to think free/cheap bus travel should be provided for everyone that doesn't have car insurance

[MarieNE]

Cars are one of the biggest pollutants. Yet I would rather get the bus but it doesn't work out any cheaper than the car so I drive. People that get the bus are also fitter as they walk more.

My parents get free bus passes, but this doesn't stop them driving that much and still both have a car.

Buses are empty, cars are clogging up the roads and air pollution is above who guideline levels in many cities in the UK.

Imwould love to be able to use public transport to get to work, but a typical 5 day working week for me would be:

Monday - Wolverhampton
Tuesday - Chester
Wednesday - London
Thursday - Warwick
Friday - work from home (hooray!)

It is actually cheaper for my employer to pay a petrol allowance rather than me get the bus or the train. A return from where I live in the NW to London before 9am can be £300.

When I had a job that was local(ish) I did use the bus, but wouldn't expect anyone else to fund a pass for me.

Friday is my favourite day, as I get to do the school run and we either walk or cycle and when the weather is nice, we will walk or cycle to the park after school. I keep Friday a 'car free' day as much as possible.

Well, today I have to walk with my toddler in a pushchair, 1 1/2 hours each way in the pouring rain, because we don't have the bus fare. And my husband is cycling 16 miles in total to take the other children to and from school in a bike trailer, so today I'd say yes! But realistically, I don't think it's sustainable and would be an expensive project for the council!

Well I don't have Car Insurance, so do you propose I should have subsidised bus passes?

(I don't have a driving license or a car, but you didn't specify those requirements in your post)

I think a bus equivalent of a railcard should be cheaply avalible to everyone and free to students, the elderly and people on benifits.

Totally free bus passes being reserved for the less well off elderly and anyone (of any age) medically unable to drive.

A day ticket where I am costs 4.50 and even then I can only go within certain areas of the town.

My DS is still under 5, but in a minute will have to pay for him to.

I'm all for cheaper (and better) public transport but don't see what car insurance has to do with it. Who's going to subsidise it anyway other than the taxpayer?

But getting car Tax to subsidise it might be an idea.

Surely the point of the car insurance is just the way the OP's picked to see if you drive or not?

OP could have said "people who don't drive", but instead suggested a way to check that.

For me it was a novelty when I went to university in a city and discovered buses that actually run every few minutes and to different places. At home I could go to X once an hour, Y once an hour, or Z every two hours. I learned to drive at seventeen!

You are assuming that people drive because they don't have an alternative.

The reality is that lots of people just like driving.
There are loads of school parents who could walk/cycle easily but choose to drive.

There are loads of people where I work who live within 2 miles of the workplace and also choose to drive.

Still wouldn't work. First bus of the day 8 am last bus home 6 pm. Takes 1.5hrs including change of buses. Shift time 730 am to 8 pm. Yes I could walk but I'm a lazy little fuck and don't feel up to a 10 hr walk on top of a 12 hr shift. I wouldn't feel safe either as more than half the walk is on 60 mph roads without pavements.

What an incentive to drive without insurance!

I've never had car insurance, but I wouldn't expect to be able to travel free or more cheaply on buses because of that. What a strange idea.

I dont get this argument.. what sprang to my mind were all the idiots who get stopped by the police for no insurance . I now have an iumage of the police taking the care issue a fine and points and then handing them a free bus pass to get home!!

They're not fake apologies, I feel incredibly guilty that I'm not capable of living up to the standards that people seem to expect of decent, proper human beings.

I walk a lot even though I have a car as I hate paying parking, if I gave up the car and was given a free bus pass I would definitely not be fitter. It could also drive commuters off the buses and back into car if the buses became packed unless you limited time of travel which was free.

My main deterent to using buses, is buses that go where I want to go.

We are quite rural, but no super-sticky. Drive to work = 26 miles/35 mins. Public transport = 30 miles, 2.5
Hrs.

I work for a LA and I have previously said that staff using buses should receive a discount or even the option to buy an annual pass (which saves money anyway outright buying it) and paying for it monthly from your salary.

Buses here are frequent, about every twenty minutes, with a twenty minute journey into town then a mile walk to work.

I had to take DS to a hospital appointment this morning, the hospital is 6 miles away yet would have took close on an hour on the bus. But its less than a 15 minute drive.

The other hospital he is treated in is 30 min drive or 1.5 hours on the bus.

The buses are poorly maintained and dirty and badly driven

To me its a no brainer and until public transport locally improves a lot then I will carry on driving

I live in a very rural area. the nearest bus is a 20 minute walk away and it only comes twice a week. not a sustainable alternative if I had a 9 to 5 job 5 days a week. I bet OP that you live in a city where there are lots of buses, good frequency, take you where you want to go. this is not the experience of the majority in this country. I use public transport whenever I can, particularly the train. but I have to drive and park to do this. if you live in a rural area a car is not a luxury it is a necessity. the nearest shop for milk and a paper is 25 minutes walk some of it across fields. fine if you are young and fit. not if you are old. this is the issue with rural isolation that is hardly ever discussed. people stuck in their own homes because they can no longer drive. kids living this rural get taxis to school or taxis to the bus stops in the towns.

In my town of nearly 80,000 people, there are 2 core routes and the rest finish mid evening and don't start early morning. It costs my DD nearly a fiver to get to school. It's 2.25 miles away on her bike but 6 miles by bus and 2 different busses which takes ages.

No thank you to busses.

angelohsodelight Thu 08-May-14 08:47:27
What's the car insurance got to do with it?

The less sucessful Tina Turner b-side.

I don't drive.

I'd rather pay for my bus and help to keep our rural service running, though. I'd rather it wasn't so expensive, but we're not in an area where transport costs are heavily subsidised for passengers.

Buses are empty?!? Not in London!

You seem a little stressed, OfficerVanHalen [headtilt]