Why the car is better than the bus
17-May-2008
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Why the car is better than the bus

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Recently I “attempted” to travel into work using public transport, not as a moral stand against gas guzzling cars (my little 1.1l  Citroen could hardly be called a gas guzzler however!) but because I had an all expenses paid company function that evening and I didn’t want to leave my car in the office car park overnight.

I consulted the bus timetable, selected a suitable departure time (7.22) and looked forward to letting the bus driver cope with the stress and strain of my 20 mile drive into work for a change.  I arrived at the bus stop at 7.15, in plenty of time to catch the 7.22 I thought, well it would have been had the 7.22 actually turned up. No matter, there was another bus scheduled for 7.34, I could get on that one and still be at work on time, or I could have been if that bus had stopped instead of sailing past the stop completely empty!!!

Going to work by bus instead of the car

I would be a bit late but nothing too much to worry about …?

O.K. then there was always the 7.42, I would be a bit late but nothing too much to worry about. At 7.38 two buses arrived at the stop, I got on the front bus, paid my £2.30 fare and sat down. At this point the driver of the bus behind pulled up beside my bus and after chatting with my driver it was decided that the second bus would leave straight away and my bus would wait 10 minutes or so.  No one on my bus was given the option to move onto the other bus.

At 7.48ish my bus started its leisurely trip around the local neighbourhoods picking up passengers.  The delay in departure meant that the bus hit the main road out of town at peak time and the newly installed traffic lights on the A34/M40 junction served only to delay my progress even further.  The one and only high point of the trip were the bus lanes that enabled my bus to sail past the queues of cars making their way into town.  My journey was then fairly trouble free but for the bus having to pick up several English language students who (a) didn’t know where they had to get off; (b) seemed confused by English currency; (c) had travel cards that they didn’t know how to use. I arrived in town at 8.45, half an hour late for work already and then waited 15 minutes for a connecting bus that got me to work at 9.15.  So a 20 mile trip took me 2 hours, I could have got into London in less time!  I for one will not be swapping my un-environmentally friendly car for public transport until it becomes cheaper and more reliable.  I arrived at work more stressed than if I had driven myself in.


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''nugget'' you forgot one item off the list. When the bus is late which it will be about twice a week in my area I lose money through missing work which is average 1 hour late. In my area the average hourly rate is £8 so let’s recalculate

Twice a week = 104 days a year
So 104 hours = 832

2605- 832= £1773

So its still more expensive but you get there on time expect that one day of the year the car breaks down.

But I have another solution it’s called a bike which will do 90 mile to the gallon this is what I used do to get to work.

Insurance = 200
Tax =15
Mot= 20
Miles a week = 15*5= 75 and a year = 75 *52 = 3900
So cost for the year is 3900/90= 43.3 gallons at £4.725 = 205.675
Cleaning = 50
servicing= 50
Total = 540.625
Bus total =480 + 832 =1312
A saving of around £770 plus you get to work on time.

The only other thing is you do have to pay for the bike which are around £1600 band new so over three years it will be cheaper.

SO TO THE ANSWER IS IT CHEAPER TO TRAVEL BUS OR BY PRIVATE VEHICLE IT DEPENDS WHAT YOU USE. THE CHEAPEST WAY TO TRAVEL IS WALKING WHICH I DO NOW.
*WALKER  21-Mar-2008 15:40

 
Will be getting my own transport due to the fact that the bus drivers in my area do not know what they are doing. Many times they run red lights, give out wrong tickets which when confronted with this they say it will be ok if you tell the next driver(instead of giving another ticket) - only to be told the ticket is invalid with no exceptions and having to walk 14 miles home. I'm an asthmatic and ended up in hospital that day. I have had numerous wrong tickets that I have never got the money back from.
I have in fact had drivers stop nowhere near the bus stop and expect me to get off (never again after last driver moved off without waiting to see if I ACTUALLY got off the bus). Numerous occasions where the driver simply does not stop when you ring the bell, and then they expect you to say "Thank you"????? Sorry to say in my area the bad drivers outnumber the decent ones.
*Humbert  12-Sep-2007 13:21

 
I travel roughly 18 miles to work to Banbury. For the first 15 miles there are fields either side of me. There are no buses, ever. This is because in their wisdom the government decided to privatise the bus service AND remove subsidies. As privatising everything is about making profits and NOT losses the rural routes do not receive a bus service. The operative word here being "service." I don't call a once-an-hour bus appearance, a service. This would be a joke if it was funny. For me, to travel to Banbury by bus, I would have to go to Oxford first, then out to Banbury. The world does not work like this, not anymore. So don't EXPECT me to.

I even look forward to a day when I can give up my car and make MEANINGFUL use of public transport. It was a Joke 10 years ago, it is still a joke today, John Prescott you were the weakest link you incompetent toad, Goodbye and good riddance....
*Bill  27-Aug-2007 09:28

 
Im a bus driver from bournemouth and I must add a comment, I've read with great interest all the comments with regards to why having a car is better than a bus, well heres a few facts that might sway you, especialy if you live in and around Bournemouth.
the average distance from a home to a work place is 15 miles, in an average size car you would spend roughly 4.50 on fuel there and back, where on our buses you can get a buzz card for 7 days travel all day long as many time as you like for £12.
the average car insurance for a year fully comp is £500, if we have a prang in a bus we just get another one from the depot, dont have to sort out replacment car ect ect.
a car will wait in that dreaded queue, a bus can use the bus lane.
to park in an average car park for the day will cost roughly £4.50, and thats if you can get and find a space, on a bus you just press the bell and get off at the next stop, walk the 10 minutes and get a bit of exercice and fresh air.
if your car breaks down to or from work you wait 4 hours for recovery, on a bus you get off, and wait for the next one for roughly 10 minutes, if your not covered for breakdown it will cost you roughly £180 to be recovered.
you dont have to spent time and roughly £50 a year cleaning the bus, we do it,
you dont have to spend 30 minutes flatpacking the pram to squeeze it into the boot, you just wheel it on the bus.
so here is the break down for you
£4.50 fuel x 5 days=£22.50 per month= £1080 per year
car insurance = £500 per year average
parking for one year = £1080
breakdown x1 = £180
car cleaning = £50 per year
tax = £160 for the year
mot = £35.00
total = £3085

yellow buses 90 day travel card x 4 =£480
a saving of £2605
now tell me it better to use the car
*nugget  01-Aug-2007 11:55

 
Come to Bournemouth, our bus company is fantastic, the drivers are relly nice, and you can travel all day and night in any direction for just £3, what a bargin.
*monkey  01-Aug-2007 11:25

 
I use my car because it takes ten minutes to drive to work, 45 minutes on the bus, an hour and 10 minutes to walk, and 25 to cycle. And I always get a seat in my car. Plus I don't have to rub shoulders with the plebs and chavs on the bus.
*Mustang Sally  26-May-2007 09:45

 
Most sensible cities have trams. Sensible town planners plan routes for them before they authorise new housing and trading estates.

Bring back the tram. It is by far the most efficent means of moving around a city.

It's going to take the UK another 50 years before it corrects the mis-management of its public transportation system for the last 100 years.

We have idiotic people running this country. They spend money on wars, instead of public services. They are only in it for the glory, and perhaps some backhanders and titles. Let us rid ourselves of these parasites.

Car ownership should be completely suppressed. They should be made impossibly expensive to run. They are all mostly imports so are literally costing the blood of this nation of ours. They are complete drain on our national wealth.

There should be more trains and cheaper subsidised fares.
*Tim the Tram  09-Apr-2007 08:03

 
You can always get a seat in your car, and you don't have to share your journey with groups of odious and foul mouthed chavs, who spend the duration of your journey blasting out music from their mobiles. In a car you can listen to your own music whereas on the bus, you can guarantee the single mother with her screaming brat is going to sit right next to you, and in a car, there isn't some horrible, wierd smelly old man who stinks of booze, trying to feel you up!
*Dan Dan the Chainsaw man  08-Apr-2007 12:36

 
I teach people to drive buses in London and I would like to make a few comments if I may,

Firstly I am fully aware of how frustrating bus travel can be, but I am also aware that the general public aren't always aware of the situation from the drivers point of view. A lot of people think drivers just drive up and down picking people up. It is not that simple. They have timetables and it is perfectly possible that the bus you got on was scheduled to be behind the one that went off in front. It may have been very late and his follower was helping him/her out by taking some of the load. Yes it would have been better for the driver to tell the passengers that the other bus would go fisrt but it is not always possible, perhaps they thought they would stay together. There are bad bus drivers and good bus drivers, just like there are good and bad people in your profession. Please don't tar them all with the same brush.

On a different note. If there were no buses at all how difficult would your car jurney be with all the extra cars on the road and how would all the people without the luxury of being able to choose to travel by car get anywhere.

On a mile per person basis buses are by far, much more economical, especially now they have low emission engines and fuels. New tecnology like fuel cell vehicles will make this even better in the future. Since 2000 in London there has been a 5% shift from car usage to public transport saving 500,000 car journeys and an estimated 210,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide.

In London the bus fare is now £2 per journey, only £1 if you use an oyster card (A card that makes boarding much quicker). Now to some this seems a lot but while this means it costs £2 to travel 200 yards it's also £2 for a 14 miles. and if you do use an oyster card the price capped at £3 per day. You couldn't get into a taxi for £2 and even in your car you could easily spend more than £3 in fuel in one day.
*UK Driving Instructor  09-Jan-2007 00:07

 
you may not agree on what have to say but real don't you think there are more car coming into the world and if very one want to dive don;t you think your just making m yourself late because threr would be more tarffic, just think about it taking a bus or a tarin which both of theme have more than five seats and if every one gets them there would be less tarffic and you won't have to wait for the them like 1 hour or so. belive it is much better!
*cool cat  06-Dec-2006 22:23

 
it is much better to use a car beacouse if you are travelling somewhere you get much quicker than transport.
*Bahroz  05-Sep-2006 12:06

 
Recently started to use the local Park&Ride, as a new arrival to the familly meant only 1 travelling into the city daily - have to say that although not perfect the service is excellent, saves money on city centre parking and generally, bus lanes do allow the service to slice through traffic far quicker than I could in the car - now use it whenever possible.
*Super Snapper  20-Aug-2006 21:04


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