Getting Around…Cycling, buses, trains…

Quite frankly, is it any wonder the UK’s public transport system isn’t better utilised.  Where I live it’s rubbish and would be a huge inconvenience.  If I can get around using it, going when and where I want, without having to donate my left arm and right leg to use it then maybe I would consider it.  Now in bigger cities with tube and tram services, or regular buses I can see the benefits of them.  In London the car is the slowest form of transport, but where I live car is king!

Now before you’re getting ready to click that tempting red cross in the corner, or flame me in the comments section wait a moment!

I work about 15 miles away from where I live; which is six and a half miles more than the national average!  To get a bus to work would mean taking a half an hour bus to the town next to me, and from there I’d have to sit on another bus for around another hour.  That’s an hour and a half; each way. That’s double the national average time for commuting.  I could also get a train, but I’d have to do a few swaps and in peak times it’d cost more than driving. So yes, I usually do drive to work and that only takes half an hour.  Along with this, I also join the 3% of people who cycle to work.  Yes, I cycle the 30 mile round trip to work and back - it’s actually quicker than the bus by 30 minutes! So where’s the incentive to get the bus, or take the train on the damp morning or the morning I don’t have the energy to do the hilly, 15 mile journey?  There is none.

The problem in the UK is that in general, public transport doesn’t work!  It’s slow, inconvenient and expensive.  However, you may be saying - it’s good for the environment.  Are you sure about that?  According to the Department for Statistics buses carry an average of 8 people.  That’s a pathetic amount considering how many people an average bus can carry.  I’ve also heard that a if everyone on a train drove they’d produce the same emissions - I can’t verify this claim though.

Public transport definitely has it’s place! I can get home for £2.50 after a night out, either by train or bus, which is a down sight cheaper than if I was to get a taxi!  However, whenever I get the bus late at night there’s usually about three other people on the bus and they all get off at the first stop.  I spoke to the driver and he said that once I got off he’d be driving for another hour and he’d probably be lucky enough not to have to pick anyone up.  Now that’s a waste of energy but for once it’s pretty convenient.

Now let’s talk about cycling.  I have a 1 in 50 chance of dying when cycling, compared to the 1 in 200 chance when driving which is a slight put off.  The only way I have to cycle to work is along a busy A road and every time I cycle to work I’d say a car driver does something dangerous, either cuts me up, overtakes too close…so this is a real risk!  Overall I do enjoy cycling to work so I don’t let all this put me off too much.  However, for most people this does.  The solution to this is having lots and lots of bike lanes, but in my experience of cycling around my local town, they’ve been designed by someone who has never used a bike…probably never even seen the road that the cycle lane will be on first hand.  Car drivers need to learn that cyclists do exist and do have a place on the road.  By isolating cyclists in bike lanes car drivers can stay oblivious.  I’d much rather cycle lanes weren’t there half the time.

So this eliminates buses and trains for getting to work due to slowness and also eliminates cycling for most people due to safety reason.  That only leaves the car.  You can tax people as much as you want for using a car but the only way you’re going to get people to use them less is to improve other methods of transport and at the moment, they just aren’t good enough.

So until public transport is better, when convenient cycle or walk - else buy a car with a lower emissions, share lifts and so on.  You could also consider a carbon offsetting scheme!

*Statistics available here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3085647.stm

http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t=11832&sid=fc699485e2014910e582ac9a39663afd