Published on 12, July, 2020
A lot of things would be better if people knew they could use public transport when they needed it at a convenient price. Not everyone is able to drive and cars are expensive to run. Economies of scale mean that the more people you put on one vehicle the more cost efficient it is. That isn't to say nobody should own cars, some people need them. However, a lot of people do not need, at least they don't if there was a good public transport system in place. Personally I would create a 24 hour system. It would cost more initially but I think the benefits in the long term would far outweigh those costs and besides if a 24 hour system with regular times was put in place a lot of the money people spend on cars could then be rerouted to funding the public transport system through taxation.
To be fair, privatisation of the U.K. railways was a huge mistake compared to the situation in Ireland - coming back from Ireland in October 2022, due to a rail strike that I tried to avoid, I ended up being stranded in Holyhead for 2 days, unable to get back to Manchester, due to unexpected delays leaving Dublin in good time on SailRail and now the Irish government wants to obey EU rules on climate change and ban air travel between Ireland and the U.K.
The U.K. railways are a total disgrace compared to the rest of mainland Europe, where even the former soviet bloc countries of Eastern Europe’s railways are way better than ours, even in first class rail carraiges and in modern carraige designs, they have done away with private rail compartments, except in sleeper trains from London to Scotland, such as the Caledonian Sleeper - cross border rail travel in mainland Europe is an absolute joy, from Eurostar, the Orient Express and via Paris and Brussels to all over Europe and this includes high speed rail travel - even the Italian railways are way better and right now, the Dutch railways are very impressive - I almost find it comical that the Germans complain about their railways and about their older ICE trains
Public transport is an essential public service, that needs to run on a 24 hour basis, in big cities and rural areas alike - trade unions in the public transport sector are way too powerful and where strikes and industrial actions do happen, because of the kind of disruption it causes, trade union leaders must face criminal charges under the criminal law, striking and taking industrial action must become illegal and must be dealt with under the criminal law
i despise public transport whole heartedly to the point id say they should be banned or moved away from me loltoo many people all in one place, too many people crammed into one tiny sardine can? sneezing on one another with no way to cover it because your squashed ontop of one another? ... no thanks.... keep your germs, i want no one near me at all, if you made a public transport where we all have our own seperate cabin then fair enough, so long as the walkways we dont have to squash in kissing distance of one another.....
Coming from Rural Ireland where I still have extended family and living in a U.K.city for 22 years, I agree, which is why I totally disagree with the total insanity of 15 mins smart cities and making rural areas off limits - people in rural areas need their own transport as it has proven consistently impractical to provide public transport in rural areas outside of major routes between cities, where rural banks and post offices have been taken away and where even rural broadband has been proven to be a failure, as people in rural areas are simply not been supported - as for big cities, the current public transport offering is abysmal and totally inadequate, totally at the mercy of trade unions who should not be allowed to strike and where there should be very severe legal and criminal penalties for taking part in such illegal and criminal activity, as public transport needs to be a legally protected essential public service in big cities, but especially in Rural areas where provided
Number said:I knew you'd be "On The Buses" thread. I'm more of a walker, myself.
I have the whole "On The Buses" TV series plus the three spin of movies on DVD. I am also a walker, but I need buses to get me to good walking locations.
On a sad note, one of my cousins committed suicide, soon after leaving school in the mid 1970s, because he was turned down for a job as a bus driver.
I knew you'd be "On The Buses" thread. I'm more of a walker, myself. I have a better chance of meeting animals (pure sentience) that way.....and there is less smells and sweat that way?! But I do appreciate that buses are REALLY important to some folk....and I do think they've been properly screwed for about 40 years. It makes me happy that you use them a lot.....I notice...and it helps me appreciate their importance to our society.
I hope you are well Robert.
Kindest regards,
Number
I still remember the socialist Republic of South Yorkshire in the 1970s and 80s.
When I think that the bus fares were frozen from 1974 to 1984 and there was an extensive night bus service at 1am and 4am. The place was a party until Maggie thatchers government destroyed it and the miners.
Agree with the above. It would be beneficial to a lot of people if it worked like that and would mean less cars on the road if they ran 24 hours to the right places.
A few years back a 'super' hospital was built in my town and since then all 4 bus routes have been closed and a lot of people can't get to this hospital anymore.
The school bus has been stopped as well. My last year of school my parents took me as the bus was axed.