After a rather slip slidey journey to work this morning and back home again, I'm thinking of using the bus to get to and from work (it goes from near my house and stops right outside work) for a few days until this ghastly weather has melted away.

But, dear reader, I haven't been on a bus for... well, the only buses I use these days are the ones to take me from the park and ride into Cambridge or Oxford. Public transport has long passed me by.

What are the do's and don'ts? Is it considered a faux pas to strike up conversation with my fellow travellers? Should I just plug my earphones in and listen to my ipod? Should I recall my life story to anyone who will listen?

Buses have a bad rep but aint that bad really.

The do's and don'ts somewhat depend where abouts you are, when I lived in Liverpool it was acceptible to talk to the fellow passenger (or at least I rarely had a journey where I escaped being talked to!) in London definitely not!

I generally pod up, and hope to find a copy of the metro to pass the journey. Other acceptible bus past times are books, reading academic work, playing on my phone and knitting.

Thank the driver when getting off (except in London, where I don't think it is common practice, certainly wasn't when i lived there) and don't expect to get change for a £20. WHere I live will usually change a £10 but sometimes you have to put up with a small amount of moaning!

That reminds me of a quote from Somerset Maugham - he said that every time he boarded a train he lived in terror of ending up in a compartment with that peculiar brand of Englishman who regarded public transport as a fantastic chance to meet people! I can't remember his exact phrasing, but he always took along a book as defence against unsolicited conversation... and while I'm quoting from stories - the travel-writer from Anne Tyler's The Accidental Tourist would always take props on public transport to avoid conversation - the same book year in and year out, open in his lap (never to read but for the sake of looking occupied) and also would wear headphones (with no sound coming out of them, but he could pretend not to hear someone addressing him). If you build yourself a wall like that and someone still attempts to strike up a conversation, they must have something REALLY important to say to you!

I very rarely use busses but regularly use trains and the tube so I guess the same social rules apply. I am in London so people aren't generally friendly towards each other, I am regrettably quite an antisocial traveller and although I don't have an ipod, I sit on the inside by the window then put my bag next to me so nobody sits next to me. Of course I let someone have the seat if it is busy but I'd rather sit on my own, then there is nobody smelly/eating loudly/having a loud phone conversation next to me.

I think the main 'do' for me on a bus is always to give up your seat for an older person, and don't sit at the back, especially on the upper deck, unless you are a schoolchild!

Well, apart from the strange guy at the bus stop this morning shouting random things at the passing traffic (not to be engaged with at 6.45 in the morning in the cold), it was actually really quite nice - because of the times I was travelling the bus there and back was pretty empty (flexible hours mean I work early) and it's one minute walk to the bus stop from my house and it drops off about 30 seconds walk from work! I may even be tempted to go again tomorrow...

There are different rules for public transport use in this kind of weather. Usually (at least where I use it - london) don't talk to anyone, at best they'll think you're weird, at worst they'll talk to you for the entire journey and follow you to your office.

BUT when its snowing and you're delayed feel free to have a good moan about the service to fellow passengers.

I hate buses because whenever i use them I don't know the destination and what it looks like and people are so unfriendly that I end up panicking and getting off 20 stops before the one I need.

Glad to hear it went well. I did wonder.
I like buses. There's a company here that runs on old cooking oil. Smells a bit funny but the drivers are always friendly. :p

When I lived in London I always used the bus rather than the tube - I always found it to be more civilised and in London it is very democratic (everyone uses them) unlike other parts of the country where it tends to be students or old people. I live in a rural area now where we are lucky to have one bus in any direction every two hours so not practical (but my kids think it is an adventure if we do go on teh bus)