blog: New School, New Bus, New Experiences
Monday 30th September 2024
As part of Catch the Bus Month, an ITP employee’s family member shares her unique perspective on using the bus for the first time alone. Navigating the journey to her newschool, despite facing several perceived barriers, she offers a fresh and authentic perspective on the challenges and joys of public transport. She provides insight into the experiences of a new generation of bus users - a group often spoken about but rarely heard from directly. Read on to discover what first-time users really think.
My first thoughts about high school were ‘ugh I have to wake up early every morning to catch the bus’. Although my neighbours had told me that the bus is fun, my friends had put some not very nice thoughts about it into my head, so I was pretty scared, but also excited to have some independence (and not have to walk to school). I mean, I still have to walk to the bus stop but that only takes a few minutes.
I thought oh with a bus there will be loads of seats… there isn’t really. If I take the bus at normal time, you have the public and kids from three different schools to pick up - there’s about fifty to sixty of us stuffed on there and most of us are stood up. Luckily, I’ve got a seat most days but sometimes there is only room for me or my friend…not both of us and I find it a little scary sitting next to a total stranger. The seats are really comfortable though, so every morning when I wake up, I get really excited to sit down on a soft, warm seat. The best thing on my way home from school, I have realised, is that if I walk to an earlier stop, I can definitely get a seat because the stop closest to the school is where everyone gets on.
Obviously, I’m a bit judgy but I’d rate the cleanliness of the bus an 8.5/10 (hey there’s always space for improvement) but the buses are always really nice, and I love them because there is nothing gross on them. I’m not going to lie, I thought that I would find something weird on the seats or rails, so I do pack hand sanitiser in my bag just in case, but in reality, they are actually fine. I know this might not be the same with all buses but there is actually no chewing gum or stuff like that, that’s what I was worried about most.
The setup of the bus is SO nice, I love it. You have a long back row of seats, and then rows of two people seats down most of the bus. I’m also really happy that they have the single rider seats at the front by the driver for people by themselves. It makes me feel safe if I have to get the bus on my own after netball. My absolute favourite part about the bus setup is the fact that they have windows that you can open, because sometimes people are vaping, although it would be better if they were a bit bigger. I like the fact that there are seats for disabled people and people with prams, but I think there should be a few more of them and the handles for standing people stand up should be further away from the seats, so people have more room. I know this is hard to do as the pathway is quite thin.
Before I started taking the bus I was scared that I wouldn’t know what time the bus would arrive, or it would be late. Then I thought ‘oh I just get it there and back the same time every day’ - but then we had an early finish one day and I had to plan for catching the bus at a different time and trying to read the timetable, but it was fine. The bus has never been exactly on time, it’s usually about 2-3 minutes late, but sometimes it comes really late, or it takes ages for everyone to get on and I just about make it to class by one minute. The way back is fine though as I’m in no rush.
The buses have an app called MyTrip and this is good because it tells me the location of the bus but not the time it will arrive. I don’t know the local area where my school is so I have no idea when it will arrive, just where is it. I think there should be a timetable on the app because at the minute I have to look at a different website to find it, it would be good if it were all in one place. Also, it would be amazing if the app notified you of roadworks, because if my neighbours hadn’t of told me about them last week, I would’ve been waiting at the wrong stop for a bus that would never arrive and get a late mark! Some people use the app to pay for their tickets, but you can’t do this with single tickets, so I just tap my card instead.
I’m really enjoying the bus and although some bus drivers are nicer than others and the fares vary each day, it’s really fun and I hope it continues to be that way. I hope my thoughts will help improve it, but I also that my complements will inspire others to use the bus.
This account from an ITP employee’s family member highlights both the perceived barriers and the actual experiences of a first-time solo bus user. As transport planners, it is crucial to understand these perspectives to better cater to the needs of younger passengers. By listening to and acting on the feedback from younger users, we can make the bus a more attractive and viable option for the next generation. For more information on bus travel to school, or if you would like to know more about ITP’s commitment to public transport, please get in touch.