To think that the price of public transport is just obscene?

[TAFKAtheUrbanDryad]

I've been checking out the bus prices in my local area as my car will have to go into the garage soon to have some work done and I will be without it for a couple of days. To get from where I live to the next town (where Tesco is) will be the best part of £5.00! It's a 20 minute car drive, surely it doesn't cost that much in fuel?

Am I alone in thinking that this isn't the way to encourage people to use their cars less? Why would anyone pay more to use the bus, endure people playing their music on their phones (a pet hate of mine) the rudeness of the drivers, and more inconvenience? Yes, I know it's better for the environment, and perhaps I should want to use the bus for that reason alone, but AIBU to think it should be better value for money?

public transport is fairly cheap in London because of the subsidies. But go out of London and you go from £1 for a bus fare to about £3. Which is a rip-off.

I think there are a few other councils that heavily subsidise public transport. I know Leeds used to, but it seems the fares have risen dramatically there.

the buses here are always packed so the price rises aren't lack of interest.
We used to be car-free but lack of low floor buses and endless squabbbles with pushchair mothers made me get a motability car for dd and her wheelchair last year. I hate cars and hate driving but there's no real choice.

I have been without my car for a month, thanks to DH knackering his and pinching mine to take to work. I was reduced to public transport into London every day. It cost more than the car, took longer and, in this weather, was thoroughly unpleasant. Today I have my car back and I am bloody delighted. No power on earth will make me give it up for public transport again.

YANBU

Bus fares here are extortionate, cheapest fare is £1.70 single Kids over 5 don't go free either, and the kid's fare s more thanm half the adults'.

As for trains, it's a bloody rip off.

eyeballs, so stuff the future of the planet then eh, so long as you get to keep your car and not use public transport

YANBU. Public transport (outside of London) is expensive and slow. It would take me over 3 hours and cost me £5 to get to Tesco, do my weekly shop and get home again on the bus. In my car I can do the whole lot quite easily in less than an hour.

YANBU. Public transport is essential and does not work as a profit making enterprise. It needs to be properly subsidised.

You might be being a bit unreasonable about the rudeness of bus drivers though.

Disagree about cheapness of London transport. A return journey on the tube from Zone 3 to central London (maybe 5 or 6 miles) costs £5.40 with an Oyster card or £8 without.

I dunno - I think I'd be prepared to pay a little bit extra for public transport for the sake of the planet and all, if it wasn't so bloody inconvenient!!

Yep, that's it Peed.

And that, in a nutshell, is why we're all doooomed.

wish buses were cheaper. ds1 turns 16 this week so to get to college is going to cost him £5.20 a day. Add that to ds2's school bus fare (same bus into town where the school is) and its over £8 a day. They will be going in alternate days i reckon.

Riven - when I was at college I got a bus pass. Don't they do them anymore?

It would be a lot cheaper for me to drive to work in London from where I live than to take the train, even including parking (I work in Canary Wharf so wouldn't have to pay congestion charging). Madness.

Mind you I driving for a few weeks (had limited mobility at the time) and it was so incredibly tiring I was glad to switch back to the train and tube.

'public service' and 'private enterprise' DO NOT MIX

that's the problem

Dh would love to take the Tube to work instead of driving, but it would mean leaving at 7am and not getting back until half 8 at night.

no pass for ds1 cos wessex connect doesn't do them. And he wont catch a First Bus because they are so unreliable.
He's asked me to run them to school. I said no cos it'd take over an hour each way (rush hour) so I'd be spending 4 hours a day in the blardy evil-mobile. The car is a WAV for dd's needs.

Actually I do occasionally use public transport when I go to Cambridge to avoid kamikaze cyclists traffic jams.

YANBU. This is a favourite bugbear of mine. Public transport in this country is horrific and quite frankly, embarassing. The trains are a mess and stupidly expensive. there are some routes that were faster in the Victoria era than they are now.
London transport is better than other places, but, it depends where you live. If you live on or need the Victoria line or Jubilee line any time this August on a weekend, forget about it. They've closed both EVERY weekend in August. The buses are good, I will give them that, but it's not enough. And the transport to and from airports, particularly Stansted, don't get me started. Single to Stansted: £18! The equivalent journey in Geneva (albeit it shorter) CHF 3 (about £1.60), Barcelona, EUR3, Moscow RUB 200 (about £4).

It is hard to be eco when you have a child who can not use public transport. DS loves buses and trains but with his ASD he upsets other passengers, won't sit still and we often have nowhere to put his disabld buggy. We can't use busy interchanges as he gets distressed easiloy and has often run off to look at the trains. When you add to that a travel sick teenager and a baby under 1 it is soooo much easier to use our own car.
London travel might be good but out in the sticks you can be reduced to 2 buses a day and often the rush hour ones are so packed you run the risk of not being able to get on the bus at all.

Just a note on comparing costs: while public transport might be cheaper for us when abroad, you have to consider how their prices relate to people from that particular country's/city's average income, cost of fuel etc.

I do agree that the price of public transport in the UK is appalling, also considering the level of service received and general value for money.

YANBU.