Started walking to work (about 20 min) but at work had to stand for up to 9 hours. Have had a foot injury now for 4 months caused by this and have had to halve my working hours. I now drive to work so I can even do my half day. On the other hand, I use public transport more as I have a free bus pass. For most journeys though there is no suitable public transport. Panic buying is stupid though....have lived through several petrol crises and have never queued for petrol and have never been caught without petrol.
i work in Andover,so have to drive every day,although it is now costing a lot more,even though i drive a diesel and get about 45mpg. I have been cracking up at the queues in my local supermarket petrol station lately,it is busy during the day anyway, but they have been queuing from the forecourt down the road,and even jamming up a roundabout. I only ever use it before 8am,or after 9 pm.
I have a wife and 3 young kids = 9 months, 5 year, 6 years. I sold the car last year because...we didn't need it We are flush nowadays and can now afford to take the kids places that charge money The odd bus/train is much cheaper than running the car even if it were already paid for with no credit owing.
I would love to be able to ditch the car, but the mrs would have kittens................& I don't want anymore pets!
Have to say I used to think the trains were the way forward but since privatisation the price of travelling on some railways has tripled and the service is no better which seriously takes the piss. The best solution would be to get a lot of the freight transported around on the rail network rather than on the roads. Private roads will just add extra costs to the driver.
Talking as someone who uses the train atleast 3 days a week to get to London for work and the rest of the tme i'm in my car, give me my car anyday of the week as it's reliable, fun and always on time. Some of Europe have the most reliable public transport in the world but we don't so the government will never get us off the roads. Atleast with no strike over Easter means 'm safe to drive to the Palace game
n.b. Before someone gets on their high horse. Yes the following statements are sweeping generalisations but believe me they are not far off the mark (definitely not in my city anyway.) Ask people in the village that would remember if there were buses 20-30 years ago??? In Lincoln (yes a city not a village) a lot of bus routes have been cancelled or muchly reduced service. Why? Because everybody is too posh to walk to a bus stop or share a vehicle with strangers. They've even cancelled the bus evenings and weekends in the council area (where I live.) Double problem here is as above. The dossers round here still buy cars then complain about benefits being capped!!!! And those without cars? They get taxis to the job centre because ...see last paragraph r.e. posh. They don't use it in the evenings. They get leathered in the house then get a taxi at 10pm straight into the centre for a night of clubbing - every night of the week for some as they don't have any work next day any day (see comment r.e. benefits cap) So why are train/bus tickets and service getting worse? Because outside of London and Birmingham no-one uses them apart from when they need to because their car is being serviced (for example) and what do they then do? Complain about how bad the bus service is. lol I went past a petrol station today (I was cycling the 8 miles back from my parents to my house - 16 mile round trip was very enjoyable) and there were signs at both exits saying 'Open as usual - Sorry No fuel' There were about 15 cars parked up in a line and you could clearly hear a few of them shouting at the counter staff. Probably saying Why have you run out of fuel. Don't you know how important I am and how important my time is. There is not enough time in the day for this kind of **** (I suggest most people these days think they are as important as can be.) Like I said I went to my Dad's. He was 64 today and he drives....but he cycles more often....and he was laughing at the 'silly irks' that can't walk anywhere. He said to me (his words): I thought these newfangled £100 trainers were supposed to make it much more comfortable to walk...or are they to soften the blow to the balls of the feet when they push the accelerator from out position all the way to the floor and then jam the breaks on at the last minute' He has a sense of humour. I'm the grumpy old man of the family.
That's because in those countries the train service is very well used by the public so they maintain it well. Like I said above, outside the major cities a lot of the trains are empty. People in Lincoln complain that the crossings over the high street are closed so often and then a single carriage train with 2 passengers crawls past. If all these services were used they would be maintained better Same with buses in this city. They are all virtually empty and then people complain about the bus fares and the cancelled routes.
As fewer people manage without a car and land prices go up, services move our of towns, so you get these mega supermaket eye-sores that noone who does not own a car can reach. The main problem with our rail network is not how much services are used but the way they are run, it is not full far less easy to travel when you want as the companies try and make money by tiering the prices for 'peak' times and some tickets are valid only on specific routes or with certain operators, ie. the railways do not run well as a free market operation.
I don't buy that. why would any 'company' put money into a service that isn't going to be used. It's not like other services. People aren't going to go back to the trains through choice. The modern 'ethic' and 'habits' prevent that. So even if they fast tracked (<-pun...good eh) the tilting trains and 200mph high speed rail then when it was ready advertised it non stop. People would say That's cool. Then next morning they would get into their car. The public (in general) aren't going to change from how they are these days unless they are given a nudge, followed by another nudge and after the fortieth nudge they may give in. There's only one thing modern Britain (in general) takes any notice of and that is ££££ nothing else. Only if it takes money from their pocket will they start to get trains, buses or walk. Until then they will still drive a mile to the school, then park on the road outside the school even when the school tells them in every newsletter they should use the car park 100 yards away from the school. People are lazy, very self centred and think 1 minute wasted is a long time!!! Someone said to me the other day (I was moaning about something can you believe. very unlike me ) don't you wish you had a car. You could go places then. Like where said I he replied Errrm. Places like the beach, or .............Alton Towers I said Do you think the coach park at Alton Towers is for private coach owning enthusiasts? There are coaches in the bus station every day of the open season going to places like Alton Towers, And the hourly bus to Skeggy or Cleethorpes or Mablethorpe is only a tenner return Him: what about football matches Me: The Golden Eagle still does coach journeys (including 5 beers stops each way. lo) for a fiver and as a last resort the club coaches, People seem to think if you don't have a car you are stranded unable to do anything. They try to say that trains and buses cost more than petrol which is very true however add up those fares over a year, weigh them up against what the car actually costs meaning petrol, insurance, cost of buying that car, MOT, maintenance, tax. The car doesn't win the argument anymore, hence why I sold the car last year. And selling that car has meant better food and treats for all from the saving It's like all the moaning about the big supermarkets. They all moan but sitll go to them. They aren't going to pay more at local shops and they definitely aren't going to walk from shop to shop when they can go to a one stop shop. Are these shops (or government or authority) going to invest money into local shops when they aren't going to see any change from that investment? No they invest in the major projects like massive out of town centres, the meadowhalls etc. because they will see a return. That's why there is a failing bus service, a failing train service and that 'high speed rail service' will only be from London to Birmingham. The rest will be diverted to building new roads and repairing old ones eventually and then whichever party is in office will declare 'we listened to you and have decided to do what you want'. Then we will moan again that the trains are rubbish. lol Catch22 and a never ending circle of moaning about something which we have no intention of using.
Bus services have to be more frequent. I never used the Newport to Cowes bus service when coming to a match as you had to work out which bus to catch and wasted lots of time waiting. If you missed it the next bus was too late for ferry. Now the buses are every 8 min...just go to stop when you want and one will be along soon. Save myself £6 on parking alone.
Imp Saint, you said in your next, long post that it is "catch 22" and that is exactly the phrase I was thinking. I don't know if you were thinking catch 22 as a negative or a positive because it obviously works both ways. You said why would a company invest in something that won't be used? Well forgive me for being simplistic, nut any company making or servo ing anything in any sector has surely to provide that product or service in a way that will make people want to use it. It isn't up to the public to use something to get it improved. One could argue that if lots of the public were using these services then a good, cold businessman could say they don't need to invest too heavily as the service is doing well and very busy. It's catch 22 again. I had a knee operation this week on Tuesday and had to attend a Board meeting in Wrexham, travelling from Northampton and there was no way I could drive. It was so difficult to find appropriate trains without a short dash to a connecting train that I had to arrange someone to pick me up at Crewe. It took me 45 minutes to go from rugby to Crewe after a 30 minute lift to rugby, and then coming back it took two and a quarter hours. I had no power socket so I could only work while my battery lasted. When my knee is better, I think I'll be driving next time.
Oh don't get me wrong. I am as bad as the next man. I complain about the buses being too expensive and that they have reduced from 4 an hour (every 15 minutes) to 1 every hour. But I don't use them. I bike everywhere so I am complaining about something without it really being something I need to complain about. I complain that those little local shops that used to have some great quality stuff inthem aren't there anymore however even then I bought the odd thing and the rest from the supermarket. Again I am therefore complaining about the shop not being there when I hardly ever used it. I don't think you can compare services like trains and buses to other services. You can improve them all you like and they could be the best in the world, a bus/train every 5 minutes. No need to change half way through long journeys for another train etc, but the modern habits would still mean people would use their cars. Time is too precious to people. The old relaxed ways are long gone. The housewife that ran the house and walked from shop to shop. These days the obsession with money and having a perfect house the day you move into it means that both parents work. Those days of housewive's are virtually gone. So take my moaning with a pinch of salt. I am a moaner about things without ever it being something I should really moan about.
fair enough... you sound a bundle of laughs I would use the train more if prices were reasonable and i could always have a seat next to a plug socket and a table. I have too much dead time in a car, where now you even get done for talking on hands free.
Glaswegians often moan about Glasgow's transport network. Buses run on every route every fifteen minutes. The tube runs every three minutes peak to eight minutes off peak. You are never further than two yards from a taxi as they are all black cabs. Every district has at least one dedicated railway station. I sold my 4.0 V8 that cost £165 to fill up. Don't know what the fuss is about!
Lol. Most would agree Some may say I am very close to the mid-life crisis which I am however I would say if that were true I've been practising for over 20 years. He,he.
Most European countries have state run public transport. And doesn't it show when you board a train or bus there. I took an express train from Naples to Rome that was non-stop, the epitome of luxury and it arrived in 70 minutes. About 120 miles that journey is. The fare? 30 euros which was about £20 at the time. The most expensive part of the Italian network. The local train that took us from Naples, to all the sights in the bay area, Pompeii, Sorrento, Herculaneum, Vesuvius et al, was 7 euros for a day ticket. You could visit as many places in the area on the train for about £4.50!
