Petrol prices

[kallis3]

If your son has mobility problems, have you thought about getting higher rate mobility allowance to use for a car?

[leaKybrain]

I looked at this the other day, i like in a big city and there are buses fairly regularly from my part of the city....but.....if i were to take my daughter to and from school I would need two buses each way. With the timings and the schools location we would need an hour to get to school. Then of course I have to get home, if i am called in to work i would then have to go back to the school and wouldn't be able to get there in the time they ask....as a supply TA work is always last minute LOL.

The weekly bus pass is cheaper than a weeks fuel, but the time I would lose isn't.

I'm sorry if this upsets, but it really annoys me when someone has a go about drivers and the necessity. There may be some people out there who drive for the hell of it, but most of us drive because we have to whether its a job or just life. I for one would love to save money on fuel and not have to drive every day....I hate driving. But for my daughter to get the education she deserves with the teachers and people she knows, I'll pay it.

I already find the quickest route and am almost obsessive about changing gear at the right revs...and making sure I travel the least mileage.

[antm]

My first 3 years in my IVA i relied on public transport, cost was £54 for a cross birmingham train pass, it worked a treat, was quicker than the car and cheaper than the car as well. Only snag was i couldn't work over when on late shift, due to last train at half 10. I moved store to one closer to home so stopped my train pass, and now take the car. There is no direct link so 3 buses to go 7 miles, i can do the car journey in 20 mins at a push, during the day its a daft 40 min journey, when i took the bus when we had the snow it was a 1hr journey, its all about timescales. I plan to get a road bike for the summer months, keep fit and save my petrol cash, just need the money for the road bike now!!

[kallis3]

I wouldn't be biking to work either! It's a very 'up and down hill' route for me which either involves riding through a forest (not recommended at 10 at night!) or riding along an unlit, fast road. Also not recommended on a bike late at night! Plus of course the safety aspect.

[Skippy]

Well said Karin, I completely agree!

I could cycle to work, but it would only be an option in the summer as I'd either have to cycle along the river road or along a winding road, both of which are badly lit.

[carole2662]

I just think why should we give up our cars if we like to ride in comfort and safety. I hate public transport and have never had a good journey on public transport in London. One time the seat next to me was taken by a drug user who sat there and sniffed his drugs in front of us all and then on the underground we were treated to a gang of yobs abusing the passengers to an extent we all got off at the next station

[Skippy]

I agree Carole, I'm never comfortable on public transport. I've been hassled on a train by a gang of yobs during the day, so there is no way I would use public transport after dark unless I had to.

We're going to London next month to see Peter Kay at the O2 and to be honest I'm not looking forward to it because of the journey - the tube and train on Friday night isn't appealing!

[louiseh]

I absolutely hate driving, use public transport whenever possible or walk, I live in a city, public transport is great if your going in and out of city, but hopeless if you need to cross the city, as I do for work. My company is moving just outside the city, no public transport at all, no matter what time of day. It's 6 miles from home, I'd sell my car tomorrow if there was a bus or I could walk, just not an option.

[olympic_torch]

I live in a cathedral city and our bus service is both expensive and erratic. In fact, if you could come to an arrangement to "cab share" with other people, it is cheaper by taxi from my house to the city centre. I would then need another bus to my place of work. In the past, when we have had heavy snow, i have walked to work, which takes approx 45 minutes. If finances become further stretched i can cycle, but, as with most other car drivers, if you total up your insurance, car tax and mot, it costs me over £500 a year just for the priviledge of parking on my drive, and i begrudge not getting the most out of it. You may as well buy a tv licence and not watch telly.

[Julie]

I love my car and driving and wouldn't give it up even if public transport was an option...my basic work journey is 52 miles, but as I can be asked to go to 250 miles, I think I'll stick to driving.

I have used the train for shopping, but hate it! I work hard and to be frank, I don't want to spend my leisure time crushed next to some sweaty stranger...and having to pay for it, just adds insult.

[kallis3]

OT - couldn't have put it better myself.

I use the train a couple of times a year to go and have lunch with a friend (so I can drink and not drive - hubby picks me up from the station which is two miles away) and Christmas shopping with my daughter (our special day out).

I only do a 25 mile round trip but am much happier doing it in the car.

[flow13]

Unfortunately we need 2 cars.
My job states I have to have access to a car and be insured for business use, as it can involve travelling. And as my husband starts work at 6am, we have no bus routes running here at that time to his work, or even near his work. I think if we could get away without we would, as everything is rising. x

[carole2662]

I really cant see myself going to the doctors feeling really ill on public transport, not that public transport is that great here and I would probably have died by the time the bus arrived.

[kallis3]

[:D]

Same here - my doctors doesn't have a bus stop that close and it involves an uphill walk - not good if you are under the weather.

I'd have hated it last year when I had vertigo - imagine trying to go on public transport with that?

[OPTIMIST12]

Well - one does have to wonder about a few points raised. Let me repeat one thing that we should all be well aware of- the whole ethos of an IVA is to repay the maximum percentage of what we have knowingly borrowed from creditors. To that end - our IVA Supervisors provide us with a figure of what we actually NEED to survive before rightly handing the rest of our income over to be given to the Creditors who we are indebted to. Correct me if I am wrong - but this initial figure should not include a car just because we enjoy the convenience thereof - for comfort reasons - or to avoid contact with horrible public transport users like me!!! If there are genuine - as in REALLY genuine reasons - why someone cannot use public transport - fair enough - but I expect that in reality - those cases are relatively few and far between.

So - do many of us actually NEED our cars?? Or do we just "like" having a car as it makes our lifes easier??? Well - sorry - a car may make your life easier - witness the numerous car-loving posts above but - what does it cost. Witness the posts re petrol prices - now up to £6 a gallon I believe - plus insurance - road tax - MOT - blah blah blah - how does this really compare with an excellent value Travelcard. (AGAIN - I AM TALKING TO LONDON AND LONDON AREA PEOPLE ONLY!!!

As someone who has used London public transport for the past 34 years - 24 hours per day - 7 days per week - I do wonder at some of the comments posted. Of course I have had some dodgy / nasty experiences - but over the same period I have seen any number of aggressive - some may say unhinged - motorists arguing with each other . The main thing is - DO NOT USE PUBLIC TRANSPORT LATE AT NIGHT / EARLY iN THE MORNING if you have GENUINE reasons for not doing so. If you - on the other hand - just like your extremely expensive car for comfort reassons - and to avoid horrible public transport users like me - well so be it. It does however make me angry that I could presumably make some case for "car" expenditure when I - in fact - choose to pay for public transport and pay the excess into my IVA - as indeed I clearly should.

Again - look at the incredibly cheap costs of an all-zones Travelcard in London compared to the endless costs of a car - AND the congestion charge!! Hmmm!!!!

Happy Travelling!!!!