Public transport

[pianowelsh]

How many of you use public transport to get around for teaching etc.  I have to say it drievs me nuts sometimes - I loose hours a week at this time of year. Still I wouldnt want the job of a bus driver.

[ahinton]

How many of you use public transport to get around for teaching etc.  I have to say it drievs me nuts sometimes - I loose hours a week at this time of year. Still I wouldnt want the job of a bus driver.

I don't teach, so I can't answer your question from personal experience - but if you can find any public transport in Wales to "drive" you anywhere at all - even "nuts" - other than within Caerdydd, you must be doing quite well! Not that I'm sure that you're actually in Wales, of course. Public transport is OK sometimes if you're in a large city, or flying within the country where you live; other than that, it's largely non-existent apart from trains which, in UK, are notoriously unreliable and, apart from the Gatwick Express, rarely run late at night; they are also only really of practical use for travel between cities where they are faster and/or cheaper than driving your own car. I live in Bath and there are about 35 trains daily that cover the 100 or so miles to London; they are faster than the M4 by car and also cheaper if you know how to book them the best ways, so this isn't bad at all. If, however, you want to make journeys by public transport in rural and semi-rural areas, trains would, for the most part, be hopeless. If you have a teaching schedule that requires you to travel from student to student, your own transport would be absolutely essential, so, if you prefer not to drive between lessons/classes, it would surely be beter to get them to come to your own teaching studio.

Best,

Alistair

[pianowelsh]

Yes im doing that now. Unfortunately a downside of teaching so many older students is that they dont drive or are not confident driving so I still go to some.

[elspeth]

Hurrah for public transport! I can see it'd be impractical if you used it for teaching, but for my purposes - I'm a serial pedestrian living in a big city, and it works really well for me. The only odd exceptions being Christmas Day and New Year when there's no transport and the reduced services on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve - especially for those of us who work antisocial hours.

[ahinton]

Hurrah for public transport! I can see it'd be impractical if you used it for teaching, but for my purposes - I'm a serial pedestrian living in a big city, and it works really well for me. The only odd exceptions being Christmas Day and New Year when there's no transport and the reduced services on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve - especially for those of us who work antisocial hours.

That's pretty much part of my point; if you live in a big city, it might be OK but, if you live in most other places, it's abit of a losing wicket (and the English know a lot about those, it seems)

Best,

Alistair

[pianowolfi]

For teaching I ride either my bicycle or I am driving. Both is faster than public transport. Ok i haven't calculated yet which would be cheaper: having less students and travelling with public transport or driving and having more students. But I prefer to have more students anyway.

[ahinton]

For teaching I ride either my bicycle or I am driving. Both is faster than public transport. Ok i haven't calculated yet which would be cheaper: having less students and travelling with public transport or driving and having more students. But I prefer to have more students anyway.

Could you not have all - or at least the majority - of your students visit your own teaching studio? Although, as a non-teacher, I should perhaps not say too much here, it nevertheless strikes me that it matters little what form of transport is taken by the teacher, no money is actually being earned while travelling, so reducing or (if possible) eliminating that travelling time would surely be the best policy; in addition, the sheer stress of travelling would appear to be another factor worthy of consideration here...

Best,

Alistair

[txmuslguy]

  You guys in London, Wales, Great Britain in general ought to be flipping over backwards and happy that public transport is available.  Here in Houston, Texas it's ever more concrete poured and having to rely on one's automobile. The cost of gas and the wear and tear on the car keep going up and up. AND NO ALTERNATIVE AVAILABLE!  Houston is a city of 5 million (3rd or 4th largest) in the USA, covering almost 80 sq miles now. An absolute horror to drive at rush hour, and still bad at off peak hours.  And only rail line available---and even that was a fight for the past 30yrs to get the line built.  Bus service is available, but not NEARLY as extensive as in the European cities.
  Couple that paragraph above with this:  It's hot in the summer(between 30 and up to 35 deg C ), the city lays out over the coastal plain of Texas since it's close to the Gulf of Mexico, so it's flat as a table top here. Rains at times like the monsoons seen in India, therefore it FLOODS, and those floods have become more frequent and damaging as the city has grown. Try driving a car around in that mess described above.  Only thing keeping me here is my family and job. Not exactly paradise here!  ENJOY, REJOICE OVER, PRAY TOO YOUR PUBLIC TRANSPORT!
All the best,
Tx

 

[wishful thinker]

Wow, sounds like in Houston, you have a problem 

My train this morning was 8 carriages again instead of 12.  This happens a lot recently.  It means that some people are paying excess of £2500 to stand for nearly an hour to and from work. 

Wasn't Mr B.Liar going to sort that out?