Public transport a viable alternative to a car for you?

I live about 4 miles away from work, on a good day I can get to work in 5 mins.

Most it takes me is about 10 mins.

Public transport means it would take me 20 - 30 mins.

So yeah viable, but I get a company car - so I think I'd prefer that option :D
 
Where I currently work, buses do not go so I have to drive. My new job is in the city, and I certainly am not paying city parking prices (can't afford to)and driving in the rush hour every day. Train station is 15 mins walk and my new workplace is 5 mins from the bus station. Train ticket is just over £50 for the month. I still have to have a car though for training days and visiting clients.
 
^ As above when Im at home in Notts. I would save a small fortune if I didnt have a car, so its really just a luxury. I dont need a car when im at university either. Totally worth it for the freedom though.
 
for me to get to work i owuld need to get 3 or 4 buses or get a bus to train station, train to cardiff then train to merthyr.

would mean a 30 min car journey turning into a 2+ hour journey! no thanks.
 
same story here, drive to work is average 20 mins and i cant get there in less than 2 hours if i use public transport, it'd cost me more to start with and if i were to miss it or it were to let me down id pay £15 one way for the taxi

im giving serious thought to switching to a 2 wheeled target for blind drivers but i really like having all my limbs in tact :(
 
penski said:
Tyne and Wear has one of the best-integrated public transport systems I've experienced in this country.
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Your right, its actually very very good, quite a few buses every hour, a ferry and a decent metro system. I'll be honest though, other than the metro if im going clubbing in Newcastle, I never ever use it. I'd rather walk into town than get the bus, its been around 5 years since I last used a bus.
 
A common mistake when comapring the economics of travelling by private transport and public transport is the one of costs, like in this thread where people have just assumed the cost of private travel to be the fuel costs, however if you factor in the cost of the car, insurance, tax, depreciation of parts etc, then in cotnrast public transport isnt as bad value as it first seems.
 
NeilMick said:
A common mistake when comapring the economics of travelling by private transport and public transport is the one of costs, like in this thread where people have just assumed the cost of private travel to be the fuel costs, however if you factor in the cost of the car, insurance, tax, depreciation of parts etc, then in cotnrast public transport isnt as bad value as it first seems.
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It is where I live - it doesn't get me where I need to go!

Approximate costs:
Depreciation £0
Insurance £400
Tax £200
Tyres £100
Parts/Misc £200
Fuel £1700

Lets round it up to 3 grand to account for worst case scenarios.
For this I also get to
1) Go wherever I please, when I please
2) Transport all manner of things
3) Get to work on time

Now, taking the bus should cost me approximately £1600 a year.

Half the price... BUT

1) It would get me late to work every single day I'm on an early, average 3 days a week (I could always get a different job?)
2) When on an early shift I have to wait after work for 2 hours to get the next bus home and the bus also takes approx 3x the time of a car journey due to the routing.
3) When on a late shift I have to get a taxi. As I get approx 5 lates a month that's around £1200 a year on taxis unless I fancy sleeping rough in Swansea
4) I would also need a taxi both ways each Saturday and Sunday I work as the bus service I need does not run £2400
5) Christmas/New Year/Bank Holiday restrictions mean more taxis £1500 approx
6) Can't go where I want when I want
7) Buses don't get me home from airports at 3am
8) Buses don't take me door to door rain or shine
9) Buses don't take me to my girlfriends house 150 miles away when I feel like it
10) Buses are full of scum.

Car still wins by an absolute country mile. For a huge number of people in the UK public transport is not even a reasonably viable alternative.
 
NeilMick said:
A common mistake when comapring the economics of travelling by private transport and public transport is the one of costs, like in this thread where people have just assumed the cost of private travel to be the fuel costs, however if you factor in the cost of the car, insurance, tax, depreciation of parts etc, then in cotnrast public transport isnt as bad value as it first seems.
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Comparing economics of travelling by private transport and by car with exclusion of the cost of the car, insurance, tax, depreciation of parts etc is the right way, because 99% of these costs are still present when the car in question is parked and not driven while you're communiting using public transport. With more and more people forced out of the cities and into suburbs not having car at all is simply not a viable option. In 21st century, anywhere outside zone1,2 and 3 of London NOT having a car at all is simply impossible. And if you already have a car, all the extra costs work out in favour of using it, otherwise you have to add cost of your car depreciating on a driveway while you sponsor end of the year bonus of some public transport bozo group.
 
v0n said:
Comparing economics of travelling by private transport and by car with exclusion of the cost of the car, insurance, tax, depreciation of parts etc is the right way, because 99% of these costs are still present when the car in question is parked and not driven while you're communiting using public transport. With more and more people forced out of the cities and into suburbs not having car at all is simply not a viable option. In 21st century, anywhere outside zone1,2 and 3 of London NOT having a car at all is simply impossible. And if you already have a car, all the extra costs work out in favour of using it, otherwise you have to add cost of your car depreciating on a driveway while you sponsor end of the year bonus of some public transport bozo group.
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Exactly. Ok, so factor in other non-fixed costs: Brake pad wear, 0.01p per day etc. etc.
 
(this is a few years ago)

My car was in the garage, but had to be in work.
walked 4 miles to get to bus stop
got a bus (16 miles to work)

left work at 5:00,
waited at bus stop
waited, waited and waited.

at 9.00pm, four hours later, bus turned up.
bus full of the weirdest nutters ever seen this side of a padded cell.
got off bus at nearest point to home,
walked 6 miles home.

....and I live in a big city.

NEVER AGAIN.
 
Car:
7 mile trip each way, 70 miles per week
30MPG = 2.3 gallons

Time: 15 mins during term time, 10 minutes in school holidays.
Weekly cost: £8

Tax/insurance etc I'd be paying anyway, so irrelevent to this discussion.


Public Transport:
10 min walk to tube station
12 min on tube
10 min walk to work

Total time: 32 mins, plus any delays/waiting for train
Cost: £3 (being generous, it's probably a lot more)

Weekly cost: at least £18


Now, my mum also works in the same place as me, so public transport costs will need to be doubled, or car costs halved.

It's pretty easy to see what is the best method for me!
 
I use public transport every day to commute (train + tube) as it's by far the most convenient way to get to work.

I could make the same journey slightly quicker (and more cheaply) by motorbike (which I used to do), but that's undermined by all the faffing around at either end - getting in and out of leathers, parking up, having a shower etc.

Car is completely worthless for trying to get into the city during rushhour. Even with the congestion charge I'd estimate that it would take me twice as long.

For any other journey I would always opt for the car - it's just far more convenient and enables you to transport loads of stuff.
 
Takes me an hour and a half to get to work on the bus, if i was to use the bus home it would be 2 to 3 hours due to me finishing at half past 8 and the busses being less regular.

This includes waiting time between 1st & 2nd bus as there is no direct route.

Takes me 20 -30 mins to drive in depending on traffic.
 
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