Is Your Journey Really Necessary?

I used my Oyster Card for the first time last Monday (29 September), on a day trip to London. I've had it for about a year, but owing to cirumstances beyond my control I didn't have chance to use it until then. It still had the initial £5.00 credit from when I first ordered it. After checking out the Transport for London website, I decided to put an extra £5.00 onto it to tide me over. I used the TfL website to add a fiver about three weeks ago. I had an email telling me that it was only valid for seven days, and needed to be 'activated' at my nominated station (Earls Court) before it would be added to my balance. If it wasn't activated, it would be automatically refunded to my bank account. Needless to say, I was travelling nine days later. When I arrived in London, I therefore had to put a further five quid onto my card to see me through the day. I made the most of the card, mind you: one tube journey in Zone 1, and five bus journeys in Zones 1 and 2. To put this...

Every time I go to Mountain Ash, I feel as though I'm stepping back in time slightly. Last week, I definitely did, because I found this handy information display on the bus stop at the old Bruce Hotel. No, your eyes aren't deceiving you. Even though the photo isn't very clear, that's definitely a timetable for Spring 2003. It's been a long time since a Shamrock bus troubled the people of the Cynon Valley (thank God!)

An interesting article by Ian Steadman appeared in the New Statesman blog today. It's not directly related to South Wales, but its general thrust ties in with what I've been arguing for the past few months. Why not check it out? Public transport bodies: producing lots of data, not necessarily making the most of it , New Statesman , July 21, 2014

On Monday July 21, Stagecoach in South Wales are fully implementing the timetable changes which I told you about in The Last Bus to Everywhere . Having said that, some of them seem to have taken place already. I was in Caerphilly last week, and the buses to and from Bargoed are now operated by a company called Harris Coaches. I still don't know what's happening to the buses between Pontypridd and Bridgend, or Pontypridd and Blackwood, or the other services I listed after the Stagecoach announcement. I daresay I'll find out next time I plan a day out, only to find that my ticket isn't valid for some (or all) of the journey. [As I was finishing this entry, my informant from Caerphilly CBC very kindly filled in some gaps. New Adventure Travel are taking on the 244, although on a slightly different route. He also told me that tickets from different operators would be interavailable. It's nice to have some good news to pass on for a change.] I'll take most of these c...

I've spent the past few days travelling around South Wales (and beyond) with a Megarider Gold ticket issued by Stagecoach. It's surprising how much ground you can cover when you put your mind to it. Having been in and out of several county boroughs, I've been able to compare their respective approaches to bus information. It's a fairly uneven picture, unsurprisingly. I went into some detail about Rhondda Cynon Taf's timetable displays (or lack thereof) in Misinformation, Disinformation and Non-Information . My observations were mostly made in and around Aberdare. After spending some time in Pontypridd Bus Station I can report that the situation there is pretty similar. Unless I've missed it, there doesn't seem to be a single at-a-glance notice listing the various destinations and service numbers. Instead, I had to traipse from one end to the other while hunting for the right departure bay. It's far from ideal, especially when there are a large number of ...

Arriva Trains Wales sell a ticket called the Valley Lines Day Explorer and Night Rider. For just £11.00, it which offers 'unlimited travel' by train and Stagecoach bus in the area shown. I decided to buy one of these yesterday, and spend a day filling in some gaps on my copy of Stuart Baker's Rail Atlas: Great Britain and Ireland . Since it's an off-peak ticket, I knew that I could expect a time restriction on it. I got to the ticket office in Aberdare in time for the 0852 train and asked for a Day Explorer ticket. The lady behind the counter told me that she couldn't sell me the ticket until 0930. She suggested that I had a word with the conductor, as he might not be aware of the restrictions. Instead, I headed for Aberdare Library, where a quick search online turned up Arriva's own Terms and Conditions for the offer: I printed this page off (eventually!) and stuck it in my pocket. Armed with this information, I returned to the ticket office. By now I was too l...

In 'What Do You Want?' – 'Information!' , I told you about the getting-blood-from-a-stone-like process of trying to find out details of bus services in England when I was phoning from Wales. That was nearly six years ago. I've no idea whether things have improved since. I might give them a call when I can face another uphill struggle. Subsequently I've highlighted the inadequacies of the Traveline Cymru website, and the paucity of information on bus company websites. The situation is exactly the same once you log off and return to the Real World. In my local area (Aberdare), Stagecoach drivers occasionally have timetable booklets which passengers can pick up. Occasionally… However, these – by definition – list only the Stagecoach services. The various buses operated by Globe Coaches, N.A.T. Group, First Call and other local companies don't merit a mention. In fact, unless you happen to see one of these buses while you're out and about, you probably won...