What would it take to change you from car travel to bus travel ?

Question

please discuss ?

Answer 1

The coughing of other commuters.

Answer 2

It would take something like provision of the services found on the Continent, always on time, cheap, reliable, clean and frequent. Until we have an integrated transport system in the UK, this is never going to happen.

The biggest upset to our public transport system took place some time ago, organised by a certain Dr Beeching, and implemented by the then Labour Government (wouldn't you just have guessed?!). This was followed by the privatisation of the bus services, and that just about completed the total mess-up.

When I travel by car, I now have 4 or 5 passengers on a regular basis. It would cost a fortune to go by public transport, and the waste of time waiting for buses and trains would be incalculable.

All that both Labour and Ken (Red) Livingstone seem to want to do is take more money from our pockets, and NOT use it to improve ANY services, including transport!

Perhaps, just maybe, if Boris Johnson wins the London mayoral election, we may see some improvement, which might then, possibly, spread to the rest of our country.

Answer 3

I travel 25 - 30000 miles a year, last year Glasgow and Southampton in consecutive months.

The bus service would have to be EXCEPTIONAL to accomodate my job.

Answer 4

if i  did not have a car

Answer 5

a company that could stop it raining so when you are waiting for the hours it seems to take for the bus to get there your not getting cold, wet and well how can i put this p****d off. i have no intention of giving up my car. i paid a lot of money to get my licence.

Answer 6

free public transport would make me ditch my car

Answer 7

I don't have any option but to travel by bus these days.  Just split up from husband and can't afford a car of my own yet.  On the whole, it's ok.  It is a bit of a hassle though, especially in winter and at nights.  Buses are usually busy with standing room only, too many pushchairs, weirdos and yobs.  The fares are over-priced and the service is unreliable.  If the government could fund bus travel to enable all members of the public to travel free of charge this would probably encourage more people to travel by bus.  Also, if there were greater security measures in place, this too would be an incentive.  Safety at bus shelters would be a good idea too.

Answer 8

no local bus..it would take a bus and 10 dollar gas,,,,but a bus will not carry gravel,hay,horse feed and lumber 4 me

Answer 9

I would have to be supplied with my own bus

Answer 10

for me it would take the bus picking me up at my house and it would have to work out so that it could get me everywhere i had to go as i have to go to both sides of town and i could get to one side but not get back in time due to bus schedules not fitting to what i need

Answer 11

I do both. if I do not have to change or carry a lot of shopping I will get a bus if I do I will take my car. Over the last few years bus cleanliness has improved but I still do not find them particularly comfortable. Rush hours are to be avoided as with trains. the advantage with a car is that I can leave and return when it suits me. I can have my radio on to a programme I want or not have it on at all. I can have it as hot or cold as I wish with Windows open or closed to suit me. The bus means I do not have to concern  myself with the traffic conditions. There is often someone to talk with. I do not have to find a parking space. which means that sometimes it stops nearer to my destination. it is  a case of horses for courses. I'd actually prefer a push bike but I am not inclined to commit suicide l

Answer 12

In my part of London, the first buses (as in time, not the company), as well as night buses, are generally reliable. Other than those, it is a lottery. I agree with practically everything that has been said already, except for me price is not a factor as free travel is a great benefit of working in public transport. That said, I use my car more often than not simply because the journey from my house to the depot is half an hour in my air-conditioned car, compared to one-and-a-half hours by tube, bus or a combination of the two. I would argue, in my ecological defence, that I often have to travel to or from work at times when public transport is not running on some part of my route.

Answer 13

The knowledge that there would be "another one along in a minute."

If I miss my bus from the Town Centre (it could be just 30 seconds and you see it pull away in front of you), I have to stand at the bus stop for an hour to wait for the next one.

Answer 14

Pinellas County Florida.

For me to switch from my car to bust travel it would be these reasons. 1. More buses and stops that are closer to my job. Nearest bus stop from my work is 5miles and 2miles from home and i would have catch 5diffrents buses to take me where i need to go, just one way. and that would get expensive at $1.25 X10 X6=$75.00 a wk give or take.

2. Extremely high gas prices.

Answer 15

nothing. i dont drive. i take the train/bus/walk everywhere.

Answer 16

I start work at 4:45 am Monday to Friday to get there in my car takes 10 minutes.

If I wanted to go by Bus it would mean me driving in to a neighbouring town at 2:30 am to catch the all night hourly Bus service in to the city then a 2 mile walk at 3:15 am across the city through some areas that make Beriut look like a haven of peace and tranquilty, To catch a 2nd Bus to take me to the town I work in to be there for 4:30 am. This would cost me 10 pounds a day in Bus fares to get to work and back home.

In the car it costs me 3 pounds in petrol a day to get there and back.

Until the Bus picks me up at my door takes me directly to were I'm going at the time I'm going at and costs the same as going in my car.

I'm going to stick to using my car.

Answer 17

A bus service that operated 27/7.  I work shifts.

The bus would also have to have a 1st class section, so I wouldn't have to sit near a smelly, drunken peasant.

Answer 18

For there actually to be a bus going past my door and if there was one then going to where I wanted to go.

Neareast bus to me is over a mile away.

I get free bus travel but it is no use if there is no bus!!!

Answer 19

a few simple things really

1 - if there was a direct route to get where i need to go via bus that is not out of my schedule but as of now i need to switch from a bus to nyc to a train to neward then light rail to get to my destination in the fastest method of public transportation.

2 - if that bus that would take me straight to my destination was an express bus, i can't stand the local ones when i have a certain time limit to get to a point.

3 - if the almost daily traffic jam wasn't there, i can avoid it via detours in the car, bus won't bother and i'm not going to be missing classes just because of that.

4 - my car was being worked on or someone i know and trust beyond all else needs it more than me for a more or less fixed time interval

5 - if gas prices, high and unreasonable as they are, went skyrocketting up in an even greater rate in a manner where i would not be able to afford gas and/or it would be better to cope with the incoveniences of relying on someone else who is bound to a certain route to get me to my destination in time, which i doubt that the government will permit to happen so drastically since anyone in power would basically be voted out in an instant.

Answer 20

A personal bus!  Also, i have no idea of where bus stops are and when the come and go. I just see them around town. I'm not the best candidate for you discussion, sorry.

Answer 21

Cheaper fares.

A more reliable service.

More frequent buses.

Buses that actually go where I want to go.

It'll never happen, of course...

Answer 22

I have been travellin solely by bus for several years now.  It is a LOT cheaper to go by bus.

It costs £21 for 6 days travel on the bus.  To cover EXACTLY the same distance, over the same time period by car it was costing me £100.

Answer 23

Nuclear war.

Answer 24

I would never take the bus! On the odd occasion when I don't have a car, or if I've had a drink, I'll take a taxi.

To me, a taxi is public transport.

Answer 25

i changed from environmentally friendly bus travel back to car travel recently. why? because every single day now when i sit on a bus, people are smoking marijuana on the upstairs level, or ordinary cigarettes and on both levels i am forced to listen to loud music being played by teenagers. this happens every single day and the bus drivers do nothing nor do they enforce any laws protecting the rest of us.

i have also been threatened twice by 'weirdo's' on buses.

sorry, but from last week i am back to travelling by car. the bus drivers 'don't want to get involved' in giving us a quiet, safe and smoke free route to and from work then i will not take the buses.

Answer 26

Buses make me ill

Answer 27

Buses would have to run very early in the morning for me to get to work for 6am.

And they would have to have a more frequent sevice with better connections.

I work on the railways and have to be at work before even the 1st train of the day runs.

Going by car takes me 30-40 mins depending on the time of day,by bus or tram/train takes 120 min or more(and no sunday service can get me to work at all).

It's about time people with "green issues" realised that in order for public transport even start up in a morning,there are a lot of car journys made.

And it's no use arguing I should move closer to my place of work(housing too costly)...or moving to another location(Networkrail modernising and closing signalboxes means longer and longer travel to work).