I HATE my car. Not that it’s a bad make, or doesn’t do what I ask of it. No, it’s very practical and fairly cost efficient as cars go.

But that’s the problem. Cars, as a rule, generally cost a shed load of money to run.

If it’s not the exorbitant price of petrol, then it’s the regular trips to the garage for repairs and services.

No, in an ideal world, I would rather not have a car at all, solely using more economic and green methods of transport, such as cycling or walking.

That’s why I am a big fan of public transport. Buses and trains, in theory, could be the solution to a number of modern day ills, from congestion to lowering our carbon footprint.

Which is why I sighed rather heavily following two incidents recalled to me this week.

The first from a friend who, in the true traditions of undercover investigations wishes to remain anonymous. Let’s call her Jessica.

Jessica wanted to take her sons to the dentist and after her car had broken down quite spectacularly – oh yes that’s another one I forgot to mention – she decided to take the bus.

As she didn’t know which bus to take from her house in the Maldon Road area to Bromley Road, she looked on the web. No luck. She phoned the local bus company and spoke to a woman in Norwich who, after 15 minutes, couldn’t help her.

She got a friend to drop her in town where she went to the bus station. There, another nice woman couldn’t help either, so she gave up, phoned the dentist to cancel the appointment and took her three boys for a sticky bun instead.

Deciding to at least catch a bus home from town, she caught one in St John’s Street to a bus stop in Maldon Road, which is a good five minutes from where she lives. The cost was £5.10 even though one of her boys is under five and therefore free.

The next day another friend called me spitting blood over how much a bus fare cost him, his wife and his daughter.

Again it was well over £5 from the Prettygate area. More expensive than a taxi and, depending on how long they wanted to stay in town, probably more expensive than driving into town and using a car park.

Now I know bus and train companies have to make money, but why do some towns manage to promote public transport and we don’t.

In York, you can get a bus within the city limits and travel anywhere for just 70p. On the tube in London, children travel free. If we want to make anything of our town and encourage people to come here then surely we must persuade people to use our buses.

It’s no surprise the only people you ever see on buses are pensioners with their free passes.

I would like to use the bus. In the past I have written many ‘use it, or lose it’ stories and seen the demise of valuable rural bus routes, but a £1.50 single fare to take a trip I can make on foot in 20 minutes just doesn’t sit right.

Come on guys, we’re in a recession. Petrol prices are high and the market is there, so ask yourselves why are the buses still half empty?

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