Do you think public transport is expensive?

Glitzkiss

Pound wrote: »

I have to say I'm a bit disapointed with this thread. Whilst I understand some people can't use the bus (e.g. if they work before public transport starts) or just prefer not to I think there's a real opportunity for money saving and apart from my original post that doesn't seem to have been discussed.

Lots of people have brought up the fact that if you buy a single or a return ticket then your cost per mile is huge compared to using a car. I don't disagree with this, using public transport like this is extortionate and I would much rather own a car than do this. But the point I was trying to make was that you can use the bus without paying these high prices. Handing cash over to the bus driver is the equivelant of renewing your insurance without shopping around, leaving your savings in an ISA for years earning 0.25% interest or using a gas meter. You're subsidising the people (like me) who can it cheaper.

Using Vince's example. £5.20 sounds like a typical bus fare for quite a short journey and adds up over a year if you took that journey five times a week. But with a bus pass that exact same journey is going to cost £1.90 (averaged over a year).

I think I'm probably alone in my idea and I won't be sharing a bus shelter with any of you any time soon but I'll make one last effort to show the cost saving potential.

Here's a table showing roughly what your costs are with a car or a bus pass over 1 year. This is assuming you ditch your car and doesn't require you to cut back on journeys. Remember, to save money, you need to keep your wallet in your pocket when you step on the bus, the only thing that should be in your hand is your mobile phone (if you have an mticket) or a bus pass.



So here we have an annual saving of £1,045. The above table won't be the same for everyone as bus passes may cost more in other areas, etc. It may be more expensive or it may even be cheaper.

An added benefit I feel I should mention is health. Bus stops typically are not next to where you want to go, you need to do some walking and sometimes brisk walking. Some people do no exercise at all and walking to the bus stop twice a day would make a huge difference to how much exercise they're doing.

I know there are downsides to using public transport, there's no denying that. But it's obviously a personal decision whether you won't to tolerate those issues or save money.

If I was to buy the cheapest season ticket for my area it would cost me £1131 (Aberdeenshire Bronze Megarider 52 week) however my journey time would increase from 30 minutes to ~ 2 hours and 2 bus journeys. If I take in to account my own time (£15/hr) that would add an extra £22.50 per day. Where I live public transport is a very expensive option

This is why I'm keeping my car

dannymccann

I am, and for the forseeable future, with the majority here. In Lincolnshire, public transport is useless. To get 7 miles to work from Lincoln suburbs to a small hamlet Witham St hughs 7 miles away, it takes 45 minutes. This journey, even in traffic, takes 10mins tops in the car. Not to mention I would be there 30 minutes early and have to leave an hour late for the times to work. My partner works at the same place so it is just completely stupid to not have a car. And as mentioned, we go to the tip, to Ikea, go and see family every 6 weeks, have a DOG (good luck getting him on a bus or train without a hi-vis) and shop (I refuse to do online food shopping, I want to see what im buying).

That and I love driving, nothing will prise me away from my car I dont think :rotfl:

rev_henry

dannymccann wrote: »

I am, and for the forseeable future, with the majority here. In Lincolnshire, public transport is useless. To get 7 miles to work from Lincoln suburbs to a small hamlet Witham St hughs 7 miles away, it takes 45 minutes. This journey, even in traffic, takes 10mins tops in the car. Not to mention I would be there 30 minutes early and have to leave an hour late for the times to work. My partner works at the same place so it is just completely stupid to not have a car. And as mentioned, we go to the tip, to Ikea, go and see family every 6 weeks, have a DOG (good luck getting him on a bus or train without a hi-vis) and shop (I refuse to do online food shopping, I want to see what im buying).

That and I love driving, nothing will prise me away from my car I dont think :rotfl:

You can take dogs on trains and buses no problem! Well, you're allowed to anyway.

Mids_Costcutter

Glitzkiss wrote: »

If I was to buy the cheapest season ticket for my area it would cost me £1131 (Aberdeenshire Bronze Megarider 52 week) however my journey time would increase from 30 minutes to ~ 2 hours and 2 bus journeys. If I take in to account my own time (£15/hr) that would add an extra £22.50 per day. Where I live public transport is a very expensive option

This is why I'm keeping my car

Well they certainly have grand names for travel passes in Aberdeenshire! Mine's just called 'ntrain'. £1131 works out at less than £22 a week - not that expensive provided that you're getting a good bus service. However I wouldn't choose to increase my journey times by that much either. I guess you're talking about a commuting journey?

Fine if you want to keep your car, it doesn't mean you have to use it for every single journey.

olly300

rev_henry wrote: »

You can take dogs on trains and buses no problem! Well, you're allowed to anyway.

All the dogs I've seen on buses, trains and even the tube are very well behaved.

The same unfortunately can't always be said of their owners.

Glitzkiss

Mids_Costcutter wrote: »

Well they certainly have grand names for travel passes in Aberdeenshire! Mine's just called 'ntrain'. £1131 works out at less than £22 a week - not that expensive provided that you're getting a good bus service. However I wouldn't choose to increase my journey times by that much either. I guess you're talking about a commuting journey?

Fine if you want to keep your car, it doesn't mean you have to use it for every single journey.

I suppose they could call it the Gold Standard Megarider if they wanted to be really grand :rotfl: And yes if it was a decent service I would have no problem using it. It's great if you simply want to get into the centre of Aberdeen but it's mainly only retail there and the majority of employers are on the peripheries. Again fine if you work in the area closest to your commute but a pain if you don't. The really annoying thing is we have an old railway line that would make commuting much easier and cost-effective but of course that was pulled up and made into a walkway :mad:

btw, I use my car to commute and visit friends in other villages/towns. I walk sensible distances and if I absolutely have to visit the hell that is Aberdeen city centre I take the bus. Not everyone uses their car for every trip

littlejosie

I am currently learning to drive, and I know with the amount my insurance will cost for the first year, its gonna cost me alot more to drive then it will to use public transport. But my journey home from work is a 15 min drive, using public transport, and then walking it takes 1 and a half hours, time I would rather be spending with my daughter. My weekly bus pass is ok, £11, but I can only use it to get to work, to go anywhere else I have to buy a pass from another service provider, and my daughter can't have a pass for the weeked, so its 90p a bus ride, that might not sound alot, but to go to the next town shopping, it works out £9.50. Its not just the cost, when the weathers bad, the buses get bad, cancelled in the snow, all come together in the rain, take the bus, if you dont mind standing in the rain for an hour, the heating being on in the summer, and off in the winter lol.

elisebutt65

I've never driven (I've failed the test a lot though) and don't own a car - thankfully - all people on the road are safer :rotfl:

I only live 20 minutes walk from work where I've been for the last 2 years. Previously I was at Uni in Birmingham so had to get the train every morning at the crack of dawn as I had to get the kids sorted as well so it was a tenner on the bus for a season pass and £40 for a weekly 1st class season ticket - I could have gone standard for about £26 but it meant I always had a seat and could get breakfast and coffee thrown in every day, also a sandwich on the way home so it meant that I save on eating twice a day for 5 days a week. I couldn't get a season ticket with my student railcard as I had to travel before 9am which is pants!

Prices have gone up hugely in those last 2 years though - £6 standard return in 2007 and £10.60 2010. I think the season ticket for the bus is now about £15 a week now as well:eek: If I had to do that commute again, I'd walk down to the station now as I don't have to faff about with the kids - they take themselves off.

For longer journeys with the kids I use my F & F railcard so that works out quite cheap but usually I go for the cheats option and ask my BF to come with us so we can go in his car:rotfl:

robredz

Mids_Costcutter wrote: »

I wouldn't choose to cycle on the A55 either, but surely there are alternatives? What about National Cycle Network Route 5 for one?

This is incomplete and so from Conwy, past Llanfairfechan at the least, you would still be dicing with the trucks:

"Conwy to Llanfairfechan

This section of National Route 5 is currently awaiting development and is a crucial missing link along the north Wales coast. More information on the North Wales News pages." from:

http://www.sustrans.org.uk/what-we-do/national-cycle-network/route-numbering-system/route-5

One day hopefully it will be possible to cycle safely to Anglesey.

Public transport or cycle would be no good to me in my work, as how would I carry parcels for a 200 plus mile delivery route, on a bus or bike, and Dr Beeching put paid to the trains in Mid Wales in the 1960's.

For some people there is no other option.

Councils in North Wales pay lip service to promoting the benefits of cycling however, as to cycle in Llandudno is a dangerous business, with cycles banned from the promenade by a Victorian Bye-Law, and cyclists having to dice with the coaches and cars on a congested road.