(14 Jun 2024, 10:49 am)streetdeckfan wrote After finally being arsed to take my driving test last week and passing first time, I thought I would borrow one of my mother's cars yesterday and see what all the fuss is about.
Picked the car up in the morning and drove from Bishop to Stanley, had a mull about Clearance Bargains (there was nowt decent in obviously), called in for a coffee at my grandfather's, went round to IKEA for another few coffees and get a bit of work done, popped into the Metrocentre to get my £1 Caffe Nero (white chocolate mocha), then called round to Costco for a hotdog and to plug the car in for a bit of a charge.
After that I then called round to a friend's house for a catch up, but this is where it gets interesting. They finished work at 5:30, and if I'd got the bus I would have had to leave theirs at 7:45 to get back home, which would barely give enough time to put the kettle on. Instead I stayed at theirs until 11pm having played a few board games.
Now, would it have been cheaper using the bus? Of course, £6.80 for a day ticket is a bargain for my use case. The insurance cost me £20 (not bad for a one off), and it cost me nothing in electric as I charged it back up this morning for free at work, but even if I had to pay it would have only been maybe £2 in electric for the 90 or so miles I did.
Does this mean I'm going to stop using public transport? No, in fact for most journeys I think I'll still just use the bus, especially local ones, but since I'm fortunate enough to have a mother with 3 EVs, I can just steal one of them for the day and actually spend time with friends!
I think we need to get your friends thoughts on this.
Were they pleased to get the extra time to spend with you or do they prefer you getting the bus?
(14 Jun 2024, 11:35 am)streetdeckfan wrote For more local journeys I think I'm probably still going to use the bus. For example, if I'm going to Spoons to sit and get some work done, I'm just going to pay the £4 for the Durham Day rover as I can't be arsed with the faff of finding a parking space, especially when the bus stop is a 30 second walk from my front door.
Funnily enough, pub quiz is one of the things I've really missed doing, I used to stay up at my grandfathers and get a lift, but it was a right faff sorting all the logistics out so I just gave up on trying.
Generally the only time I get the bus these days, is when I'm off out for a drink somewhere.
Very rarely bother using them these days, regardless of how easy or difficult it may be to get parked in a city centre and the main reason is the length of the journey.
Even if I spend a good period of time looking for a spot, it's still quicker than using the bus.
More often than not, the parking is more accessible than hiking from a bus station or stop too.