In message , Clive Coleman
writes

I suppose that when you get two hour intervals between buses as we do
before service drops off in the evening, it would be annoying to know
you could have stayed at home for that extra cup of tea/coffee/alcohol.

Two sets of friends in North Yorks ("one bus a week on Thursdays") still
cannot get over the fact that despite being 8 miles from the centre of
London, we have buses every 3 minutes in the peak, every 5 minutes
off-peak, and night buses stopping within short walking distance every
10 minutes throughout the night. A bit further up the road there are 36
buses an hour each way in the peak period.

I say all this not to be boastful, but to point out that only very
high-frequency operation will persuade people to move from cars to
buses. I wouldn't dream of driving into central London any more, nor
would any of my neighbours - the bus (+ train) is more reliable,
quicker, cheaper and more pleasurable - it is MUCH easier to read the
paper when on the bus than when driving, for instance, and it is rather
fun to strike up the odd conversation with a stranger instead of being
in the hermetically sealed mobile box that we call a car, interacting
with others only by honking the horn or flashing the lights in anger.

Having said all that, I fully understand why folk in outer suburban and
rural areas could hardly exist without a bus - there has to be some sort
of critical mass to tip the balance towards public transport. Once that
happens, the results can be astonishing - something like Countdown then
just becomes the icing on the cake.

--
Paul Terry