could you live without a car?

bwfc71 wrote:In the UK - not a chance!

In the Netherlands - very easily and I did live without having a car for over 6 years!

Better rail & underground infrastructure?

karlypants wrote:

bwfc71 wrote:In the UK - not a chance!

In the Netherlands - very easily and I did live without having a car for over 6 years!

Better rail & underground infrastructure?

Better public transport network completely - and all of it integrates with each other rather than competing against each other, like it happens over here.

For instance I lived in Almere, I could either walk it to the station or catch a bus (which I did for a while when I did my foot in) and the buses in Almere cover every major area and are at least every 12 minutes.  I had 8 trains an hour to Amsterdam 2 express and 6 all-stoppers (all trains at least 6 double decker coach trains or equivalent in single deckers, but more often thaan not 12 coach double decker trains and all trains ran from about 430am to 1am during the week and 24 hours at weekend)- distance is same as between Bolton and Manchester - or I could catch a bus to Almere which there are up to 30 an hour!  Then when get to Amsterdam, where I worked I could catch 1 of 4 trams (2, 5, 16 or 24) and each tram ran every 6 minutes or I could catch a bus which all ran every 10 minutes (170, 172 and 174).  Considering the distance it took only 50 minutes from my apartment to the office.

Then when I went to visit friends down in Zoetermeer, I could catch a train direct to the town and buses ran every few minutes to where he lived or I could catch one of the new supertrams from Den Haag to directly outside his house and that took about 1 hour 45 minutes in total

Here where I now live the fist bus to the station is at 730, thankfully I don't live on the Sharples Estate anymore as they have gone from a 15 minute service to hourly with no peak time buses or early morning buses!  Then there currently only 4 trains an hour - maximum of 4 coaches at peak times with at least 2 of the coaches being them pathetic bus on rail trains (Pacers) and one cannot guarantee that they can run on time.  Getting to work takes an hour at the best of times or normally 1 hour 15 minutes - ok driving isn't much better but I still need a car to get to/from station which, to me, seems very stupid.  Bus companies don't seem to give a damn and the train companies are incapable of knowing what the customers want (and what is more glaring is that Northern Rail is actually owned by Abellio which is the outside Netherlands name for Nederlandse Spoorwegen - The Dutch Railway!)

Plus over n Netherlands you have one card which is used on ALL modes of public transport no matter which town or city (OV Chipkaart)- whilst over here all companies offer different prices, different season tickets and cannot be used on any other company - except in London which has the Oyster Card (closest system to what the Dutch have but only applicable in London!

karlypants wrote:
Better rail & underground infrastructure?

Have you learnt nothing in recent years? You don't ask Amos about trains.

boltonbonce wrote:Never had one. Never needed one. Walk everywhere,but always get a lift to the match.
It's why I'm a fine figure of a man.
It's also why I fall down a lot of holes.

same here Boncey, i have a licence but haven't driven for 15 years and don't really want to either, too many idiots on the road. We manage with trains and buses very well even with the kids

I am feeling more confident now about being carless, know I will miss it, but sure I will manage, thanks for sharing.

Norpig wrote:

boltonbonce wrote:Never had one. Never needed one. Walk everywhere,but always get a lift to the match.
It's why I'm a fine figure of a man.
It's also why I fall down a lot of holes.

same here Boncey, i have a licence but haven't driven for 15 years and don't really want to either, too many idiots on the road. We manage with trains and buses very well even with the kids

Wouldn't it be a bad thing if you got behind the wheel seeing that you are partially sighted?

karlypants wrote:
Wouldn't it be a bad thing if you got behind the wheel seeing that you are partially sighted?

Tomorrow: KP disses homosexuals.

Natasha Whittam wrote:

karlypants wrote:
Wouldn't it be a bad thing if you got behind the wheel seeing that you are partially sighted?

Tomorrow: KP disses homosexuals.

Stop twisting things you knob.

Chairmanda wrote:I'm selling mine today

You have a buyer for that bright orangey gold softtop thing with the LibDems sticker on the side?

wanderlust wrote:

Chairmanda wrote:I'm selling mine today

You have a buyer for that bright orangey gold softtop thing with the LibDems sticker on the side?

yes wanders, I do, though I kept the magnetic libdem signs in case I need them again! You never lose sight of it in a car park, and it goes really well, sorry to see it go

No, no, no, no, no.

God I love my car and the freedom it gives me. You kind of take your car for granted and never think about it, but I remember 2 cars ago my car had a spell of breaking down regularly (due to the multi function relay it transpired). It was a nightmare being without it, I worked 25 miles from home and it required either 2 buses to get to the train station or a 35 min walk, then a 25 min train journey and a 10 min walk the other side. If I walked it would cost me £9 a day on the train, if I got the bus and train it was more like £13 a day - whilst driving to work would cost about £5 a day in petrol. Shocking to think public transport is so expensive. I mean seriously what incentive is there to use public transport when it takes probably 3 times longer and 2 or 3 times more expensive? Also things like going to the supermarket and carrying everything home, days out, meeting friends, etc. it was torture without a car. But I guess like anything in life, you learn to adapt when you are faced with life as it is.

Michael Bolton wrote:No, no, no, no, no.

God I love my car and the freedom it gives me. You kind of take your car for granted and never think about it, but I remember 2 cars ago my car had a spell of breaking down regularly (due to the multi function relay it transpired). It was a nightmare being without it, I worked 25 miles from home and it required either 2 buses to get to the train station or a 35 min walk, then a 25 min train journey and a 10 min walk the other side. If I walked it would cost me £9 a day on the train, if I got the bus and train it was more like £13 a day - whilst driving to work would cost about £5 a day in petrol. Shocking to think public transport is so expensive. I mean seriously what incentive is there to use public transport when it takes probably 3 times longer and 2 or 3 times more expensive? Also things like going to the supermarket and carrying everything home, days out, meeting friends, etc. it was torture without a car. But I guess like anything in life, you learn to adapt when you are faced with life as it is.

You haven't factored in the price of MOT's, insurance, tax and maintenance there MB!

karlypants wrote:

Michael Bolton wrote:No, no, no, no, no.

God I love my car and the freedom it gives me. You kind of take your car for granted and never think about it, but I remember 2 cars ago my car had a spell of breaking down regularly (due to the multi function relay it transpired). It was a nightmare being without it, I worked 25 miles from home and it required either 2 buses to get to the train station or a 35 min walk, then a 25 min train journey and a 10 min walk the other side. If I walked it would cost me £9 a day on the train, if I got the bus and train it was more like £13 a day - whilst driving to work would cost about £5 a day in petrol. Shocking to think public transport is so expensive. I mean seriously what incentive is there to use public transport when it takes probably 3 times longer and 2 or 3 times more expensive? Also things like going to the supermarket and carrying everything home, days out, meeting friends, etc. it was torture without a car. But I guess like anything in life, you learn to adapt when you are faced with life as it is.

You haven't factored in the price of MOT's, insurance, tax and maintenance there MB!

Good point, I haven't included the cost of buying the car, MOT, repairs, road tax and insurance. But public transport is very expensive, we all know that trains are stupidly expensive - I was looking for two train tickets to go 100 miles last week to attend a concert and the train fares would cost £120 in total for 2 tickets. I can drive there and back for about £17. 
And buses are stupidly expensive too. I had the choice of walking 3 miles home or getting the bus as it was coming in the distance, I thought I would just get the bus. £2.70 for 3 miles. Public transport really does seem to be about 60p-£1 a mile. Over 10,000 miles in a year a car definitely doesn't cost £6,000-£10,000 a year to do 10,000 miles.

single ticket to Brighton, from Bolton Station, at beginning of December is only £25.50 and Return is only £45.65 - that's with changing at Piccadilly, getting the tube from Euston to Victoria and then carrying on with a train down to Brighton!

I'm currently off the road for two days after having an angiogram. I'm trying really hard to survive

gloswhite wrote:I'm currently off the road for two days after having an angiogram. I'm trying really hard to survive

Hope your ticker is ok Glos

thanks KP. Almost, but I'm on tablets, (13 a day now ), for a month, and then he will decide whether I have a stent, or two.
The good things is that my chemo has been postponed until January while they decide what to do, and the cancer has shrunk a very small amount.
I think I told you my medical motto is 'If its free, give it to me', and some bugger is listening ! 

Amanda, I hope you can get to Bristol for the away game in March, now that you are car-less ?

gloswhite wrote:Amanda, I hope you can get to Bristol for the away game in March, now that you are car-less ?

I certainly intend to!