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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

public transport is a disgrace in the UK, I've saved a fortune by running a car

86 replies

agentEgypt · 23/05/2015 11:08

My insurance is up for renewal so just been doing some sums.

Turns out over three years the basic costs of running my car (including purchase price of 6 year old car) insurance, tax, not, service works out at less than 1000 a year. I then spend another 1000 just on petrol, but I travel 30 miles for work and regularly go on long journeys. So that's about 9'500 miles a year.

In London I was paying almost the same for a 1-5 travel card and still had to spend a fortune on train travel to get out of London. In my car I have space for 4 others also!

I always thought running a car would cost a fortune, but its actually way cheaper than public transport! Seems very unfair that the ones that can afford a car have to spend more on public transport. I dont actually like polluting and would rather use public transport but its very unreliable, bad routes and expensive.

This is a national disgrace right?

OP posts:

AuntyMag10 · 23/05/2015 11:12

PrettyInPinkPan · 23/05/2015 11:13

ilovesooty · 23/05/2015 11:13

I have a car. I'm currently on a coach travelling to see my mother. It cost less for an advance ticket than taking the car there and negotiating the traffic jam is someone else's responsibility.

Run your car if you want or need to - a decision made by countless others when weighing up the pros and cons.

SunnyBaudelaire · 23/05/2015 11:13

tbh when people start making sweeping statements and vague generalisations about 'the UK' I tend to switch off.
I think the public transport system in London is amazingly good.
And there is no way that running a car is 'way cheaper'.

ilovesooty · 23/05/2015 11:16

Oh, and as for "bad routes" - I can get off the coach and catch a bus outside that runs every 10 minutes and stops 50 yards from where my mother lives.

Stupid generalisation.

SoupDragon · 23/05/2015 11:16

In London I was paying almost the same for a 1-5 travel card and still had to spend a fortune on train travel to get out of London

How much would zone 1 parking and congestion charges cost you?

In my car I have space for 4 others also!

Do you always fill those 4 spaces?

ilovesooty · 23/05/2015 11:17

X post Sunny

I think the OP is rather given to generalisation though.

ZenNudist · 23/05/2015 11:17

I think you'd need to factor in cost of parking. I know my car is costing me more per week by a long way compared to a bus pass locally + ad hoc taxi journeys + train fare to get anywhere further away once in a while.

I think it depends on where you live and what your travel habits are like.

I consider the extra cost of driving to far outweigh the advantages of not being stuck in the north west rain waiting for a bloody bus that only comes every 20mins.

A manchester travel pass is probably cheaper than a London one but the network isn't as good and the services less frequent. When I'm in London I get tube and bus everywhere and find it very easy. I guess that's why you pay more.

Rail fares are extortion everywhere and it takes longer than driving often when I take into account getting to and from station. I don't do personal rail travel, just for work

Original poster

agentEgypt · 23/05/2015 11:17

When I say the UK I mean the entire network as a whole.

The coach can be cheap for some routes I used to get 2 return from London to Bristol regularly, but these days I can never find it that much cheaper to justify giving up the flexibility of the car to arrive and leave at certain times.

Transport might be good in London, but it isn't cheap. 2k a year for a travel card

OP posts:

googoodolly · 23/05/2015 11:18

I don't have a car simply because there's no point. I walk everywhere, and when I do need to go somewhere that's not within walking distance, I get the bus/train. The amount it would cost me in insurance/car tax/MOT every year is MUCH more than it costs me to use the train 2/3 times a year.

So, YABU, because you're basing it off your own experience. Not everyone needs a car - for me, running one would be pointless, but for others, I'm sure it is cheaper than the train. It depends on where you live and what your needs are, surely?

ZenNudist · 23/05/2015 11:18

I think it depends on where you live and what your travel habits are like.

I consider the extra cost of driving to far outweigh the advantages of not being stuck in the north west rain waiting for a bloody bus that only comes every 20mins.

Rail fares are extortion everywhere and it takes longer than driving often when I take into account getting to and from station. I don't do personal rail travel, just for work

Original poster

agentEgypt · 23/05/2015 11:19

Dragon I used to go often to the west end at night. Parking was free and traffic non exisitant.

OP posts:

expatinscotland · 23/05/2015 11:21

Depends where you are. Out here, yes, it is.

Original poster

agentEgypt · 23/05/2015 11:21

Then again I've never paid for parking, I plan in advance so I tend do have a 10-15 min walk and park somewhere free so I do t have to know how long I'll need to be there.

OP posts:

SunnyBaudelaire · 23/05/2015 11:23

are you in the sticks too expat?
makes me laugh someone from London whinging about public transport 'in the UK' when London Transport is fantastic.
Try living somewhere with three buses a day OP! (and even that is comparatively good compared to other nearby villages).

ilovesooty · 23/05/2015 11:23

But just because you used to use your car easily in the West End at night doesn't justify your stance in your OP or your sweeping generalisations about the entire UK network.

googoodolly · 23/05/2015 11:24

But not everyone has the luxury of living somewhere with free parking. All parking round here costs, and you can't park on residential streets for free either, 'cause you need a permit if you're going to be longer than 15/20 mins.

So you do have to factor in parking costs when you decide to run a car.

ilovesooty · 23/05/2015 11:24

Sunny I don't think the OP lives in London now.

Original poster

agentEgypt · 23/05/2015 11:25

I'm not in London anymore.

Where is that goo?

OP posts:

SunnyBaudelaire · 23/05/2015 11:27

ah silly me, told you I switch off with sweeping illogical statements.

MissDuke · 23/05/2015 11:27

Sunny, if you needed three buses a day to get somewhere, then there is a very good chance that driving would be cheaper, to be fair. At least that is the case with me - due to minimum fares for each leg of the journey, three separate buses works out very expensive where I am, even with a travel card.

SunnyBaudelaire · 23/05/2015 11:29

lol, no misduke, I meant that there are THREE BUSES A DAY from our crossroads; they all go to the same place.

ChazsBrilliantAttitude · 23/05/2015 11:30

I work in Central London, I couldn't drive to work as on street parking is prohitively expensive. Public transport is by far the cheaper option.

Original poster

agentEgypt · 23/05/2015 11:31

Exactly miss, here because the routes have all been sold off to different companies it costs a fortune to do many trips as you have to buy different tickets from different companies. This is semi rural south west.

The train to London I've never found to be less than double the price or driving there and takes about the same door to door to visit most people I know.

I'm really talking about the privatisation of public transport in the UK being a disgrace.

OP posts:

googoodolly · 23/05/2015 11:33

Suffolk.

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