Manchester33
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 12 Sep 2012
- Messages
- 6,932
The problem with transport in Manchester is that we don't use it as much as we should, for a number of reasons.
Take my girlfriend as an example, we live literally 10 seconds away from a bus stop that could take her within a 2 minute walk away from her office. She won't use it because she doesn't like having to get the bus (because she's a snob) and it comes to infrequently. There is a train that's a 5 minute drive with a free car park, she won't use that because it costs more then parking outside her office. The tram car park is ALWAYS full and also expensive. The simplest thing to do is drive. Throw into that the uncertainty of using public transport and it's just easier to drive.
I live 4 miles away from my office, I keep toying with the idea of cycling in, but because of the major roads I'm put off doing it. There are no safe alternatives I could use (and to put it bluntly I'm not an experienced cyclist). There are no bus, train or tram routes between where I live and work that are cost effective compared to the couple of pounds I spend on petrol a day.
There's two cars on the road straight away that cheaper public transport WOULD have cleared.
When you consider the sheer number of people who live in places like Sale, Altrincham, Timperley, Wythenshawe, Stretford, Old Trafford, Urmston etc that have direct transport to the city center, that don't use it - it's no wonder everywhere is gridlocked! I don't think the answer is necessarily to increase and improve the infrastructure, I think we'd see better results if people were made aware of the routes and the public transport was made considerably cheaper. Realistically, if you could get a return journey on a bus for £2 I'd use it, but I'm not paying 3/4/5 quid when I can drive for less! Public transport is trendy in Europe because it's cheap and frequent.
Take my girlfriend as an example, we live literally 10 seconds away from a bus stop that could take her within a 2 minute walk away from her office. She won't use it because she doesn't like having to get the bus (because she's a snob) and it comes to infrequently. There is a train that's a 5 minute drive with a free car park, she won't use that because it costs more then parking outside her office. The tram car park is ALWAYS full and also expensive. The simplest thing to do is drive. Throw into that the uncertainty of using public transport and it's just easier to drive.
I live 4 miles away from my office, I keep toying with the idea of cycling in, but because of the major roads I'm put off doing it. There are no safe alternatives I could use (and to put it bluntly I'm not an experienced cyclist). There are no bus, train or tram routes between where I live and work that are cost effective compared to the couple of pounds I spend on petrol a day.
There's two cars on the road straight away that cheaper public transport WOULD have cleared.
When you consider the sheer number of people who live in places like Sale, Altrincham, Timperley, Wythenshawe, Stretford, Old Trafford, Urmston etc that have direct transport to the city center, that don't use it - it's no wonder everywhere is gridlocked! I don't think the answer is necessarily to increase and improve the infrastructure, I think we'd see better results if people were made aware of the routes and the public transport was made considerably cheaper. Realistically, if you could get a return journey on a bus for £2 I'd use it, but I'm not paying 3/4/5 quid when I can drive for less! Public transport is trendy in Europe because it's cheap and frequent.