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I don't like relying on a bus!

Sherlock77

Sherlock77

Well-Known Member
V.I.P Member
There is a story around this, related to nearby Banff National Park...

https://www.rmotoday.com/lake-louis...ned-at-moraine-lake-transit-mandatory-6339141
My reaction, I was aware that parking at Moraine Lake was getting rather difficult (I haven't been there in a long time just for the record), but when I'm forced to only take public transit into places, it severely restricts when I want to go there and decreases the flexibility of my personal time... And the requirement to book ahead for a seat on a bus takes away spontaneity of the individual...

And I remember going to Lake Louise for a winter ice carving competition, one year I stayed overnight at a hotel, so could get to the parking lot at the lake early in the morning, and not have to feel "stuck" at the top waiting and relying on a bus service...

For several years there has been a bus service to Banff from Calgary, but I would still rather drive there with my own car because I can have far more flexibility and not feel stuck, and have a time limit on when I have to be back at a bus, etc... Admittedly I avoid Banff in the summer months when it's the busiest, only going in the shoulder seasons...

Maybe this is why I like prairie road trips, never any issues like this :p
 
Having to go on a bus and be stuck with a whole heap of strangers would completely negate any enjoyment of parks for me. Many famous parks in the NT are about to start charging entry fees and they did a survey asking for people's opinions, I replied that I'd be happy to pay if the tourist buses were banned.

If there's too many people present I won't stop, I'll just drive through and keep going. To me parks are about nature and wildlife and all the wildlife vanishes when there's a crowd of noisy humans babbling like a hoard of demented chimpanzees.
 
Outdated said:
If there's too many people present I won't stop, I'll just drive through and keep going. To me parks are about nature and wildlife and all the wildlife vanishes when there's a crowd of noisy humans babbling like a hoard of demented chimpanzees.
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I hate that, too. And people blasting their music in parks and on walking trails. Why would I go out to the woods to hear someone blasting music?? That's what I'm trying to get away from.
 
I was thinking just the other day about how good for my mental health learning to drive was. I think this was one of the things that lead to the best period of recovery I have ever had. 4 short blimmin' years.

I was considering what made me feel so great about just being able to hop in my car and go wherever I wanted, pretty much whenever I wanted.

I decided it came down to how rubbish public transport is. How I hated not being able to get a seat and when someone would sit next to me. I hated sitting near the isle or having to stand. I found this particularly distressing. Having yobs on the bus behaving like baboons, and if anyone was targeted by them, it was usually me. People blasting horrible music on their phones. Journeys taking up to an hour longer than they should, late buses, being late due to buses. Buses make me anxious and uncomfortable that's for sure.

All that cured at a stroke by getting a license and learning to drive.

If I was in your shoes I would be very disappointed too.
 
*Note*

Not to pour salt on those who don't drive/don't like to drive, etc... :)

I know many of you struggle with driving, I guess I have had a lifetime of driving, and enjoy driving, wherever it is... So from my perspective I find this disappointing, and I like to be independent when I vacation, or day trip... Too many buses slow things down...
 
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Lake O'Hara has already been a long time shuttle or pedestrian access only for a long time, and let's be honest - if we need to reduce our collective environmental footprint and the alternatives for Moraine Lake are shuttle only or reduce access to pedestrians/hikers only, I think we can all agree that having shuttles would be better than no shuttles.

I will say, as a non-driver who has taken a variety of shuttles in the Rockies, that the passengers are generally quite quiet and considerate of their fellow passengers, and the earlier ones generally have few passengers so you can have the bench, sometimes even several rows to yourself.

And the shuttles are already in some ways geared towards drivers rather than non-drivers. The earliest bus to Moraine - arriving right around sunrise, when I took it several summers ago, departs from a parking lot several miles from Lake Louise. I got lucky in hitching a ride there at 4 AM or something to make it.
 
VictorR said:
Lake O'Hara has already been a long time shuttle or pedestrian access only for a long time, and let's be honest - if we need to reduce our collective environmental footprint and the alternatives for Moraine Lake are shuttle only or reduce access to pedestrians/hikers only, I think we can all agree that having shuttles would be better than no shuttles.

I will say, as a non-driver who has taken a variety of shuttles in the Rockies, that the passengers are generally quite quiet and considerate of their fellow passengers, and the earlier ones generally have few passengers so you can have the bench, sometimes even several rows to yourself.

And the shuttles are already in some ways geared towards drivers rather than non-drivers. The earliest bus to Moraine - arriving right around sunrise, when I took it several summers ago, departs from a parking lot several miles from Lake Louise. I got lucky in hitching a ride there at 4 AM or something to make it.
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I can see your viewpoint, maybe another way to say what I'm feeling is a life of convenience (is that good or bad? :rolleyes: )

Even in Banff, I see a shuttle bus getting in the way of a proper exploration (at least for me) because it limits where I can go and I feel less free to explore the way I want to...

By no means am I saying there is no place for shuttle buses either, because I know some people need them... I suppose we will all need one soon for some places (ie. Moraine Lake)... I am aware of the Lake O'Hara road restrictions, but I wouldn't compare the two, in terms of tourist traffic...
 
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I'm currently watching Star Trek TNG "Realm of Fear". It's an episode about fear of using the Transporter Beam. The main character in this one is Lt. Barclay. I always felt that the character could be mildly autistic.

Anyway, the parallels with bus travel are quite interesting lol. Barclay seems to feel about Transporters the way I do about buses! Plus there are weird creatures in the transporter stream. Much like a lot of buses I've been on.

I didn't pick the episode, it just started right up on Netflix, as it tends to do. :smilecat:
 
Outdated said:
Having to go on a bus and be stuck with a whole heap of strangers would completely negate any enjoyment of parks for me.
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Yeah, same here. I just wouldnt go.

MildredHubble said:
I'm currently watching Star Trek TNG "Realm of Fear". It's an episode about fear of using the Transporter Beam. The main character in this one is Lt. Barclay. I always felt that the character could be mildly autistic.

Anyway, the parallels with bus travel are quite interesting lol. Barclay seems to feel about Transporters the way I do about buses! Plus there are weird creatures in the transporter stream. Much like a lot of buses I've been on.

I didn't pick the episode, it just started right up on Netflix, as it tends to do. :smilecat:
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Well, there's one definite advantage with buses VS the transporters: while you've gotta deal with loud idiots being near you during a bus ride, at least they cant like, fuse with you on a molecular level or something because the driver turned the wheel too hard.

Now THAT would be torture. I mean sitting next to someone super annoying is bad enough as it is...

There was a Voyager episode where that happened.
 
Misery said:
Yeah, same here. I just wouldnt go.



Well, there's one definite advantage with buses VS the transporters: while you've gotta deal with loud idiots being near you during a bus ride, at least they cant like, fuse with you on a molecular level or something because the driver turned the wheel too hard.

Now THAT would be torture. I mean sitting next to someone super annoying is bad enough as it is...

There was a Voyager episode where that happened.
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Oh yeah I think I know the episode you mean, where Neelix and Tuvock got smooshed into one person. They called themselves Tuvix I believe. What I always found weird was that his clothes were completely different, like the pattern on Neelix's clothes was a combination of the star fleet colours and the sort of paisley pattern.

I would really despise becoming some sort of gestalt entity with bus people! That would be awful.
 
This is ok

th-2191979056.webp



th-1444620294.jpg

This is ARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!
 
Misery said:
As far as I'm concerned, they're both ARRRRGH

I mean think of how freaking dirty it must be.

It's not empty at all. There's LOTS of things in it. You just cant see them...

Why yes, I am a bit of a germophobe, how did you know?
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That's true. I could just about put up with the empty bus. I do think they can be a bit icky. I'm not quite a germophobe but yeah :emojiconfused:
 
Speaking of which... Just found the scan of a vintage postcard of the road to Moraine Lake, a postcard I own, a proper road was first built in 1922 :cool: ... If you call this a proper road :p

Found_1302.webp
 
I'm vaguely familiar with that area, as I stayed in Banff one summer on a student exchange scheme. I remember that at the time, Banff itself wasn't too bad and MacDonald's didn't get too busy, there were some good trails around the local area where you could go hiking. I took a Greyhound bus from Edmonton to Vancouver, and that was an awful experience, mainly because it was overnight and I couldn't sleep - they had those harsh white strip lights coming on every time the bus stopped - I hate those lights!

I no longer have a car, so now if I want to go anywhere, I have to take a bus. I hate it - the buses are smelly, you often have to sit next to someone, and they stop at every village along the route so a journey that takes 20 mins by car takes 40 minutes by bus. The drivers usually have a radio playing crap music and commercials - torture!!!

The other day I saw a documentary about Macchu Picchu. It was crawling with tourists like ants over an ant nest - that would be deal breaker for me, it would completely detract from the experience and atmosphere of the place. I much prefer places off the beaten track.
 
I never rode buses and don't like any form of public transportation.
If I can't do what I want, when I want, especially in a park, then forget it.
A lot of preserves and parks here have deer, boar, and other little creatures.
And the birds! Love to see them.

Ah, Machu Picchu.
That would be like a learning experience, so I would put up with the crowds to see that.
 
I rarely take the bus..I rarely take public transportation although this has started to change within the last few Days. where I live, there is no bus that I can take since it doesn’t stop in my village but stops in the next village which is 30 minutes away from the town that is 20-30 minutes away. If the old people want to travel to the town without walking along the 20-30 minute walk, they either go by train OR they take their bikes (if they are able to Do so). The last time I took a bus it was very crowded and that really wasn’t A fun experience even with headphones on.
 
When I first went to Banff, the old stone hotel had a great view of the Columbia glacier ending in azure Lake Louise, and there was still a bit of pycrete pollution on the shore. The second time I went, it was overrun with people, like ants where a donut had been, and the glacier was a distant white spot above a rubble field.
Even using a bus is bad for the glaciers. I only use pedals or paddles for recreational transportation.
 
I don’t like public transportation for the same reasons as above. There are too many people crowded close together. It’s dirty. It’s difficult to figure out, at least for me. It‘s inconvenient. It takes way too long. I did manage to use it when I had to.

I remember Lake Louise. I visited Banff and Jasper in 1972. I’m sure it looks much different now.

Many of our national parks are overcrowded and resources are strained. Frequently reservations are needed. It wasn’t that way when I was traveling around the country.

Many years ago I had the opportunity to ride busses on Java and Sulewesi. They make the second photo posted by MildredHubble look positively vacant.
 
I'm just so glad that I got to see so many places when the roads were still dirt and many people were afraid to travel there. One of my favourite places to visit was Florence Falls. This photo was taken 20 years ago, now at the top of the falls there's a 3 acre bitumen parking lot for tourist buses and the place is so crowded it looks more like a suburban swimming pool, complete with life guards.

Litchfield2.webp


And just because someone had to post it:

 
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