Quote:
Originally Posted by Arragonis
I live in the near city suburbs of Edinburgh, mainly so that A-junior can go to a decent school, otherwise I would happily out of town. 
For a brief period I worked in the centre of town so of course I did the commute thing on buses - its only about 5 miles to the town centre. During that time whilst minding my own business on buses I had to intervene in one mugging, worried daily about the usual drunks getting out of hand and had to endure leaking buses with either heating that was on full in summer or not working in winter. |
Alarming thing is, Lothian Buses are the best publically operated buses in Scotland. They blow First, Stagecoach, Arriva et al out the water.
As for the Wisdom of Car ownership..
The recent trip to Europe I did underlined me the rationale behind car ownership in my eyes..
Cost less than 2 return flights to Geneva
No Queuing up for 4 hrs at the Airport (we timed the ferries so we drove almost straight on..)
The ability to SEE areas you're travelling through
The ability to amend and add to routes at a moments notice.
I have previously used public transport (Train) for commuting, did 3 years day in/out to Glasgow from Hamilton.
Filthy Trains
Late Trains
Packed Trains
Cancelled Trains
All yours for £30 a week - back then, petrol for similar journey would be £20 per week.
Now, before you all jump on me, My father worked for the Railways since the 1970's and freely admits there has been a constant reduction in standards from an already low level.
I don't object to public transport as a concept-just the execution of it in the UK leaves me in dispair!
Curitiba in Brazil, or pretty much anywhere in Europe does it much better.
Whats so hard about having a "Station" with
Trains coming into the upper level
Bus Station below
Bycicles out the front
Taxi's round the back and
Car Parking underneath?
Its called integrated public transport, and it rocks!