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Free bus travel for all to help slash UK transport sector pollution?

Environmental campaigners have suggested that bus use should be made free to all to encourage less car use and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

How realistic is that though? With many areas of the country with no (or very sporadic) bus service how can you really expect everyone to stop using their own personal transport options?
  • Well, don't stand/wait on your bicycle behind a bus when it starts off from a busstop as you'll get a lung full of diesel fume particulates.


    May I suggest that we look at electrified trams. But then I 'm open to a diversity of energy supplies to maintain a level of independance and sel-sufficiency


    Legh.
  • I live in a village that is 2 miles from the nearest train station and only one bus that leaves at 8.30am to get to the train station (which means I'd miss the train that would get me to work on time anyway). There are no direct buses from my village to Stevenage, I'd have to go through various villages/towns and change multiple times etc. I could do it but it would take over 3 hours from leaving home to arrive at the office and there are no options at all for a return journey after 5pm.


    Even if bus travel was free.... I think I'll keep my car thankyoumuchley... ? ?
  • I fully understand as I too live out of town where the nearest train station is over 4.5 miles away and the buses run infrequently. It would certainly be impractical to install trams here as it would require a vernicular railway sytsem to negotiate the local ups and downs.

    The answer is diversity with options of multiple and reasonable travel facilities.


    Legh
  • My wife grew up in North Hertfordshire with transport links that make Lisa's current situation look wonderful. The problem in rural areas is that the cost of maintaining the transport links is way in excess of the usage they will have, even if they are free, purely because not everyone needs the transport at the same time.. This also ignores the Beeching cuts to the railway 50 years ago which forced the local communities to turn to the car. It can be reversed and if we are to wean people away from cars it must be started soon and gradually built up, as it is not something that can be put in place overnight.

    Alasdair
  • I live in a newish city.  A bus from my house to the Railway station takes about 20 minutes but I can walk it in 25 minutes and cycle it in just over 7.  Some of this is because my nearest bus stop is at least 5 minutes walk.


    I've visited Vancouver in Canada, where they have a very good public transport system.  It's not free, but the buses normally run regular and there are a variety of routes.  I suspect it's less about free and more convenience.
  • I have thought about this for years.  I think a possible system that could be adopted is a tiered one; where local buses which stop at every bus stop are free to use (but slow due to all the stops) and other buses running between hubs without stopping in between charge (but offer quicker transits between the hubs).  There would need to be a large increase in the number of buses running often and regularly throughout the country, and we would have to accept that they would often be running with not many passengers.  The biggest problem in setting such a system up is the cost.  Whilst the aim is, of course, to get people out of cars and using the buses; if they do so they are no longer paying fuel duty or road tax and so there is less money to invest in it.
  • Its not just the cost but the generated pollution all these buses would exhale. It would however, provide work for bus drivers, manufacturers and workshop maintenance. You must remember that unless the figures generate a surplus then it will never get off the ground.


    Legh
  • Regarding the pollution: Not necessarily, it would be a lot easier to utilise hydrogen within a bus fleet than for cars, as you would not need the same infrastructure of filling stations.  Also there are increasing numbers of electric buses around these days within urban areas.  In your comment you also headed back to the cost issue; that would ultimately come down to politics, much money is spent on things without generating a surplus - but you are correct, it is a consideration.
  • Free bus passes for pensioners makes a lot of sense as pensioners usually have less time pressure. Buses can never beat cars for speed and only by making city centre parking very expensive can they compete on cost. The trouble with making city centre parking expensive is that it kills off the High Street.

    However before talking about hydrogen power buses with all the problems of containment of the hydrogen, we need to explore short range battery buses with frequent charging - say at every bus stop and on the up side of hills. With modern technology we should be able to bring in limited sections of overhead wires and automatic connection of the electrical pick up to achieve this.
  • Bus travel just isn't a realistic proposition for me, from a number of viewpoints. 


    1. Convenience. Or should I say, inconvenience. The regular service bus in our village was discontinued due to lack of use, and replaced by a pre-booked private bus. From where I live, it's a ten minute drive to town whenever I need to go in - compared to booking the privately-run bus service the mandatory two days in advance. No good if you need to visit the doctor or pick something up in a hurry.


    2. Practicality. The privately-run bus service doesn't operate first thing in the morning or last thing in the afternoon. So it's not available at exactly the time I'd need it.


    3. Flexibility. Due to the nature of my job, my start time can be anywhere between 05:30 and 08:00, and my finish time can be any time from 16:30 onwards - dependent on how the day's job progresses. Nine times out of ten, my day will over-run, meaning that even if I'd been able to book the bus, I'd miss it anyway. 


    So free travel just wouldn't work for me. Even if I was paid by the mile to use the bus, it wouldn't be an option.

    .