Yesterday my two minute wait turned into a thirty minute wait...
After living in Swansea for twenty-eight years (minus a couple of sojourns to Ibiza a few years back), I know the city pretty well. What's more, I've never acquired a driving license - I have a dodgy ankle which makes driving very difficult - so the natural option for getting about would surely be the local bus service. Honestly though? I've long since stopped being a regular patron of the bus, given what I consider prices which are a) inflated and b) not reflective of the service that's provided.
What I will say is the FTR Metro works quite well on a day to day basis. Ok, £2 to the Liberty from town isn't particularly cheap but when I worked in Llansamlet the bus was a good, reliable option, which (thanks to the dedicated bus lane) invariably runs on time. That's during the week though. Very, very different to my matchday experience yesterday.
About half past one I was sitting in my house debating whether to hold on for a lift to the stadium, or to rush to the Kingsway to get the bus. I decided on the latter, and very briskly walked to the bus stop, arriving two minutes before the bus was due (13:48). There were already quite a few people waiting, but by the time the bus actually turned up - ten minutes late - there were so many people waiting that we couldn't all get on. Pretty disappointing.
"It's alright", someone told two Americans at the bus-stop who I overheard saying were here "Just to see a Premier League match" - "There's one due at 14:07" (which the flashy 'next arrival' readout so happily promised). Was it on time? Of course not! I bet those American lads think a lot of public transport in Swansea now! When the bus finally arrived - at quarter past two - it was absolutely heaving. Everyone thankfully managed to get on this time, but it beggars belief that after three entire seasons of the Swans being in the Premier League service can be disrupted so badly in the buildup to kickoff. If both buses due at around that time were over-capacity surely that proves the need for more buses?
If it was only one season into our Premier League stint you could excuse it. Maybe. But First Cymru have had three entire seasons to work on this. What's more, if they could guarantee the service ran on time on matchdays - and perhaps even looked to reduce prices for fans with tickets for the game - I'm sure they'd see a massive increase in the amount of people using the service to get to the game.
If this was the first time I'd been miffed at service on matchdays I wouldn't be having this rant, but I also vividly remember watching a Europa League game last year (Petrolul? St Gallen? I forget...), and afterwards I, along with hundreds of other fans, wandered over to the bus stop expecting...well...something. I can't remember if it was that there were no buses due, or if it was that the next one was so far away it didn't warrant waiting for, but I along with everyone else ended up walking back. How can there be no bus home from a game with up to 20,000 spectators in attendance?
I sincerely hope this situation improves. The club spoke at the fans' forum of the possibility of putting on official buses from various spots in the valleys and so on, but this is different. This is the main bus provider in our city failing to cater adequately for it's patrons. If they could improve the service, they'd see a marked rise in the amount of people using the buses. Why not put extra buses on in the buildup and aftermath of matches? It seems a no-brainer to me. They used to put special trains on for fans of away teams travelling to their opponents - is it too much to ask for a slightly increased service for an hour and a half either side of the match?
Perhaps I'm being harsh, but as someone who relies, in part, on the bus service it's something which affects me. When I arrived two minutes before the bus was due yesterday I wasn't expecting to have to wait half an hour, that's all. I do think, however, that there is definitely scope for an improved service from First Cymru on matchdays.