On 2 October 2010 00:21, Andrew Morgan <zil...@ziltro.com> wrote: > > I don't think there's much point worrying about if buses and trains go > where you want when you want, from what I've seen they never have and never > will. But for anyone who has to rely on public transport don't forget there > are plenty of taxis out there and their drivers work all night, and they'll > take you from wherever you want to wherever you want without any faffing > about between. > > I beg to disagree. There are other cities and towns with adequate public transport (among the ones I know, Brighton, Nottingham & Newcastle) and the state of public transport in Dorset is simply a consequence of years and years of under-investment (I'm not talking only about financial investment, I'm talking about political efforts investment as well). Local politics have a huge importance on public transport - if the local authorities do not work with the local transport companies to develop and push for a decent public transport plan, we have to suffer the consequences of different companies competing on similar bus routes rather than building a coherent network. It seems that the local authorities in the area (Poole, Bournemouth, Christchurch, Dorset) haven't been willing to push much for better public transport and as a result, many residents rule out public transport as viable option. Dorset is a beautiful area but its lack of decent public transport makes it ill prepared for the future (petrol prices going up, more and more people unable to afford to run a car, not to mention the new pollution emission targets). It's a shame.
Cabs are great and I'm glad for them but few people can afford to use them instead of buses on a regular basis. It costs £6 for a ride from the train station to where I live in Winton and I can walk the same route in under half an hour! Cabs are essentially a kind of short-lease personal transport with chauffeur, they don't have the benefits of public transport (economy of scale in terms of petrol prices, reduction of CO2 per mile travelled etc). -- Next meeting: Bournemouth? TBD, Wednesday 2010-10-06 20:00 Meets, Mailing list, IRC, LinkedIn, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ How to Report Bugs Effectively: http://bit.ly/4sACa
