On the rare occasions I use public transport I remember why I usually don't

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Packed to the gills despite it being very late at night, drunks, no working toilets, filthy, seats too small, migraine inducing lights. Still got half hour to go.

Vive la car

No need for such a nasty, judgemental, snobby comment.

Love trains and buses. Increasingly dislike human beings and the sudden (post-pandemic?) evaporation of consideration for others in public spaces.

I go into London every couple of weeks, and love that it's so easy to get around by public transport. I've rarely had any issues.

I live out in the sticks where there's a bus maybe every couple of hours, that takes a ridiculous amount of time to get to my nearest town, compared to driving. I'm dreading being to old to drive.

Let's hope that's a wind up. I'm now of bus pass age so I use London buses rather than the tube, and I really like them! I'm kicking myself for all the years I chose to travel underground instead of in the daylight, watching the world go by.

What a nasty thing to say and that comment says more about you than people who use public transport.

dd had an event to go to yesterday, train cancelled, had to spend a fortune on an uber
a previous event, problems with the trains. took hours to get to destination
i am getting concerned about future trains for myself this is becoming such a regular occurrence.

Drunken young men swearing loudly isn't a common problem on the Tube at night, thank goodness - I hate yobbish behaviour. To be honest I don't mind the swearing as long as they're not being intimidating.

I use mainly the District Line which is one long carriage so even if it's heaving it's not intimidating or claustrophobic.

Problem with the bus though is you can't time your journey with all the detours and roadworks. I also get a bit queasy if on a bus for more than say 30 minutes!

Our local late night bus service, which I take every 6 weeks or so, varies from happy singing, occasionally the whole bus for the hour or so it takes, to nothing to report, t9 drunks trying to get the bus driver to stop so they can have a wee in the hedge, to creepy blokes…

if the taxi wasn’t £40 I’d take a taxi. But the odd happy singing bus is great.

We live in a village Lancashire. We have a bus service that runs along the main road between 2 of our nearest towns. Both town centres, like many, are decimated with the main shops now being in out of town centre shopping parks. Both hospitals, again, are on the outskirts of the towns. No train service. To get to the town centre is not too bad. About 30 mins by bus, 15 to 20 by car, but then you have to park, and the charges are more than the bus fares. However to get out to the shopping parks or hospital would take well over and hour, to visit our relatives the same. It makes me laugh when Londoners complain about public transport. You don't know how good the systems are in London. Frequent buses running late into the night, an efficient underground system. Overground trains, you even have river taxis. I lived in London for about 10 years, and visit most years, and I tell you, your public transport is light years ahead of the rest of the country. You also get far more per capita of gov money pumped into your transport systems than the rest of us.

We do get a lot of money pumped into public transport in London but presumably central and local government have done the sums and worked out that it pays for itself. The air pollution and traffic jams if more people drove around London would be horrendous. Also, we have a huge population here, and it's a densely populated area. Outside London there are fewer people and far more thinly spread in most places. That makes public transport a lot more expensive to run, per capita. Most people will prefer to drive if it's quicker, cheaper and more reliable than infrequent public transport. Big problem for those who can't drive, though.

Its a one off trip and you are fine. I have this debate with DH and DD every weekend. We live in z4 on picadilly line. I'm happy to go on the tube. They want the car. Going central, parking is limited and public transport is quicker, convenient and less stressful (one way roads/road works/road rage). I won debate yesterday and we went on the tube. Same debate will be had the next time we want to go again most likely.

Well I went across London by car on Friday night instead of the usual public transport journey (15m walk, train, train, train, 10 m walk). Google said the journey time would be the same and I had heavy stuff to carry.
OMG. I should have got the train. Traffic was horrendous and almost gridlock over Battersea bridge. Took 30m longer than the train.
So. Not always true that driving is better. It’s a shame we have so many slobs and yobs in the UK but still most people are great.

Traffic was horrendous and almost gridlock over Battersea bridge. Took 30m longer than the train.

I could have warned you off Battersea Bridge Road had I known your plans! There have been extensive roadworks for months - in the final stages now with new lights at the junction of the Bridge with Cheyne Walk. Major delays!

Uhuh. 🫣

I can stop off anywhere I want on a journey in my car though to find a loo, usually a petrol station or supermarket.

I've lived in London for 28 years. I don't have a driving licence. I think taking public transport is fine as long as you don't have to go too far, or need to take too many modes. Until recently my commute was 80 minutes to cover 10 miles, which is ridiculous, but I had to cross London and use different modes to get there and back. I work closer to home now and only need the bus which is much easier.

I've used public transport in other British cities and towns and like London, I manage my expectations as to what can be achieved. I know rural areas have had their services decimated. My family live in a rural area and Stagecoach threatened to take away the only bus to their village that conveyed people in employment and students at the FE college to town. Luckily it's been reprieved, for now.

In my ideal world public transport should be a viable and cost effective alternative to the car, but it's not. This is because too many people in government have no interest financially in backing reliable, cheap, clean public transport.

In other news, unfortunately, when using public transport, you have to share your space with an entire spectrum of socety. . There's not a lot you can do about that. During the Night Tube, it's like watching a Walking Dead re-run. It can't be avoided sometimes, though.

This is an awful comment and simply not true. My bus to work takes a very diverse bunch. Buses are not just for people struggling with the COL, but are there for everyone to use whether they want to or not.

I honestly hate public transport these days. Almost always drive, decided not to on a night out last week, bus on way was boiling hot and stinking of strong perfume. On way home a guy got his dick out and pissed all over the bus stop. All for the sake of 2 drinks. Nope, won't be making that mistake again. Car all the way for me.

'@ALunchbox x · Today 05:54

Britain doesn't invest enough in its transports infrastructure. When you look at countries that do, it's much more efficient and pleasant.'

Exactly!

Also add to that the fact that we seem to have a lot of badly educated, entitled people who can't be on a train without blasting loud music, leaving their rubbish everywhere and shouting...

Glasgow commuter trains during the day are fine, would not use in the evening. Never use buses.

I live between Bristol and Bath, and I'm lucky enough to have good rail and bus links to both cities (if overcrowded in rush hour), but a 15 car journey to my friend's in one of the other villages can take 2 hours because the bus goes from my town to the centre of Bath and then you have to catch the next bus out to her village.

It's the people using the transport. Inconsiderate, foul mouthed, littering, feet on seats. Same people who makes our lives that bit less pleasant every day but now you are trapped in there with them

I have to use public transport 3 days per week for London commute. Very early morning start, later evening return. Honestly it's been getting worse. The whole system should/could be much better. There's no viable alternative. Much more investment is needed.

I didn't realise they cut the number of carriages later at night. I assumed the trains would be quieter but, no, they cram all the drunks into fewer carriages. Luckily the one occasion I had to do this with DD recently I'd already got us 1st class tickets so a meltdown was averted.