West Midlands Transport Plan

West Midlands Transport Plan

West Midlands Transport Plan

Posted on: January 02, 2012 - 3:20 pm
by Admin

London’s rush hour is more-or-less legendary. It is also rather more than an hour in length. There is a comprehensive system of buses, light rail, trams and trains to keep the populace and visitors on the move, including the famous red double deckers and the Underground or ‘Tube’, complemented by river transport and a new cycle initiative. Many services make use of the Oyster Card system or accept tickets from other operators in case of service disruption.

Bus Services in the Capital

Between them, the bus and train services run 24 hours, even if it does take a while to get to Central London from the outskirts on the bus. The bus service does make use of bus lanes, but in some areas these are only in operation during the rush hour and the buses are subject to the usual London queues at other times. The use of bus lanes to speed public transport journeys is also compromised by car drivers using them as unofficial parking and delivery drivers as a quick loading bay. Some buses have been known, according to residents, to change destination mid-journey, despite the obvious disruption to passengers. However, the positive side of this situation is that the bus is cheap and takes passengers closer to their desired destination than the location of many stations. In some areas the passengers are friendly and users are greeted by the driver before being able to take a seat, in other areas this is regrettably not the case.

There are often instances of intimidation and disruption to other passengers. Sometimes this is from travelers choosing to share their music or mobile phone conversation with the rest of the bus, sometimes a more threatening scenario of a gang of youths discussing who they are going to attack next. The question of publicly audible music is a thorny one for many public transport users, and one which may only be solved by the reintroduction of bus conductors to police behavior on board. Most bus companies ban eating on their vehicles and all ban smoking, but this does not stop some passengers from flouting the rules, abusing fellow passengers or vandalizing the buses.