Trivia: Bus journeys that are quicker than driving

[PTR 444]

Almost all bus journeys will be slower than driving, but I imagine that there are a handful that might actually be faster and more convenient too, particularly if parking is taken into account.

To give an example, say you live right next to a bus stop on a main road to a market town. The bus route heads direct down the main road to the market town, and stops right within the main shopping area of said town. To access those same shops with a car, you need to drive out of your way to find a car park, pay for parking and walk the rest of the way to your final destination.

How many such examples are there likely to be, where one would genuinely consider the bus to be faster and more convenient than driving for a particular journey?

 

[Bletchleyite]

With the bus lanes and parking I would imagine the Oxford Park and Ride would be quicker in the morning peak than driving in.

 

[Magdalia]

Almost all bus journeys will be slower than driving, but I imagine that there are a handful that might actually be faster and more convenient too, particularly if parking is taken into account.

The southern end of the Cambridgeshire busway. From the biomedical campus to the main railway station is usually quicker on the busway.

At busy times some Cambridge Park and Ride bus routes will be quicker than driving, depending on traffic congestion and where there are bus lanes.

 

[alex397]

Any bus journey that has a good section of bus-only road might have an advantage over a car journey.
There could be a few examples when using the Kent Fastrack, but not certainly every journey.

It would depend on how easy it is to park as well. Staying with the Kent Fastrack, Darent Valley Hospital has huge traffic jams during visiting hours, but buses zip in and out of the hospital using dedicated bus only roads. If I lived in the area and needed to visit, I wouldn’t want to bother with the car after seeing the awful traffic there. A similar scenario when approaching Bluewater shopping centre too, where the bus-only road used by the B (to/from Dartford) and TfL 96 take a lot of time off the journey during busy times - however not all bus routes approach Bluewater using bus-only roads, with many having to join traffic, such as the other end of the B to/from Gravesend.

 

[Jimini]

I'll go with Reading to Heathrow Airport (RA1). Coming off the M4 at J5 and using that cheeky bus only entrance to the airport avoids all of the usual carnage and queues at J4B / J4 / the Heathrow spur to get to LHR. A joy to behold

 

[Megafuss]

Pre speed restrictions, the Cambridgeshire Busway between St Ives and many of the intermediate stops along the route such as Swavesy, Longstanton and Histon

 

[yorkie]

From "Poppleton Park, opposite Manor School", the No 10 will certainly be quicker to the next few stops on the route towards Stamford Bridge, because Low Poppleton Road is a dead-end for regular vehicles. It's the same in both directions.

 

[Mikey C]

A coach rather than a bus, but going to Stansted Airport the National Express A6 will travel slightly slower than I'd drive a similar journey (as I'm not speed limited to 70 on the motorway ) , but has the massive advantage of stopping outside the terminal, rather than having to find long stay car parks then travel in from there.

Long bus lanes in London, like the one along the Old Kent Road, certainly help make buses very competitive during busy times.