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Yet another standstill
- Thread starter Miss Red
- Start date
phildo
Well-Known Forumite
But how many of that 25% that don't have a car are either unemployed, retired or students?henryscat said:
The reality is that in todays society a car is usually needed to conduct a working life where most people need the flexibility to start and leave work when they need to. I'd love to be able to stick my headphones on and get the bus to work again, I did it for 2 years in Manchester and it was so nice to be able to have a few beers after work too.. but it's not feasible now
henryscat
Well-Known Forumite
Most people working in bigger cities don't take a car to work. How many people who work in central London actually drive to work? Not many. Similarly in Birmingham, in the rush hour when people are going to work more people arrive into the City Centre by bus and train than they do by car.phildo said:
Motorbike, scooter or bicycle all let you do this.phildo said:
While there are some people who really do need a car (those who need to carry a wheelchair for instance), you can't tell me 100% of people who drive to work could not make it there another way in pretty much the same time.
To those who think the bicycle would not be an option due to it being slower. Consider that you're getting exercise while you commute, if you drive you are getting no exercise and to get the same amount of exercise per day as cycling (or walking for that matter) you would then have to exercise after driving.
Example:
30 minute bike ride, 30 minutes of exercise at the same time. 30 mins total.
15 minute car trip, 30 minutes of exercise after (we'll ignore the drive to the gym). 45 minutes total.
So which takes up the most time again? obviously if you don't care about exercise and want to die earlier in life then it doesn't matter.
phildo
Well-Known Forumite
Agree totally... unfortunately Stafford isn't London or Birmingham. It doesn't have a decent public transport system and a large number of people don't live and work here so there's people commuting into and out of the town each day by car. The traffic is poor for a town of this size and it at least needs looking at.henryscat said:
John Marwood
I ♥ cryptic crosswords
*coughs* London doesnt have a decent transport system neeva, just a couple of indecent ones, I thank youphildo said:
Pannier bags attached to a pannier rack, there are plenty of padded inserts for laptops. You get a bike with a rack on the back. I could carry a lawnmower on the back of my bike if I wanted.phildo said:
Here is someone who did.
It's funny, there's about three of us who regularly cycle to work. One of them does Hilderstone to Stafford, the other does Newcastle Under Lyme to Stafford. Never have I ever smelt sweat on them.
What you do is wear cycling specific clothes then change when you get to work. You then have a good wipe down in the toilets when you get to work. You can get special anti-bacterial wipes. Or you just pedal slower. A squirt of Lynx and you're fine.
If you really did care about exercise then you wouldn't be so vain about looking a little more ruffled than usual. The general improvements to physique, toned legs and much higher energy levels more than make up for feeling a little sweaty.
One of the other guys who cycles to work is doing an Iron Man in a couple of weeks. 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride followed by a marathon run. I somehow don't think he worries about getting sweaty. He is not a member of a gym either, you don't need to be if you get exercise in your daily life!
As for me, I've not done so many big rides of late. I did the 25 mile Katherine House ride in May. I'd done the 60 mile route a couple of times before then. Dougie Mac 50 mile route and the Pro Tour Ride in 2009, nearly 100 miles. All for charity. What does your car driving do for the world?
phildo
Well-Known Forumite
First off, I do care about exercise. I run a couple of times a week (outside, not in a gym).gilesjuk said:
Secondly, I'm not being vain - if I cycled the 16 miles to work I would be sweaty and need to shower in order to be presentable. A wipe down in the toilets is not good enough, I cannot feel a little sweaty' at work, it is not an option as I work in an office and regularly have contact with customers/suppliers etc. I need to be presentable.
And what would I do if I needed to go and visit a customer? Say, in Manchester or Birmingham? I can't exactly cycle there and the car's no use sat at home.
What if you were disabled and couldn't drive?phildo said:
One of our managers at work is partially sighted and can't drive. There are times when he could be required to visit an irate customer, you just have to schedule it for another day or you go along with another staff member who has driven.
Same goes for the other people who cycle into work where I am, they are required to be dressed up in suit and tie at times. If that is the case they don't cycle that day, simple!
If people left the car at home for one day a week it would at least reduce the traffic a little bit.
But anyway, are you complaining about the traffic around Stafford? my point (which does not seem to be registering) is that there are plenty of people are aren't like you. They aren't customer facing, they aren't required to do site visits and yet they will drive 800 yards to fetch a paper or carton of milk.
Miss Red
Well-Known Forumite
She was in middle school and there was no middle school in eccleshall, so council said unless i changed her school to eccleshall then i was not entitled to school bus.henryscat said:
I had to travel out to work anyway as eccleshall buses didnt start until late.
Its not a prob now i moved to stafford last november, purely because i work here. I timed it for when my daughter was 11 so she cold start with others in first yr secondary. But the whole point of this is to say, not everyone can walk, its just not feasable (it doesnt mean they are lazy), everyones circumstances are different.
*forgot to add, I do drive once a week to work now, but soley because i shop at various shops in town to get my weekly food shop - i have cervical spondylosis of the neck and to carry even 2 heavy bags can give me a week of pain, im not regd disabled or anything like that - i carry on as normal as possible.
I got stuck in last weeks traffic because i had to collect furniture for a friend that i am helping set up 1st home and i was coming back from walsall.
tek-monkey
wanna see my snake?
Just a minor point, but the only people all this extra traffic really affects are those driving in it. I walk or use a pushbike, so couldn't really give a monkeys if people in cars are stuck! I do think we need an easier way to get from one side of town to the other without going through the town itself though. Joining beaconside to the cannock road via baswich lane would be an obvious solution in my opinion.
