Has the pandemic changed your relationship with public transport?

[Hairbrush123]

Not sure if this is the right place to post this but just interested to see what other people think.

Pre pandemic, I was an avid user of public transport and didn’t really drive my car anywhere except for places where it was not convenient for me to drive to/inaccessible to get to using public transport.

However during the pandemic, I haven’t been on any public transport since March. Can’t say I miss using it either. I used to get the train into the city centre (I live in Birmingham) as I always found driving into the city centre daunting but now I’ve been forced to (I could have used the train/bus but felt safer in my car) it’s not nearly as bad as I once thought. Weekends away would always have been done in the past using the train/coach but it’s definitely changed and DP and I take it in turns to drive to our destination and have noticed it’s cheaper to drive there too.

I would like to use public transport again once I get a vaccine but I definitely won’t be so dependent on it anymore like I once was! Anyone else feel the same?

I'm still using it - not driving into central London for work. It's quiet, feels cleaner (probably due to less human sweat!) and very peaceful. I'm avoiding the tube though, and only using overground trains.

Yup. Haven't been on a bus since February and only been on a tram twice. Would usually use them multiple times a week. We have been walking or cycling instead.

Yes
I don't drive anyway
I have been on the bus and the train a couple of times since march.
Before I went on often and without a second thought
I'm less confident in general, less confident about going on public transport
I just want it to go back to normal

It’s been good for me - I’m in London! Haven’t been on a tube or bus since March either

Don’t have a car - but just been in my bike - used to be terrified of cycling in the road - but now I’m confident enough to cycle pretty much anywhere all over the city! It’s so nice and I’m much fitter and feeling so much better for it

I can't drive so am forced to use public transport (bus & tram) at times if I have to go in to the office or for shopping. The number of people who still refuse to wear masks on PT or open windows is scary. I hate it.

I do miss the prep or wind down of commuting, and I really miss all the sights as my train pulls into Waterloo.

I use the train every day to get to work. A third of a carriage is cordoned off for the guard to do their work safely, apparently - rarely get tickets checked these days.

Cant see me ever going back to using the tube or buses tbh. If I can't drive I don't go and if the mayor has his way with the ridiculous expansion to the congestion charge that means I won't be going anywhere to spend money - their loss. Permanently WFH so no need to commute.

I did think yesterday about when hairdressers reopen whether I CBA to go into the West End to my preferred one but decided I'd just keep on with the box dyes for my roots - not as good but much cheaper- and chopping bits off myself now and again.

Have done 2 return train trips since March, and no buses. Basically, if we can’t walk there, we don’t go.
Used to say I couldn’t imagine a scenario when we’d actually need a car, but I will admit that this year would have been a little easier with one.

Yes and no. I work in a hospital in Central London and have commuted using tubes and trains throughout the year. I haven't and don't think I'm likely to catch covid from the commute, it's still reasonably spaced out and compliance with mask wearing reasonably good. I also use public transport for leisure, but much less than pre covid.
It's important to leave space for those that need it, but also to balance that against not using cars excessively.
My children have been on the tube (off peak) and buses a few times for leisure to preserve as much normality for them as possible.

Changed my relationship with public transport? No. Stopped me from using it? Yes. I pretty much need my car to do anything, we only have 2 buses a day where I live. All public transport use would have been for fun and so hasn’t been needed recently!

I used to take a bus everyday to go to town and work. Since March wfh.
Been in town 3 times
1st time in by bus back by Uber
2nd time Uber / Uber
3rd time drove my car

If I was working every day in town I guess I’d take the bus again but glad I don’t have to. They’re unreliable and I’d have been waiting in winter for 40mins-1h most days for a bus that was every 10 mins. So glad I’m wfh this winter

Yup it totally grosses me out now!

Not allowed to go to work so no need to go on public transport.

Definitely although hopefully not forever because I will miss out on so much not paying the bloody congestion charge
For a long time it was also coz I had to pay for kids, but I think that's stopped again now.
Only been on 2 trains since March.

Despite passing my test two decades ago, I hadn't driven in 18 years for various reasons. I was accepting of not driving and bought a house where I could be well served by public transport. Then came the pandemic. In the last two months I have bought a car and gained confidence in driving, discovered a newfound freedom that I never knew I was missing, and will never, ever go back. I do enjoy a nice train ride from time to time but never again will my freedom be dependent upon public transport.

Every winter I would go down with a cold solidly from October to April thanks to schools, colleges and unis. Never again.

No. I'd like to use public transport, but it's crap where I live, and the nature of my job makes it pretty impractical.

I don't drive but I try to walk more than I did pre covid19

Very interesting to see what people think of public transport now. Glad I’m not the only one!

FromTheAshes: this felt like I had written it! I wasn’t a very confident driver before the pandemic but tried to push myself shortly before the pandemic and then I was forced to get out of my comfort zone and now I have zero regrets. I used to be scared to drive anywhere new and now I don’t think twice about it( with lots of planning!). That’s one of the few good things about this pandemic, for me anyway. Just feel sorry for railway/bus operators who will no doubt change their services to reflect the decrease in passenger numbers once this is over.

I also commute across Central Birmingham (have done for 5+ years) in my own car and the traffic now is great! You might find that you want to go back to the train op once that builds up again. My commute is easily 20 minutes less a day than it used to be.

I've been on a train twice since March; I would normally go to London about once a month if not a bit more. So I completely understand why people, including me, are avoiding public transport but it does really worry me for the future. DH gets the train to work and says it's been empty ever since he went back in September. I'm scared we're going to lose some of these services and never get them back. Ultimately climate change is a much bigger threat than Covid and a long term shift to private cars is the last thing we need.

Other than no longer doing the daily London commute (which I don’t miss!) the biggest impact has been not using public transport ‘for fun’. I have two young DSs who love tubes and trains and buses and we’d often travel across London more for the journey than the destination. They’re desperate to go riding on the top deck of a double decker bus or pretending to drive the DLR. Even if I wasn’t worried about the risk, taking up space on public transport just for a jolly hasn’t seemed like the right thing to do.

I know that TfL have been swabbing surfaces, handrails etc and sampling air on tubes and buses and have not found any Covid yet, so I should think public transport would be fairly safe in London. I haven't seen anything from elsewhere.

I haven't used public transport much because there's nowhere to go. I can walk or cycle to my nearest small or larger towns. I went to London by train a few times when the weather was nice and enjoyed walking round when it was quiet and eating outside but I wouldn't bother with nothing open and the poor weather and I'd be worried about no toilets.

A legit study which swabbed hundred of touch points on the london underground showed absolutely non of these points had any trace of covid.

I can link if people don't believe me but I'll have to get the link off my OH

Using bus more. I'm in a large city and there are literally a few people on the bus when I travel about 9.15 am. Journeys are very fast too