Public transport difficulties

I hate public transport. :( I don't drive either; so I don't have much choice. Have had many bad experiences with noise and stuff. Even in the quiet carriages in trains, people still make a lot of noise.

I can get quite anxious on public transport, particularly if I'm having to go somewhere I've never been before but I tend to find buses worse than trains because they don't always tell you where you are so you know when to get off. 

The last time I got a bus to somewhere, I asked the driver to let me know when to get off as he seemed to be quite understanding but the time before that I just had to guess where I was and ended up wandering around some strange place getting ever so stressed.

Hello, Hope.

As far as the trains are concerned, I suppose it depends on things such as the route, the journey time, the train type and the cost. I travel from Felixstowe to Ipswich on a regular basis by train. Given my knowledge on trains, this service is usually operated by a one-carriage, 1980s/1990s built diesel multiple unit train. It can be quite noisy at speed, which can make potentially important on-board announcements impossible to hear. It's the same story at Ipswich station itself, especially whilst some noisy train is approaching or leaving the station. My train journey lasts 25 minutes each way, which is fine by me. But if it was some long, slow journey in somewhere like rural Lincolnshire or Yorkshire, all that noise would be tiring.

I have travelled on some 1980s/1990s electric multiple unit trains from Ipswich to London many times before, and they can be really noisy at speed. Like the diesel trains, they have opening windows, and if any were left open, a sudden whoosh of air and noise would occur when a train passes in the opposite direction, and that can frighten me at times. Modern multiple unit trains are OK, but I find them quite uncomfortable, especially if they were delayed. A 5-minute delay is not too bad, but in the case of a severe delay, I would feel really anxious and worried. I usually travel on my own, but in some situations even having a friend or relative alongside me doesn't make me less worried.

Whether I travel by train or bus, I try to use limited-stop or generally short journeys. Long stopping journeys, such as suburban services in the Greater London area, are a definite no-no. In Central London, the bus services nearly always get geld up in traffic, and the underground services tend to stop everywhere. Travelling between London terminal stations, such as Liverpool Street to Paddington, are no problem, but for example, a long stopping journey from Liverpool Street to Amersham would be uncomfortable, especially when it involves all that noisy, crowded underground tunnel travel. Even so, I myself prefer trains to buses, because the more carriages my train is formed of, the safer I feel in the event of unwanted noise, which is practically unavoidable on a packed single deck bus.

To be honest, without my mobile phone, and all those useful travel apps, I would never have been confident in using public transport at all.

Many thanks for your reply, longman. 

In my past 13 years of employment, I have had real difficulty using public transport to get to and from work. Even today (Wednesday 9th October), getting to and from work was a real nightmare. My early morning train from Felixstowe to Ipswich was cancelled, forcing me to use my local bus service, which I personally don't like due to the unreliability and poor quality. My connecting bus to my current workplace in Claydon, in Suffolk, was 20 minutes late in leaving Ipswich. On the return journey, my bus back to Ipswich did not turn up, and as far as I can remember, the next bus along was late. Due to short staffing, no-one was available to take me to Ipswich railway station. However, one of my colleagues had enough money to fund a taxi journey so that I can get there. It cost about £12.50, which was expensive, but I had no choice. Either I travelled by taxi, or I risked travelling aboard a bus packed with noisy school children. Whereas Felixstowe station is small and unstaffed, Ipswich station is much better equipped for long waits, as in refreshments, wifi access etc.

If you, or anyone else for that matter, is reading this message, could you imagine the absolute horror of going through a similar situation? If it's a problem for normal people, it's even worse for autistic people, especially if no-one is available to look after them. In my opinion, anyone who is entitled to any kind of discounted bus travel like myself ought to be entitled to discounted public transport journeys in general, i.e. taxis, trains etc.

I remember many years ago when I was going to work, but my outbound bus did not turn up, forcing me to wait 20 minutes for another one, which was packed. What's even worse is that this bus broke down right in the middle of a busy road in Trimley St Mary, in Suffolk. I had to wait another 20 minutes for the next bus, which was smaller and had less passenger capacity. In my opinion, autistic people like myself deserve to be treated a lot better than that. In this day and age, paying something like five pounds to get to work and getting a very poor service like that is not acceptable.

I could keep you, and other forum members, posted on any further public transport issues I encounter if you are interested.

I am used to travelling on public transport because my parents have never owned a car, and as a child we used buses and trains very frequently. Conversely, I am not keen on car travel!.

I really don't like crowded trains, and buses are even worse when crowded as there is no escape route. I am nervous when travelling alone, particularly when going to new locations. I cannot just hop on a bus or train and travel somewhere completely new all on my own; I would need someone to come with me, and the journey would have to be planned well in advance. However, there are a few familiar and local places that I can travel to on my own. I am getting better at tolerating fairly busy journeys, so long as the journey is short.

I prefer trains to buses because you can walk around if need be, and it is easier to get off and on trains.

I can certainly agree with you on two points there, bristolvr3

There was a time when there were more buses, decades ago, but this idea of fewer buses interconnecting routes evolved from the 70s, because of diminishing passenger numbers. Just they failed to recognise, and still do not seem to recognise, that the more arduous and unreliable the journey, the fewer the bus options and the longer journey times FEWER people travel by bus. Its the law of diminishing returns.

There seem to be very few bus routes that don't have parts of the journey manoevring round narrow residential side streets, going over speed bumps or down narrow alleyways between parked cars. It is very confusing and I start wondering if I'm on the right bus.

It also increases the chances of antisocial behaviour as routes seem compulsorily to go through the roughest residential areas. I recall being on a bus ten years ago when a brick was hurled through the window by kids who disappeared down an alleyway. The noise of the brick smashing through was deafening, and I was tense for hours afterwards. I was only two seats back from the smashed window, luckily no-one was sitting in the adjacent seat.

Then there are lots of routes now where buses do long detours and come back the same way, so you think you've missed your end destination and the bus is now tuurning back to where you started from. Years ago a separate bus would have done that detour, and one day the detour will be axed altogether and there will be no buses to that community.... and yet fewer passengers travelling.

I don't like travelling to work, and have always tried to live within walking distance of work.  If you've got a long journey to work its especially bad on public transport as you have to be up and about so early to cover for all the hanging around, and often you get to work too early, because a later option cuts it fine. Also after a long day at work the last thing you want is a long drag home.

Yet an astonishing number of people do it. To work in London its your only option as living within London is expensive, unless you are prepared to live in risky areas. So people communicate daily to London from places like Portsmouth, Bournemouth, Cambridge or Northampton. Its apparently a lucrative business for taxi drivers rescuing people who fell asleep on the train and ended up in some remote terminus having missed the last return train. 

Hello, longman.

Many thanks for your reply. In my childhood days, my mum would accompany me on my bus journeys. My dad hardly ever travels by bus for pretty much the same reasons as me - long journey times, frequent stops etc. Short journeys (around 20 minutes), limited stop expresses (including coach journeys) and park and ride services are just about OK, but those long, frequently stopping journeys are a definite no-no for me.

Sometimes my bus would get delayed by roadworks, accidents, or difficult or disruptive passengers, which would have me feeling very anxious and worried. When I want to get to work, for example, I don't want a tour of every residential or industrial area on the way, I just want to get to work as quickly as possible.

I have been an intrepid explorer myself, but travelling long distances can cost a fortune. Getting a job in London, for example, is a definite no-no. All that public transport would have probably cost me several hundred pounds per week, even for season tickets, especially if I was doing a five-day week. Therefore, I would only work in my local area, which isn't quite so expensive. However, I am currently in paid employment, and where I cannot avoid paying money, my employer would rebate the cost of my bus or train travel to work. This is a good idea, and every paid workplace should follow suit, if they don't already do so.

Transport was an argument put to me by family around the time I got diagnosed as evidence I cannot be on the spectrum, because I was using public transport a lot from the age of eleven.

I had to travel a long way to school, and it necessarily involved at least one change. But there's also the added disproof of autism that I was a fanatical explorer (albeit one fecklessly taking risks). I kept trying to experiment with routes, often even ridiculous detours. I'd also walk long distances to reduce the fare and save pennies for sweets (in those days there were lots of different fares). That often entailed walking through pretty dodgy areas.

Also by my later teens I was doing a lot of travelling around. I've managed air travel OK though usually never been on my own doing it.

So runs the argument that if I was on the spectrum I wouldn't have been able to do the things I did. And reading about the difficulties others have with transport, I have often had my own doubts. I definately don't seem to fit the profile in this respect.

However that was transport in the 60s. It wasn't all easy then, nor is it now. I tend to find rail travel much harder, as well as underground travel, and this seems mostly to be down to complex noise, and also acute anxiety whether I was on the right platform or the right train. It has meant asking people all the time, for reassurance. And I have a great deal of trouble with automated barriers. Also I start talking to myself in stations because of insecurity, which tends to get me noticed by officious rail staff.

However some train journeys are perfectly fine. And I'm mostly perfectly OK with buses. I do need to draw up a plan before travelling, with the alternatives mapped out. I'm OK though most of the time. Am I unique in this?

I agree about the noise other people make. One of the problems with trains is if they are very busy you cannot easily move to a quieter area: the worst are families with kids as they always get fractious after a while, babies crying, people playing on games consoles and people who talk loudly on their mobiles or have loud ringtones.

Otherwise if the environment is uncomfortable I just discretely move to another seat.

I also agree delays and cancellations are a nightmare, which I guess drove me to planned journeys with detailed options.

By the way other people seem to know how to ensure no-one takes the seats near them. I've never had the nerve to do it myself, but have seen others do it often. They leave very gross porn magazines or soiled clothing lying on the seat opposite or next to them, because few people have the stomach to remove them.