Because I am an anorak

My posting a couple of days ago attracted another comment from Busing:

Should you be so hard on Plymouth? There may be issues but
generally speaking operators just get on with the job!

He makes a fair comment - I probably am being a bit harsh. Public transport in Plymouth is in reality no worse than most other cities in England. Its certainly not the operators fault that one of the best systems in the country just happens to be on their doorstep. It is also ironic that Plymouth is actually seeing a decent investment in new buses this year with the Park and Ride Enviros due in a couple of months which will be the envy of park and ride passengers across the country. This very weekend has seen the delivery of three new Enviro single deckers to Plymouth Citybus for the 34 service. Its not just new buses as First Devon and Cornwall are bringing secondhand Tridents into Plymouth from Bath - the first being reported as noted on delivery today. Three almost new Tridents are also coming up from Cornwall to enter service in Plymouth.

Of course both Busing and myself know a lot more about the bus scene across the country than most passengers. We both know that the issues which are leading to higher fares and cuts to bus services are national issues and Plymouth is indeed no worse than anywhere else. A quick search on Google News on 'bus route' will bring up news of passengers up in arms about cuts to their local services all across the country. Local passengers though dont know and dont care about what is happening anywhere else. They just want a regular bus service they can rely on that serves the areas where they live and work. When I defend the bus companies to my fellow passengers I can never win the argument. When the bus companies defend their own actions they too can never win the argument - certainly not in the local press where bus companies are always seen as the bad guys. And of course, as much as I try to be possitive about the local bus service - when I am getting told off at work for being late three times in one week - because the bus has not turned up - or has been fifteen minutes late - I can see their point.

I will still catch the bus and will still try to to be positive. I am after all - an anorak!