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by downer68 2958 days ago
Buses fucking suck.

Buses make you wait in the rain.

Buses get stuck in traffic very easily.

Buses create traffic and make it worse with their size.

Buses idle diesel fumes as they stand in traffic.

Buses are noisy and idle outside of homes.

Bus stops in front of homes are filled with noisy people.

Buses that permit requested stops go nowhere slower than ever.

Buses are a half measure.

Buses fucking suck.

3 comments

>"Buses make you wait in the rain."

There's this thing called a bus shelter. They're actually really inexpensive to put up. Ask your city why they're not putting them up.

>"Buses get stuck in traffic very easily."

No more easily than a car. Bus-only lanes work amazingly well to mitigate the problems of traffic and congestion.

>"Buses create traffic and make it worse with their size."

Buses take up much less space per passenger than cars, so it's kind of ridiculous to make that argument.

>"Buses idle diesel fumes as they stand in traffic." >"Buses are noisy and idle outside of homes."

Natural gas buses and electric buses and being phased in, they're both quieter and cleaner than diesel buses. And bus lanes reduce idling time significantly.

>"Bus stops in front of homes are filled with noisy people."

Oh no, people. How horrible.

And, where I'm from (Cambridge, UK), they also:

Are more expensive than driving.

Are regulated in such a way that prevents a competitive market.

Are run by profit making companies that demand subsidies from government.

Don't run at night.

Are full at rush hour.

Spend ages at the bus stop while everyone buys tickets, argues with the driver, asks which bus this is etc etc.

A single ticket can't be used on buses from two different companies.

I cycle. The buses seem like a threat to my safety because they are too big to overtake safely on a busy street. Also their engines are at the back, so I can't hear when they're sneaking up behind me.

Once they don't need a driver and are electric, most of these problems could be solved. I'll re-assess then.

Come to Copenhagen and see how a unified public transport system is supposed to work. My tickets work for all buses and all trains equally.

Don't blame public transport as a concept, blame private profiteering and corruption.

I've been to Copenhagen. I noticed you have a lot of cyclists! But no, I agree with your point. I think that is the main problem.
I've been told by a US expat that we must have "the fittest fat people in the world", since everyone bikes here. Young, old, fit, fat, everyone bikes :-)
Bus shelters, bus-only lanes and electric buses solve nearly all of those problems.