So much love for buses!
We love buses! And this summer, journeys are more affordable thanks to the £2 fare cap that we campaigned for. To celebrate, we asked our supporters to tell us about their brilliant bus journeys – with a great prize up for grabs thanks to Canopy & Stars.
Hundreds of people shared all sorts of wonderful stories, reflecting everything that’s great about bus travel. We were touched by how many people told us about special memories of travelling by bus with their loved ones…
“Travelling on a bus has a special place in my heart – as this is how I met my husband… We caught the same bus every day just at different stops. He broke the bus code though by switching seats from his ‘norm’ to start sitting next to me!”
“I have fond memories of being on a bus journey with my grandma in the Cotswolds, when we saw a family of ducks crossing the road. Cars had stopped and people were ushering them to safety. I was only very small at the time, but I’ve never forgotten it!”
“Last year I lost my Bus Buddy, my dear mother in law of 86yrs. We use to hit Brum town once a week, she’d show me the market stalls, the best place to get donuts (Greggs!!) a trip to M&S then back home on the bus.”
Others told us about the joys of bus travel with children…
“I love sitting on the top deck, at the front, with the kids pretending to drive.”
“We love taking the bus to our local play park. My twin boys love pointing out the window at things we pass and they especially love the noise of the stop button when it’s their turn to press it! We love bus travel!”
“We went on holiday a few years ago. It was my daughter’s first time on an aeroplane, but when she went back to school all she could talk about was that we had been on a bus journey, as her favourite part of the whole week was the bus from our house to the airport!”
Some people told us about particular bus journeys with glorious views – which we’re now longing to try!
“My best journey is the 128 through the beautiful Vale Of Pickering between Scarborough and Pickering.”
“I love the journey from Newport on the Isle of Wight to Alum Bay on route 12, through the Downs and beautiful villages like Shorwell, with the views of the white cliffs of Freshwater Bay as the grand finale.”
“Myself and a group of friends enjoyed our Tour de 555, starting from our village then stopping at Grasmere, Ambleside, Windermere and Staveley, which must be the most picturesque route – it even has an open top section (pictured above)!”
While other bus journeys were a lot more workaday – but no less important:
“#mygreatbusjourney gets me to work every single day so I’m thankful for the bus.”
Others talked about the practical benefits of bus travel…
“We have a great bus service where I live in Leicester and the bus stops directly outside my house, which means I can get to the city easily and quickly. No parking charges and better for the environment than driving. The £2 fares definitely make a difference too!”
…And the things they like to do on the journey:
“I love listening to audio books on the bus, the commute may be long but it’s certainly not wasted.”
“I love the bus as I can do my admin while being driven!”
“I can use my bus time to catch up on coursework.”
Many people recognised the environmental benefits of catching the bus:
“It is more eco-friendly than taking the car… more people can fit on a bus so it helps the environment.”
Finally, there was a lot of love for helpful, friendly bus drivers:
“I like to hop on the bus to go town. The system in the city centre is far too complicated for me to drive, but being on a bus with our very friendly drivers makes me feel safe.”
“I recently did a bus journey from my small village into town, which took about 40 minutes. I was delighted the journey only cost £2 and the bus driver was lovely too.”
If you’d like to send a message of thanks to bus drivers, you can do so here as part of Better Transport Week.
The winner of our competition was Neville from Newport in Wales, who wrote about a day trip from Bristol to Wells on the Mendip Xplorer. Neville told us:
“I feel really lucky to have won this competition. It almost feels like a reward for using sustainable travel, which I enjoy doing very much. What I like about bus travel is that it’s greener than car travel and I don’t have to worry about the driving. Added bonus if it is a double decker as you can enjoy more countryside. I think the £2 bus fare cap is great for passengers.”
Congratulations Neville, and thanks to everyone for telling us about your brilliant bus journeys!
