Bus fares up 6%

Do you work in Bruce Les?

Gungahlin bus routes are a joke. Plain and simple.

I can’t speak for the Southside, but the best locations to commute using ACTION are Belconnen, Page, Scullin, Florey, Latham and Holt (at a pinch).

This gives you access to at least two Intertown buses home which run till late at night and every 10-20 minutes in peak times.

Anywhere else and you’re better off taking the car or even riding your bike (if you’re that way inclined).

There’s an age-old algebra question: “What’s the longest distance between two points?”

Answer: “An ACTION bus route”.

i recall taking a bus to summernats one year.

it went on a magical mystery tour around gungahlin.

took over an hour to get there.

i took a taxi back and have driven and parked every year since.

Working in the city did make me try out the bus. It was 5.00 a day bus fares (less if I got prepaid) vs 7.50 parking fees. It was ok in summer/autumn, but too cold now to be standing around at the busstop waiting for the bus.

Indi, I live in North Belconnen and work in Mitchell, therefore if I were to catch a bus I would need to take one to Belconnen interchange, and another to Mitchell. The latter of which snakes its way endlessly through Gunghalin on its journey.

Seeing as though I drive a car that gets ~7L per 100kms, have access to free parking, and a trip that takes 7 minutes each way, the concept of losing three hours of my day to a bus, EVERY working day, is not at all enticing.

Should I ever have to work in the city one day (God forbid), I would definately take advantage of ACTION’s services, or car-pool.

The biggest killer for me with buses is lack of frequency. Mornings aren’t such a problem, I can usually organise myself to be at the bus stop at the right time. Problem is escaping work in the evening. Get held up for 5 minutes and suddenly the half hour trip home blows out to an hour and more. Driving means I come and go when I like. Much easier. Plus by the time I’ve sunk the costs into it like ownership, rego and insurance, the cost of petrol and parking is relatively minor.

It takes me 40 minutes in the morning, and 50 minutes in the afternoon to get to and from school.
And it takes me only 15 minutes if i’m driving (wait..i dont have a licence!) to get to and from school.
(and i unforchently have to catch a bus all the time, because my parents belive that buses are so wonderful, even through they have to catch a bus for an hour or so. stupid parents..)

and i live about a 7 or so minute walk away from a bus stop that two of the intertown routes go past, and well..i’ve had the bus not even turn up several times, or the bus coming 10 minutes late. (and my younger brother’s school bus didnt turn up for two weeks, because half the people that caught the bus had already finished school..)

Go figure why people dont catch buses..

Seems to take me 30-90 mins to get ANYWHERE on a bus Indi, and I live a five minte walk from a stop that one of the intertown routes goes past. A lot of the travelling time gets chewed up walking to stops, making sure you arrive before the bus and then waiting for said (often late) bus.

Les is it possible that catching the bus has just become more cost effective eg. fuel + parking fees.

If you were to catch the bus, what part of the region are you travelling from that takes around 3 hours of your day?