Thorn
pfm Member
She filled up with iFuel?
Got any petrol or diesel?
- Thread starter Jamie
- Start date
Yep 5 cars between me and my partner actually as I'm a car fanatic and hence why I add things like 'me included' to my posts, but I've already made massive changes to my driving habits in the last few years especially since lockdown 1 when finally the company I work for realised (as they were forced to) that what I'd been telling them for years about working from home could actually work.
Gone from doing 16K miles a year 5 years ago to a little over 4K a year now and most of that is running the kids around. Downsizing the 'fleet' now too... two are being sold and another is SORN'd so soon we will have just have two cars on the road and one of them is my weekend fun car which will be SORN'd throughout winter anyway.
Also doing far less public transport travel now since work moved to Teams/Zoom. Other than travelling between London and Norfolk (home in Norfolk, partner's kids at school in London) and the odd leisure trip won't be doing much at all for foreseeable future.
Trying to put my money where my mouth is, but I know it's not easy for many.
Welcome to why 'levelling up' is needed. BTW the trains you are talking about are exactly what you describe. They genuinely are buses converted to run on rails and they're dire in every respect.
Sue Pertwee-Tyr
Accuphase all the way down
The problem with Apple fuel, I hear, is that it only allows you to drive where and how they deem it best.
NeilR
pfm Member
Yes, better public transport is the way to go. Here in CH the public transport is bloody amazing and not really that expensive either. When i was living closer to basel i didn’t own a car, bike and public transport was enough. Yo can get a yearly pass for ALL trains, trams and buses for around £3000. Amazing.
https://www.sbb.ch/en/travelcards-and-tickets/railpasses/ga/overview-ga-travelcard.html
But how to get to there from the ridiculously low base of current UK public transport? It will take an enormous amount of money and a change in public attitudes. I think it would be near impossible to achieve.
Seeker_UK
Feelin' nearly faded as my jeans
Derek Wright
pfm Member
Comparing urban transport in Continental Europe with the UK you also have to compare the style of housing.
In continental Europe the town centres the residential accomodation is often 3 to 5 storey blocks of accomodation, the appartments are of reasonable size and quality with good facilities.
This means that the local bus or tram service stops at the street corners have relatively large catchment areas so a frequent tram/bus service is worthwhile.
I have observed this when I lived in Copenhagen, Vienna, Hanover and visiting friends in Paris, Cologne.
In the UK we have vast sprawling housing developments with twist (scenic) roads with bus stops a long way from the houses and long tortuous journeys to the destinations be it offices, factories, stations or airports.
So to fix this we need another war - but this time destroying the imaginitive towns and the planners and replacing them with more utilitarian planners building vertically rather than horizontally.
In continental Europe the town centres the residential accomodation is often 3 to 5 storey blocks of accomodation, the appartments are of reasonable size and quality with good facilities.
This means that the local bus or tram service stops at the street corners have relatively large catchment areas so a frequent tram/bus service is worthwhile.
I have observed this when I lived in Copenhagen, Vienna, Hanover and visiting friends in Paris, Cologne.
In the UK we have vast sprawling housing developments with twist (scenic) roads with bus stops a long way from the houses and long tortuous journeys to the destinations be it offices, factories, stations or airports.
So to fix this we need another war - but this time destroying the imaginitive towns and the planners and replacing them with more utilitarian planners building vertically rather than horizontally.
Tony Lockhart
Avoiding Stress, at Every Opportunity
As long as other people live in them, and not me.
darrenyeats
pfm Member
Someone spent 20 minutes idling his diesel van outside our front door a few weeks ago (for really no reason since it was neither a hot nor cold day, driver's window was open the whole time as he chatted on his car phone).
Stop/start and, even better, mild hybrid tech is spreading, and improving the situation right now, without asking consumers to sacrifice anything (best mild hybrids have no overall weight penalty since battery is tiny, IC unit can be down-sized, separate starter motor and alternator aren't needed etc.) See various new models from Ford (including vans), Audi, VM, Toyota, Mazda. For the occasions like above, no thought from the driver required.
In a few short years hopefully EVs will have no compromises (presently battery weight therefore range, and importantly cost) and so will be adopted by the masses for all uses including commercial.
Hoping for a combination of increasing consumer awareness and spreading of better tech.
Stop/start and, even better, mild hybrid tech is spreading, and improving the situation right now, without asking consumers to sacrifice anything (best mild hybrids have no overall weight penalty since battery is tiny, IC unit can be down-sized, separate starter motor and alternator aren't needed etc.) See various new models from Ford (including vans), Audi, VM, Toyota, Mazda. For the occasions like above, no thought from the driver required.
In a few short years hopefully EVs will have no compromises (presently battery weight therefore range, and importantly cost) and so will be adopted by the masses for all uses including commercial.
Hoping for a combination of increasing consumer awareness and spreading of better tech.
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tonerei
pfm Member
Try the disconnected train and bus system in Ireland and you will be running back to the UK marvelling at how well you run things
wow&flutter
pfm Member
wilber, can I ask how long it took for your wife’s bus pass to arrive? I’m two months off my 60th and looking forward to free dry transport by the end if the year
!
Bob McC
Living the life of Riley
Most councils in England only let you have a free bus pass at 66, retirement age.wilber, can I ask how long it took for your wife’s bus pass to arrive? I’m two months off my 60th and looking forward to free dry transport by the end if the year
Tony Lockhart
Avoiding Stress, at Every Opportunity
If I can fill my fuel tank, and only use it for commuting, it’ll last me about 20 weeks
Funk
pfm Member
Until public transport is appealing, reliable and cheap it simply remains a significantly far less appealing option. Here's my situation:
1) I need to have a car for some journeys, it's inescapable for me. I have a car 'on monthlies' so that cost is fixed, along with insurance - it's also fully maintained on its contract. Total fixed cost is around £5k/yr even if it doesn't turn a wheel. Fuel is the only variable, I spend around £80-100/mo typically.
2) I could get the train to work. It takes nearly twice the time (around 45 mins total instead of 20-25 by car). Here are the costs of a ticket:
It also assumes that the train is actually running as cancellations and delays seem to be more the norm than not.
My commute is probably 80% of my driving so my fuel cost spent on that is around £60-80/month. If I take the train I'm still paying for the car to sit at home doing nothing, it also costs me twice as much as the fuel for the journey and takes twice as long. In the cold, dark and wet winter it's a pretty unpleasant walk each end compared with a nice warm comfy car. There's simply no scenario where the train is the more appealing option.
In the summer I'd be happy to cycle to work - it'd take me a bit longer than either the car or the train but it'd be doable. The problem is I'd need to shower when I arrived and there aren't facilities for that in the building. It also is a far less appealing option in the pouring rain or in the middle of winter when I just want to get to work, do my job and get home. So I have a petrol car and I drive - it's quickest, easiest and currently still the cheapest option.
I'd be well up for an electric car when my existing car heads back, however I live in an apartment block (no way of charging) and park on-road near work (also no way of charging). I'm in the process of trying to shift the needle with my fellow freehold owners about putting in car charging at home but unfortunately most of them are older and selfishly don't see why they should shoulder some cost (or tolerate disruption) when it comes to finding a way to get charging points installed for the building as they'll never use it. THIS is the sort of thing that will be the biggest hurdle to electric adoption rather than the cars themselves. I even said to one of them the other day that a wise man still plants the acorn even though he knows he may never sit under the tree that grows from it but it won't change his mind.
An electric car would be ideal for what I need if only I could charge it. Perhaps when it's possible to charge it 80-90% in 10 mins at a public charger somewhere it'd become viable.
Of course the best option would be to work from home - unfortunately we don't seem to be able to adopt that mentality as a country, even though we did it for the better part of a year (and broadly successfully in my case).
1) I need to have a car for some journeys, it's inescapable for me. I have a car 'on monthlies' so that cost is fixed, along with insurance - it's also fully maintained on its contract. Total fixed cost is around £5k/yr even if it doesn't turn a wheel. Fuel is the only variable, I spend around £80-100/mo typically.
2) I could get the train to work. It takes nearly twice the time (around 45 mins total instead of 20-25 by car). Here are the costs of a ticket:
Weekly: £40
Monthly: £150
Annual: £1,568
Monthly: £150
Annual: £1,568
It also assumes that the train is actually running as cancellations and delays seem to be more the norm than not.
My commute is probably 80% of my driving so my fuel cost spent on that is around £60-80/month. If I take the train I'm still paying for the car to sit at home doing nothing, it also costs me twice as much as the fuel for the journey and takes twice as long. In the cold, dark and wet winter it's a pretty unpleasant walk each end compared with a nice warm comfy car. There's simply no scenario where the train is the more appealing option.
In the summer I'd be happy to cycle to work - it'd take me a bit longer than either the car or the train but it'd be doable. The problem is I'd need to shower when I arrived and there aren't facilities for that in the building. It also is a far less appealing option in the pouring rain or in the middle of winter when I just want to get to work, do my job and get home. So I have a petrol car and I drive - it's quickest, easiest and currently still the cheapest option.
I'd be well up for an electric car when my existing car heads back, however I live in an apartment block (no way of charging) and park on-road near work (also no way of charging). I'm in the process of trying to shift the needle with my fellow freehold owners about putting in car charging at home but unfortunately most of them are older and selfishly don't see why they should shoulder some cost (or tolerate disruption) when it comes to finding a way to get charging points installed for the building as they'll never use it. THIS is the sort of thing that will be the biggest hurdle to electric adoption rather than the cars themselves. I even said to one of them the other day that a wise man still plants the acorn even though he knows he may never sit under the tree that grows from it but it won't change his mind.
An electric car would be ideal for what I need if only I could charge it. Perhaps when it's possible to charge it 80-90% in 10 mins at a public charger somewhere it'd become viable.
Of course the best option would be to work from home - unfortunately we don't seem to be able to adopt that mentality as a country, even though we did it for the better part of a year (and broadly successfully in my case).
Seeker_UK
Feelin' nearly faded as my jeans
Funk
pfm Member
That's just nuts...Wow! My train commute is 60 minutes and the cost is 5.5 times that for me.
Minio
Kind of Sort of Not really...
It depends where you are in the country. In the East we get regular high speed trains to London with a/c, buffet and toilets.
Many of the cross country routes have received new smooth and quiet train stock recently, with USB, free WiFi as well.
I don't understand why some parts of this country get left behind.
Many of the cross country routes have received new smooth and quiet train stock recently, with USB, free WiFi as well.
I don't understand why some parts of this country get left behind.