Alternative to public transport e.g. ride-sharing?

[EnRoute]

Would you guys be willing to replace any form of public transport when commuting to work if the price was similar (ride-sharing in a private vehicle) ?

 

[Puffing Devil]

I've seen news features where this was done. I'm sure if I had a regular commute and the timing/price was favourable, I would consider it for Train/Bus/Coach.

 

[telstarbox]

For my commute (either train+tube or cycle) there's no way a private vehicle would achieve the same journey time, unless it had its own highway lane to use.

 

[yorksrob]

I think some sort of a car share would be the only feasible option for me, but even if I weren't a train geek I don't think I'd prefer it.

For starters, it would very much be in someone else's personal space, rather than neutral territory. Then I'm not overly keen on the motion of motor transport. I do the route on the bus occasionally and if I'm a bit under the weather, I find it a bit uncomfortable.

Then, if I miss it or I'm late, there's someone getting frustrated waiting for me.

No, all things considered, I'll stick with the train.

 

[PeterC]

The trouble with car share is that everybody has to travel at the same time. I have never worked anywhere where that degree of clock watching would be tolerated.

 

[Bantamzen]

Would you guys be willing to replace any form of public transport when commuting to work if the price was similar (ride-sharing in a private vehicle) ?

Would I be willing to car share for my current commute? As things stand no, even with a change of trains each way & with relatively light traffic it would still probably mean a longer overall journey time. And commuting into Leeds means that there is very rarely light traffic, rather long jams which I have no desire to put myself through. Technically I could cycle to work, because of the position of my home village (well technically a town now, but we prefer to call it a village!) there is no direct road route, whichever way you go means either going several miles out of the way in the wrong direction, or a very steep an convoluted route, as the canal is somewhat shorter (by some miles) and I could be within a few minutes of both home & work using it. However as pleasant as the canal can be on a nice day (well bits of it anyway), when the weather turns foul it can turn into something tough mudders would prefer. Not ideal for working in an office! And with increasing floods in the Aire valley, there would always be a risk of finding yourself having to leave the tow path for the same roads I'd rather avoid.

So for me its the train taking the strain all the way, although I am awaiting delivery of a new work's lappy which will mean if things are bad weather-wise I can work from home!

 

[Warwick]

The trouble with car share is that everybody has to travel at the same time. I have never worked anywhere where that degree of clock watching would be tolerated.

".....everybody has to travel at the same time". That's one basic fault with public transport. You have to travel when "they" say you can travel.

 

[Teddyward]

For me driving is much cheaper than public transport and takes about the same amount of time, but I cant stand stop start driving and prefer sitting down and watching Netflix on the train and bus

 

[exile]

".....everybody has to travel at the same time". That's one basic fault with public transport. You have to travel when "they" say you can travel.

Not really. If the transport is frequent enough, it's not a great issue. What IS the problem, with both public and private transport, is exactly the opposite - everyone wants to travel at the same time as you do. This is for commuting - for other sorts of journeys the flexibility of private journeys is a great advantage - if I want to drive to Cornwall starting at 10pm I can do so.

 

[johntea]

I spend enough time with work colleagues at work, let alone before and after!

 

[Ianno87]

".....everybody has to travel at the same time". That's one basic fault with public transport. You have to travel when "they" say you can travel.

What? The bus from my house to work runs every 10 minutes. I can travel every 10 minutes between 0618 and 0848 to start my working day at a 'decent' time. Totally flexible.

Then again, I don't have a specific start time - other than vaguely aligning myself with office hours, its my responsibility to deliver my work within my contracted weekly hours - whenever I may choose these to be. I have a laptop that connects remotely to my employer's network, so can work 'spontaneously' anywhere with decent wi-fi. Part of my job is meeting others, but just plan this in and work the rest around it.

Too many offices still seem to have a "thou shalt arrive at 9 and leave at 5 and be at your desk all day" culture, even where this is totally unnecessary and unhelpful. I know it is not that straightforward for retail and key workers (e.g. hospital staff) who have to work to defined times.

For a previous commute, car sharing might have been feasible, but requires my working hours to correspond exactly to whoever I was sharing with, and those hours mutually suited our personal lives. Then I'm regularly not working at the 'home' office/flexing my hours for personal needs, so then have to coordinate when I will and will not be sharing; alot to manage when you're already working full time.

 

[PeterC]

".....everybody has to travel at the same time". That's one basic fault with public transport. You have to travel when "they" say you can travel.

Like the others I had a frequent PT service for my commute. My hours weren't strict 9 to 5 and I could work at home when suitable. Car sharing is only suitable for people working shifts with rigid start and finish times.

 

[johnnychips]

I get a lift in the morning and I am therefore tied to the driver’s time. At night I get the bus home, and although it’s slower I can choose whether to work late or not.

 

[Clip]

Sounds ideal if he times and cost were comparable but where I am and work then no chance.

 

[Mintona]

I wish I could get public transport to work.

 

[trainophile]

I would find it a strain having to make conversation for the duration of the journey every day, especially early in the morning. Never been in that position though, I lived in walking distance of my work .

 

[DarloRich]

Would you guys be willing to replace any form of public transport when commuting to work if the price was similar (ride-sharing in a private vehicle) ?

odd first post. I wonder what the purpose of the question is/for whom the information is being gathered.

Personally - I wouldn't be against it

 

[W-on-Sea]

Car-sharing would almost certainly work out quite a bit quicker than bus for my present commute (and could probably be arranged via the business park where I work) , but it doesn't appeal to me at all. I tend to find most cars cramped and claustrophobic at the best of times, but the loss of freedom in having to fit into someone else's schedule (without the option of a later or earlier journey) and into their personal space is all a bit uncomfortable.

 

[Matt_pool]

It wouldn't work for me. I get the train to work then have a 10-15 minute walk to the office in which time I can stop off to grab a sandwich, a drink, use a cash point, post a letter etc and get some fresh air before being stuck inside for most of the day!

I couldn't rely on getting a lift off someone. What if they are running late? Then I get to work late! Will they mind stopping off at a shop on the way so that I can get some food? Probably not, and that's if they can find somewhere to park!

And anyway, getting the train to work is actually quite relaxing (when it turns up on time!). Going in a car in stop/start traffic jams would do my head in.

I wish I could go back to my old job. I lived a 8 minute walk from my office.

 

[Mutant Lemming]

I wish I could get public transport to work.

I wish I had a parking space at work so I could drive again

 

[diffident]

The way I see it with public transport - whether train or bus, I can travel flexibly (yes albeit at times when there are services) at times to suit me, and in 17 years working, I haven't yet come across somewhere in the country that I haven't been able to reach entirely by public transport. It also has the added benefits of no responsibility in respect of having to actually drive the vehicle I'm in, I don't have to maintain it, tax it, insure it or fuel it.

Also, it means that if I fancy, I can have a few pints on my way home without having to worry about it!

 

[High Dyke]

On some days I would love to take the train to work. The only problem with the train is that I need to be there for the train to run in the first place...

 

[cuccir]

I'm sure there are contexts where car sharing could work; the most obvious might be factories with shared shift changeover times.

For me it'd be a non-starter: I work at a university and our hours are so varied and individualised, particularly in geography department so our fieldwork often takes us out and about, rather than to an office.

And as working hours continue to become more flexible, and employment continues to become increasingly short-term, the number of people that it'd work for will continue to reduce.

In the medium to long term, maybe there's some scope in shared bookings of Uber style vehicles (self driven?) on major routes, as they'd be able to pick-up/drop-off people at different locations? But there's a lot that would have to happen for such a system to really work

 

[transmanche]

Not really. If the transport is frequent enough, it's not a great issue. What IS the problem, with both public and private transport, is exactly the opposite - everyone wants to travel at the same time as you do.

And it's not a new problem. This London Transport poster dates from 1942.

Source: London Transport Posters and the Second World War - London Transport Museum.

 

[Bletchleyite]

".....everybody has to travel at the same time". That's one basic fault with public transport. You have to travel when "they" say you can travel.

Not quite the same. I have 3tph to London off-peak, more peak. If I car share I have one departure to London and one back from London.

 

[randyrippley]

No. My work timings and locations are too variable

 

[underbank]

What? The bus from my house to work runs every 10 minutes. I can travel every 10 minutes between 0618 and 0848 to start my working day at a 'decent' time. Totally flexible.

Then you're very lucky to have a bus stop nearby and such a regular service to where you want to go. Lots of people don't have that luxury. Around here (a northern city), journeys take far less time by car than public transport - substantially less, such as a 30 minute car journey to the next town, taking 2 hours by public transport sat on a bus that only runs once per hour and stops everywhere (no express buses) - the difference being you could leave home at 8.20 by car and arrive easily at work by 9am, as opposed to leaving home at 6.30, walking half a mile to a bus stop, then catching the bus which finally gets you to the destination bus station by 8.45 with another half mile walk across town to your workplace, arriving there roughly 9am, but after a tortuous journey. When I did that car journey by car every day, sometimes I'd be able to car share with another worker, but not that convenient as she lived a couple of miles away from me so sharing involved each of us in turn driving 2 miles to the other's house before starting, and again coming home (also assuming starting and finishing times were the same which was hard to know).

 

[Mikey C]

I know people who've car shared, as the workplace where they used to work together closed and they were relocated. As they all got on, lived near each other (near their old workplace), worked similar hours and the new location (in Hertforshire) wasn't convenient for public transport, they car shared.

This only caused issues if one had to stay late at work, but this was a rare occurrence.

 

[NorthernSpirit]

It was mentioned on this forum that some members on here have used mopeds to go about their daily business as an alternative to public transport. They don't take up much space on the roads, they're cheap and great fun to use and importantly they're flexible.

Still not sure if they're any good on long distance commutes though.

 

[142blue]

Used a scooter to/from work and it was great for most of the year but come rain/wind/snow/ice I was scuppered. Its also slow to get ready and get undressed at the other end

I won't use public transport for work as its 40 minutes by car (max) or:

Walk to bus stop - 10 mins
Wait for bus - 5 - 10 mins
Bus to city centre - 40 minutes to 1 hr
Walk to train station - 10 minutes
Train to work - 10 minutes

Or I can do two bus journeys, one of 30 - 40 minutes and the other around 1 hour.

So yes I choose to drive until a joined up integrated network that provides services on key routes 24/7 with smart ticketing is introduced.