Comment by graemep

17 days ago

> Older people in the UK already have free bus passes and various other substantial concessions regarding public transport.

Which is fine if you live somewhere where there is public transport.

16 comments

graemep

Reply
jodrellblank  17 days ago

The only solution to people driving is viable alternatives to driving.

Under the previous Conservative government, half of UK bus routes ( ~8,000 ) were cancelled[1]. HS2 high speed train route phase 2 the extensions from Birmingham to Manchester and Leeds - which would move freight as well as people, freeing up space on local train lines for better passenger transport - was cancelled[2]. Phase 1 of it was due to be opened in 2026-2033 timeframe but was bungled now has no planned opening time, and Reform are calling to scrap that, too. Local council budgets were reduced[3] under the austerity measures, including one consequence of 40% less transport spending. The West Coast mainline was sold from VirginRail to Italy's TrenItalia in 2019[4] (Deutsche Bahn, French SNCF and Dutch Nederlandse Spoorwegen own most of the other UK railways) although this government is bringing Rail them back into public ownership.

And Reform are promising to remove bike lanes, and scrap Low Traffic Neighbourhoods to let cars use residental roads as through-roads again[5][6].

The UK doesn't have it as bad as the USA - but that's not for lack of trying to make car the only way to move.

[1] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/map-bus-route...

[2] https://www.railfuture.org.uk/article1904-HS2-Phase-2-cancel...

[3] https://ifs.org.uk/news/core-funding-english-councils-still-...

[4] https://www.forbes.com/sites/davekeating/2019/08/15/almost-a...

[5] https://road.cc/content/news/reform-council-conduct-review-s...

[6] https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/lifestyle/reform-councils-...

bell-cot  17 days ago

True, though maybe that's covered by OP's "The practical details of implementing this are important...".

Then there's the fine detail of affording to live somewhere with public transport. :(

  • 9rx  17 days ago

    The good news is that, generally, the places most affordable are the places that have public transportation. Affordability is gained through density (not only in direct housing concerns, but also things like access to jobs), and density is also conducive to public transpiration.

    The places where public transportation isn't normally found are the places where the average Joe wouldn't have a hope in hell of being able to afford to live there (affluent suburbs, rural areas, etc.) anyway.

    • graemep  17 days ago

      Not my experience at all. The more expensive the better the public transport where I have lived in the UK. London at the top end for both (and central a lot more than suburban). Small town the cheapest, especially the edges that are near rural.

      1 reply →

tonyedgecombe  17 days ago

You have to be pretty remote to have no public transport in the UK.

  • gib444  17 days ago

    And not very remote at all for it to be practically non existent and unreliable

    Every passing year non-city/big town buses get cut and cut and cut because councils are bankrupt

  • graemep  17 days ago

    To have none at all, yes, it would have to be very remote.

    To have very limited public transport, then lots of places outside big cities.

    I just dropped by daughter off at a friend's house. 4 minutes by car, 40 minutes by bus. Busses here are infrequent and unreliable. You need to take a bus to get to a train if you are going a longer distance.

    This is in a town with a population of about 20 thousand in Cheshire.

    • chmod775  17 days ago

      > I just dropped by daughter off at a friend's house. 4 minutes by car

      In most urban areas that equates to about 20 minutes on foot. Why bother to even get into a car/bus for that?

      Edit: I checked your weather. Definitely wouldn't want to wait at a bus stop.

      2 replies →