Use public transport

DullGreyGuy

CliveOfIndia said:

Public transport can be great if it's available and reliable.  Over the years I've visited London a few times with work, and was impressed at the underground system.  A train every two minutes and they run from very early early morning to very late at night.

We have the "night tube" now too, which is a bit of an odd name because it includes a small part of the Overground too, but that is 24/7 on Friday/Saturday

CliveOfIndia said:

But if there's 3 or 4 of you, a car can work out cheaper in some instances.  The cost of getting the car from A to B is fixed, it makes no difference how many people are in it - so the "cost per person" can work out quite a bit cheaper.

It's technically not fixed because the extra weight will take a little more fuel to move, put a bit more wear on the tyres etc. It's clearly nothing like public transport where two people is double the price of one person but to say its nil is also wrong. The fact that HMRC gives 45p/mile on simplified expenses for you and +5p/mile for taking a passenger (obv a colleague not just giving the Mrs a day out) acknowledges and evidences this. 

With my old 1.1L Fiesta it was a visible difference trying to get up a steep hill with 4 mates in the car than just myself; it could barely get to my friends house with a full load and you could watch the fuel needle drop. Made very little difference with the 2.0L replacement car I got. 

WellKnownSid

When I worked for my last startup in London it meant two coaches and took 15 hours door to door. Nothing better than climbing aboard a National Express on a cold, wet evening being hit by the heady whiff of bum and feet.

maisie_cat

Anywhere to and from London is easy via public transport, Milford Haven to London Paddington is 250 miles, 6 hours by train (2 changes) £66 (plus tube fare) and 6 hours by car.
I always use the train for trips on London routes, but cross country is another matter altogether.
Milford Haven to Lincoln is 300 miles, 14 hours by train (6 changes) £140 (plus bus fare) and 6 hours driving.

CliveOfIndia

DullGreyGuy said:

CliveOfIndia said:

But if there's 3 or 4 of you, a car can work out cheaper in some instances.  The cost of getting the car from A to B is fixed, it makes no difference how many people are in it - so the "cost per person" can work out quite a bit cheaper.

It's technically not fixed because the extra weight will take a little more fuel to move, put a bit more wear on the tyres etc. It's clearly nothing like public transport where two people is double the price of one person but to say its nil is also wrong. The fact that HMRC gives 45p/mile on simplified expenses for you and +5p/mile for taking a passenger (obv a colleague not just giving the Mrs a day out) acknowledges and evidences this. 

With my old 1.1L Fiesta it was a visible difference trying to get up a steep hill with 4 mates in the car than just myself; it could barely get to my friends house with a full load and you could watch the fuel needle drop. Made very little difference with the 2.0L replacement car I got. 

A fair point.  Must admit I was debating whether to add that point into my comment, but I didn't want to sound like I was bisecting rabbits

But really, for all practical purposes the difference is immaterial.  Two people on public transport is twice the cost of one person, but two people in a car is near-as-makes-no-difference the same as one person.

Back on topic, so to speak, we do use use public transport on occasions.  I'm not sure whether this is just a local company or nationwide, but there's a bus company called Ember who run inter-city electric buses.  They run pretty much all day and all night - yes, you need to book in advance, but the fares they charge are really cheap.  To the point where 4 of you can get a bus for cheaper than you can do it in a car.  I think (not sure?) they're quite new, but I've been impressed so far.  And they're certainly a heck of a lot more reliable than the ordinary, every-day buses, that just go a few miles into and out of town every day.

GrahamLM52

I use public transport all the time and I am big fan.

I'm lucky that we have a regular bus service (every 30 mins from 5am until nearly midnight) to a nearby town (3 miles away) and from there I can get buses all over the county or trains to London and beyond.

It would be a different story if I lived somewhere with poor public transport infrastructure.

I'm always banging on to my Local Authority, The Transport Commissioner and my MP to improve public transport. More buses. More trains. More destinations, More often.

Last weekend we had a day out in London. Train fare from my Essex seaside town to Central London was £14.90 per person (travelcard with a two-together discount card). That ticket let me travel all over London. Travel time was 45 mins. To do it by car would be madness.

However, some people just won't use public transport however good and cheap it is:

You can get an airport "express" bus from my Essex seaside town to Stansted airport every 30 minutes during peak period and every hour off peak for £2.00 single. That's not a typo, it really is only two pounds one way. The bus runs all day and most of the night - certainly into the early hours of the morning.

I have a friend who just paid £170 one way for a taxi for the same journey because he "does not trust the buses". The irony was that his taxi got stuck in the same traffic jam as the bus.

I told him that if he was worried about bus reliability, get an earlier bus and get to the airport ages before you need to fly. With the money you saved on the fare you can treat yourself.

TooManyPoints

Milford Haven to Lincoln is 300 miles, 14 hours by train (6 changes) 

You can travel from Milford Haven to Lincoln with two changes (at Cardiff and Nottingham).But it would take about 8 hours, principally because of the dwell times between trains (about an hour at Cardiff and 40 mins at Nottingham).

I have a friend who just paid £170 one way for a taxi for the same journey because he "does not trust the buses". The irony was that his taxi got stuck in the same traffic jam as the bus.

He should have travelled by bus the previous day and with the £168 saved, spent the night in the Premier Inn (about £80). The eighty quid left over would have bought an evening meal and a few drinks on the plane. He would also have had no stress about missing his flight. 

LightFlare

Yes - I could use public transport to work and back but a 20min drive turns into a 1 1/2 hour expedition.
So thanks,but no thanks

DullGreyGuy

LightFlare said:

Yes - I could use public transport to work and back but a 20min drive turns into a 1 1/2 hour expedition.
So thanks,but no thanks

To drive would be 25 minutes there, 25-50 back. The main problem though is parking which would be £6,075 without a guarantee of a space or £10,000 with a guaranteed space but the carpark is about 10 minute walk from the office. Add to that there is the fuel costs. 

Bus costs £525 a year, bus takes 25 minutes in each direction because there is a bus lane almost all the way on the return and the bus stop is 1 minute from both doors. If busses aren't running for some reason I can also go by underground, overground or technically walk it

For me it's generally quicker, vastly cheaper and can go for a post work beer without issue. It'd actually be cheaper to go by taxi both ways than to drive my own car. 

oldagetraveller1

Public transport - what's that? Try living in a semi rural village. Nearest city 20 miles away, nearest town/shops 6 miles away.

I think there's a stagecoach through the village every hour which travels from that city to that town. Takes ages because of it's route.

Operates from 10 am to 4pm.

No car - then tough luck.

elsien

I have had this debate this weekend due to my car being off the road. 

I cannot get by public transport to where I need to go in time for a health  appointment a couple of hundred miles away tomorrow. morning. 
I could travel up by train to tonight, but would have to pay for a hotel because I can’t get to the relatives remote house I’m meant to be borrowing overnight without an expensive taxi trip. 

So borrowing someone else’s car, it is. Four hour drive tonight. Stay at relatives house. Drive to appointment tomorrow. Drive home.

 I did look at public transport options but it was expensive and time consuming.