Why the car is better than the bus
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 didnt want to leave my car in the office car park overnight.
... if that bus had stopped instead of sailing past
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!!! 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) didnt know where they had to get off; (b) seemed confused by English currency; (c) had travel cards that they didnt 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.
Comments from visitors
The cost for two of us to travel by bus into town & back - £4.80 To travel by car 50p + £1.80 to park for a few hours. Can carry all our shopping in the car, it's clean and it's comfortable. We have to walk 1/2 mile to bus stop, bus is crammed full, dirty and smelly - as are some passengers. We can go and vist my parents by car at a cost of about £15 and it would take 1.5 hours. To go by bus, it would involve 4 changes each way (4 hours) and an overnight stay somewhere - and it would cost at least double the car cost. There's no logic to using public transport.
+7
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Westone Babe - 19-Jan-11 13:08
I know exactly what you mean, if I take the 10 mile journey from work to home in the evening on the bus it's approx an hour and a half, if I get the motorbike out I can do the same journey in 25 mins. Public transport has got a long way to go before you'll find me using it for something I depend up like getting to and from work.
-5
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I cannot get across my city to work on public transport - not without being REALLY late for work which would cost me my job.
One reason why I eventually learned to drive at the age of 40 - I had always avoided it as unnecessary until I considered changing jobs.
One reason why I eventually learned to drive at the age of 40 - I had always avoided it as unnecessary until I considered changing jobs.
-3
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Tony in Bicester, have you ever asked the company if you can travel for less? Firstly, buses just after midnight count as the previous day in most places, so a day return would still be valid. Secondly, a weekly pass is always cheaper than five days worth of singles or day returns - I bet you could knock at least a third, if not a half off what you are paying.
-10
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From many a bad experience on buses and trains (mainly the buses not turning up and having to wait around in the cold and wet for the next one), I think I'm getting to the point where I'm becoming completely against public transport!
My car has always been and always will be my favourite means of transport.
Maybe when they clean up public transport, make it more reliable, cheaper and collect me door to door like my car, I'll reconsider!
My car has always been and always will be my favourite means of transport.
Maybe when they clean up public transport, make it more reliable, cheaper and collect me door to door like my car, I'll reconsider!
+13
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Bus drivers, try to convince the passengers that you're late because of traffic by keeping your voice low when you pull up next to another colleague and exchange several 5 minute jokes.
+1
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right who's been late for work recently........oh theres Joe, we can drop him in the streamlining exercise......I know hes a good worker but somebodys got to go and you cant get rid of the others they're my pub buddies.......right joe no driving licence youre pumped....you have hit the bin.....youre in the trash.....just make friday your last day.....no hard feelings buddy....just the economy...am sure you will find something (wish I'd bought a car)
-6
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you are pumped - 6-May-10 16:56
'Walker' said:
" ''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 "
I must say my dear Sir, I am most impresed that you actually work 52 weeks a year.
" ''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 "
I must say my dear Sir, I am most impresed that you actually work 52 weeks a year.
-2
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"Why do you not have a car- get with the times."
What a shallow and thoughtless attitude, and what a pointless and negative comment.
There are many reasons why people don't have a car, or simply choose not to drive. There are people who can't drive for various reasons - not necessarily their fault. There are others who feel that in the interest of the environment and community they prefer not to use a car, and there are people who cannot afford to run a car.
Next time you post something, at least try to validate your point.
What a shallow and thoughtless attitude, and what a pointless and negative comment.
There are many reasons why people don't have a car, or simply choose not to drive. There are people who can't drive for various reasons - not necessarily their fault. There are others who feel that in the interest of the environment and community they prefer not to use a car, and there are people who cannot afford to run a car.
Next time you post something, at least try to validate your point.
-5
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Why do you not have a car- get with the times.
Don't be a 'bus wenker' as they say in the Inbetweeners :)
Don't be a 'bus wenker' as they say in the Inbetweeners :)
0
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Tell me the buses are good when you dont get a job from an interview because you told them you dont have your own car, or you are late for an appointment for business and the other party tells you that you have given all the reason they need because how dare you be 8 minutes late, they are leaving the meeting room now.
Tell me that buses are good when they cancel the service or the last one goes past you at 5 to 10 at night packed too full to stop for more passengers, leaving you maybe 90 miles from home in the freezing cold and rain in a strange place with next to no street lighting and all the nearby amenities and businesses closed, and is it good when you are on a bus and end up with an overweight smelly drunk person leaning against you drooling and dribbling on route to the next town/city as they are barred from all the pubs in the last place?
I have been on a 3 hour bus journey before with a crazed man of about 50 years of age growling at me and standing up from the seat behing me holding my seat with both hands and violently and quickly pushing and pulling at it as if to try to pull it off the floor, every time I turned round to look he would rest his chin on the headrest and growl like a dog whilst dribbling like an infant over it.
The other passengers kept turning round and looking at me as though it was me and a male passenger looking increasingly angry that his wife was frightened turned round and threatened to pull me off the bus and " effing burst me" to which I had to put him in his place before informing him of the culprit and moving to the first seat that came empty right at the front of the bus, which was unfortunately only at the last 10 minutes of the journey. When I got down there I could still hear him growling near the back of the bus...is this what makes busses good then? I later found out that he was in the nearest city seeing a psychiatric consultant for a day and that he had always been like that (care in community)
Tell me that buses are good when they cancel the service or the last one goes past you at 5 to 10 at night packed too full to stop for more passengers, leaving you maybe 90 miles from home in the freezing cold and rain in a strange place with next to no street lighting and all the nearby amenities and businesses closed, and is it good when you are on a bus and end up with an overweight smelly drunk person leaning against you drooling and dribbling on route to the next town/city as they are barred from all the pubs in the last place?
I have been on a 3 hour bus journey before with a crazed man of about 50 years of age growling at me and standing up from the seat behing me holding my seat with both hands and violently and quickly pushing and pulling at it as if to try to pull it off the floor, every time I turned round to look he would rest his chin on the headrest and growl like a dog whilst dribbling like an infant over it.
The other passengers kept turning round and looking at me as though it was me and a male passenger looking increasingly angry that his wife was frightened turned round and threatened to pull me off the bus and " effing burst me" to which I had to put him in his place before informing him of the culprit and moving to the first seat that came empty right at the front of the bus, which was unfortunately only at the last 10 minutes of the journey. When I got down there I could still hear him growling near the back of the bus...is this what makes busses good then? I later found out that he was in the nearest city seeing a psychiatric consultant for a day and that he had always been like that (care in community)
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are the busses good then eh? - 11-Mar-10 22:10
Not all bus drivers are bad.
At approx 6.30pm on 17th August 2009 a Toyota Yaris Blue reg X57GDC turned right out of a side road/private property onto a main road with traffic doing 50 mph and bus was coming.
The bus had to apply brakes and this driver continued way below 40 mph in a 50 zone holding up traffic.
Pulling out like he (or she) did without enough space and driving so slow is a hazard on the road.
At approx 6.30pm on 17th August 2009 a Toyota Yaris Blue reg X57GDC turned right out of a side road/private property onto a main road with traffic doing 50 mph and bus was coming.
The bus had to apply brakes and this driver continued way below 40 mph in a 50 zone holding up traffic.
Pulling out like he (or she) did without enough space and driving so slow is a hazard on the road.
+9
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Recently in a Black Birmingham district I was driving and the traffic was heavy.
Along one stretch there were some bus stops with a bus stopped and I tried to move out to pass but nobody let me out to pass. The slow lane was not a bus lane so it was okay for me to use it. A West Midlands bus passed me but couldn't move into the slow lane because I was there and he didn't let me out so he decided to stop alongside me letting passengers on and off in the fast lane so there was a queue of passengers crossing between my vehicle and the bus in front. When the bus in front moved off passengers were still obstructing my path while getting on the bus.
This held up traffic in both lanes since the bus blocked one lane and passengers blocked the other lane.
Is this how Asian drivers drive on their roads? They should remember they are in the UK and drive properly, not try to be king of the road.
Along one stretch there were some bus stops with a bus stopped and I tried to move out to pass but nobody let me out to pass. The slow lane was not a bus lane so it was okay for me to use it. A West Midlands bus passed me but couldn't move into the slow lane because I was there and he didn't let me out so he decided to stop alongside me letting passengers on and off in the fast lane so there was a queue of passengers crossing between my vehicle and the bus in front. When the bus in front moved off passengers were still obstructing my path while getting on the bus.
This held up traffic in both lanes since the bus blocked one lane and passengers blocked the other lane.
Is this how Asian drivers drive on their roads? They should remember they are in the UK and drive properly, not try to be king of the road.
-8
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Car is more convenient, according to the anti-public transport brigade, and this is often true. We all know that parking in city centres is difficult, expensive, and time consuming, whereas public transport is often of an acceptable standard.
Where public transport falls down is in rural areas, at night, and at weekends. What needs to be done is to have a proper unified and subsidised transport system, where there is an adequate frequency to obtain and maintain critical mass. Then the various modes of transport need to interface properly at hubs, unlike the disjointed efforts which exist in most UK conurbations.
The best examples of excellent public transport can be found in Holland and Switzerland, where in most urban areas a single ticket or pass is available to cover all modes of transport for a given period. I frequently travel in those countries and never use a car simply because the public transport is so good and it saves me time.
Unfortunately for the type of travelling I do in the UK I usually need to use a car - I wish it were otherwise. UK public transport in most areas is inadequate, unreliable, expensive, and often unsafe due to the thuggish attitude of some of the users. This has come about because public transport in the UK has always been thought of as for people who are too poor to afford a car, or who for other reasons cannot drive. It's a sort of 'poor relation' and it shouldn't be.
Where public transport falls down is in rural areas, at night, and at weekends. What needs to be done is to have a proper unified and subsidised transport system, where there is an adequate frequency to obtain and maintain critical mass. Then the various modes of transport need to interface properly at hubs, unlike the disjointed efforts which exist in most UK conurbations.
The best examples of excellent public transport can be found in Holland and Switzerland, where in most urban areas a single ticket or pass is available to cover all modes of transport for a given period. I frequently travel in those countries and never use a car simply because the public transport is so good and it saves me time.
Unfortunately for the type of travelling I do in the UK I usually need to use a car - I wish it were otherwise. UK public transport in most areas is inadequate, unreliable, expensive, and often unsafe due to the thuggish attitude of some of the users. This has come about because public transport in the UK has always been thought of as for people who are too poor to afford a car, or who for other reasons cannot drive. It's a sort of 'poor relation' and it shouldn't be.
-5
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Most of the pro public transport fans seem to conveniently ignore several vital factors.
Time - surely the most valuable commodity we will ever posess and how criminally irresponsible it would be to willingly waste a second of our short lives.
Convenience - no public transport system on earth can match the car for this, and certainly not the slow, uncomfortable, antiquated and just plain horrible contraption that is the bicycle.
Security - ever travelled at late evening on an urban bus full of escapees from the local zoo? Sat next to the 'care in the community' client on a very off day. Experienced the delights of a drunk, sitting on the adjacent seat, valliantly fighting back his urge to vomit and untimately failing? It's strange but you never have any of this in one's own car.
The lack of any reasonably reliable or regular public transport in many areas.
Restriction on travel time - restricted services at weekends and evenings (don't forget not everyone works in a cosy office 9 to 5 in the centre of a large city)
And the final nail in the coffin of public transport or bicycles - choice. We can choose to use our car, a bicycle or use public transport an while the car offers so many advantages then most people will continue to make the only rational choice and it will be the car.
Time - surely the most valuable commodity we will ever posess and how criminally irresponsible it would be to willingly waste a second of our short lives.
Convenience - no public transport system on earth can match the car for this, and certainly not the slow, uncomfortable, antiquated and just plain horrible contraption that is the bicycle.
Security - ever travelled at late evening on an urban bus full of escapees from the local zoo? Sat next to the 'care in the community' client on a very off day. Experienced the delights of a drunk, sitting on the adjacent seat, valliantly fighting back his urge to vomit and untimately failing? It's strange but you never have any of this in one's own car.
The lack of any reasonably reliable or regular public transport in many areas.
Restriction on travel time - restricted services at weekends and evenings (don't forget not everyone works in a cosy office 9 to 5 in the centre of a large city)
And the final nail in the coffin of public transport or bicycles - choice. We can choose to use our car, a bicycle or use public transport an while the car offers so many advantages then most people will continue to make the only rational choice and it will be the car.
+3
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I sympathise with this gripe. I drive to my workplace in 20 minutes. Doing it by bus would take over 2 hours and I'd have to go 15 miles in the wrong direction to get a bus back in the right direction. If somebody wants to give me a bus from my doorstep to my office (just like my car route) then I'll happily take it. Until then I'll stick with my car, thanks.
+8
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The answer to the question is simple, "If I have to sit on a urine soaked seat, I'd rather it was my own urine"
-3
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I use the car because I can be at work in 10 minutes, whereas the bus would take over an hour due to changing half way. And I can listen to my own music in my car, not the crap blasting out from some bogan's cheapo mobile phone.
+12
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Public transport is a good idea in large towns and cities, however in rural areas the buses are few and far between (if at all) they are also more expensive than driving if you only us it 2/3 times a week. So if I use only public transport I can't work! Also the government does not want everyone out of their cars, cars raise too much tax to even contemplate people not driving and paying this...cars are a revenue raiser public transport is not.
+4
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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.
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.
+2
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