{"id":669,"date":"2022-03-28T13:36:54","date_gmt":"2022-03-28T12:36:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/sustainkent\/?p=669"},"modified":"2022-03-28T13:42:06","modified_gmt":"2022-03-28T12:42:06","slug":"its-finally-happened-my-commute-is-actually-cheaper-on-public-transport-than-by-car","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/sustainkent\/2022\/03\/28\/its-finally-happened-my-commute-is-actually-cheaper-on-public-transport-than-by-car\/","title":{"rendered":"It&#8217;s finally happened &#8211; my commute is actually cheaper on public transport than by car!"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<p><strong>Andrew Briggs, Fire Safety Manager &amp; Environment Adviser at the University of Kent, writes about the benefits of a commute via public transport.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-672 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/sustainkent\/files\/2022\/03\/IMG_9874.jpg\" alt=\"Buses at the Keynes bus stop, with daffodils in the foreground. \" width=\"1274\" height=\"840\" \/><\/p>\r\n<p>I live near Dover. Today the fuel cost for using my car (a very economical one) calculates to a sobering \u00a36.25. That includes a couple of extra miles to avoid clogging up the centre of Canterbury in the afternoon rush hour. The Stagecoach Dayrider ticket is \u00a37.30 but they have a great deal on their app for 10 flexible tickets, bringing the bus fare down to \u00a34.97. And that figure for using my car doesn\u2019t include other mileage-dependent costs like servicing, tyres, extra depreciation and those unpredictable repair bills from time to time.<br \/><br \/>I\u2019ve been waiting for better deals on public transport for many years, and sometimes pushed our Sustainability and Transport teams on this, but now the incentive is there \u2013 and by a large margin! Of course this is partly due to spiralling fuel costs recently, and bus fares are likely to go up too, but I doubt the cost comparison will reverse itself.<br \/><br \/>And as well as the obvious big-picture win for sustainability, there are other benefits. I\u2019ll admit that a lengthy period without a car recently and having to use the bus has opened my eyes. Sure, my journey takes an extra 25 minutes at each end of the day, but I haven\u2019t missed them. On the contrary \u2013 without the constantly attentive and at times wearing task of driving through traffic, I\u2019ve found the bus ride a great space in which to relax, where my mind can idle and decompress. Or conversely, sometimes it\u2019s been a welcome \u2018time out\u2019 for more expansive thinking about work or other issues, which I\u2019ve found really helpful. Whatever\u2019s needed on a given day. I\u2019ve found it an unexpected and significant boost to my wellbeing.<br \/><br \/>So \u2013 what\u2019s not to like? I can still use my car occasionally for work in future, but only if I really need to \u2013 why throw money away? I\u2019d urge anyone to try switching too!<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Andrew Briggs, Fire Safety Manager &amp; Environment Adviser at the University of Kent, writes about the benefits of a commute via public transport. I live near Dover. Today the fuel cost for using my car (a very economical one) calculates to a sobering \u00a36.25. That includes a couple of extra miles to avoid clogging up [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":76587,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[814,220318,176151,176179,5087,127013],"tags":[220359,17624,220358,159690],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/sustainkent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/sustainkent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/sustainkent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/sustainkent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/76587"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/sustainkent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=669"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/sustainkent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":676,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/sustainkent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669\/revisions\/676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/sustainkent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/sustainkent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/sustainkent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}