h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Please, please, get us some decent public transport to encourage us off the roads.
I live in the south east and commuting from South Bucks (Chesham, in my case) is so bad that I have now ruled out ever getting a job in London again.
To get people off the roads you need to have a viable alternative to start with. It's no good saying you'll raise the money from tolls etc and then invest it, if everyone has to put up with an unreliable, infrequent, inconvenient and extremely dirty service to get anywhere.
If you purchase a service through choice it's usually based on, and not necessarily in order:
- value for money
- service levels meeting customer needs
- reliability
- convenience.
I wouldn't choose public transport at present. Even a rail trip to Leeds had me swearing I'd drive the next time (not on time, delayed and diverted - and try telling passengers it's because of a power failure when you've just passed three power plants - doesn't bother them one bit, but at least we had an explanation, more than can be said for the London tube.)
I'd be happy to leave the driving to someone else. If only they could be as reliable as me.

Amsterdam and other Dutch cities manage to have hundreds of trams, buses and thousands of cyclists and (sadly) a great deal of car traffic running together simultanously without daily bouts of death and destruction.

I guess the difference is the Dutch never gave up on cycling or on a tram system and that their transport system has been evolving with all modes of transport being made to co-exist and, because all modes still exist, it is possible for the Dutch to REALLY put the screw on car (ab)users because there are alternatives available.

It is going to be a very painful adjustment for the British to make but there is potentially a better life to be had by all.

What worries me is that the Dutch have been pumping money into thier transport infrastructure for decades. Possibly the British have left it too late and it is simply too expensive to 'catch up'.

I hope it's not too late for the UK. But where has our money gone?

I drove down a road in Amersham last week and the end suddenly became a mass of pot holes, up to two feet deep, by the feel of them. There were houses in the area, so how these householders manage? But, given the amount of money collected through various means, that should be going to transport, how are the roads so bad? Public transport clearly hasn't had the dosh. And remember: much of so called public transport is now privately owned - so it doesn't count.

Where has the government spent the money?

PS - I noticed a funny noise in my car this week. My trusted mechanic is looking at the car on Friday. If it's due to these pot holes, where do I make a claim? I've paid my road taxes after all.

Well, we're unliley to get any decent public transport, and the government is scared silly of voting car users.
Researcher 210519 - not thought of a nickname yet?

A thought came to me last night as I was closing down. So I now have one. This message should clarify things!