Why is taking the bus more expensive than driving the car?

ArsenalFC

Voyager2002 wrote: »

What is really strange is that the government have failed to increase the duty on petrol to a realistic level. Driving is too cheap, when you take account of the costs of providing roads, police time to deal with traffic offences, and the various health and environmental costs that motorists impose on us all.

.

Driving is too cheap? Maybe you are well off than the average joe.

£1.20 a litre of petrol just recently, where in the USA it was $4 a gallon that equals to about 45p a litre at exchange rate of £1-$2 at the time. In Britain we get a raw deal on nearly everything.

Back to the original topic - public transport can be cheaper for sum, but for most it will depend one's situation. I for one will always have a car if I can afford it as it gives me the freedom that public transport never could.

anewman

Now I've had a car, when I try get around without it I'm generally impatient and can't be bothered waiting at the bus stop and walk instead

custardy

ArsenalFC wrote: »

Driving is too cheap? Maybe you are well off than the average joe.

£1.20 a litre of petrol just recently, where in the USA it was $4 a gallon that equals to about 45p a litre at exchange rate of £1-$2 at the time. In Britain we get a raw deal on nearly everything.

Back to the original topic - public transport can be cheaper for sum, but for most it will depend one's situation. I for one will always have a car if I can afford it as the gives me the freedom that public transport never could.

this is it
i cycle,walk and get the bus
i did have a car but may need to get another
i did cycle to work however we have moved office and it takes too long now
so i lose too much time a day
the bus now takes 50 minutes and i can only get 1 bus to work,miss it and im screwed
the car would take approx 25 minutes,so i gain nearly an hour a day in time i can use for better purposes
ive tried the bus but i think its more suited to 9-5ers

Idiophreak

hewhoisnotintheknow wrote: »

parking
insurance
mot
tax fuel

As yinhong says, if you've already got a car, you'll already have paid the insurance, tax and MOT. (although, even if i factor these in, by the way, it's something like 4p per mile it costs me...)

Your main costs, added to fuel, are depreciation and wear+tear, neither of which are going to add up to a huge amount.

For me, it's a fair amount cheaper to drive to the gf's place (about 18 miles) - max £4 for fuel/depreciation/w+t, vs around £8 to get the bus(es).

In addition to this, the car journey takes around 20-25 minutes, vs 1:40ish on the bus. If you assume time is money, you could add on another £6.50 onto the cost of the journey each way by taking the bus - and that's just paying myself minimum wage

Anyway, as Voyager points out, as soon as the buses and trains stopped being a public service and started working for profit, they were never going to be affordable, or indeed convenient.

Cyclists don't pay taxes, as such, so support for them if never going to be that forthcoming...the government, like the bus companies, are far more interested in their balance sheets than people's quality of life, health, the environment or anything like that...again, explaining why there's still no real secure cycle storage in town centres. (and lord knows, if they did introduce this, it *wouldn't* be free...)

And OP, I wouldn't worry too much about taking the bus to save emissions...In the grand scheme of things buses are only a small step up from cars (and I've been on plenty of buses carrying 2 or 3 people - quite a large step down, environmentally, I reckon)...

If you want to save the planet, the only real solution seems to be to walk (or, at a push) cycle everywhere *and* (this is important) to grow your own food at home. That is, at least, until the government starts taking its own targets seriously and invests enough in renewable energy sources and transport technology to have proper "green" electric cars about the place.

custardy

Idiophreak wrote: »

And OP, I wouldn't worry too much about taking the bus to save emissions...In the grand scheme of things buses are only a small step up from cars (and I've been on plenty of buses carrying 2 or 3 people - quite a large step down, environmentally, I reckon)...

the bus i used to get to the old office would quite often have me as the only passenger,that was a 25 minute journey!

sarah_elton

With the bus you're paying for:

1) The vehicle itself - you didn't factor this in on your car cost
2) Insurance, repairs, MOT, servicing etc - more expensive than a car!
3) Salaries for the drivers and all other employees

RichyRich

The bus operator needs to pay for the driver's wages, fuel, cost of the bus, running the depot, engineers, MOT Tests, Operating Licence, motor and public liability insurances, repairs to vandalism, administration, and vehicle inspections. They also pay for the driving lessons and tests of new drivers to teach them to drive a PCV, and most need to contribute to the (very expensive) Local Government Pension Scheme for their longer serving drivers.

As others have mentioned, you didn't factor in your insurance, maintenance, parking, and depreciation on your own vehicle.

Buying single or daily tickets is the most expensive way to travel by bus for most. Most operators have a weekly, monthly, or annual option which works out cheaper, and many Metropolitan areas have "network" tickets which can be used on all operators within the area.

Whereabouts in the country are you? If you let us know where you are and which operator your bus is run by I might be able to see what options are available to you to save you a bit of cash.

yinhong

Idiophreak wrote: »

...In addition to this, the car journey takes around 20-25 minutes, vs 1:40ish on the bus. If you assume time is money, you could add on another £6.50 onto the cost of the journey each way by taking the bus - and that's just paying myself minimum wage

That's the dealbreaker: time. Time is so important to me (a lot of times whilst moneysaving I will sacrifice paying a bit more just so I can save on time spent on research etc).

Idiophreak wrote: »

And OP, I wouldn't worry too much about taking the bus to save emissions...In the grand scheme of things buses are only a small step up from cars (and I've been on plenty of buses carrying 2 or 3 people - quite a large step down, environmentally, I reckon)...

If you want to save the planet, the only real solution seems to be to walk (or, at a push) cycle everywhere *and* (this is important) to grow your own food at home. That is, at least, until the government starts taking its own targets seriously and invests enough in renewable energy sources and transport technology to have proper "green" electric cars about the place.

Hear hear.

p.s. This has turned out to be a fantastic discussion and I've learnt a lot. Thanks.
Oh, and btw, I didn't take the train in the end—it only runs once an hour and I rationalised that I'd be wasting time by 'stretching' out my errands just to coincide with the bus timetable.

yinhong

RichyRich wrote: »

Buying single or daily tickets is the most expensive way to travel by bus for most. Most operators have a weekly, monthly, or annual option which works out cheaper, and many Metropolitan areas have "network" tickets which can be used on all operators within the area.

Whereabouts in the country are you? If you let us know where you are and which operator your bus is run by I might be able to see what options are available to you to save you a bit of cash.

Richy, thank you for your kindness but I generally only drive a few long distance journeys a month and some sporadic short journeys every fortnight, nothing consistent. The issue just always baffled me, that's all. Thanks again for the offer.