Do you think public transport is expensive?

movilogo

Yes, I think public transport is expensive.

This includes bus fare, train fare and parking charge in stations.

Now tell me what I can do about it.

Strider590

movilogo wrote: »

Yes, I think public transport is expensive.

This includes bus fare, train fare and parking charge in stations.

Now tell me what I can do about it.

Walk or push bike, depends how quickly you want to die lol

If not for the dual carriageway, i'd cycle to work...

rev_henry

movilogo wrote: »

Yes, I think public transport is expensive.

This includes bus fare, train fare and parking charge in stations.

Now tell me what I can do about it.

I never pay for parking - unless the carpark has some very unusual piece of technology such as electric gates and I haven't been in there before. I will drive round for several minutes to avoid paying haha.

vikingaero

Generally speaking public transport is fine for a single person using it to get to and from work and around the place. Once you start adding up the costs for a family of 4 the car is often cheaper and more convenient.

movilogo

It's quite simple why public transport is expensive.

Fare = operating cost + profit

In own transport (= car), the cost is just operating cost and no profit bit.

So, naturally public transport has to be expensive.

In countries where public transport is cheaper, it is controlled by govt. via subsidy.

Evilm

Its expensive.

I spent £10 a week getting to a workplace by public transport that is on the outskirts of town (with weekly tickets). I also spent 45+ minutes each way even if I timed the buses right and had to arrive at work nearly an hour in advance in order to ensure I would be there on time.

A friend lives up the road from me and worked at the same place. She spent £5 a week on fuel in her car and was generally home in less than 5 minutes.

(I soon started getting rides home with her btw! she worked different hours so I still had to catch the bus in the morning.)

whatmichaelsays

Pound wrote: »

Sorry but did any of you actually read what I posted? I said if you buy a saver ticket you can get unlimited travel for a fixed fee. It doesn't matter if you travel 1 mile or 50,000 miles, you pay the same flat fee of £37.80 per month or £491 per year. This is obviously much cheaper than running a car.

I think that is partly the problem though.

First Leeds, for example, don't do return tickets. It is either £2.50 for any journey into the city centre (from outside the 'green' zone) or £4 for a ticket that allows you to ride around the city all day. On the face of it, that seems fine. £4 to go where you (or rather, the bus) wants to go doesn't sound bad at all.

The problem is that very few people want to travel all over the city. Most of us working in the city centre make just two journeys; one in the morning and the same in reverse in the evening. First Leeds know that and they can inflate the single journey price accordingly. It's very easy for them to bump up the single journey price, neglect to offer a return ticket and justify it by saying "but look what you get for £4", even though a small percentage of those customers actually get the benefit of that ticket.

There's also another "cost" of public transport that I don't think has been mentioned on here - my own time. I put a value on my own time and public transport, even on the few occasions that it runs to time, eats into that. For me, the time I spend with my friends and family (and of course, working) is far more valuable than any "savings" I'd make by losing the costs associated with car ownership.

Another cost is depreciation. Yes, cars depreciate but my car will still be worth something in 12 months time, albeit less than it is worth now (a typical car will depreciate around 33% in Y1). If I buy a train ticket today, it will be worth nothing in 12 months time - that is a 100% depreciation rate.

jaydeeuk1

Always thought there was a market for a kind of posh bus style taxi. Leather sofa seats, breakfast served to you etc, on board wifi, newspapers, TV etc. Perhaps a vietnamese massusese to take the tension away in the morning. Picks you up from your house nice and early, goes around a few others, drops you at the gate of your office. Would happily do that instead of driving to work.

ArsenalFC

jaydeeuk1 wrote: »

Always thought there was a market for a kind of posh bus style taxi. Leather sofa seats, breakfast served to you etc, on board wifi, newspapers, TV etc. Perhaps a vietnamese massusese to take the tension away in the morning. Picks you up from your house nice and early, goes around a few others, drops you at the gate of your office. Would happily do that instead of driving to work.

The people who can afford these services probably already got porsches, ferrari and aston martins etc, no need to worry about cost of transport.

Pound

whatmichaelsays wrote: »

There's also another "cost" of public transport that I don't think has been mentioned on here - my own time. I put a value on my own time and public transport, even on the few occasions that it runs to time, eats into that. For me, the time I spend with my friends and family (and of course, working) is far more valuable than any "savings" I'd make by losing the costs associated with car ownership.

That's a very valid point. What you might be able to do is find something you do on your own that you could do whilst waiting for or on the bus. For example studying, reading a book/newspaper, phoning your electric company, some kind of paperwork. Then the time you normally spend doing this can be put towards spending time with friends or family.

Another thought is that you might even have more time on your hands since you won't be spending it driving.