14 March 2024
I wrote a blog a couple of years ago during the great pandemic, which lamented the fact that I’d been issued with an Oxfordshire bus pass, but there was nowhere to go. Since that time, Ann and I have made enormous use of these passes and employ them all the time, even basing a holiday on the Isle of Wight on the knowledge that we could stay centrally in Newport and travel out each day on the buses.
The benefits are two-fold. One is obvious, that the tickets are free. You can make a mistake and it costs you nothing (but time). But, for me, the more important benefit is that I don’t have to tell the driver where I’m going. Often I don’t know.
A recent overnight stay in London where we visited the Houses of Parliament, and the Imperial War Museum for some family history work, saw us travelling on London buses the whole time. The Tube is a rather expensive alternative and, yes, we are simply cheapskates. But from a London omnibus you can see where you’re going, and which famous landmarks you’re passing. That we’ve never done this before is because you’d have to know where your destination is, and get off at the right time. We’ve just been too frightened even to try.
Google Maps is what makes the difference. It know where you are now, and you simply type in the name of where you’re going, and tell it that you’re going by bus. It then tells you where the bus stop is, what number bus to catch, when the next bus is due, and how many stops to stay on the bus for. In short, it turns you into a Londoner.
Oxfordshire bus passes will not work on London buses, but they are valid. This seems to be because London buses are set up to take Oyster cards – you just can’t tap on with your bus pass. However, the driver is perfectly happy for you to wave your bus pass at him as you climb on-board.
All this happy and payment-free travel made us rather blasé and caused us some delay in the end. On the way back to Paddington Station we forgot to check Google Maps and sailed on by without noticing. We had to retrace our steps on a return bus only to find that we’d missed the last off-peak train back to Didcot. Ann and I had to console ourselves by having an evening meal in a nearby pub with a pint of beer, but it meant that we didn’t get back home until 9.30pm – what with the bus ride from Didcot to Wantage.
And so to today. I had to go for a hospital appointment at the John Radcliffe in Oxford. We drove to the nearest of Oxford’s park & rides, and left the car there for £2. Then we thought we’d catch the X3 bus to the hospital. It was 10.45am and the appointment was at 11.30am. Perfect.
Then Google Maps told us that an X32 was just about to arrive, and this would also go to the hospital. It was running late. Nevertheless, it showed up almost immediately and we jumped on. The problem was that it went in the wrong direction and took us half the way home again. We’d caught the bus going the opposite way – bamboozled by the fact that all buses face the same way at the park & ride bus station. This was a disaster. I needed to be at a hospital appointment in forty minutes time and here we were hurtling away from Oxford on an express bus. It was a head-in-hands moment. The first stop was on the outskirts of Didcot – miles away. But, by some miracle the next X32 heading in the right direction, also running late, was passing on the other side of the road and we jumped on. Queue the comedy chase music.
Unbelievably, having done something so stupid, and so consequential, I was only late for my appointment by eight minutes. Hurrah for the buses. But we’re making a mental note: even though it’s not necessary to tell the driver where you’re going, just ask him as you get on if he’s going anywhere near where you think you need to be.