On 2 Nov 2006 01:59:33 -0800, "Chris"
wrote:


magwitch wrote:
Doesn't need to be attractive for me, but the PT we have now: unavailable,
unreliable, uncomfortable and expensive is the way things are, and probably
the way PT will stay, because at the moment people have a comfortable,
reliable, relatively cheap alternative: endless car travel, which happens to
be damaging the planet.

Public transport is useless.

Getting to work :- By car 20-30mins - £3/4 Petrol. Public transport
- 1 Hour £8
Visiting my parents (there and back) :- By car 5-6hrs £40 Petrol.
Public transort 9 Hours £111

Both journeys involve a train and a bus and are "on a good day" and I
live across the road from a train station. Obviously there are other
costs associated with owning a car but at present I have to own a car
so I have to pay them whether I use it or not.

Even if travelling by car was more expensive I'd still think twice just
because of the sheer inconvenience. Especially the journey to and from
work.

There are two things to consider here, before getting excited about
relative transport costs. The first it that the Government could make
car transport even more expensive per journey, and secondly, the train
companies coud also make the equivalent journeys more expensive.
Current comparisons are probably misleading. At present I can travel
to Cambridge more cheaply by train as an individual , and more cheaply
by car if there are two or more of us. This may well change soon. And
of course, the currrent simple comparative costs don't take into
account whether one is carrying a substantial load of stuff, or
perhaps transporting a baby, or whatever. People will make their
travel arrangements according not only to the cost, but to their
individual circumstances. Big increases in either will have a strong
knock-on effect for some locations; for example those that depend on
several people travelling, such as UK holiday destinations.

---
GR