Mumbler Bus Challenge with Konectbus

Sponsored collaboration with Konectbus and Norwich Mumbler

Norwich Mumbler is working with Konectbus over the summer to make sure families have all the information they need for safe bus travel across the county.  As part of this we decided to launch a Mumbler Bus Challenge for 3 local bloggers (and Mumbler Liz) and send them off to test out the new Konectbus app and see what lovely places they could find in Norwich and Norfolk using the buses.

Liz’s final Team Mumbler job was to go on our Mumbler Bus Challenge.  Here’s how she got on with her youngest, Nathaniel…

To be honest, I haven’t been on the bus for ages. Previously, even if I knew where I wanted to go, I had no idea of timings, so I just turned up at the bus stop and hoped for the best.

However, the new Konectbus app really does make it a lot easier.

It’s easy to use, so you can tap in where you want to go, then where from and there’s a button that says Get Me Here.  Then the app will show the route on a map, how long it will take and exactly where to board, which bus to take and how many steps it takes to walk to the bus stop.

So I chose to travel to the Sainsbury Centre for Visual arts with Nathaniel. The journey requires a bus change as well, so I wanted to see how easy it was with a buggy.

To start with, we were too late leaving!  So I looked for the next bus, you can tap in the time you want to leave and then choose later or earlier journeys on the app as well.  Our later journey started from Anglia Square so we walked there and got on the 501 to St Stephens Street. 

At this point there was a bit of confusion with the app. Because I was relying too much on looking at the app and not looking at what was around me in real life, I missed the connection – d’oh!

The bus stop was easy to spot once I looked up at the buses and not down at the app!!

Then we got on the bus to Cringleford, Round House Way.  It was a really quick journey and Nathaniel was very happy on the bus.  When we got off, you could still follow the app tracker which showed us the way to walk to the UEA and Sainsbury Centre.  It was a little passage way that I never would have found without the app!  We walked into the woods and past the UEA lake towards the centre.  This was really easy with the app, as it showed how many steps there were, which way to go and how many minutes it would take.

On the way back, we went the same route and it was even easier.  I could look at the exact bus times and when I would get home.  Much like a train timetable.

We took 4 buses in total and each one was on time or a few minutes late.  For one adult it was £4.80 and Nathaniel was free.  You can activate the ticket from the app which then lasts for a whole day so you can get on and off the bus within your ticket route as many times as you like.  I thought this was great value. 

Benefits:

1/ Good value for money, you can travel throughout the city and further afield for £4.80

2/ Easy to track the buses to see if they are on time and even where your bus is if it’s running behind.

3/ Easy to see your journey so you know exactly how long it will take.

4/ You don’t need to have any cash ready, you pay for a ticket in advance and just need to scan the ticket on your phone. No more hunting around for extra change!

5/ Also tells you how many steps you’ve used walking to the bus stop and how much C02 you have saved!

Points to note: 

1/ Limited space for the buggy on board. Because the 1st bus was busy, I had to pack the buggy away and put it in the storage space, but the wheels still stuck out.

2/ When following the tracker showing your route, it’s not always completely accurate (but very close)  You probably just need to use a bit more common sense than me and may have to look around a bit for the right bus stop.

Overall:

Nathaniel and I had a great time at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts. Basically, we had a day out for £4.80 and reduced our impact on the environment at the same time! Win win. The bus journey was an adventure for a 3 year old, he loved it, lots of chatter about the colour of cars and how we were traveling at turbo speed!! (We weren’t)

For me, it was very easy to plan in advance with the app so everything was done before hand, we just had to turn up to the right stop and then follow the route.

Getting the bus across the city and further is now as easy as booking a train ticket with the new Konectbus app.

See how the three bloggers got on with their Mumbler Bus Challenge…

Helen at Routes for Little Boots

Sarah at Norfolk Family Outings

Naomi at Norfolk Play Parks