Car Ownership -Good Or Bad?

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Obviously a bad thing, but at present it's necessary for some people to own a car, depending on where they live and work.

I was going to make my views known, but this posting makes a most valid point.

Many companies have premises in rural locations when public transport, where if it still is available, is as rare as hens teeth. I, like many staff, was fortunate to have a company car as part of my salary package (I have been retired since 2010), but there are many instances that I am personally aware of where employees use their own transport to such rural sites.

I will cite, as an example, the rural location of the David Lewis Centre for Epilepsy that is located in Great Warford in Cheshire East with no bus service, where both staff and visitors to this residential establishment need their own transport or taxis to arrive there.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I'm a self employed painter and decorator and my other half is a child minder which includes picking up children from a rural school so neither of us can do without our vehicles. Both our vehicles are over ten years old and as they're reliable (touch wood) it's not worth changing them for now.
If circumstances were different it would be nice just to have one vehicle and use public transport more, we do use public transport when we can and the kids all use buses for school/college etc.

I am somewhat intrigued to see how you would bring your ladders, paint, etc, on public transport to get to your next decorating assignment.

 

[SpacePhoenix]

Working on an industrial estate having a car is a necessity. Some bus services have been reduced or cut round here where they relied on council subsidies

 

[Ianno87]

I am somewhat intrigued to see how you would bring your ladders, paint, etc, on public transport to get to your next decorating assignment.

Come to London, and you'll see decarotors, tradespeople etc carry their stuff around on the tube pretty commonly. Seriously. Far preferable to London's congestion.

It's a case of them taking exactly what they need for that day, rather than using a van to cart everything back and forth every day (which is pretty inefficient and silly when you think about it), and they'll choose ladders that are foldable or easily carriable.

 

[Lrd]

I live in London Zone 4 and have a car and use it almost every time I go anywhere. I tried to prioritize using public transport to get to work but when it takes twice as long to get there on a good day I quickly went back to the car, even though buses and tubes are free for me.

I also have family on the South coast and often see them, it's an hour in the car or pushing for two hours by train and bus.

 

[SpacePhoenix]

What's the public transport like in London to industrial estates (excluding any industrial estates around Heathrow)?

 

[sk688]

Imo , it is needed

I live in Zone 6 in London ( NW ) , and despite the decent travel network ( crap compared to inner London anyway ) , a car is still needed , as public transport takes you where IT needs to go , the car will take you where YOU need to go .

The bus network in NW London ( Harrow , Pinner ) is not that great either . For a start , Metroline and RATP dominate the area , and their services all tend to head down one traffic filled corridor , so the bus always takes longer too , hence why car imo

Although in Central , im probably saying public transport , as it is decent , the Tube , good bus service with high frequency , and the choking traffic and one way streets which make cars a pain , in Greater London however , car is definitely needed

 

[PeterC]

moved to a 5 minute walk to work

A friend of mine did that. Six months later they announced that they were relocating.

 

[47802]

Ultimately I love my car and the freedom it brings. Where I live at present doing without a car is not really that practical, by contrast for a year I lived near Meadowhall, 5 mins walk to the Interchange and within walking distance of where I worked. consequently I used my car very little for that year but the reality for the majority in the country is that they need their car.

If and when the driverless car/taxi does become reality then outside our major cites I think it will become the default mode of transport, rural buses that haven't already disappeared will go and also possibly some rural train lines as well.

 

[Cowley]

Come to London, and you'll see decarotors, tradespeople etc carry their stuff around on the tube pretty commonly. Seriously. Far preferable to London's congestion.

It's a case of them taking exactly what they need for that day, rather than using a van to cart everything back and forth every day (which is pretty inefficient and silly when you think about it), and they'll choose ladders that are foldable or easily carriable.

That's interesting. I find that there's nearly always something I need on the van. Sometimes I work on jobs in Exeter and I haven't been able to park nearby, I've even left the van at home a couple of times but it's really awkward. Probably not so bad if you're doing a new build but if it's an old place you always end up finding unexpected things wrong that need repairing.
It's not just painting, it can often be repairing, plastering, woodwork etc

 

[yorksrob]

I've managed to get away with not having a car so far, and I'd quite like it to continue that way (the last time i got behind the wheel, John Major was the Prime Minister). I'm told by friends that driving is very expensive these days.

It helps that I live near, and work in a comparatively big city - albeit not one with as good a public transport system as London. Also for leisure, I enjoy a drink, so motor transport wouldn't be suitable for me.

I suspect that my leisure activities, and where I go has been subconsciously affected by where I can get to on public transport, however living by the railway timetable has become a way of life. I must admit, I tend to go a lot further afield for my leisure of a weekend, in comparison to most of the car owners I know.

One major objection I have to car ownership, as a pedestrian is the sheer amount of traffic around when you're trying to cross the road etc. Already it seems that wherever I try to walk, there's a damned car trying to run me down. Unfortunately, I can only see this getting worse with self driving vehicles, as there will be twice as many going twice as fast, and potentially ruined public transport. The design of our towns and cities in the 1960's - 80's with major traffic flows that pedestrians have to negotiate doesn't help the situation.

 

[455driver]

Private car ownership should be discouraged. Shared ownership is the way forwards.

How does that work in practice?
Where is the car kept so it is accessible to all the owners?
How do the other owners get to the car if one of them takes it to work?
What if both/all the owners want the car at the same time?
How does it work for people who work odd days and/or shifts?
Who pays for the maintenance and how are the costs split?
Who washes/cleans it?
Etc!

 

[D365]

Don't own a car at the moment but I will need one for my placement - no chance of EWR getting me to Milton Keynes anytime soon.

 

[KN1]

Not having a car is just too ridiculous for me to even think about.

 

[JamesRowden]

I am not allowed to drive due to having almost completely under control epilepsy. As a result I have a free bus pass and a Disabled Person's Railcard (for which one return journey to London pays more than a year's cost). I find that I can live perfectly happily within a 20 minute walk of work within a small town in a rural part of the country. Having an every 30 minute bus service to Barnstaple (where there is an hourly (2 hourly on Sundays) rail service via Exeter) 7-days a week including evenings is good enough (although improvements would be much appreciated).

Perhaps an equivalent of the Disabled Person's Railcard could be made available to people who are willing to sacrifice their right to hold a driving license for the duration of the railcard.

 

[Kite159]

I once worked out if I ever felt the urge to use public transport to get to my current place of work is would take roughly 90 minutes including walking the last mile once onto camp so for me a car is required.

 

[shredder1]

Hate driving, but need a car for work as part of my job, public transport isnt an option, I really wish it was.

 

[JamesRowden]

I once worked out if I ever felt the urge to use public transport to get to my current place of work is would take roughly 90 minutes including walking the last mile once onto camp so for me a car is required.

Or a home/job change.

 

[455driver]

When buses run to get me to to work for an 04:00 start or home when I finish at 01:30 then I might give it a go, in the meantime as I need a car to get to and from work most of the time I will continue to use it all the time, although I have caught the bus a couple of times but its just so slow.

I once asked if I could occasionally work from home but was turned down flat!

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Having attended the 88th birthday party this afternoon of my sister-in-law at her nursing home that is situated on the Rossall side of Fleetwood, travelling in my son's 4 x 4 there and back on a Sunday from a rural part of Cheshire East that is two miles away from any railway station or bus stop, I will be interested in knowing from any thread contributor as how we would have made this journey without that car.

We used the M56, M6 and M55 motorways that were extremely busy with cars today and I wonder how all these people would have managed on a Sunday if only public transport was available.

When this "no private car" heaven ever reaches anywhere near the realisation of aspiration stage, what will become of the motorway network and how much loss in car taxation would there be to the Treasury.

 

[Bevan Price]

I only learned to drive when my workplace was relocated to a location difficult to access by public transport. I still drive, but only occasionally. About once a month to Morrisons, occasionally to Winwick to photograph trains , and sometimes to stations when my return arrival is likely to be too late for the last bus (17:40, SuX) from town centre to home.

Personally, I think the number of parking spaces in town & city centres should be drastically reduced - and replaced by cheapish (rail or bus) out of town parking interchanges.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

My wife and I are life members of the National Trust, so using the "no car" scenario of this thread, how would we make the reasonably short journey from the rural border area of Prestbury/Mottram St Andrew (two miles from any bus or train) to Little Moreton Hall on the A34 by public transport when the hall opens soon for the 2017 season.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I only learned to drive when my workplace was relocated to a location difficult to access by public transport. I still drive, but only occasionally. About once a month to Morrisons, occasionally to Winwick to photograph trains , and sometimes to stations when my return arrival is likely to be too late for the last bus (17:40, SuX) from town centre to home.

Personally, I think the number of parking spaces in town & city centres should be drastically reduced - and replaced by cheapish (rail or bus) out of town parking interchanges.

Is it York that has some well placed park and ride facilities?

 

[meridian2]

Is it York that has some well placed park and ride facilities?

York does indeed have such facilities, the downside being they lock the gates too early to enjoy an evening out at the theatre or whatever.

 

[JamesRowden]

Having attended the 88th birthday party this afternoon of my sister-in-law at her nursing home that is situated on the Rossall side of Fleetwood, travelling in my son's 4 x 4 there and back on a Sunday from a rural part of Cheshire East that is two miles away from any railway station or bus stop, I will be interested in knowing from any thread contributor as how we would have made this journey without that car.

We used the M56, M6 and M55 motorways that were extremely busy with cars today and I wonder how all these people would have managed on a Sunday if only public transport was available.

When this "no private car" heaven ever reaches anywhere near the realisation of aspiration stage, what will become of the motorway network and how much loss in car taxation would there be to the Treasury.

One who knows that it is not ppossible for them to drive on the public road can design their life around that fact by living close to work and in a location with good enough non-car transport options. If more people impose this restriction upon themselves then the market for public transport increases subsequently resulting in better public transport and lower road congestion. It does not require that no one has a private car for this effect to make a significant difference. It merely needs to be made more attractive for people to be car-less than it presently is, and then the resulting superior public transport system should create a positive feedback effect by increasing the market for public transport which would create an even better public transport system and so on.

 

[GusB]

I work from home these days, so as far as daily commuting is concerned, I don't need a car and I certainly don't miss the running costs. The food shop is ordered online and delivered, and I definitely do not miss traipsing round Asda on a weekly basis. If I do have to go into town for anything, which is a rare occurrence these days, I can catch the bus which has an hourly frequency, and since they extended the dayrider zone as far as my village, reasonable fares. But only if I want to travel between 7am and 6pm Monday to Saturday.

When I last had to rely on public transport to get to and from work, we had evening services, but they were so few and far between that if I got held up at work for any reason, I either had to beg a lift so that I could catch my last bus home, or fork out for a taxi (£18 in 2005/6 prices). If everything did run smoothly, I still had to factor in the cost of a couple of beers while I waited for my connection home. Needless to say, when a friend announced that she was selling her car for a fairly reasonable price, I jumped at the chance. I went from £20-odd per week in bus fares to £25 per month in petrol. (I'll overlook the dodgy clutch that happened a month after I bought the bloody thing...)

TLR - car ownership is still very much necessary in certain parts of the country, and I don't think we're ever going to get away from that.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

One who knows that it is not ppossible for them to drive on the public road can design their life around that fact by living close to work and in a location with good enough non-car transport options. If more people impose this restriction upon themselves then the market for public transport increases subsequently resulting in better public transport and lower road congestion. It does not require that no one has a private car for this effect to make a significant difference. It merely needs to be made more attractive for people to be car-less than it presently is, and then the resulting superior public transport system should create a positive feedback effect by increasing the market for public transport which would create an even better public transport system and so on.

I take it that you do not approve of leisure visits to places that are not served by any mode of public transport or perhaps you do not subscribe to any form of leisure...

I fear that the "1984" Orwellian scenario of "people imposing this restriction upon themselves" bodes frighteningly akin to the situation in East Germany prior the "fall of the Berlin Wall". Incidentally, who will be providing this "resulting superior public transport ststerm" in rural areas that has no such system at present?

Here I was thinking that Britain was a democracy.

 

[muz379]

MOT is a government imposed cost,

On this however I would argue that it is a perfectly necessary government imposed cost .

Besides which the government imposes a cap . You will find that for the test which takes 45 mins to an hour to carry out the cost of the MOT test is actually less than an hours labour at the service outlets of many big car manufacturers . So if the government did not cap the cost or mandate the test . The sensible among us who would still have a safety check carried out on a yearly basis would probably end up paying more than we do now .

I take it that you do not approve of leisure visits to places that are not served by any mode of public transport or perhaps you do not subscribe to any form of leisure...

I fear that the "1984" Orwellian scenario of "people imposing this restriction upon themselves" bodes frighteningly akin to the situation in East Germany prior the "fall of the Berlin Wall". Incidentally, who will be providing this "resulting superior public transport ststerm" in rural areas that has no such system at present?

Here I was thinking that Britain was a democracy.

Point completely missed .....

He was saying that if more people opted to not own their own car and instead relied on public transport then public transport provision would increase including to places people visit for leisure .

I note anyway even the national trust which you brought up in a previous post has directions for how to get to its many sites using public transport . So whilst accessing a majority of their sites is easier done by car it seems that the NT does not consider it impossible for people reliant on public transport to visit them .

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

My original posting response has not appeared, as the computer froze, so I will make a summary below of what I said.....

The point that I made was to ask who it would be who would provide the finance for "the resulting superior public transport system" (that JamesRowden mentioned in his posting), especially in the rural areas where does not exist at all.

If not enough money is said to fund the NHS at the optimum level, where will the "tooth fairy" at the Treasury find all the untold millions it would need to pay for this aspirational public transport scenario,

 

[SpacePhoenix]

He was saying that if more people opted to not own their own car and instead relied on public transport then public transport provision would increase including to places people visit for leisure .

Unfortunately for many people public transport provision (routes, frequency and running times) would need to increase greatly before using public transport is viable. In many towns I believe the local councils are cutting subsidies which has the end result of bus routes getting cut or reduced (in length and/or frequency and/or running times)