operating area? What is wrong with dividing timetables up into finer locality? Yes, passengers will have one more click to make, but they are then presented with information that is far more relevant to them.

Very true that. First Somerset and Avon have Bristol route 1, Bath route 1, Taunton route 1 and Weston route 1 all under each other!

 

[harry42]

Trent barton in the east midlands; really easy to find timetables, fares, maps and news. http://www.trentbarton.co.uk

They also have a regularly update facebook page and were actually a social brands 100 company:
https://www.facebook.com/trentbartonlive

Western Greyhound also has a good site, http://www.westerngreyhound.com/routes_and_times.php

As do TM Travel, Derbyshire and Kinchbus, Leicester/Loughborough: (All Wellglade actually apart from notts+derby)

 

[Statto]

Derbyshire has a good timetable section http://www.derbysbus.info/times/ as does West Yorkshire PTE, West Midlands is poor, just Traveline timetables. Merseyside & Manchester are irritating they have every timetable for their areas but you have to type in the service number in the timetable search facility to get to the timetables, great if you know the route number but annoying if you don't know the route number & the bus maps can be out of date. Although Merseytravel do have most new timetables up even weeks before the service change, the new 414 route in my area started the last Sunday in October but the timetable was loaded up on the Merseytravel site near the end of September

Just as important as the timetable are service changes, both Cheshire authorities are useless only list some changes not all changes that are happening & even then it's a paste & copy job from VOSA site may as well not bother.

 

[gordonthemoron]

Arriva aren't very good either, although at least Milton Keynes council have a reasonable bus times website

 

[Deerfold]

Arriva aren't very good either, although at least Milton Keynes council have a reasonable bus times website

I find Arriva easier to use as you can just put a town name in and all services that call there are listed (though of course it depends on someone having added them all to the database they use).

I find the Transdev ones such as Keighley and District fairly easy to use.

http://www.keighleybus.co.uk/times.jsp

Though I can see they may not scale up well - and they used to have some very clear route maps.

I think the google maps would have been a good addition rather than a replacement for those - I mentioned it to them and was told they were working on new maps but they haven't turned up. They do do a fairly good network map but it appears only to be available as a hard copy booklet, not on line.

 

[jon0844]

It's a nightmare to get the information via Google on a mobile phone as you have to go through this rigmarole every time.

Have you tried Google Maps, or indeed Google Now (which can show local bus stop information when you're nearby automatically*).

* You might need to set this up, saying that you wish to be notified about using public transport as a card.

Examples:

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?i...470667728349.00046783392cee64c948b&dg=feature

Then click on a bus stop icon.

And here's a way you can do a search within Maps (desktop) for any particular location/street.



Quite clever, and might compensate for those awful websites.

 

[bb21]

I find Arriva easier to use as you can just put a town name in and all services that call there are listed (though of course it depends on someone having added them all to the database they use).

Yes, agreed. I also find Arriva's site easy to navigate around. It may be a little awkward for a first-time visitor to get used to the layout, but once familiar, you can find your required timetable(s) relatively easily.

 

[Sheepy1209]

I'm glad it's not just me!

Go to Stagecoach's website, and there's a 'select your location' box in the corner of the screen.

Fail at first hurdle - Blackpool's not in the list.

So I try Preston - and I'm then welcomed to 'Merseyside and South Lancashire'.
But to find a timetable I still have to select a location again.

But if I click on Route Maps I get maps for the local area.

Suppose I want to buy a ticket?
I click on 'Select Location' - and Blackpool's in the list!

It gets better..... click on 'Tickets' on the navigation bar and I'm given two dialogues:

The first - for online ticket purchase - does include Blackpool and rightly offers the Megarider for 4, 13 or 52 weeks.
But what about the Dayrider, or a 7-day ticket?

Helpfully - there's another selection, "Which tickets are available for your local area?".
Guess what - neither Blackpool nor Preston appear in this list. Turns out I need 'Merseyside and South Lancashire' or 'Cumbria and North Lancashire'!!! (Yet my old home town of Gainsborough is there in its own right).


The whole thing is a horrendous mess - it looks like it's been set up to reflect the internal organisation of Stagecoach, not the communities they serve.

 

[Blindtraveler]

agreed, the only major issue I have with stagecoach is there website both for bus routes locally and megabus. Quite a few independants have good sites - perymans of Berwick on Tweed and Prentice of Hadington being examples

 

[jon0844]

I have moaned about my local operator, Uno, but besides being poor at giving live updates on anything - the website www.unobus.co.uk is actually not too bad in my opinion.

Easy access to timetables, and many prices - as well as showing the various rover tickets available that aren't bad value for money even after the recent price hike.

But for route planning, that's still something that most bus sites don't seem to be very good at. Arguably, you need an independent site to do it so you can see the various operators (you might otherwise not realise a journey could be made because it involved a bus run by someone else).

Google does a pretty good job of this, as does Nokia's Transit app for Windows Phone.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I have found the TfGM website to be quite good and easy to use in the various aspects of its coverage.

 

[alwaystouchout]

Trent Barton has a great website, in terms of customer service it's one of the best operators, and it shines through on the website. Plus it's the only website I've seen that contains the Holy Grail of bus information - actual fares.

 

[Deerfold]

I have moaned about my local operator, Uno, but besides being poor at giving live updates on anything - the website www.unobus.co.uk is actually not too bad in my opinion.

Easy access to timetables, and many prices - as well as showing the various rover tickets available that aren't bad value for money even after the recent price hike.

That's improved enormously.

When I used to occasionally use their services (mostly due to them only serving Hitchin a couple of times a day at the time) their website was dreadful.

Nice and pretty, but typically a couple of updates out of date - and unobus had (have?) a habit of making infrequent changes but to many routes at once.

Trent Barton has a great website, in terms of customer service it's one of the best operators, and it shines through on the website. Plus it's the only website I've seen that contains the Holy Grail of bus information - actual fares.

That is good (they seem to have fixed it since I last looked) - shame it doesn't have night fares on it (or at least, not that I can see).

 

[Mojo]

And as if by magic, just trying now I get ''No services found matching your query'' for a service that definitely exists.

 

[90019]

Plus it's the only website I've seen that contains the Holy Grail of bus information - actual fares.

One of the nice things about having a flat fare system.

 

[alwaystouchout]

One of the nice things about having a flat fare system.

Hear, hear!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

That is good (they seem to have fixed it since I last looked) - shame it doesn't have night fares on it (or at least, not that I can see).

If you click Tickets > Find My Fare and then select the service and getting on/off points it shows up there.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Rossendale Transport who have quite a number of routes decided to go "all-trendy with a catchy name of Rosso" in 2013. When I entered Rosso into my search engine, I was presented with:-

1)...Information on an Italian restaurant in Manchester

2)...Information on a Japanese band

3)...Information on a large city in south-western Mauritania.

 

[Statto]

Lothian is a great site as is Nottingham City Transport exactly what the passenger will want even down to single fare info & easy to find up to date timetables.

National Express West Midlands have single fares listed although getting to the timetables is another thing, NEWM do have their own timetables up but you have to click on information then West Midlands bus routes, then click the bus route you want which can be annoying as there are 27 pages, for example you want the timetable for route 50 which is on page 10 but to get their first click Information, then West Midlands Bus Routes, then you have to click page 5 then click page 7 then page 9 then finaly page 10, then you click number 50, another menu comes up with FREQUENCY TIMETABLE FARES MAP VIEW STOPS GARAGE click timetable then another menu appears with a brief rout description & buy tickets online or timetable, then click on timetable finally you get to what you want THE BLOOMIN TIMETABLE.:-x

 

[Deerfold]

If you click Tickets > Find My Fare and then select the service and getting on/off points it shows up there.

Yes, that's what I did. For the first service I tried - Skylink Long Eaton to EMA there is no night fare given.

It's not there for the second service I tried either - Skylink Derby, Derby - EMA.

Having now tried a couple more they are there for the indigo and three services I tried.

And as if by magic, just trying now I get ''No services found matching your query'' for a service that definitely exists.

Which post was that in answer to? It can be clearer if you quote the poster that you're answering.

 

[Mojo]

Which post was that in answer to? It can be clearer if you quote the poster that you're answering.

It wasn't in answer to any post. Just a statement further to my opening post about how rubbish the Stagecoach website is.