I'm amused that you only just realised this. 5 minutes early is considered bang on time for a Sheffield bus. People with cars have no idea how massively privileged they are.
On Thursday I had to get buses to a medical appointment, because the Door 2 Door service for disabled people is run 10 times more incompetently than regular buses so is hardly ever available, and when it is available they think nothing of being an hour late or an hour early. I went on Journey Planner to check bus times, because since the attempt to re-organise (save money on) all our buses a couple of years ago, they've been switching around a lot, trying to make up for that epic incompetence. Only the information on Journey Planner wasn't up to date. My bus to my appointment was redirected over every speed bump in Waverley, getting me there 15 minutes late and in a lot of pain. Then after my very rushed appointment I got to the bus stop home, only to find a yellow sign on it announcing another redirection. After frantically talking on the phone to Travel South Yorkshire to get clarification on the redirected route, and us both agreeing which road it would be going down instead, I saw my bus totally bypass that route altogether and sail off down another, different road. This bus is once an hour, and I was not well enough to be dealing with any of this. I didn't have the option of just going and getting in a car. Of course, First buses don't answer the phone, so even though I should have been able to get them to arrange a taxi to get me home, in practice this is never actually possible, and they don't give a shit when you complain. I've had the same bus drive right past a _mandatory_ stop at the bus station, and had First just say hard shit they can't contact the driver.
Oh and the story above doesn't end there. I made my way to a different stop that the bus I wanted did seem to now be stopping at. A few minutes later another wheelchair user showed up at the stop. First will point blank refuse to take 2 wheelchairs on a bus, even when it's possible to fit them on.
I probably should have phoned for a taxi. Except it's not at all unusual to wait an hour for a wheelchair accessible taxi (and have several taxi drivers accept the job then drop it when they realise it involves a wheelchair during that time, meaning you never know when one is actually going to turn up).
In those circumstances I find it hard to care about whether someone else can have a drink. But I hope you're righting to the bus companies concerned, because not everyone is able to do that, especially people who have been having the same struggles for decades and just have to live with it.
no subject
On Thursday I had to get buses to a medical appointment, because the Door 2 Door service for disabled people is run 10 times more incompetently than regular buses so is hardly ever available, and when it is available they think nothing of being an hour late or an hour early. I went on Journey Planner to check bus times, because since the attempt to re-organise (save money on) all our buses a couple of years ago, they've been switching around a lot, trying to make up for that epic incompetence. Only the information on Journey Planner wasn't up to date. My bus to my appointment was redirected over every speed bump in Waverley, getting me there 15 minutes late and in a lot of pain. Then after my very rushed appointment I got to the bus stop home, only to find a yellow sign on it announcing another redirection. After frantically talking on the phone to Travel South Yorkshire to get clarification on the redirected route, and us both agreeing which road it would be going down instead, I saw my bus totally bypass that route altogether and sail off down another, different road. This bus is once an hour, and I was not well enough to be dealing with any of this. I didn't have the option of just going and getting in a car. Of course, First buses don't answer the phone, so even though I should have been able to get them to arrange a taxi to get me home, in practice this is never actually possible, and they don't give a shit when you complain. I've had the same bus drive right past a _mandatory_ stop at the bus station, and had First just say hard shit they can't contact the driver.
Oh and the story above doesn't end there. I made my way to a different stop that the bus I wanted did seem to now be stopping at. A few minutes later another wheelchair user showed up at the stop. First will point blank refuse to take 2 wheelchairs on a bus, even when it's possible to fit them on.
I probably should have phoned for a taxi. Except it's not at all unusual to wait an hour for a wheelchair accessible taxi (and have several taxi drivers accept the job then drop it when they realise it involves a wheelchair during that time, meaning you never know when one is actually going to turn up).
In those circumstances I find it hard to care about whether someone else can have a drink. But I hope you're righting to the bus companies concerned, because not everyone is able to do that, especially people who have been having the same struggles for decades and just have to live with it.