Public transport
By violeta_va
@violeta_va (4831)
Australia
April 29, 2008 11:04am CST
Last friday was public holiday in Australia. The day before my husband noticed that his car tyre was flat and noticed some metal poking out. So he got the spare one and put it on. In the morning he got up to go to work and noticed the new tyre was flat as well. So with no time to fix it he called taxi as he was runing late for work. Anyway... He finished work at 3:30pm and by the time he got home it was 6:45. He had to wait for the bus (but aparently none of them work on public holiday or run on sunday time table) so after almost 1h and 30min he got a taxi and went to the train station (as he already payed $30 in the morning he didnt want to spend that sort of money again) he waited for the train than got on one than had to change to another and then walk home.
The thing is everyone keeps saying use public transport well I have to ask them WHAT PUBLIC TRANSPORT that was beyond joke he could have walked all the way home and he would have been home sooner. He works about 20km from home.
2 people like this
8 responses
@toosh21 (800)
• Australia
29 Apr 08
This is ridiculous! Public transport should be available at the same times everyday - regardless of public holidays! A lot of businesses are open 7 days a week & how do they expect the people that work at these businesses to get to work? The government encourages the use of public transport to help save the planet & decrease pollution - for people to do this they need to make public transport readily available at ALL times!
1 person likes this
@violeta_va (4831)
• Australia
30 Apr 08
absolutly right. My husband works in a nursing home so they work 24/7 and 365 days a week they dont have a day off as much as they want to. we can live 1 day without going to the shops but those people need workers to help them. I remember when I used to catch the bus few times a week there was hardly any service on saturday and no service on Sunday and then they tell us use public transport and save the planet. I would sure like to see the PM of Australia or the premier of Victoria catch a bus to work I swear they will change the transport system in 1 day for the better if they were forced to do use it.
@desertdarlene (8910)
• United States
30 Apr 08
In my city, they cut back on public transportation so bad that some of our urban areas don't have any bus service at all. I work in one area where they don't have any buses on weekends. So, if you want to go anywhere, you have to take a taxi because the nearest working bus stop on those days is about 5 miles away. And, the same goes for some places after 7PM and I often work past 8PM.
Also, you have to pay for every transfer you make. That is, for every bus you take, you have to pay full fare. So, if you are someone who is only taking the bus because your car broke down, then it can be expensive to get anywhere. Most San Diegans need to transfer at least twice to get anywhere in this city. If you are lucky, you will be near trolley station where you can get a $5 all day pass, but otherwise, you have to pay for each separate bus.
@desertdarlene (8910)
• United States
30 Apr 08
Yeah, our buses cost more than $2 for each one. I remember calculating a trip home from one place and it would have cost me over $7 one way if I couldn't get a day pass.
But, seriously, I don't think public officials should encourage people to take public transportation if they keep making cuts and make it as hard as possible for people to use it.
@violeta_va (4831)
• Australia
1 May 08
thank you my point exacly every day we are told to use public transport. I dont drive but I would rather stay home than spend 2 hours on buplic transport to go to the shoping centre that is 6km from my home. I go when my husband can take me.
@violeta_va (4831)
• Australia
30 Apr 08
Well at least here is cheaper but then again when you think about it it is not. It is about $2 for the zone I live in for 2 hour ticket and you can use it as many times as you wish in those 2 hours and thats the same ticket for train, bus and trams. But when you see how much you have to wait and all that they might as well charge $20 because that is valuable time and stress.
1 person likes this
@plumwish07 (4057)
• Indonesia
30 Apr 08
well, dear honestly i am little bit 
cause the problem about public transportation happened to in your country. i thought this kind situation only faced by developing countries as like my country.
i am really sorry about your husband situation on that time. i know that he must be so much tired after working and not able to reach home immediately due to public transportation problem. the government should be more concern about this matter since lots of their people are not able to effort personal transportation
cause the problem about public transportation happened to in your country. i thought this kind situation only faced by developing countries as like my country.
i am really sorry about your husband situation on that time. i know that he must be so much tired after working and not able to reach home immediately due to public transportation problem. the government should be more concern about this matter since lots of their people are not able to effort personal transportation@violeta_va (4831)
• Australia
30 Apr 08
I am sure that people living closer to the city dont have the same issues as we do here but yes the whole system needs a major change and planing.
@lingli_78 (12822)
• Australia
30 Apr 08
that is ridiculous... i live in australia too... but i am fortunate to live very near to a train station and the timetable is very reliable too... i only need to take a train once to get to the city and it only takes me maximum of 50 minutes... the maximum i have to wait for a public transport is 45 minutes here in melbourne... and it is annoying enough for me... that's why my hubby drives me and picks me up from work everyday since we are working not very far from each other... we are just fortunate i guess...
@violeta_va (4831)
• Australia
30 Apr 08
well we dont use public transport very often thank God and yes we do live near the train station (about 10-15 min walk) but it is to complicated to use the public transport and very time consuming to do it every day. If 1 bus company can manage to run the lines than lets have competition I am sure that would ease the problems a bit.
@bcote212 (1112)
• United States
29 Apr 08
Public transportation here in Baltimore is great. And to be honest a very large part of the city relies on it. Parking in downtown Baltimore can easily run $300 a month, so what I do is drive to the train station that is less than a mile from my home( I guess I could walk but I dont) I leave my car at the park and ride. That does not cost anything. And a ticked for the train that lets you ride as much as you want in a day is only $3.50, that train takes me into downtown, and I walk about 5 blocks to work. The trains run every 10 mins during rush hour and ever 15 when not in rush hour. I am saving money on both parking and driving.
@violeta_va (4831)
• Australia
29 Apr 08
well its great if it work out ok but here the conections are so bad its just not wort it. I am not saying that its like that for all the places around here but for the lines we use. yes the train comes every 10 -15 min as well but he (my husband) would have to wait for 1 train than get off and wait for another one then wait for the bus plus walking from home to the train station (as there is limited parking there to park the car) and walk from the bus station to work.
@suehan1 (4344)
• Australia
30 Apr 08
yes i know what your saying with public transport here in australia.i am near sydney on the central coast and to get anywhere on a normal day is a nightmare let alone on anzac day.i work about 17 km away and it would take me about 2 hours to get there.bus ,train and walk.cheers sue
@violeta_va (4831)
• Australia
30 Apr 08
The most idiotic thing is that if a bus goes to suburb A there is almost never a direct line to a suburb on the other side of the same consul you have to go to the main bus station to catch another bus.
@plumwish07 (4057)
• Indonesia
30 Apr 08
well, dear honestly i am little bit cause the problem about public transportation happened to in your country. i thought this kind situation only faced by developing countries as like my country.
i am really sorry about your husband situation on that time. i know that he must be so much tired after working and not able to reach home immediately due to public transportation problem. the government should be more concern about this matter since lots of their people are not able to effort personal transportation
cause the problem about public transportation happened to in your country. i thought this kind situation only faced by developing countries as like my country.
i am really sorry about your husband situation on that time. i know that he must be so much tired after working and not able to reach home immediately due to public transportation problem. the government should be more concern about this matter since lots of their people are not able to effort personal transportation
@minnie_98214 (10557)
• United States
29 Apr 08
Yeah its funny I looked into taking the bus more and well not a good idea it would take forever and well the buses have funny times in my area it sucks I gave up on that option.
@violeta_va (4831)
• Australia
29 Apr 08
It might be cheaper to use public transport but where I live its not an option at all. Mind you we live in a good area and not far from anything. But if I was to take my son to school by bus I would have to get up at 7 to be at school by 9:30 and the school is like 5km away.
