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| An old-fashioned Routemaster bus |
We own a car - my partner Leena needs it to see her horses - and I have to pay Lambeth Council to park outside my house, but it is usually parked outside that house and does not move if she is on tour. I simply never drive my car into central London these days. Wi th the congestion charge the high price of paring and traffic delays it is just not worth it. SO the car stays unused until the more rural side of our life kicks in. Irony or what? We never use the car in town.
I usually take the tube into London, occasionally the bus, but the problem of parking and the fact that I often end my tours elsewhere to where I start them make parking the car not only expensive but awkward. I am of an age when public transport is not only convenient but free. My travel card gives me free access to the system.I do not care for motorcycles - noisy and unpleasant vehicles constantly drawing attention to themselves - and I no longer cycle either.
Going on buses and tube trains does, of course, have its downside. Sometimes trains are cancelled and buses, despite the bus lanes, can be slow and unreliable but on the whole it is the quickest - and certainly the cheapest - way to get around in London or indeed any major city. The Mayor of Greater London Sadiq Khan (the only Moslem to hold that office in a major western city, incidentally) is keen to get people onto public transport and he has succeeded.
Khan's father was a bus driver so he spent a fair part of his childhood on such vehicles. He has also encouraged bicycle travel by opening up cycle lanes. You will rarely if ever hear a taxi driver with a good word to say about him as taxi and car journeys are often very slow because of bicycle lanes which are often half empty next to crowded roads.I have a sneaking sympathy for the cab drivers, who are just trying to make a living, but I think Kahn's policy is right for London.
A friend of mine who used to work for British Rial said that it was impossible to bring everybody into work in a major city by anything other than trains. Fortunately, I have never had to do a regular commute of an hour or more but I agree with his analysis. (Actually, he probably borrowed it from some paper but you know what I mean.) Everybody driving their car would result in chaos so some form of public transport system is necessary to bring people to work.
I write enjoy the bus or tube ride to the centre of town. Tube trains travel at set speeds but bus drivers choose their own speed and some of them ignore the speed limit signs and go faster than the common twenty miles per hour limit in the city. I get the impression that just about anybody with the required licence can get a job with Transport for London (TfL) which used to go by the simpler name of London Transport and is still pretty much under the control of the Mayor.
So I will continue to join the rush and use public transport. I am about to set off to meet clients at a new hotel not too far from here and, if apprpriate I might suggest a journey on a bus. Tourists are usually (not always) keen to travel on one. although the old-fashioned Routemasters, as picture above, are rarely seen these days except on private tours. Whatever they cost the operator or passenger, they are cheaper and usually faster than hiring a car and driver.
Edwin Lerner
My other blog is diaryofatouristguide,blogspot.com
