Public transport, your thoughts?

[diy_fun_uk]

I'll be honest, I rarely use public transport. I don't live in the centre of a city where bus/tram/tube services are numerous and driving is a nightmare. I live in a town and county where getting about in a car is still not overly arduous, although the roads are undoubtedly busier compared to 20+ years ago. So I drive here there and everywhere.

One of the major things for me is convenience and safety. I can go from destination to destination without needing to know timetables and standing to wait for x minutes for the transport to arrive. I can go shopping without the prospect of trying to get my goods on a bus. If coming home in the evening, I don't have the prospect of waiting for a bus/train in the dark or in a deserted station. Further, I don't need to then walk home in the dark e.g. from a bus stop. Even if going slightly further afield e.g. to a concert in Edinburgh or Glasgow, if possible I'll drive. I love (not) getting the last train home and often having a group of lads/lassies sitting opposite that are the worse for wear, chatting loudly etc.

I fully understand some people have no choice but to use public transport. I also get that some try to use it whenever possible (even if they don't have to) e.g. for environmental reasons. However for me, I'm going to be honest and say I'll keep on using my car as my primary mode of transport for as long as I can.

What about you? Are you a regular user of public transport? If yes, why? If not, why?

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

What about you? Are you a regular user of public transport? If yes, why? If not, why?

I am normally a fairly regular user of PT, except the buses are on strike at moment. For me (normally) it is very convenient, frequent and runs past here from a City to a town, including the village centre, every 15 minutes from just 100 yards away at my street end. Having a free bus pass, makes it just silly to get the car out unnecessarily. I don't normally have much need or use for the trains, but I live in the middle between two stations, on the same line, each just a 10 minute walk away.

I don't even have to risk the 15 minute wait - instead I can check the actual arrival time on an app, waiting at home, then just set off for the stop a couple of minutes before it is due. So car is normally reserved for high days and holidays, or when doing an irregular bulk shop. For lesser shops I tend to walk to Lidl, then catch the bus back with the weight, though at the moment I'm having to walk both ways. As the strike is an indefinite and has lasted 10 days so far, with no end in sight, so I have simply limited my small shops and increased my bulk shops going in the car. Even so, I try to make the bulk runs in the car an opportunity to get other things done - such as I have to go a few miles to the surgery for a covid jab on the 23rd, then another injection on the 24th. The same bus as above, normally stops outside the surgery, but if they are still on strike I will be driving and will make a point of doing a bulk shop at whilst I have the car out.

I'm not looking forward to the parking at the surgery, it will be especially busy with cars for the covid jabs and even more so because of the strike, plus I drive a very large difficult to park car.

 

[Stivino]

Edinburgh clowncil hate cars and there are so many roadworks so if I'm going into town I take the bus.
I can get almost everything I need on the outskirts of town in the vicinity of The City By-pass so thankfully I don't need to go in very often.

 

[JP_]

Before kids I used it loads, but a family makes it almost impossible.
Also, my job does not have public transport links - well, it does, but I'd spend about 4 hours commuting a day, instead of 40 minutes driving.
In London it was great, I only bought a car when I moved back to Essex.

Too expensive now though. It is probably cheaper to buy an old banger that does 15 miles to the gallon, than use the bus.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Before kids I used it loads, but a family makes it almost impossible.
Also, my job does not have public transport links - well, it does, but I'd spend about 4 hours commuting a day, instead of 40 minutes driving.
In London it was great, I only bought a car when I moved back to Essex.

I only used PT when I initially started work, just until I could get some transport of my own. I drove company cars throughout my working life, plus always having my own car and often a motorbike at the door to use, so little need for PT. Now I just have the car and make good use of free PT.

 

[diy_fun_uk]

Before kids I used it loads, but a family makes it almost impossible.
Also, my job does not have public transport links - well, it does, but I'd spend about 4 hours commuting a day, instead of 40 minutes driving.
In London it was great, I only bought a car when I moved back to Essex.

Too expensive now though. It is probably cheaper to buy an old banger that does 15 miles to the gallon, than use the bus.

I think for many this is a big hurdle to making the transition from private to public transport. I'm mainly WFH these days however when I was office based the door to door journey took around 15 mins. The bus would be approx. 40 mins with 1 x change so around 50-55 mins if factoring in walking to/from bus stops. Let's call it an hour. Quite a difference compared to 15 mins.

 

[JP_]

Yeah. If I took the bus, I would first need to wait for a bus that comes every 30 minutes, and sometimes does not run if there are not enough drivers. That will take about 15 minutes to get to the bus station. Then a wait for up to 30 minutes for the next bus, which will take about 45 minutes to get near work. Then a 10 minute walk to the office. So, at best, 1hr40 to get into the office, but could be 2 hours+ if the bus is late. It takes 20 minutes to drive.

 

[Ihavenojob]

I use public transport a lot. With the oyster card it isn't too expensive, main advantage is I am not sitting in traffic for ages, or looking for somewhere to park, and even then when you find a parking spot it cost's more than the bus/train fare. Another bonus is you can have a drink and not worry about getting home.

 

[conny]

The last time I used public transport on a regular basis must have been around 35 years ago before I passed my test.
Since then I have either driven a car or rode a bike to get around. I did use the trains a couple of times when I first started visiting Suffolk from Liverpool but once I moved here I got a car. Bus services here are few and far between. On average they run every hour past our house but don't start till 7.00am and finish around 5.00pm. Weekends, you may get one going to town if you know what time it is supposed to be due but it's a bit hit & miss. Coming home could be a no-deal because there may be one running by mid afternoon. A taxi would cost a minimum of £20 each way so totally not financially viable unless 4-5 of you are sharing but, as there are only 3 of us in the family, (and one of those never goes shopping), it doesn't make sense not to have a car.

 

[Bod ...]

Years back I'd catch a Bus from Bondi beach to Bondi junction, get on a train that took me to Central Sydney then another train over the bridge to Lane Cove then another bus to St Leonards....

And back again.... 5 days a week. $20 that was about £8 a week.

Got back home I had a job in London. From Harlow by train and tube to Holborn £14.40 per day.

 

[Dork Lard]

I live in a rural area. What is this 'Public Transport' that you speak of???

We did once have a dial-a- ride minibus type thing all those years ago. You had to jump through several hoops & read volumes of instructions, but theoretically you could dial up & say you "urgently needed to visit the chemists in town" & the following week a minibus would pass within 3mls of your door & take you there. But probably not bring you back.

 

[Justin Passing]

Can't get to a bus stop or station.