Stopping at a bus stop.

In your neck of the world, a taxi arrives the instant you ask for one?

Lost count of the number of times I've seen someone waiting for a cab when I go to the Tesco I use most, and are still waiting when I leave.

Quick google tells me my commute would be about 40 quid.

Each way.

(I only paid 12k for it... in 1999...)

Andy

Tsk tsk. I'm not talking about you. I'm talking about possibly poorer, probably retired or too old to drive people. Nothing stops them from taking a taxi from time to time. But Our Dave insists that anyone who takes a taxi must be rich.

I reckon fixed costs of runninga car are around £2k per annum. Until you start buying cars around £30k+ when depreciation is more like £4-5k per annum.

Contract hiore at under £200 per month plus inusurance nets you a fixed cost around £2-3k per...

My car eats diesel at around 20p per mile, - an £80 tank gets me 400 miles. Its not a guizzler, but is not on a diet either.

So £20k per yar - let's say £3k fixed, and £18k of diesel? That's

if thats done in 200 working days, which is a generally usefiul rule of thumb, thats what- 500 miles per day?

Mm. You are right. That is an excessive commute..

I think my worst was 150 miles per day.

Beyind that its worth staying at a B & B for the week.

Doesn?t have to be anything like that, closer to £500

Until

But that is easily avoided.

But you don?t have to spend anything like that for say a 10 year old used car.

I pay more than that for tax and insurance alone!

Then at 15,000 miles a year its likely you will be sticking a new set of tyres on annually at say £200. Or you can get long lasting tyres that you change every other year for £400 :-)

you will need a set of pads every year, and a set of discs every other year. You will need air oil and fuel filters every year and a set of plugs if its petrol

But the maintenance on that if its to do the sort of miles we are talking about is high.

I've heard all the arguments about people who say their car costs next to nothing. They are all not accounting for the TCO..

Depreciation, maintenace, tax, insurance... cost of the breakdown service when it breaks down...

And of course the image you present turning up in an old banger that loos like it belongs in a scrapyard.

But you don?t have to with the right car.

Those arent the FIXED running costs.

No it is not and those arent FIXED costs.

What I commented wasn?t TCO, I only commented on the FIXED costs.

Negligible with a 10 year old car.

Negligible with a decent 10 year old car.

Not if you diy that.

No decent 10 year old car does.

If they are too old to drive a car isn't an alternative.

If they are poor, you'd say a taxi the best option for getting around?

In London, certainly. It's a civilised place with excellent PT services. So only those with money to burn use cabs.

That will teach you live in the middle of nowhere. And for being the sort of capitalist who wants only profit making PT. You reap what you sow.

A transit connect does 50mpg in urban driving.

Next time I see her I'll tell my former neighbour (who is now in a "sheltered" flat, and can barely manage the walk to her nearest bus stop, let alone do it carrying luggage or anything else of substance) that you just _know_ that she has money to burn because she sometimes uses a cab. I can predict with better than 6 sigma confidence that she in turn will think she somehow just knows a thing or two about you. One will probably involve DIY.

I thought buses were fitted with forward and rear facing CCTV so why would the driver need to get off?

In a civilised place like London, you don't need to pay for a taxi to get around if disabled. Things like dial a ride.

But then don't let that get in the way of your usual s**te.

What makes you think she doesn't use Dial a Ride? So she knows:

a. it's not always possible to get a booking when you want it

b. usually you need to book days in advance

c. it doesn't cover hospital visits

(For others see )

I assume you know people who get by with Dial a Ride and never use a taxi. If so good luck to them. But if you think that entitles you to label any and every old person who feels they can't that they are patently rich and have money to burn then I say shame on you.

And I wonder what you think she should do if she is out, planned to get a bus home, but feels too poorly to do so. Phone for an ambulance 'cos that's public service and "she's entitled"?

You do realise that you're talking to a guy who thinks he's entitled to stop his car in a zone clearly signposted "No stopping except buses"?

If you can get it to go where you want and when, just like any other service, except there's far less choice.

And fill out a form in advance of at least a day and there's no guarentee you'll get what you want at the time either.

Seems to work OK for those I know who use it.

But then I didn't know that all the taxis in London spent all their time transporting the disabled either.

' That's what patient transport is for. Its an NHS service not a local government one.

So just to summarise you and Robin's view.

Taxis are allowed to stop on a bus stop to let passengers alight because they *may* be carrying the poor or disabled.

A private car carrying a poor or disabled passenger is not.

Welcome to the fair world of the Brexiteer.