NetNews Usenet Archive 1993 #3/NN_1993_3.iso/spool/uk/transpor/311

Internet Message Format | 1993-01-23 | 2.8 KB

Path: sparky!uunet!pipex!unipalm!uknet!root44!praxis!martin
From: [e-mail] (Martin Croxford)
Newsgroups: uk.transport
Subject: Driving v Public Transport
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 22 Jan 93 17:33:14 GMT
Distribution: uk
Organization: Praxis, Bath, U.K.
Lines: 44


Andy T.:

> The sight of long traffic queues on the main roads in Birmingham annoys the
> hell out of me especially when most of the cars contain the driver only.
> Of course everybody realises that a group of buses is better than the
> equivalent number of cars, in terms of fuel, the environment, accidents,
> travel time etc. Unfortunately the initiative is not going to come from
> the motorists. Birmingham City Council are planning to narrow some of
> the main roads in the south of the city and introduce bus lanes. They hope
> this will make it intolerable for motorists and get them onto the buses.
> Anothe reason is the recognition that residential areas are nothing more than
> hell-holes for a few hours each day when the roads through them choke up with
> traffic, they say they want to improve the environment of these areas by
> reducing traffic, widening pavements and putting the trees back. I hope
> that this works in the long term. In the short term it will slow traffic down
> and cause long queues, this is the idea.

I live in Bradford-on-Avon and commute 6 miles to Bath each day. In the
car it takes 15-20 minutes, half of that sitting in a traffic jam at a
bottleneck with about 100 (?) other one-person cars. On the train it
takes about 15-20 minutes, more if you include waiting for the train. The
reason I drive is that I can leave home when convenient and, more
importantly, leave work when convenient - I regularly work late and don't
wish to wait for up to an hour for the next train home. On top of that, a
season ticket for the train is about 50 quid a month,
pre-recent-fare-increase, compared with the 15-odd quid a month petrol
bill I currently have. Even if I had the car JUST for work and included
all the other costs driving would still be favourable cost-wise.

Driving is cheaper, more convenient and more reliable than public
transport (over my annual mileage). The only way to drive (sic) people
from their cars and onto the buses and trains is to reduce the cost of
public transport, and increase its convenience and reliability.

It'll be interesting to see if Birmingham's plans work out. I suspect
that it probably will if the bus system is improved in terms of cost and
convenience. When I lived in London and commuted 3 miles from Archway to
Euston I never considered using the car since the parking and traffic was
impossible and the underground and my legs so much quicker.
--
Martin Croxford          Praxis Systems plc, 20 Manvers St, Bath. BA1-1PX. UK.
[e-mail]      Tel: [phone]        Fax: [phone]
These are my opinions