Public transport - brilliant (not)
Discussion
Its that time of year again - the nagging feeling that public transport ought to work for me.
Going for a drink after work today, so decided to leave the pushbike and car at home and catch a bus.
Took me nearly an hour to do the 5-odd miles and costs £2 each way.
So, lets compare time & costs for a day's commute:
Walking: ~2hrs, free
Cycling: ~45mins, free
Car: ~30mins, £4 carpark + petrol
Bus: ~2hrs, £4
On that basis, I think I'll be sticking to cycling and using the car when necessary.
Public transport = shite.
Going for a drink after work today, so decided to leave the pushbike and car at home and catch a bus.
Took me nearly an hour to do the 5-odd miles and costs £2 each way.
So, lets compare time & costs for a day's commute:
Walking: ~2hrs, free
Cycling: ~45mins, free
Car: ~30mins, £4 carpark + petrol
Bus: ~2hrs, £4
On that basis, I think I'll be sticking to cycling and using the car when necessary.
Public transport = shite.
Its very frustrating, I do tend to look for viable public transport alternatives where possible. I use Newcastle's Metro to get to work which works fine for me and is cheaper than a car. However, went to Birmingham by train at the weekend, £80 return and 9.5 hours of my life wasted. Trains in this country are just dreadful compared to the continent. I rarely use a bus so I'll not pass judgement other than the fact they seem to the worst visible polluters on the road.
Busses in the city work fine. But once you get out of the city and into the country public transport is useless. I use the bus everyday for work and my buss pass is £40 a month, traveling by car to work would be so much more than I can afford.
But to go to my parents is 100 miles and is a two hour car journey, but public transport it is nearer 5 hourse using 2 busses and 2 trains because they live in the arse end of nowhere.
one of those things really.
But to go to my parents is 100 miles and is a two hour car journey, but public transport it is nearer 5 hourse using 2 busses and 2 trains because they live in the arse end of nowhere.
one of those things really.
Matt1986 said:
Busses in the city work fine.
Been to Manchester?
In the name of 'competition', the local authority allows any bus company that wants to to run the routes.
As a result, anyone who is anyone in Manchester has a bus company - usually they'll have bought some 30-year-old British Leyland relics and painted 'clean and green' down the side of them.
As a result, every bus route is always jam-packed and barely moving. Buses clog the streets and, because this is a city, you can walk faster than them.
Of course there are bus lanes, but the buses get stuck behind each other and pull out into the other traffic, and so another lane is clogged up too.
And you have to pay for the privledge of sitting in these moronic traffic jams.
IMO inner-city rapid transport only works if it doesn't involve roads. The underground is great - in London, New York, Tokyo, Moscow - anywhere. If your city doesn't have an underground, then what about a raised monorail?
Twincam16 said:
Been to Manchester?
As I understand it, it's worse than you say. Apparently war has broken out between the Manchester bus companies. Because of deregulation (nice idea, perhaps, but not the best thought through piece of legislation) the bus companies do not need approval to add a route or add more busses - they need only give 28 days notice of the change.
The companies are throwing every serviceable vehicles onto competitive routes (not even new ones that would add value to customers). I've heard that Manchester City Centre is close to total gridlock, caused solely by, err, the "public" transport.
HiRich said:
Twincam16 said:
Been to Manchester?
As I understand it, it's worse than you say. Apparently war has broken out between the Manchester bus companies. Because of deregulation (nice idea, perhaps, but not the best thought through piece of legislation) the bus companies do not need approval to add a route or add more busses - they need only give 28 days notice of the change.
The companies are throwing every serviceable vehicles onto competitive routes (not even new ones that would add value to customers). I've heard that Manchester City Centre is close to total gridlock, caused solely by, err, the "public" transport.
All true.
We've even got a tram system that would be fine were it not for the fact that the buses get in their way.
Know what the worst thing about it is? Every time congestion is mentioned, the council, the bus companies, the tram company, the newspaper columnists and the nutters ranting in the letters pages all blame - THE CAR DRIVERS!
Which is why they reckon it will all be solved with a congestion charge. They're in for a rude awakening.
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