Buses

I am writing this in March 2005 in a small Greek island. Unusually for the winter season, there is a printed bus timetable. The timetable shows that on weekdays a bus leaves the port for Chora, about 6 kilometres away, at 10 a.m. on weekdays. The timetable is for the week ending 18/02/05. Today is Monday. On Thursday the bus left at 11 a.m. What time will the bus leave today? [The answer? Probably 7.45 a.m. and 4.30 p.m.! The following Thursday the bus left at 11.30 a.m.]

　

On the same island, this time probably in the autumn, a bus was parked in the usual stopping place, with a timetable stuck on the windscreen. The timetable showed that the bus left the port for Chora at 11.30 a.m. A small cluster of people stood around the bus and waited. 11.30 a.m. came and went. 11.35 a.m. came and went. 11.40 a.m. came and went. No-one was too concerned, we were on holiday and in Greece. 11.45 a.m. came. The bus driver appeared, ripped the timetable off the windscreen and replaced it with a timetable showing the bus leaving at 1.30 p.m.

　

Some tips for using buses:

• always have a Plan B, both for what to do if the outbound bus doesn't leave, and for getting back to base if the return bus doesn't materialise.
• if you want to travel to another port, is there a ferry you can use for one or both legs of the journey?
• check the phone numbers of the island taxis!
• There are often fewer buses on Sundays. 
• But also watch out for changes to bus times on Saturdays. 
• And national holidays. 
• And if the bus you want to catch is a school bus, or heading to a school on one leg of the journey, the time may not be the same every weekday.  The school may close earlier on Friday than on other days.  If you have an up-to-date timetable, you should be OK.  But don't assume that a bus that leaves at, say, 2p.m. on one day wiull lave at the same time every day.