MSE News: Fuel rise 'will force job changes'

TrickyWicky

What you're all forgetting is that politicians are in the job for two reasons:
1) Power
2) Money

They achieve power by making everyone elses life hard. If they relented and made our life easier they wouldn't feel so powerful.

They achieve the second by being in a position of power thanks to all of you who just switch from Tory to Labour at every other election instead of voting for a fresh party. When was the last non conservative or non labour government? - Can any of you actually remember one?

You all moan about petrol but how many of you actually signed the fairfueluk petition? How many of you joined them in London with banners and protested? Very few I'll bet yet you're more than happy to go on a forum like this and moan about it instead.

If thats the way you all want it.. (Sorry but every word spoken is the truth).

no_more_cards_for_me

interstellaflyer wrote: »

My 20 mile journey to work takes me half an hour by car, without breaking any speed limits, the equivalent journey on Public transport would take 2hrs at least including waiting times for buses and trains and would cost me £15 a day, it's cheaper for me to drive and only a quarter of the travelling time, public transport has a long way to go before it becomes a realistic option for many people to get to work.

Public transport is not the only alternative however, 20 miles on a bike would take a fit person say 1 hour 15 minutes. Better for you, better for the environment and better for your wallet. If the fuel cost is prohibitive then other options such as cycling can present a viable alternative.

Business need to embrace alternatives, provide showers and secure storage then more people might consider this as an alternative if the roads are quieter

(Obviously not if you use your car for business)

interstellaflyer

no_more_cards_for_me wrote: »

Public transport is not the only alternative however, 20 miles on a bike would take a fit person say 1 hour 15 minutes. Better for you, better for the environment and better for your wallet. If the fuel cost is prohibitive then other options such as cycling can present a viable alternative.

Business need to embrace alternatives, provide showers and secure storage then more people might consider this as an alternative if the roads are quieter

(Obviously not if you use your car for business)

Not bloody likely, I'm not anti cycling and do enjoy a cycle ride for pleasure but I value my life too much to cycle the roads I'd need to use to get to work.

And I often need to call on customers on my way to work.

custardy

interstellaflyer wrote: »

Not bloody likely, I'm not anti cycling and do enjoy a cycle ride for pleasure but I value my life too much to cycle the roads I'd need to use to get to work.

And I often need to call on customers on my way to work.

its not for everyone
however my work for example, has 85%+ within 2 miles of the building
yet less than 2% use bikes(cycle2work is offered) and the mass majority use cars
despite a bus stop right outside the carpark gates

Idiophreak

no_more_cards_for_me wrote: »

Public transport is not the only alternative however, 20 miles on a bike would take a fit person say 1 hour 15 minutes. Better for you, better for the environment and better for your wallet. If the fuel cost is prohibitive then other options such as cycling can present a viable alternative.

Business need to embrace alternatives, provide showers and secure storage then more people might consider this as an alternative if the roads are quieter

(Obviously not if you use your car for business)

I've often thought about cycling the c. 20 mile journey I also take to work.

To be honest, I think it's a stretch to say it is "viable" in any way. If I rode on the road, had a good road bike and did it twice a day, I wouldn't be surprised to see me get the actual ride time down to an hour each way (already taking an hour extra each day)...But there are plenty of issues.
1) My employers do provide showers, but it's still going to take me half hour to cool down, shower and change once you get to work, adding on to the commute time. Likewise, I'll have to shower when I get home. Showering 3 times instead of once each day would use a bunch more shower gel etc, the cost of which would add up. I'd also use a bunch more water, which has costs.
2) Not many people enjoy riding road bikes in the wet. I'd need another bike / set of tyres to be suitable for wet riding - this would add time to the journey.
3) I'd consume roughly 1500 more calories per day doing a 20 mile commute on bike. This means I'd have to buy almost double the amount of food each week. The cost to the environment of this extra eating would be significant through food miles etc.
4) I'd need to launder 2 cycle kits every day, plus my work stuff. This amounts to an awful lot more loads of washing. I live in a flat, so would need to tumble most often. Again, high cost both financially and environmentally. It would also shorten the life of my washer-dryer significantly.
5) My commute is 18miles on the road. Sadly, around 17 of these are on dual carriageways, which I'm just not stupid enough to cycle on. Taking a cycle-friendly route would add a good 30% on to the distance.

Obviously, all of these things are pretty small...but doing the real hardcore maths of the actual cost, the amount of extra time it would take and everything else, I find it impractical...and I'm not a lazy person. I run quite often at lunch, so am used to doing plenty of laundry, showering more often etc.

The harsh reality is, I'd be much better off continuing to drive and getting some bar work for a couple of evenings a week to pay for it...would still take less time.

custardy

different bike & tyres for rain?
lol
what you need is a decent spec commuter/CX (plenty out there nowadays)
full guards,700c wheels but with disc hubs
all weather spec
with all those costs you listed
what about the savings on car use/wear & tear?

custardy

oh and to add
take today
day off
cycled to the gym
after the gym,I cycled into town and picked up a package from John lewis
then got some shopping
grabbed a coffee
cycled home

all done on the bike on a lovely sunny day.
anyone who drives in Edinburgh, will tell you what driving through town is like!

interstellaflyer

I personally think it's ridiculous to suggest cycling 20 miles to work then 20 miles home as a viable alternative, it may suit the minority of hardcore cyclists but it certainly isn't going to suit those of us who need to get to work clean and smelling fresh, not all employers are or would be able to supply showers then there's the issue of how much earlier you would need to get to work to clean up and cool down, that makes the claimed 1hr 15mins turn into 2 hrs and then there's the wear and tear on your bike, ok not as high as a car but I used to cycle 7 miles to work and 7 miles home every day before i learnt to drive and it used to cost me a fortune in wheels, tyres, pedal cranks and batteries for the lights.

Plushchris

custardy wrote: »

anyone who drives in Edinburgh, will tell you what driving through town is like!

A nightmare because of all the cyclists?

Plushchris

interstellaflyer wrote: »

I personally think it's ridiculous to suggest cycling 20 miles to work then 20 miles home as a viable alternative,

So do I, cycling is just too dangerous as far as I'm concerned, if you have to travel 20 miles than its highly likely you are going to be using some major roads. The thought of riding a pushbike along a road where cars could be going 50-60mph + does not appeal..