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BritChick For years I could walk or use public transport as alternatives to driving, and often did. Now retired, I use the buses for most local and some inter-town, journeys.
Then my work was moved to a rural location a mile and a half walk from the nearest railway station (not nice on bad weather). Though at least the trains meant I could still attend work - as expected - even when a week of snow and ice prevented using my car.
The site was served directly by a regular bus from my home area, but only one each way per day turned your flexible hours to fixed ones; but anyway as fewer people used it, it became uneconomical and was stopped.
Most of the bus trips around my town are fairly punctual but this has slipped in recent years - though road-works on very busy roads with few or no alternative routes, don't help.
Also, I think the company (First) is a bit short of drivers, and some services end up cancelled.
I have seen very few bus breakdowns and no fires though.
We had a small, local bus service run by an independent company, serving a large residential area First did not. Sadly this became uneconomical and ceased. 'First' took it on but had to relinquish it after a six-months or so trial. It has re-routed one service partially re-instating this.
The problem of course, is that bus services depend very much on route viability, and if they carry insufficient passengers and are insufficiently subsidised from tax revenues, they make losses. The services are also hit by fares-caps and by we retired types with our bus-passes: the operators are insufficiently compensated for these schemes that were supposed to attract trade.
(Pensioners used to be charged half-fares. It was simple, easy to administer, affordable by most, and could be brought back.)
I can also reach much of the rest of the country easily by train, and without the inconvenience, cost and difficulty of going via London, too.
