to want to shout out 'OIL is not a never ending resource and it IS going to run out'

[beaniesteve]

Because I am fed up with all the emails I am getting about this Boycott and that protest. Before long Petrol will be so expensive that people will have to start looking at alternative methods of transport. We will have to get on our bikes, or use public transport regardless of how rubbish it is or how far away it is.

Am I being unreasonable to think that people just need to get real?

**NB this is in no way a comment about the other AIBU thread about Deisel, I only just noticed that one was at the top of the page)

Telecommuting would really help.

So would offering more flexitime so people don't all have to cram onto public transport at 'peak times'.

My DH changed his job so that he could walk to work. Within a year they had moved him to a town almost 20 miles away.

I used to work locally then got a promotion to an office 20 miles away in the opposite direction. After almost 3 years I managed to get transferred back because I couldn't afford the petrol anymore.

Now the Govt (my employer) is closing my office and threatening to send me 20 miles in a third direction (if I'm lucky to keep my job )

I can't work in the same town as DH and he can't work in the same town as me. So we can't both live near work.

Meantime oil may be running out but do you notice the US or any other larger country cutting their usage? No, you don't. So everyone in Britain is forced back to the dark ages to conserve oil so that everyone in China can drive a car?

I agree with expat too.

I was thinking about this this morning.

The rising cost of fuel probably isn't going to affect those who just jump into the car to go to the shops, because they are too lazy to walk, or those that drive their child to the school accorss the road.

It's going to put a huge dent into the finances of families already struggling to find money to meet the rising cost of living.

I don;t use my car for anything but work. I walk to the shops, I walk DS1 to pre-school, I'd walk to work, except that I live too far away - I could get the bus, but the first bus to where I work is at 6.45am - 15 mins after I start, so I use the P&R, which I suppose is the next best thing. DP walks everywhere.

Living in this country is shit at the moment. We are now paying over £100 a month on our key metre for leccy (and they won;t get it changed to a normal meter, because of bad debt associated with the house, which was run up before we'd moved in) Fuel is extortionate - and public transport even more so. It costs nearly a fiver to travel the 1.5 mile journeyt and back into town from here (and you can park in the centre of Bath for less than that - mmm, a real incentive to leave the car behind )

I feel most sorry for kids whio are just starting out oin life. My friend's 22 year old daughter is due to have a baby in July. She and her DP work FT, but they can't afford a flat to rent, so they are living with my friend and her DH. Not the ideal situation. They have a deposit, but even a 1 bed flat in Bath is nearly 700 a month, and they can't afford the rent each moth.

It's great how everything has gone up except for wages, isn't it?

some people need cars. But not everyone does. And most people definitely do not need two cars. Most towns (not talking about the country here) have public transport. But people are snobs, and don't want to travel on busses - they feel entitled to their own personal space.

It is the government's responsibility to better the public transport provision, but it is the responsibility of the individual to use their cars in a less selfish manner.

IMO people who forfit their cars should be entitled to free buss travel. And people who have more than one vehicle in the household should be heavily penalized, (at least 25% of the value of the vehicle, rising to 50%if the vehicle falls within the high emitions range) unless they can prove that there is a necessity for more than one car in the family.

And where is the government's action to compel employers to offer more flexible working options besides 9-5 where possible? Or telecommuting where possible? Job shares? Working more hours over 4 days a week with a day off?

Discounts on public transport?

Why is always the little guy who pays the price?

riven, I don;t use the bus ofetn, but if I have a gig in town, I use the bus, carrying a cello for a mile and a half hurts like feck.

I avoid town like the plague anyway

oh yes, let's sell our 15-year-old car. That'll fetch £500 tops for scrap. And, without going into debt, how are we supposed to buy another one?

I'm the only one out of my friends who ever uses the bus
Ad I have to walk a mile to cath one in the first place....

The other thing is, when I work late (until after midnight) I wouldn't walk/get the bus - not that they even run that time of night.

bus? what bus?

lol riven

Seriously though, even that's out. Dragging a cello on a trolley is a BAD idea. It can cause untold damage to the instrument. Plus even pulling it would kill my arm - not good when I have to play for 3+ hours

So bus it is.

Riven, we cannot afford to live in the city here.

We tried that.

It was NOT working and we were sinking deeper and deeper into debt.

Here, even with running a car, we are not sinking deeper and deeper.

I'm glad it worked for you, but it's not a solution for a good many people.

Well as can be seen from numerous threads on here, mothers with small children have it made perfectly clear to them, that they are not welcome on buses.

And who of us likes to go where we are not welcome?

There is a massive disincentive to use public transport. When I worked in London, I would have a train balls-up literally once a fortnight minimum. When I took up driving in Kent, there was one balls up on the M25 once in six months. When you have a childminder who will charge you extra and get pissed off if you are continually late picking up your child, these factors matter.

Oh and once again the govt appears to be shoving the responsibility onto schools. Did you lot know that every school has to have a travel plan by 2010, which will have objectives on cutting unsustainable means of transport to school? So as well as solving the problems of poor parenting, poverty, family breakdown, time famine, blah di blah, schools now have to solve the bloody oil crisis and climate change. In fact, I'm amazed they haven't been called upon to solve Iraq as well.

As far as I know, there is no equivalent duty on businesses to produce transport plans showing how they are going to enable their workers to be more sustainable. I think that shows us how serious the government is about green issues.

LB, the main disincentive for me is that it's so farking expensive and crap

How many times have I stood waiting in the pissing rain for a bus not to turn up?

Well, guess what? We were in Edinburgh, where both my husband and children were born.

And it's not really that much cheaper to go anywhere where you can commute into Edinburgh, because transport from such areas is very costly and rents not that much cheaper.

And then there's the council tax.

£151 for Band C.

We're paying £118/month here for Band E.

Also, most people don't realise that wages here are on the whole lower than in England.