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AIBU?

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Original poster

It's going to be really difficult to travel without a car

71 replies

Ghostlyglow · 30/05/2020 20:44

At least for the time being. Double decker buses here are only going to allow 11 people on each one and drive past stops when they are full until someone disembarks. I've been reading through the guidelines for travelling on LNER and basically it's going to be pretty much impossible to rely on getting anywhere for a specific time. I haven't got as far as looking at TPExpress but I guess they will be similar. I don't have a car and don't want one but I feel like I am going to be stranded without one.

OP posts:
Original poster
Ghostlyglow · 31/05/2020 10:00

@Belledan1 I know! Getting a bike, even if I wanted to, would be no help to me! That's the point. It's going to be really hard for those of us without a car (and I can drive, I've just chosen not to for many years, mainly the cost ). We are going to be disadvantaged to a huge degree. I realise that many people on here are quite middle class and can afford 1 or even more cars for their household, but that's not all of us.

OP posts:
HauntedGoatFart · 31/05/2020 10:03

Can you care share though Hauntedgoatfart. What about social distancing?

Well, there wouldn't be other people in the car with you. "Sharing" just refers to the car not being yours. You're renting it by the hour, effectively.

There are new services like Getaround where people who aren't using their cars rent them out more cheaply than Zipcar and their ilk.

ivykaty44 · 31/05/2020 11:31

Getting a bike, even if I wanted to, would be no help to me! That's the point. It's going to be really hard for those of us without a car (and I can drive,

So what do you want people to suggest?

Macncheeseballs · 31/05/2020 11:35

There are plenty of 'middle class' people who font own cars too- if the future of travel is changing,maybe think about changing your life circumstances, move nearer to work, change jobs, plenty of people are thinking of changing their lives now

Macncheeseballs · 31/05/2020 11:36

*don't

LynseyLou1982 · 31/05/2020 11:45

This is why I'm hoping I can keep working from home a bit longer. I can't drive and I can't ride a bike (I never learned as I lived in a really deprived area when I was little and I wasn't allowed out) to walk to and from home to work would be an 8.5 mile round trip and I'm almost 5 months pregnant so that's not happening. No choice but to use a bus unless my husband can drop me off and pick me up but if he gets called back to work from furlough them bus is the only option.

Macncheeseballs · 31/05/2020 11:48

I didnt learn to cycle till I was older as also grew up poor, doesn't stop you learning as an adult. I also cycled through all my pregnancies

BirdieFriendReturns · 31/05/2020 11:50

I can’t ride a bike.

DH has the car and we normally car share to work. As he’s been posted away with notice with the car, I don’t see how I can get into the office. Buses used to be every 10 minutes, now a limited service with limited numbers. I could be waiting hours to get a bus. Not going to happen, I’ll continue to WFH!

BirdieFriendReturns · 31/05/2020 11:51

It’s easy to say “change jobs or move closer to work” but there aren’t any jobs!

IDefinitelyHaveFriends · 31/05/2020 11:55

You’re right OP, there will be a large number of locations where you won’t be able to get on the bus no matter how long you wait, because nobody gets off. There are a few places like that in normal times during the rush hour, but only a few because in normal circumstances if a bus service is 100% rammed and they’re turning customers away they put on more buses. That’s not going to happen now.

I’m amazed that there’s no plans for prioritising people with mobility problems on urban buses. Obviously in rural areas disability will make much less difference - nobody can walk twenty miles to work - but in the cities a fit and healthy person like me has far more options than someone who can’t walk more than half a kilometre due to arthritis or whatever.

highmarkingsnowbile · 31/05/2020 11:55

How does car share work with the virus being able to live on surfaces for days? Has to be professionally cleaned after every use? That's not going to be cheap.

eleventy3isthemagicnumber · 31/05/2020 11:56

maybe think about changing your life circumstances, move nearer to work, change jobs, plenty of people are thinking of changing their lives now

Yeah, right. Because there are loads of decent jobs within walking distance of my ex-council estate in my small town.

Oh no, actually, the decent jobs are in the neighbouring city, where a house the same size as mine would be about 4 times the price.

How many people who work in central London, for example, can actually afford to live there? A significant proportion of them can't.

Why on earth do you think people get up at 5am to travel into London for work, for fun?

Macncheeseballs · 31/05/2020 12:12

I guess there's no solution then

HauntedGoatFart · 31/05/2020 13:06

@highmarkingsnowbile

How does car share work with the virus being able to live on surfaces for days? Has to be professionally cleaned after every use? That's not going to be cheap.
Well, it's your life. You can compare the risk and practicality of different options, choose the least worst one for you, and get on with life. Or not.
jgjgjgjgjg · 31/05/2020 13:52

Not sure where you got 10 people from. Certainly in London the plan is for 20 people per double decker bus.

tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2020/may/london-s-buses-to-return-to-front-door-boarding

Original poster
Ghostlyglow · 31/05/2020 16:42

It's 11 @jgjgjgjgjg. I'm in West Yorkshire and it's what Arriva have published. It's nothing like London here.

OP posts:
highmarkingsnowbile · 31/05/2020 16:45

Well, it's your life. You can compare the risk and practicality of different options, choose the least worst one for you, and get on with life. Or not.

Eh? It was a hypothetical question. It means FA to me. I live in a rural area and we run two cars. We don't use public transport, it's limited and expensive. Cycling, nope, it's all windy A-roads at national speed limit here. But, being capable of thinking outside my own box, I can deduce that the OP's situation is different from mine and ask accordingly about suggestions given to her Hmm.

CorianderLord · 31/05/2020 17:06

Yes we're having to spend quite a lot on Zipcars because, while we can both drive, we're ineligible for a parking permit anywhere within an hour of our home 🤷‍♀️

amusedbush · 31/05/2020 17:33

I’m currently wfh but my workplace is 4 miles away and I pay monthly for an on-site parking space.

From 1st July I will be based a 45 minute drive away. I will be able to wfh for a while but at some point I’ll need to travel there, there is no parking on-site and street parking is an absolute nightmare across the town. I had every intention of using public transport (either two buses or two trains each way) but if what you’re saying is right, it could take me three bloody hours by the time I actually get on one.

I’m probably going to have to suck it and pay £5 a day (plus petrol) to use the dingy multi story shopping centre car park with all the pillars and tight corners 😩

ScissorsBike · 31/05/2020 17:45

Get a bike.

BoomBoomsCousin · 31/05/2020 18:18

In cities, if the people who can use bikes or scooters or just walk further, then it will ease the pressure on public transport for those who don’t have that alternative. I think government could do a lot almost immediately to make cycling a more attractive alternative (like shutting down residential roads that sit parallel to main thoroughfares to non-bike through traffic) while they put more permanent and well considered plans in place.

It does seem like public transport has been one of the routes CV spread in cities so there needs to be some effort to provide alternative routes and lower public transport crowding until (if) a vaccine is available. Replacing public transit with cars isn’t feasible in most cities - there isn’t the physical space to provide the infrastructure.

HorseChestnutTree · 31/05/2020 18:51

maybe think about changing your life circumstances, move nearer to work, change jobs, plenty of people are thinking of changing their lives now

Hey Presto! I will magic a new job/new house out of my arse!

My DH works in the opposite direction to me, we both have an hours commute. Whose job should we move closer to?

ivykaty44 · 01/06/2020 09:30

Hey Presto! I will magic a new job/new house out of my arse!

My DH works in the opposite direction to me, we both have an hours commute. Whose job should we move closer to?

This attitude sadly doesn’t do anything to help and never will

It maybe there isn’t a solution in some cases, but often as a pp wrote if we all change slightly it will ease issues for others. So by people walking and cycling when they can it will leave public transport space for those that can’t and car parking spaces for those that have to travel by car

missyB1 · 01/06/2020 09:43

Masks is going to have to be the way forward for public transport. There are too many people who need public transport it’s no use telling them all to walk or cycle!! The economy can’t get going if people can’t get to work. And I would personally share my car with a colleague if they sat in the back and we both wore masks. Yes it’s not ideal but but we’ve got to help each other out here, I don’t like the “I’m alright Jack” attitude.

LakieLady · 01/06/2020 09:45

Someone I know routinely walks to a bus stop 2 or 3 stops away from her nearest one, because it's a stop lots of people get off at, so it's easier to get on.

Would that be an option for you OP?

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