The Joys Of Public Transport?
It's one of the things we look for most when we're considering where to live in London; what are the transport links like
? It has to be one of the first things people ask about whether they're looking for a house to rent in Richmond, a flat to rent in Putney or property to rent in Twickenham.
When I first found a flat to rent in Richmond I was very smug when it came to discussing public transport. "Oh, well we have the trains, the tube, the buses and of course the ferry!" I would say to my friends. "I can go to work a different way every day of the week."
Of course I never did. I used the train most of the time, sometimes the tube, occasionally the bus and the ferry? No, not once!
I used the tube infrequently because it took longer than the train! Buses I only used if there were problems on the train or tube. Theoretically, I could have used the ferry too, but never got around to it.
Now I rent in Putney I have, in theory, three ways of getting to into central London via public transport. I can take the District line if I fancy a really, really, slow, way of getting across town. I can and usually do use the trains to Waterloo which only takes around 20 minutes but on an evening I make use of the bus. The number 14 in particular which runs 24 hours a day. Well, weather permitting.
When it snows there are no buses. When it last snowed we lost the tube too! Fancy walking home anyone? That's what I did. In fact, that's what lots of us did. And isn't that one of the joys of public transport? The fact that you're never quite sure when it will and won't run!
Actually, I shouldn't be too hard here. At least in London, in most of our boroughs, we have more than one method of public transport we can use to move around the city. In most towns and cities they only have the bus. You can only use the train if you are going to another town or city.
It can be too easy for us, who live surrounded by buses, (24 hour buses too - they don't exist in many cities), tubes, trains and taxis, oh and ferries, to complain about our public transport system, but the truth is we have more options as to how we get across our city than most British residents. The thing is, they are part of our London culture and society; parts we often take for granted and are quick to criticise, yet most of the time, our public transport system does actually work.
We are lucky enough when we're looking for a family home to rent in Putney, or our first flat to rent in Twickenham, that we usually have a range of transport options to choose from to get to and from our home and our place of business. We're never limited to just the bus.
So the next time you think we're hard done by, try and imagine living where there is no tube, no train service, only buses. Buses that run once an hour and only until 9pm. Those places really do exist. They are in Britain, today. Now look around you. Look at the taxis, the tubes, the buses, the trains and the ferries. Look at all our public transport options? Don't you feel better now?
by: Dawn Taylor
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