Public Transport

[Jez]

Out of curiosity a poll just to see whether people enjoy travelling on public transport?!

[cat72uk]

i have to use it i have no car!

[Pigeon feather]

Hi Jez, I don't drive and have to use public transport alot to get to A to B. I like using it now that I live in Kent but it wasn't so fun in London due to the overcrowding! although the downside to the public transport in Kent is that the buses aren't so regular and there's not always a bus route where you want to go! I do find it a tad overpriced too compared to London which is odd

[Paul mabbott]

I must admit that being squashed into a 'bus with hundreds of school children can be trying but better than being stuck in a car in a traffic jam!

You haven't mentioned boats?

[Billy Wobble Dagger]

I tend to only use the bus for going to and from Oxford for a drink or several, or on the park and ride for shopping. The trouble with the park and ride is that it is an ordinary bus. So going in to the city is fine, no bags, but on the return with all the shopping bags there is no where to put them apart from on your knees. Admittedly it’s not far from the bus stop back to the P+R but even so it can be uncomfortable and cramped. What they need is to take ever other set of seats out to allow you to put your bags somewhere safe, and yes it would mean more buses but this is a major problem with all public transport, comfort. Our cars are comfortable, and public transport isn't, until that is rectified private transport will always win.

BWD

[Paul mabbott]

Originally Posted by Billy Wobble Dagger

I..... Our cars are comfortable, and public transport isn't, until that is rectified private transport will always win.

BWD

As one who regularly travels to London by train and similar distances by car, I know which I find the most comfortable! Unless, of course, you have a chauffeur-driven Rolls!

[Jez]

I used to love travelling into Birmingham with my family as a child. I was brought up to give my seat to ladies which was great for me coz I used to have great pleasure in holding on to the posts/straps staying balanced as the buses turned round the corners, Ah the fun I had when I was a lad.

I still use public transport now I like watching the world go by, it's very therapeutic and also great when you see good wildlife!

[agrumpycow]

I must admit buses don't do it for me, I just find everyone so rude, including the drivers and it can be hellishly expensive - £1.30 last time I did for a 3/4 mile journey.
I use the train when going into town, it's cheap, £1.20 day return, the journey is about 4 minutes and I can walk to the station in 10.

[Greenish]

The only time I use public transport is when I have to go somewhere in school. I don't really enjoy the bus journey, but from September (when I go to secondary school) I will be taking the bus journey to and from school every day.

[Paul mabbott]

That's the north-south divide: people are just rude sown south! Don't have that sort of thing on our public transport in Yorkshire, everybody very polite, cheerful and helpful!

I agree that prices are too high (not that I have to pay ) - they should really be only token costs.

Originally Posted by agrumpycow

......., I just find everyone so rude, including the drivers and it can be hellishly expensive - £1.30 last time I did for a 3/4 mile journey.
I use the train when going into town, it's cheap, £1.20 day return, the journey is about 4 minutes and I can walk to the station in 10.

[Adam Cheeseman]

That's 'cos you haven't got proper traffic up North, Paul

I use the train into London and occasionally when I go down West Country. Have to say I hate the modern sliding door trains they use on 'short-haul' journeys. Uncomfortable seats that you can't relax in and no loos. Give me the old slam door bucket seats any day.

Cheers,

Adam

[Ukwildlifeo]

I often get the train and tube and the hazard include:

people stepping on to the train and just standing there - so not everyoine can get on

Fat (or sometimes just arrogant) businessmen/women who decide that they need half of my seat too and I end up squashed or pushed of the seat

Food/gum/god know what over half the seats and the other half having agressibe people with there bags/feet on


And of course idiots using there phones:

To talk loudly enough so the person at the other end doesnt need the phone

Or play 'music' so loud it hurts my ear over my headphones (mind you I have it at a volume to not disturb others)

Trains are fun

[demicav]

Public transport just doesn't do it for me. Trains are always full (I've heard) and you can never get a seat. You stand squashed like sardines in a tin, unable to breathe. Buses are dirty and full of yobs playing loud music and shouting obscenities at those who politely ask them to turn it down. I'll take the car thank you or walk were I can.

[Paul mabbott]

Originally Posted by Adam Cheeseman

That's 'cos you haven't got proper traffic up North, Paul

That's because we control car traffic and integrate and encourage public transport!

Well, I don't know them - no loos sounds scarey but so do 'bucket seats'!
You don't have these problems with East Midlands trains ....
... but then again, there is no joined-up thinking in railways across the country

I use the train into London and occasionally when I go down West Country. Have to say I hate the modern sliding door trains they use on 'short-haul' journeys. Uncomfortable seats that you can't relax in and no loos. Give me the old slam door bucket seats any day.

Cheers,

Adam

[galanthus]

I drive my car majority of the time, however, if I want to go to cardiff and the bay with the intention of drinking lots of red wine I take the train, bearable as you can drink at the end of it.

If we're doing big journeys to see english family or major cities we take the train and really enjoy it; we crack open a bottle of red wine with our own glasses, take fave newspapers/photo mags and generally chat while watching the world go by, all de-stressing stuff and v fab.

Mind you, we get free train travel so that helps

[Real Wild Child]

Originally Posted by cat72uk

i have to use it i have no car!

Same here, I am sorry I can't drive.

[nightshade]

There are no buses trains etc. anywhere near where I work the car is it,
my hours are unsociable as well

[hobble]

This weekend I went to London on the train. I reserved two forward facing seats with a table as I was taking my 3 year old daughter. On the train I found our reservation, two rear facing seats with no table.
The train stopped as there were signalling problems and was late by 40 minutes.
In London I caught a train to go on the London eye, the next train I should have caught was not running and I was advised to go on the underground.
Fine if I new where I was going.
Return journey to Cornwall was a repeat of the journey up, the wrong seats and the train was delayed.
The coffee was foul and there were hardly any bins for rubbish, recycling?
The train was filthy and the toilets were disgusting, not so great Great Western.

[Paul mabbott]

Sorry to hear that you had a bad journey. Great Western is getting a very bad name. But that's just one of the outcomes from the stupid, useless, criminal privatisation of the railways. I can only hope that you get a better organised company taking over the franchise.

It's no consolation but travelling from Sheffield to London is cheap, efficient, quick (if it isn't you get a refund) and the coffee is fairtrade and very tasty! So it can be done.

Anyway - did you enjoy the London Eye? It never struck me as a bundle of fun but when I went on it I was engrossed - seeing a city I know well from an absolutely different viewpoint.

Originally Posted by hobble

This weekend I went to London on the train. I reserved two forward facing seats with a table as I was taking my 3 year old daughter. On the train I found our reservation, two rear facing seats with no table.
The train stopped as there were signalling problems and was late by 40 minutes.
In London I caught a train to go on the London eye, the next train I should have caught was not running and I was advised to go on the underground.
Fine if I new where I was going.
Return journey to Cornwall was a repeat of the journey up, the wrong seats and the train was delayed.
The coffee was foul and there were hardly any bins for rubbish, recycling?
The train was filthy and the toilets were disgusting, not so great Great Western.

[hobble]

The London Eye was great, as you say the views are incredible.
The only thing that made me nervous was seeing my daughter leaning against the glass while looking down.........with out an ounce of fear as to what I was thinking about, is it really safe?
We both enjoyed it and it was a memorable trip.

[wilddawn]

No trams near me but when I go from centre of Manchester to south Manchester I enjoy using them. Trains are good too but they're 30 mins apart and dont allways turn up! So I have to use a bus which is expensive and I find a lot of bus drivers are rude and arrogant and young passengers (school kids/teens) loud and inconsiderate of others.

[PMG]

Most of the places I go to and the times of day I go there would be impossible by public transport of any kind - both for work and days out for pleasure!

The amount of stuff I require for a day out - and not just camera gear - I couldn't physically carry by public transport - and if I can't do what I normally expect to do in the day then theres no point going!

I wouldn't feel safe esp on trains or train journeys and esp not on train stations. And buses just don't come into it for me in any shape or form for the reasons others have already stated - and again I wouldn't feel safe esp getting off and walking away........

About the only thing I have done and would do again is drive from home to Bury to catch the frequent trams into Manchester centre to go to an exhibition. Also it would be handy for clothes shopping in the central big stores - but seeing as I am past the age of clothes shopping - except for funeral attire (and for that I drove to Bolton to the same big-name stores....) then I can't actually see me using the tram anytime soon either.......

About the only place I can see public transport being any use is in London and probably other big cities - if you live and work in the city during what is termed normal working hours......... the rest of the country - and the further north and west you go you would to struggle to even find public transport and if you did, it could take sev hours - more than one bus or train - to get to your destination. It just doesn't work!

Pauline

[Paul mabbott]

Didn't someone calculate that 75% of English 'bus journies started, ended or went through London?

I don't think it's that bad - I always travel by public transport in South and West Yorkshire, Tyneside, Greater Manchester - I'm sure other big cities are similar?

Admittedly it's not so easy getting about the Derbyshire Dales - needs a fair bit of planning but the few 'buses are reliable and fairly cheap (especially for those with the national travel card!). Planning travel is much easier nowadays with all timetables on the web ...

Originally Posted by PMG

About the only place I can see public transport being any use is in London and probably other big cities - if you live and work in the city during what is termed normal working hours......... the rest of the country - and the further north and west you go you would to struggle to even find public transport and if you did, it could take sev hours - more than one bus or train - to get to your destination. It just doesn't work!

Pauline