To think people don't use public transport as its so unreliable

[Outandabout43]

Have drove for the last 15 years so not really used public transport, however since moving area and now in walking distance to a train station have started to use this more.

It's actually cheaper to use the train to visit family if it's just myself and DD then it is to drive, and also takes an equal amount if time. Also cheaper to use the train into city centre then to pay for parking.

However, everytime I use the train, the train is either cancelled or delayed meaning we miss the connecting train and have to sit and then wait over an hour which is not fun with a 3 year old. Also nearest bus stop into the city is a 40 minute walk away.

Now I actually prefer public transport to driving, but not so much when an hours journey ends up taking 3.

We are being encouraged to use public transport more, but is there any wonder people don't.

I used to commute from a city to a town by bus. There was only one bus that was in time for work, but it always got me there on time, even the day there was an accident on the route and most colleagues who were driving were late. Without a reliable bus service I would have had to get a car.

Now living a third of the distance away from the city. Same bus company, DD commuting to school. Her bus frequently got cancelled. After a complete week of calling me from the bus-stop, she gave up and started getting a much earlier bus, which was more reliable, although not wholly so. In the middle of the day we've frequently had alternate buses cancelled.

Her generation in this area are not going to risk relying on public transport to get them to work, because they've had such a bad experience as sixth-formers. There is talk of a more frequent and reliable bus service, but even if we get it, it's going to take a while before anyone can trust it - and of course once you've got a car, not many people go back to using public transport.

I live in a large town, around 85k people. You'd think we have a decent public transport system, given the numbers.

Nope. Buses running hourly in some parts, every 20mins if you live closer to the town centre.

I try to avoid driving into a nearby city (because driving and parking there is a pain) so I take public transport. Wanted to take my children to a gaming convention. That would have meant a bus into town, walk to the train station, 15min train ride, walk to the correct bus stop, bus from the city centre to the event. An hour and a quarter, all in. Not too bad, BUT...

There were no trains running that day (strike or railworks? No idea). We found out at the station; there were no clues on the website.

The alternative bus (which takes an hour into the city and which should have arrived every 20mins) was cancelled twice, meaning we waited for over an hour for a bus to arrive. It was a different company to the first, so we needed new tickets. Roadworks in the city centre meant the buses were not running from their usual point and I could not for the life of me find the alternative bus stop. We ended up using a taxi.

All in all, the trip took 3.5 hours, we managed to catch the last 2 hours of the convention and missed all the acts the kids were looking forward to.

Public transport is a joke if you need something reliable and reasonably uncomplicated anywhere outside of large cities. And yes, it's far too expensive.

The buses here have been very unreliable since lockdown ended.

A lot of the buses are supposed to run every 10 minutes... but you can wait 40 minutes for one. Hardly reliable when you're trying to get to work.

And the council have doubled the cost of parking in town - to encourage drivers not to use their cars and get on a bus instead!

🙄

@Outandabout43 yep, completely agree , its pickles at times

@DdraigGoch exactly my point, Avanti are better the Northern and Transpenine...

I live in London, buses are generally not so bad expense wise. If you need to be somewhere by an exact time however, they often change route, randomly stop for ages, or just don’t appear leaving you late.

Trains/tubes are expensive, £15.60 for an adult travel card. Under 18s have subsidies but it’s still pretty pricey when you add it alongside an adult fare. If we go into London as a family, we’ve taken to driving in as it works out much cheaper even if we have to pay the congestion charge. I’d really like to get the train for the environment and ease but it just costs too much 🤷‍♀️

Avanti are worse in North Wales than on their other routes. Over the last fortnight two of their services (they don't run many in the first place) have been cancelled more often than they have run:

I used to rely on trains until recently. The strikes were a massive pain in the arse.

Public transport of any description is non existent where I am.

It’s also ridiculously expensive.

Exactly..stuck between rock and hard place. I live rurally but work 2 hrs (public transport) away in the city ... The council has doubled parking in the city here too. Ridiculous prices. Why i dont drive and park to work.

When ever I use public transport I am pleased I can choose not to. Waiting in often cold and rainy places, unreliable, often crowded, dirty, and often get stuck near someone I'd prefer not to be. Such a shame as we should be encouraged out of our cars.

I think the (lack of) reliability is a huge factor but for me, for long distances it’s the cost. DH and I are going to Liverpool next weekend- 6 hours train, 5.5 hours drive (assuming no traffic). We’d both rather go by train, we have no desire to drive that distance or for that time and would rather relax on the train. However, it’s £145 each for the train tickets and we can drive for around £100 in total. It’s a no brainer, no amount of convenience is worth the best part of £200.

We have good public transport where I live, but as a non driver it's necessary for me to live somewhere that does. I never really have any issues.

If your train is late, then reclaim the cost of your ticket. You can travel for free if you are held up that long.

There are definitely issues with public transport, like unreliable train connections etc but for me the pros massively outweigh the cons, like traffic jams - and rail cards help keep costs down

I use public transport every day and it is fab in London. The tubes on the lines I use are rarely cancelled and buses are plentiful. It should be like this everywhere. I would much rather get public transport than drive in London.

But I can’t use it for work if I’m going to be late more days than I’m on time. Or to get home to collect the DSs from the childminder.

In my case three trains have to be one time (and it takes an hour and a half if they all are, longer if I walk to the local station) or I can drive in 40 minutes door to door. It’s 20 miles.

All of the reasons! We were looking at taking the train to see The Harry Potter experience in December and train tickets for 5 of us (2 adults 3 children) nearly £300! How can rail companies justify these extortionate prices when the service is so poor! Trains frequently get cancelled, rail replacement in leaky (very old) buses usually cramped! Or train is late and even if not late not enough carriages so standing room only!
Buses are very slow and unreliable and frequently just do not turn up! It is no wonder that we all use our cars when we can😳
I get mad at the Government and councils trying to force us on to public transport WITHOUT improving it! If I could travel reliably from A to B comfortably and at a fair price then I absolutely would use public transport.

Agree.
I used to use the train quite a lot but in the last 10 years it’s got much more expensive and much less reliable so now I either drive or don’t travel.
road travel is just as unreliable though-always have to leave much more time than should be needed in case of traffic etc.

It's also expensive. When I first lived here 18 years ago there were buses - at stupid times though, so there was no way you could go into town and get back again in a few hours. It cost like £7 one way or something to go four miles.

DH could only get a car parking permit for work if he could prove public transport was not feasible. He would have needed to leave home for work the next day before he could have got home. He has a car park pass.
I looked into it for me - it would take 3 times as long, and cost 5 times the amount.

No way either of us could commute to our current jobs without a car.

And that's assuming everything ran onto me, and was never cancelled.

We do have reasonably good trains here though, but still extortionately priced compared with other countries.

I live in London and our area is criss crossed with bus choices. I just look on the tfl app to work out what is coming next. I can also walk to 2 different tube stations within 15 minutes. We've got a car but did less than 400 miles last year and its currently got cobwebs hanging off the wing mirror. This really is a story of whether you live in a highly urbanised environment with large populations to warrant lots of transport choice. As I age I prefer to have public transport choice as I might not always be able to drive and don't want to feel isolated.

I stopped using the train for years as it was constant bus replacement due to cancellations.

Ir seems to be better now and I have started using it again but so expensive that it’s similar to parking costs. So for two adults, driving is cheaper.