Comments on: Public transport

by: Vincent

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 16:26:36 +0000

Rail’s infrastrucutre costs are mostly paid by its users (66% of total rail costs are paid by ticket sales in the UK).
Road infrastructure, on the opposite is entierely paid by taxes.

This is the reason why using the car appears to be cheaper.

But if one one would add to the cost of travelling by car all the infrastructure costs paid through taxes, I think rail would become cheaper.

by: Gav

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 22:09:10 +0000

To be fair, £3.20 is a cheap day return.

My expenses for travelling are set at a rate decided by my employer and that is 13p per mile but that is for the distance from home to my new work in Kingswood, Surrey less the distance from home to Hove. If I drive aggressively I can get the cost of petrol up to 13p per mile!

I didn’t include ‘fixed’ costs because I would pay those anyway — I was not comparing owning a car and using it, with not owning a car and public transport, I was comparing owning a car and using it, with owning a car but using public transport when it is not significantly inconvenient.

However, to bolster your case, Google maps says it is 9.2 miles in each direction which is just over 18 miles round.

I think my point still stands though — economies of scale should make a train significantly cheaper.

by: Rogue

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 09:41:53 +0000

Gav,
Before you say it, no I’m not a ‘green do-gooder’, I also drive to work.

Do you claim on expenses for travelling by car? If so, are you honest and only claim for 10p per mile ?

You haven’t taken into consideration the cost of insurance, repairs (you say the car is in the garage at the moment), depreciation, etc.
The AA show that running a car costs around 30-40p per mile. The AA also show your journey to be a round trip of approx. 15 miles, this would make a cost of £4.50 (based on 30p per mile) The train fare is £3.10 one way, but £3.20 for a return.