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?

I tried to get to a nearby city by train earlier this week. It would have cost over £30 for me and my daughter but we had a choice of just two return trains at 2.30 (too early) and 7pm (too late) .
To take a more convenient train it would have cost 40-60 just for me.
I drove. An hour and ten minutes in the car and £3.50 to use the park and ride.
I can't afford to be without a car.

DH and I are both self-employed and neither of us could do our jobs without cars.

DH is a plasterer and needs to carry all his kit to work - he works 30+ miles from home so even if he could fit all his stuff on his back and still balance on a bicycle, he'd not be able to get to work on time without leaving at around 3am (loads of hills).

I'm a dog walker - how can I safely transport multiple dogs on A-roads with no pavements unless I have a vehicle? I also couldn't walk/cycle between jobs without spending 80% of my day commuting and making no money. There's no public transport here so that's not an option either.

Are there any car share schemes in the UK?

I’m in Vancouver and am a member of a couple of different programs. Works out far cheaper than owning a car, they’re pretty convenient (obviously not quite as convenient as owning) and it’s pretty green.

Plenty can't afford to run one

@AntiHop

I completely agree op. I don't drive.

There will be loads for car drivers responding saying they couldn't possibly do without their cars.

The point is that we all have to accept that we are going to be inconvenienced, as the current level of car ownership is unsustainable.

Yes there are people who absolutely can't manage without a car. But most car drivers could choose to use their cars less, but are not willing to inconvenience themselves.

WE don’t have to accept anything. You can if you want to. This kind of sweeping rhetoric where people make their opinion out to be the righteous cause that everyone has to follow is very tiresome.

I don't want to give up my car
And I won't do it voluntarily

@Copin

Are there any car share schemes in the UK?

I’m in Vancouver and am a member of a couple of different programs. Works out far cheaper than owning a car, they’re pretty convenient (obviously not quite as convenient as owning) and it’s pretty green.

Only in big cities, but they're not very common.

But the issues are rurally.

Because to go into town (6 minute journey by car) would cost me nearly £5 return.
Parking, even at the most expensive car park in the centre costs only £9 per day-and I'm rarely going in for more than a couple of hours whish is less than £3.
Going in with the children by bus costs nearly £15, but is no more expensive by car.
The buses are also only once an hour and not reliable. One time I had to wait 2.5 hours with a toddler and a baby to get home because 2 buses were cancelled and one was late.

Then they complain no one uses the buses.

@user1487194234

I don't want to give up my car And I won't do it voluntarily

Me neither and I don't want to ruddy share one.

Just no.

So I am carrying on driving, don’t like it? Tough

Don't ever complain about the rising fuel costs will you. You do come across as a militant driver

MargaretThursday thats because the price of fuel hasn't changed since 2012 - then it was around £1.40 a litre

In that time inflation has increased making public transport more expensive and as fuel duty has been frozen for 10 years, the price of private driving has decreased in real terms.

That is though changing, if the fuel is rapidly increasing duty to the war

Purchasing single day tickets is expensive, local busses often do weekly tickets that are far far cheaper - around £15 for the week as an example. So paying £3 per day to park and if petrol/fuel increases £3 per day for fuel becomes more expensive than getting the bus to town each day

Me neither and I don't want to ruddy share one.

Just no.
Works well for me. There are currently more than 10 cars within a 5 minute walk of me that I could hop into. I use them for grocery shopping and day trips, but I use public transit to get to and from work.

It also saves me a lot of money compared to owning.

@daimbarsatemydogsbone

Because nothing can come in any way close to matching the convenience of a car - especially outside London.

And trains and busses are full of sniffing sneezing tossers, people shouting into their phones and gits playing tinny "music" loudly, who give you a mouthful of abuse if asked politely to desist.

These are not easy issues to address.

This exactly

We had a regular bus through the village but it was stopped because those in the bigger towns and cities wanted more frequent buses and the council caved in to them. Maybe if people in towns and cities walked or biked a bit more, those of us living in villages wouldn't need to use our cars so much because we too, would have decent reliable public transport.

Hopefully I’ve successfully attached a screenshot of the Evo car share app.

You open the app, select a nearby car, then use the app to unlock it. You pay 25p per minute or £60 per day. No fuel, insurance, maintenance or parking costs. You can leave the car anywhere in the city when done with it.

There are similar programs that operate slightly differently.

Obviously not sustainable in rural areas, but great in a decent sized city.

I would be scared to ride a bike bit also I live in Yorkshire and it's all hills.

Me and 2 of my kids got a bus to town and back - it's less than a mile and a half each way - cost me over £10. I walk it on my own but it's a bit too far for them.

60 quid a day ! If everyone did this, it would be the new 'ill just get food delivered' when the pandemic hit. None to be found.

We need better public transport. I don't drive but am trying to learn. With 2 DC the public transport is just too infrequent and expensive to take them from one hobby to another on time.

why is a mile and a half to far for children to ride, scoot or walk?

Can just imagine food shopping, leave it outside and come back and it's gone

@gamerchick

Can just imagine food shopping, leave it outside and come back and it's gone

what do you mean? leave what outside and what will be gone when you come back?

60 quid a day ! If everyone did this, it would be the new 'ill just get food delivered' when the pandemic hit. None to be found.
How often do you use a car for a full 24 hour period though? Basically it’s only as much as £60 if you’re doing an overnight trip (and even then, it’s offset by the fact you’re not paying for fuel or anything).

And loads of people use them here, it’s very popular, yet I don’t have often have problems finding one nearby.

Can just imagine food shopping, leave it outside and come back and it's gone
You take the keys out if you don’t want to end your trip, so the scenario you describe doesn’t happen.

£60 a day!! Fucking hell - for the two days a week I’d need a car that would cost me over £6k a year. All in for insurance, fuel and maintenance I pay less than half of that for the convenience of a car I can use whenever I like.