How to Take the Bus

After spending a sufficient amount of time in both Washington, D.C. and Belfast, N.I...I can safely say, that the public transport in Ireland is a HUGE step up. 

Although, I do love the D.C. Metro Train, I took the bus from Dundonald to Belfast every morning this summer, and LOVED it.  Not only were they MUCH cleaner in comparison to D.C. transport, but the workers were much friendlier, and overall I felt much safer.

Not to mention, it gave me a huge sense of satisfaction to be able to take the bus myself without the help of my boyfriend.

I did notice, that most people only used the stop bell when they wanted to be left at a stop where not many people got off.  After getting used to the route, I noticed there were always some stops where many people got off the bus, and there were some where nobody got off.  There seems to be an understanding between the bus riders and the drivers as to which stops require bells, and which are just implied.  Luckily for me, I was getting off at the last stop of the route, so I never needed to worry about the bells issue.

2. On trains (and on the tube) you may need to use your ticket to get through the exit gates at your destination.

It's useful to know which stations expect you to show your ticket on the way out, so you've got it somewhere handy and don't have to go searching through your bag or your pockets.  Whether or not a station checks seems to be totally random. I know Leeds is one.

It's useful to know which stations expect you to show your ticket on the way out, so you've got it somewhere handy and don't have to go searching through your bag or your pockets.  Whether or not a station checks seems to be totally random. I know Leeds is one.

We've (Leeds station) got automated ticket barriers now (vs people in the booth checking your tickets), so you need that ticket to insert into the machine now.

It's useful to know which stations expect you to show your ticket on the way out, so you've got it somewhere handy and don't have to go searching through your bag or your pockets.  Whether or not a station checks seems to be totally random. I know Leeds is one.

Its always so hit and miss.  Seems like some platforms at some stations require it and some don't. Some always require it. Some don't require it at all. So now, not knowing which is which, after needing to run back onto the train at Edinburgh (or to be forced to buy a new ticket) I always keep my ticket close by now, you never know when you'll need it to get out of the train platforms!

When I first arrived here I sat at the bus stop for over 30 minutes wondering why the buses never stopped at the stop.    In my home town if you're standing at the bus stop the bus will stop.  Didn't realize you needed to flag them down until someone else showed up at the bus stop and did just that.  Felt like a complete boob  . My boyfriend laughed his head off when I called to tell him.  The joys of moving to a new place!! 

That is so funny,,great guide by the OP though. I never realised how different getting a bus could be. Trains? thats a whole different story. The UK train system is legendary for its complexity.

Is there a website or other resource where I can type in my starting location and my ending location, and it tells me which bus/tube to take and the stop? I like to plan ahead my routes and times and I would feel utterly lost if I have to look at a map and trust my own judgement, or even ask people for help.

Is there a website or other resource where I can type in my starting location and my ending location, and it tells me which bus/tube to take and the stop? I like to plan ahead my routes and times and I would feel utterly lost if I have to look at a map and trust my own judgement, or even ask people for help.

If you're in London, you can try http://www.tfl.gov.uk/# - they have journey planners, maps and timetables, as well as updates on tube closures/delays and information on tickets and prices.

You can also try the websites of the bus/train companies too - First Bus is a good one, as they are a national company (http://www.firstgroup.com/) and you can search on www.thetrainline.com or http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ to book train tickets and look up timetables.

Local or National?

Sure, if you're in Croydon. I think the Transport for London site should work for local.

www.tfl.gov.uk

And the other bus services and trains have websites for their own services when you find out what you want to take.

http://www.transportdirect.info/web2/home.aspx?repeatingloop=Y

There's also the Traveline sites.  Traveline Scotland works really well...sometimes needs a bit of tweaking when the route is odd.  For example, one trip I tried planning to get from one area of Glasgow to another had me taking 4 different legs when I knew it could be done in 2, so  I had to get directions to/from a midpoint in order to get the "correct" route.

I don't know what it is I'm doing wrong, but every time I've ever tried to use Transport for London's journey planner page to figure out what bus routes I need, it doesn't come up with any useful information whatsoever. Something goes wrong and I've never yet seen a successul result showing which bus to use and where to catch it. I wind up Googling and finding other sites that tell me what I need, or just going out there and muddling through it "in the field". For me the TFL site sucks monkey's balls...

What is it that you do?  Maybe I can help.


Vicky

Thanks Victoria for offering --- I'm not sure what it is I'm doing wrong, but when I put my start location and end location into the TFL journey planner, it usually gives me a drop down menu giving several versions of what it thought I typed -- but very often, none of them match my location I entered. When it does this, I can't seem to then stop it from repeatedly offering those drop downs instead of just let me try another way of entering my start location/stop location.

Maybe I don't choose correctly in the "address/place of interest/postcode" menu? Some combination of the choices is tripping me up along the way, all the time! 

I've gotten that pretty often for some addresses.  I have found that putting in just the postcode or street name fixes that issue.

I've gotten that pretty often for some addresses.  I have found that putting in just the postcode or street name fixes that issue.

Thanks impleri, I will try that. I think I put too much location information sometimes, thinking the more information the better -- but it makes it worse!