To despair at our obession with cars

[SelkieQualia]

They are awful. Noisy. Polluting. 4 million people die every year from the effects of air pollution. Housing developments are built around them, which means that the most vulnerable people in our society - young people, the elderly - are made even more dependant on those who drive.
Why do we tolerate such terrible public transport and cycling infrastructure?

@TweenTrauma

Where I live there is no option but to drive. There are some small convenience type shops in my small town but they are very expensive and are limited in what they sell. To get a bus to the nearest supermarket would mean a 20 min walk to and from the bus stop to the supermarket, not possible with a full weekly shop on the way back.

My place of work and where my horses are kept are not at all accessible by public transport. So I wouldn’t be able to get to them at all.

You’d have to have a death wish to cycle around here, it’s all twisty roads, only just wide enough for two cars, lots of hills and corners everywhere.

It’s either own a car or be stuck in a very small town with very limited facilities.

That's my point, though. Wouldn't it be nice if those roads were made so that there was a safe cycle lane, so people who wanted to use them could? People are so unimaginative about it.

@StrawberrySquash

OP: public transport is terrible. We should make it better. Many posters: YABU. Public transport is terrible.

Seriously, people. There are obviously many places where public transport is never going to be the most practical option. But there are many places where it could be made so much better and reduce the number of car journeys.

Ha, too right.

Also: Me: "There are lots of places that I'd like to walk or cycle and can't because the infrastructure is awful and it's dangerous".

Everyone: YABU. The infrastructure is awful so cycling is dangerous. Also, I'm a paraplegic plumber who lives on the Isle of Skye and need my car to take my grandmother paragliding".

Unimaginative? Why not just admit cycling isn't for everyone? I'm dyspraxic as is one of my children literally cannot ride a bike

Also we have things like footpaths and housing trees next to the road should we really move them to build a cycle path? I live in an area full of hills valleys twists and turns cycling isn't safe maybe we could have a functioning reliable and economical bus service however we don't

@Theunamedcat

Unimaginative? Why not just admit cycling isn't for everyone? I'm dyspraxic as is one of my children literally cannot ride a bike

Also we have things like footpaths and housing trees next to the road should we really move them to build a cycle path? I live in an area full of hills valleys twists and turns cycling isn't safe maybe we could have a functioning reliable and economical bus service however we don't

The unimaginative parts

• Not considering other bike types - there are heaps - you could probably ride a three wheeler.
• Roads are being widened/changed all the time. We can build a motorway, why can't we build a few little bike paths?
• "It's not safe" - yes, that's the problem! Let's make it safe!

-"Hills". You can ride a bike in the hills! Use low gear or an e bike.

I CANT RIDE IM UNCOORDINATED I WOULD BE DANGEROUS

Have I made it clear to you yet? Your just as bad as boris

You cannot widen a road through a fucking house and yes in some areas the house it literally next to the road no footpath HOUSE

If you are that uncoordinated, then you should not be driving. You would be significantly more dangerous behind the wheel of a car.

Anyway, it's not about MAKING people ride. It's about giving people the OPTION. If you don't want to, don't.

And you don't need bike paths on ALL roads. We just need ONE safe bike corridor between important waypoints.

You lost me with the special little snowflake comment.

You cannot widen a road through a fucking house and yes in some areas the house it literally next to the road no footpath HOUSE

Many roads are 3/4 lanes, with two lanes used for free storage of cars. How about sharing jyst one of those lanes for a cycle path - a third of quarter, not half

@irregularegular

Our next car - soon - will be electric!

Well that will keep the exhaust gases out of my lungs, if not the particulate pollution from tyres and brakes. How is it going to improve congestion or reduce the emissions caused by manufacturing the thing though?

@ivykaty44

You cannot widen a road through a fucking house and yes in some areas the house it literally next to the road no footpath HOUSE

Many roads are 3/4 lanes, with two lanes used for free storage of cars. How about sharing jyst one of those lanes for a cycle path - a third of quarter, not half

Totally! And if people had other transport options, then they wouldn't be forced to drive, which might take some pressure off the parking situation!

Cars sucj. Dd does not understand why i don't lust after a brand new land rover or tesla and am content with my honda jazz. It's because they suck but are a status symbol for many. At least tesla are electric.

@ivykaty44

You cannot widen a road through a fucking house and yes in some areas the house it literally next to the road no footpath HOUSE

Many roads are 3/4 lanes, with two lanes used for free storage of cars. How about sharing jyst one of those lanes for a cycle path - a third of quarter, not half

I think we also need to consider why we think it's acceptable to give so much PUBLIC space over to the storage of PRIVATE property at the expense of using that public space for actual transport.

I mean, if you removed kerbside parking on a lot of
b roads, you would have a lot of space for alternative forms of transport.

Totally! And if people had other transport options, then they wouldn't be forced to drive, which might take some pressure off the parking situation!

Problem is with so many militant motorists, if you suggest using a different type of transport - they decide that it means they must never use the car, ever

Rather than perhaps doing a bit of mix and match and reducing some of their car journeys, which could even be drive 18 miles of a 20 mile journey and bus/walk or cycle the last 2 miles

Driving and riding a bike require different skills. I think people who have a physical condition will know more about how that condition effects their ability to do either than someone who knows very little about the condition.

Underhisi Driving requires coordination and I’d really question the safety of someone driving without this attribute- one wrong pedal move could be fatal for a pedestrian

I visited my family for a one night stay yesterday. It takes just over an hour by car and even with sky high petrol prices would have cost me about £20 in fuel I had a problem with one of the tyres at the last minute so went by train instead. It cost me £60 on the train and another £10 on buses and tubes getting to and from stations . It also took about 3 hours . So a 2.5 hour journey both ways became over 6 hours and cost £70 instead of £20. I know cars cost more than just petrol and this was for a non essential visit so I could hav chosen not to go but people often need cars to work. If we get rid of cars public transport needs to be so much better so that people can still find jobs even in areas where not a lot of well paid work is available.

@bumblingbovine49

I visited my family for a one night stay yesterday. It takes just over an hour by car and even with sky high petrol prices would have cost me about £20 in fuel I had a problem with one of the tyres at the last minute so went by train instead. It cost me £60 on the train and another £10 on buses and tubes getting to and from stations . It also took about 3 hours . So a 2.5 hour journey both ways became over 6 hours and cost £70 instead of £20. I know cars cost more than just petrol and this was for a non essential visit so I could hav chosen not to go but people often need cars to work. If we get rid of cars public transport needs to be so much better so that people can still find jobs even in areas where not a lot of well paid work is available.

Another one.

IT IS NOT ABOUT GETTING RID OF CARS.

IT IS ABOUT PROVIDING OTHER OPTIONS SO THAT CARS ARE NOT SO COMPULSORY.

It costs on average 3k per year to keep a car on the road, that's a lot of train or bus journeys

@Konstantine8364

I live in Manchester and public transport from the suburbs to the city centre is excellent and when travelling to the city centre I use the tram (most people I know would use tram/bus for this). However public transport from the suburbs into Cheshire and around the suburbs is dire. For example; my office is a 40min drive away, would take 2hrs plus each way on public transport. My friend A lives 10 mins drive away, 50mins on public transport. My friend B lives 20mins drive away, 1hr 20 on public transport. I cycle a bit in the summer but don't feel safe cycling on the roads when it's dark/wet/icy (which is 99% of autumn/winter). People have busy lives and can't spend half their life or really restrict themselves relying on public transport. And this is in a major city, it's much much worse rurally! Until public transport is much improved people won't give up their cars!

Many UK cities have this problem. I live on the outskirts of a small city and never drive to the town centre. The bus is easier though not always cheaper but visiting friends in non central parts of the city is very very inconvenient without a car . There are almost no bus routes around the suburbs, only into the town centre and out again. The busses are run by different companies and tickets are only valid for the company you buy them from. This means that even though return tickets are cheaper than singles , if more than one bus serves a route you can't get the one most convenient one home at the time, you have to wait for the bus from the right company or pay again which is very frustrating or more expensive

If we get rid of cars public transport needs to be so much better so that people can still find jobs even in areas where not a lot of well paid work is available.

This was exactly my point in my earlier post Problem is with so many militant motorists, if you suggest using a different type of transport - they decide that it means they must never use the car, ever

This isn’t about getting rid of cars, it’s about reducing and using alternatives some of the time

Just like you if I travel 112 miles to see family it’s £64 on the train return and takes 2.5 hrs. By car a good trip is 2 hrs 10 and can be 3 hrs but cost is £26 return. This doesn’t mean I have to use my car to bust the shops 2 miles away, I can use other methods. Which I do as parking is expensive and I prefer to use a bike which is quicker. Do I want to cycle the 112 miles to visit family - not really id prefer to go by train but I’ll drive as it’s cheaper

I think more park and ride options would be a good start.

When I go to York I know I can easily access a park and ride location which will have regular buses into the city centre at a reasonable cost (less than you would pay for city centre parking)

If more towns and cities offered a decent park and ride then more people would use that - if local enough they would walk/cycle and know they could get directly in from there, from further away they would drive.

Cars don't have to have pedals. You can get adapted bikes but they are very expensive, won't work for everyone who cannot pedal and you still need a car as well.

Underhisi Adapted bikes are expensive? How much more expensive are they than a car?

@ivykaty44

Underhisi Adapted bikes are expensive? How much more expensive are they than a car?

But most people who need an adapted bike will also need access to a car (sometimes also adapted) unless they live life in a very small area. Especially given how inaccessible much public transport is to those with mobility issues. only this week Tanni Grey Thompson got an email to say her assistance for the train station had been cancelled - when she was on the train to that station.