(05 Nov 2014, 9:16 am)AdamY wrote As well as financial circumstance, value can also depend on location.
I live in Rowlands Gill, work in Stanley, shop in Blaydon and Metrocentre, and socialise with friends in Chopwell and Hamsterley. Occasionally, I may pop into Newcastle or Gateshead but the places I mainly travel to are within a six-mile radius of where I live.
I've already highlighted elsewhere how difficult it is getting to Stanley from Rowlands Gill, by public transport, before 8 o'clock in the morning. I need a car (or some other mode of personal transport) for this purpose. But lets pretend that particular obstacle had been overcome and a bus was provided between Rowlands Gill and Stanley which met my needs. Would I switch my mode of transportation? The answer - no. The reason why is to do with value.
To travel within a six-mile radius of my house requires purchasing a three-zone Buzzfare at a weekly cost of £31.50 (with Key Card) or £104.49 a month. In comparison, £50 worth of petrol lasts me just over two weeks. Now, one might argue that when taking into account the cost of the car, insurance road-tax etc., that the bus offers better value for money. However, because I need to the car to get to work and back, using the car represents an overall saving for me. If I had a wife and kids, some of the costs of owning a car might be mitigated against the cost of additional fares associated when using public transport. Ultimately, it may be cheaper to use public transport, but once you factor in the premium one is prepared to pay for comfort and convenience, the allure of public transport becomes less and less.
Going back to my example, I accept that boundaries have to be placed somewhere and that I am unlucky in this respect but, in my view, using the bus does not represent value for money. However, if I needed to travel to, say, Middlesbrough on daily basis, I would happily pay those same prices as I think it represents exceptional value for money.
Which is precisely why it's so difficult to shift motorists out of their cars and back on to buses - it's a mix of price, the level of bus services, and the value (utility) of cheap, modern cars. No matter how cheap the bus fare, or how frequent the service, it can rarely compete with the convenience of having your own set of wheels outside your front door.
What tips it over in the favour of public transport is other factors: eg., it costs £12 to park for a day at the Centre for Life in Newcastle if you're catching a train. Or London-style congestion charging - that's now £11.50 a day, you've got to be desperate to take a car into central London!