Think Bus!

There’s just nothing that could drag me from my car onto public transport – my car’s just too convenient. Is this you? Are you one of the vast majority of us who just switch off when we hear about getting out of our cars and trying new ways of getting around.

There are many reasons, apart from the obvious ‘green’ one, to consider if we use the bus rather than travel by car. It means there’s less traffic on our overfull roads, makes for more relaxed travel, it can be healthier (you have to walk to and from the bus stop) and it extends your social contacts as opposed to being stuck in your cocoon of steel and glass normally on your own.

But perhaps more importantly and certainly of great relevance in today’s economic climate it can save you masses of money, particularly if you commute, as oil prices continue to rise and rise with no end in sight.

What masses of money - well ‘Stage Coach’ carried out some research a couple of years ago in relation to commuting to work and came up with a figure of up to £3500 per year! This amount would pay for the typical UK household’s main bills such as council tax, gas, electricity, water, fixed line telephones, home insurance and TV licence (This 2008 figure was calculated by the Citizens Advice Bureau).

Such savings could be achieved just simply by leaving the car at home – the ‘up to £3500’ figure was just related to cost of fuel and car parking charges. Interestingly have a look here at 'Arriva’s' bang up to date fuel calculator on http://www.arrivabus.co.uk./fuel/ It enables you to find out your individual costs of commuting by car to your place of work and comparing this with using the bus for the same journey and also how much your carbon footprint is reduced.

But what about the efficiency and comfort of travelling by bus? Most of you probably feel like I did, that is before my eyes were opened after spending a day last year bussing it to raise funds, that buses are not fit for purpose being inefficient and uncomfortable. This was clearly not my experience.

On major routes travelling to 9 towns in the same number of hours all buses were on time and there were no hold ups. Although the older buses didn’t like the potholes the newer buses took everything in their stride and provided more leg room as well. (see this blog 7/04/2010)

So if you want to save money, potentially improve your health and well being and do a bit more for the environment - think Bus