Proof that public transport is rubbish!

[Polly Fouracre]

It's not cars but having a car that's the problem(if that makes sense!)
Before I could afford to run a car I would think nothing of walking two miles to work and the same back each day(someone stopping and giving me a lift was a luxury!) A five mile walk with my dogs was a pleasure,not a chore and walking two miles to town for shopping and catching the bus home was routine.
THEN I had access to a car.Lovely!! I could go to places I couldn't get to before.Could take the children and the dogs to lovely places(and take children to school in the rain"but Mum it's raining!!")
Now,I say with shame,I have put on stones in weight,got terribly lazy and though I have to walk dogs it has become a chore rather than a pleasure.
I tend to put this down to age,but ,really I know differently. So,please make me feel bad and nag me into walking a bit more!!

[scared55]

Only if you will do the same for me, Polly!

KK

[Two_Sheds]

As are a lot of things that we do, but we do them anyway. Hardly cause for vilification, though.

So does nothing annoy you, Scared? (apart from being "told what to do" by the Green Police, and the Vegetarian Police, and the Organic Police ... )

[Two_Sheds]

It's not cars but having a car that's the problem(if that makes sense!)
So,please make me feel bad and nag me into walking a bit more!!

Polly, its easy. Just get your car keys, pop them in a self-addressed envelope and put in one of those funny red boxes ... you should get your keys back sometime this year. In the meantime, you can walk your butt off (literally )

[bubblewrap]

My OH and I are quite determined walkers, having had our car sabotaged a while ago. The extra exercise is brilliant. But, there are people who live on my street who will get in theire car to go to the local shop, which is, and I've measured it, just over 500 yards away!!!!

I can beat that the chap who I lived next door to went to the pub in his car(across the road) 50 yards.

[Winged one]

I grew up in the countryside, where the bus service was a bus out at 08.00 and a bus back home at 15.15 or 18.00 in the evening. And we were at the end of the line. So we grew up being ferried about by my parents, and as soon as we hit 17, I and my 5 siblings all got our licences and were insured and taught to drive. There were still only 2 cars in that driveway for years, until I was well finished college and working away from home and some of the younger ones got bangers cos they still lived at home and were working.

I used to cycle to work in the airport (rented a room nearby for that purpose), and used to get the bus when I was working in town. When we bought a house, we could only afford quite a distance out of Dublin and the bus service was pretty appalling, so we drove but left home at 6.30am to get into the office at 7am (otherwise it would take nearly 1.5 hours). In 1 car. We moved after a couple of years to where we could use public transport, and we alternated between the bus and train for 3.5 years, until I was very heavily pregnant.

I only bought my car 18 months ago, despite being a driver for over 15 years at this stage. But I still get the bus or train when I can, and we share a single car on the days that that's an option. And I look forward to getting back onto the train someday in the not too distant future (maybe another 6-12 months when the toddler is capable of the walk to the station with no buggy). But if the routes don't suit, or there isn't suffifcient capacity on those routes, the policy people cannot expect the public to use unrealistic options when better optioins in their cars are available.

[moggssue]

I drive to and from work every day, there isn't a bus or train I can get to without driving to the next village, but I do love walking and try to get out and about every weekend. Okay, I guess this isnt so much for green reasons as for the fact that I just love being out in the countryside and fresh air - just the pure joy of walking which maybe I appreciate more for being a car driving commuter?

[Polly Fouracre]

Only if you will do the same for me, Polly!

KK

I am pleased to say I walked four miles with dogs this a.m. I am knackered!!
Will try to keep it up as I feel quite thin!

[Polly Fouracre]

Polly, its easy. Just get your car keys, pop them in a self-addressed envelope and put in one of those funny red boxes ... you should get your keys back sometime this year. In the meantime, you can walk your butt off (literally )

Good idea and tempting,but.......!

[greenlung]

We're all too old here to change our ways. Got to concentrate on the younger generation. I'm a committed cyclist / pedestrian and will never change - just the same as the petrolheads/excuse makers.
My daughter had an argument at school yesterday, 'cos she told her mate that she thought she was lazy for getting a lift 1 mile to school. As she/we've realised, having a go at others won't change them - just widen the divide.
I used to walk a mile to school when I was 3, then 2 miles when I was 7, then cycled 12 miles when I was 17. No surprise I represented London schoolboys at cross country - no effort either, after all that training...same as my daughter, who's fastest in her year.

"If you tolerate this, your children will be next" - Manics

[Flummery]

I am pleased to say I walked four miles with dogs this a.m. I am knackered!!
Will try to keep it up as I feel quite thin!

I wish feeling thin worked! Sadly I feel I need more than that. And I can feel knackered reading a book some days!

[Two_Sheds]

If anyone is travelling anywhere by public transport, check out this website for a journey planner. Bear with it, its a little slow, but it compares public with car journeys for time comparison, and provides prices.
http://www.transportdirect.info/TransportDirect/en/

[Two_Sheds]

cheaper train tickets

I've been a bit slow at this money-saving tip: split-ticketing to save money on train journeys.
the main thing is to avoid central rail stations if you're going to London.As an example, Norwich to London Liverpool St is �40. If we get off at Aldgate East (Manningtree) instead, it's only �15.

Cool

www.moneysavingexpert.com