George Hayter: Bus pass takes on a whole new meaning (From Hampshire Chronicle)

George Hayter: Bus pass takes on a whole new meaning

11:31am Friday 20th July 2007 in

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I'M appealing to the bus authorities to put bus stops closer together.

As things stand, it's a risky business to start walking along the route in the hope that you will be within running distance of a stop when the bus comes.

The bus is likely to pass you when you are between stops and most bus drivers won't heed any amount of frantic waving on your part and they certainly won't wait for you at the next stop while you put in a sprint.

As someone who once ended up walking from Winchester to Chandler's Ford, I'm speaking from experience.

I set out to catch the Solent Blue Line service but I got so tired of standing at the stop outside Barclays that I decided to walk to the next stop, just about opposite The Screen cinema, but I had only reached the Hotel du Vin when the bus shot by.

"It'll be ages before the next one comes," I thought. "Now I'll have time to walk to the stop after the next one."

You can guess what happened. When the third bus passed, I was at Compton, again between stops and just about resigned to walking the whole way.

Waiting at a bus stop is boring and quite depressing, particularly in the rain.

As well as being more healthy, walking is actually less tiring than standing so perhaps it should be encouraged.

The trouble with having more stops, of course, is that they would slow the progress of buses.

I've thought about this during long hours waiting for buses and the answer is that the extra stops should be "charge stops", with passengers boarding there paying an extra 50p.

That should make sure that most passengers choose the existing bus stops.