London taxi nightmare

[johntea]

Had a bit of a nightmare in London last weekend taxi wise!

Went to Brighton on Sunday, lost track of time...missed the last train to Clapham Junction where I was staying so the next best course of action was a train to London Blackfriars and then a taxi from there

Stood outside the entrance (are there multiple ones?! The one I exited from if you walked in you were pretty much straight at the entrance to the Underground platform access)

Booked Uber, 3 minutes away...10 minutes later the driver phones and I would honestly have had better communication from a tin can and piece of string, I couldn't hear a single word he was saying! Eventually he gave up, cancelled the trip and charged £6 for the privilege (I walked round the immediate area at least 10 times looking out for any sign whatsoever of a car with his numberplate!)

By this point some black cabs had parked up at the station so I just had to resort jumping in one of those, clearly told the driver 'Clapham Junction Travelodge' next thing I know and we're at a Travelodge...but the Battersea one!

Finally the nightmare is over, I'm back at the hotel...ripped off by the £30 fare but by this point I'm just happy to be able to get back to my room for some sleep...I try the card machine twice and both times it declines my card!! Very luckily I had enough in my wallet to pay in cash, only for the driver to then have a moan because I inadvertently give him a 'old' £20 note despite it still being perfectly legal tender...fine here is a precious polymer £20 instead!

Lesson learnt, don't miss the last train down South!

(I did try and work out if maybe there would be a night bus route back but the options I found would have taken hours)

 

[Starmill]

You could complain to Uber about the fee you were charged, they may refund it.

 

[AlbertBeale]

Had a bit of a nightmare in London last weekend taxi wise!

Went to Brighton on Sunday, lost track of time...missed the last train to Clapham Junction where I was staying so the next best course of action was a train to London Blackfriars and then a taxi from there

Stood outside the entrance (are there multiple ones?! The one I exited from if you walked in you were pretty much straight at the entrance to the Underground platform access)

Booked Uber, 3 minutes away...10 minutes later the driver phones and I would honestly have had better communication from a tin can and piece of string, I couldn't hear a single word he was saying! Eventually he gave up, cancelled the trip and charged £6 for the privilege (I walked round the immediate area at least 10 times looking out for any sign whatsoever of a car with his numberplate!)

By this point some black cabs had parked up at the station so I just had to resort jumping in one of those, clearly told the driver 'Clapham Junction Travelodge' next thing I know and we're at a Travelodge...but the Battersea one!

Finally the nightmare is over, I'm back at the hotel...ripped off by the £30 fare but by this point I'm just happy to be able to get back to my room for some sleep...I try the card machine twice and both times it declines my card!! Very luckily I had enough in my wallet to pay in cash, only for the driver to then have a moan because I inadvertently give him a 'old' £20 note despite it still being perfectly legal tender...fine here is a precious polymer £20 instead!

Lesson learnt, don't miss the last train down South!

(I did try and work out if maybe there would be a night bus route back but the options I found would have taken hours)

I guess you were you travelling too late to get off the train at London Bridge instead of Blackfriars, and get a train from LB to Waterloo East? (Failing that it's a short walk or bus hop from Blackfriars [especially if you'd come off the south end of the station so you were south of the river; you must have gone out the other end if you were by the underground entrance] to Waterloo.) There are Waterloo - Clapham Junctions trains up until about half-past midnight.

Failing that, Blackfriars Bridge to Clapham Junction by bus is straightforward with one change at any time of night. Buses going over the bridge (how many routes depending on how late it is) will get you to Elephant and Castle in 10 minutes. The 344 from E&C to Clapham Junction does the journey in 20 minutes or so at night; I know the 344 runs about every 10 minutes until 1am or so, then it gets a bit less frequent. The trouble is, with bus maps having been discontinued, it's hard to discover such connections if you don't know the area.

 

[higthomas]

I guess you were you travelling too late to get off the train at London Bridge instead of Blackfriars, and get a train from LB to Waterloo East? (Failing that it's a short walk or bus hop from Blackfriars [especially if you'd come off the south end of the station so you were south of the river; you must have gone out the other end if you were by the underground entrance] to Waterloo.) There are Waterloo - Clapham Junctions trains up until about half-past midnight.

Failing that, Blackfriars Bridge to Clapham Junction by bus is straightforward with one change at any time of night. Buses going over the bridge (how many routes depending on how late it is) will get you to Elephant and Castle in 10 minutes. The 344 from E&C to Clapham Junction does the journey in 20 minutes or so at night; I know the 344 runs about every 10 minutes until 1am or so, then it gets a bit less frequent. The trouble is, with bus maps having been discontinued, it's hard to discover such connections if you don't know the area.

TBH I'd recommend cirymapper in a situation like that for finding the best bus. I too mourn the demise of the bus map, but when you want to get somewhere specific now, a planner is the best option.

 

[trebor79]

I never even consider using the bus in London or any other big city that I'm unfamiliar with. It's almost impossible to find out how to get from A to B and is even worse in the provinces where there isn't and equivalent of TfL to provide s single journey planner.
Buses in unfamiliar places to me are, to borrow a phrase from Donald Rumsfeld, "unknown unknowns" to me. Wouldn't even know where to begin to plan a journey.

 

[AlbertBeale]

TBH I'd recommend cirymapper in a situation like that for finding the best bus. I too mourn the demise of the bus map, but when you want to get somewhere specific now, a planner is the best option.

Well, you get "a" "best route" according to that company's algorithms. A map shows you the options so you know to try a different way round if you just miss a connection on one route ... etc.

I never even consider using the bus in London or any other big city that I'm unfamiliar with. It's almost impossible to find out how to get from A to B and is even worse in the provinces where there isn't and equivalent of TfL to provide s single journey planner.
Buses in unfamiliar places to me are, to borrow a phrase from Donald Rumsfeld, "unknown unknowns" to me. Wouldn't even know where to begin to plan a journey.

People who've tried both in London (including visitors) assure me that - at least as far as specifically bus journeys are concerned - the TfL journey planner is a very poor and inefficient alternative to a bus map and a bit of gumption.

I've spent a lot of time in a new city before even considering using buses if I haven't got a local bus map to give myself a mental overview of what's what/where.

 

[mirodo]

I never even consider using the bus in London or any other big city that I'm unfamiliar with. It's almost impossible to find out how to get from A to B and is even worse in the provinces where there isn't and equivalent of TfL to provide s single journey planner.
Buses in unfamiliar places to me are, to borrow a phrase from Donald Rumsfeld, "unknown unknowns" to me. Wouldn't even know where to begin to plan a journey.

Apple Maps (and, I believe, Google Maps) has full public transport coverage throughout the UK.

 

[yorkie]

I concur with @AlbertBeale ; there is no way I'd have got a taxi for that.

I never even consider using the bus in London or any other big city that I'm unfamiliar with. It's almost impossible to find out how to get from A to B and is even worse in the provinces where there isn't and equivalent of TfL to provide s single journey planner.
Buses in unfamiliar places to me are, to borrow a phrase from Donald Rumsfeld, "unknown unknowns" to me. Wouldn't even know where to begin to plan a journey.

I don't live in London but I find it really easy, using Google Maps to plan a journey. Try it!

Assuming the next available Thameslink was caught, I'd estimate arrival into Blackfriars at 0036. If it was me, I'd have got a 344 bus; it may have been possible to be at the Travelodge by 0116.

And yes BFR has exits both sides of the river; the south side would have been best. If it happens again, you could ask for realtime advice in our Trip Planning section!

 

[[.n]]

I never even consider using the bus in London or any other big city that I'm unfamiliar with. It's almost impossible to find out how to get from A to B and is even worse in the provinces where there isn't and equivalent of TfL to provide s single journey planner.
Buses in unfamiliar places to me are, to borrow a phrase from Donald Rumsfeld, "unknown unknowns" to me. Wouldn't even know where to begin to plan a journey.

https://www.traveline.info does this (there are a few variations for Scotland, Wales, SE, SW etc) - there are also apps

I also use UK Buses - another app which I guess uses the same information (which has realtime info as well)

 

[Class465pacer]

When taking a bus to a place I haven’t been before I look at the Street view of my destination so I can get an idea of where to get off.

 

[Tetchytyke]

People who've tried both in London (including visitors) assure me that - at least as far as specifically bus journeys are concerned - the TfL journey planner is a very poor and inefficient alternative to a bus map and a bit of gumption.

The journey planner can throw up some daft suggestions, like taking a bus 2 stops then changing to another one. But it's possible to tell it to let you walk further and it cuts most of those out.

For smartphone users, the Citymapper app can't really be beaten for journey planning. It beats a paper map because it gives you live updates too.

I forget which one, but one of the live bus tracker apps for London will go so far as to tell you the reg of the next buses at your stop.

 

[Islineclear3_1]

Isn't Clapham Junction actually in Battersea?

 

[Howardh]

I never even consider using the bus in London or any other big city that I'm unfamiliar with. It's almost impossible to find out how to get from A to B and is even worse in the provinces where there isn't and equivalent of TfL to provide s single journey planner.
Buses in unfamiliar places to me are, to borrow a phrase from Donald Rumsfeld, "unknown unknowns" to me. Wouldn't even know where to begin to plan a journey.

www.rome2rio.com
Have a play with it, put in two addresses or postcodes and see how you get on. Use a map with a couple of random London addresses, example Selhurst Park to Golder's Green. Try from your house to Penzance!

 

[AlbertBeale]

The journey planner can throw up some daft suggestions, like taking a bus 2 stops then changing to another one. But it's possible to tell it to let you walk further and it cuts most of those out.

For smartphone users, the Citymapper app can't really be beaten for journey planning. It beats a paper map because it gives you live updates too.

I forget which one, but one of the live bus tracker apps for London will go so far as to tell you the reg of the next buses at your stop.

I don't find that Citymapper or anything on a small screen that tells you which specific route it thinks you should take is nearly as efficient as a map of routes (ie on paper, giving a wider overview) where you can see all the options and make your own decisions as to which combinations of connections to your destination are possible, and adjust your journey as you go along if necessary by making different changes as options arise. And of course not all journeys are of the "I'm now at A and I want to get straight away to B" variety; many journeys - including especially ones by visitors to an area - are of a different type, and without having a proper map in front of you (to get a mental map/overview) sensible decision-making is impossible.

No app can deal with the subtleties and complexities of - for instance - a visitor's desire to see certain places and go to certain sorts of shops in an order which makes geographical sense but which isn't otherwise preordained except for perhaps one type of shop which needs to be visited before certain of the tourist sights, and so on. That sort of problem poses questions that can't even be asked of an app, let alone getting an answer. But a map of the city concerned, which includes all the bus routes on it, means that anyone with a bit of gumption can work it out.

Isn't Clapham Junction actually in Battersea?

Indeed, it indubitably is! Clapham is a mile away.

 

[PeterC]

When taking a bus to a place I haven’t been before I look at the Street view of my destination so I can get an idea of where to get off.

I do that when driving into a strange town as well. Much better to know that you want the stop/turning just after B&Q rather than just a street name that you spot when it is just too late.

Journey planners do sometimes need a little interpretation. The TfL one once kept insisting that I should take a National Express coach from Finchley Road to Golders Green. (I might have tried it if I they had accepted ENCTS cards)

 

[Wolfie]

I do that when driving into a strange town as well. Much better to know that you want the stop/turning just after B&Q rather than just a street name that you spot when it is just too late.

Journey planners do sometimes need a little interpretation. The TfL one once kept insisting that I should take a National Express coach from Finchley Road to Golders Green. (I might have tried it if I they had accepted ENCTS cards)

You can switch things (eg coaches) out on the TfL site.

 

[radamfi]

The trouble is, with bus maps having been discontinued, it's hard to discover such connections if you don't know the area.

You can still buy a bus map for £1 (pdf) or £2 (print):

The Greater London Bus Map - The Current Map

The £1 pdf is more up-to-date.

 

[AlbertBeale]

You can still buy a bus map for £1 (pdf) or £2 (print):

The Greater London Bus Map - The Current Map

The £1 pdf is more up-to-date.

Indeed you can - and I'm a fan of the guy (Mike Harris?) who produces them. But getting the whole of the Greater London bus system on one sheet means the print is almost too tiny to use if you're at a bus stop of a night wanting to get an overview of your options... And I do see it as part of the public service functions of TfL to provide information in useful and intelligent formats!