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January 26, 2006
We have been 'improved'!
I’m wondering if there is a blog somewhere in the vastness of this blogosphere that concentrates entirely on ranting about public transport. I can see the categories over at Blog Explosion, Political Blogs, Mummy Blogs, Food Blogs and Why I Wish I Didn’t Ever Have to Leave My House Blogs. If there is not such a category then Purple Elephant’s Corner is well on its way to being the first but then I do spend a lot of time on Public Transport, which of course means that I spend twice as much time waiting for Public Transport.
We have brand new busses and boy are they all shiny and pretty! We are now blessed with double deckers which means that you can fit twice as many people on them and also they have access for prams and wheelchairs (although of course never both at the same time) oh and not forgetting the nice big computerised screens that tell you where they are going, Mr. Lucky Driver no longer has to tire his arm at the end of the line in order to wind the numbers.
Oh and did I mention the seat covers? We have an exciting new design! Instead of boring old putrid brown stripes, we now have a rather fetching royal blue and dark blue geometric splodge, with an orange overriding pattern which resembles a waning crescent moon projectile vomiting a 1980s Pacman.
And best of all, Cambridge now has a London complex and has decided to spend stupid amounts of money on the bus stops, installing those screens that helpfully inform you of the location of the next bus. Except London obviously has much more money to spend than Cambridge. The stop outside the school permanently indicates that the 09:57 is currently at Crwlnd Wy; the 10:07 is at Flbrn Tescos and the 10: 17 is at Chrch Lne; even at 19:14 in the evening.
Oh and if you are partially sighted you too can be taunted by the bus timetable which insists that a bus will be here every ten minutes, that work of great British fiction is now available in Braille or large print.
And to grind salt in the wounds, scattered around the town are these posters, boasting of how much they have spent on these ‘improvements’, as if they have dug deep into their own pockets out of the utter goodness of their hearts. They increased the fares months ago, first they put up the single fares and said ‘but look the price of a Dayrider remains the same!’ and then a couple of months later they increased the price of a Dayrider and said ‘but look the price of a single remains the same!’
So excuse me but WHO has paid for these ‘improvements.’
I swear to God they should have me on the team, I would have simply re-printed the timetables, announcing that the bus will now be coming every 30 minutes instead of 10 and then allowed everything else to stay the same. Then on the rare occasion that the bus turns up within 20 minutes, there will be cause for celebration rather than complaint.
I could have saved us all so much money.
Posted by purple elephant at January 26, 2006 06:02 PM