TJC1 Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 If work means you need a car, then its a neccesity. other than that its a luxury. But whats wrong with luxuries? if you want to pay for a car then pay for one. If you don't then don't, but don't keep bleating on about the price of cars because thats the cost. It's right simple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclone Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 There seem to be lots of motorists bleating about the price of fuel these days, almost as if owning and running a car is an essential part of life you can't do without. It might be true that some people are reliant on their cars but then that's something they have chosen for themselves. If you choose to live a long way from where you work where there isn't much public transport then surely that means that you have chosen to become reliant on your car. How about when it's a couple and they work in different directions. It would be impossible for both to live close to work... I'm convinved that the vast majority of people living in Sheffield live within a reasonable distance of a bus stop, tram stop or train station so I can't understand why so many people seem to think they have to own a car. I worked in Eckington for a couple of years, have a look at how you'd get there on public transport and then compare it to the car... Clearly you can get to most places by public transport, but whether you can do so reasonably is a different question. In my opinion, a car is a luxury and in these hard times luxury items shouldbe taxed more heavily than essentials. It's already taxed heavily, but as to whether it's an essential or not I think it depends a lot on who you are looking at, for some it is, for others not so much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclone Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 You've missed the point. The choices you've made make it impractical for you to not have a car. If you'd made different ones, that would not be the case. So really what is being said is that the modern economy makes a car a necessity. Sure, we could all (try to) find work close to home, and then not need a car, but generally skilled workers can't find work within walking distance of home, and if it's a couple who work then the chances of finding two jobs close together and moving close to that are next to impossible. So at best only half a skilled couple could live close to work and the other half would require some form of transport to make work possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
altus Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 So really what is being said is that the modern economy makes a car a necessity. Whilst large parts of the economy have grown to be structured around having a car, out of town supermarkets centres, etc., The fact that there are many people who live quite happily without a car shows it's not necessary - easier yes, but not necessary. Sure, we could all (try to) find work close to home, and then not need a car, but generally skilled workers can't find work within walking distance of home, and if it's a couple who work then the chances of finding two jobs close together and moving close to that are next to impossible. So at best only half a skilled couple could live close to work and the other half would require some form of transport to make work possible. "Some form of transport" is not synonymous with car which is what this thread is about. Society moved from people living relatively close to work (say within a 5 mile bike ride) to further away because of cars, there is no fundamental reason why the opposite can't be true over time if people want. Increasing opportunities for things like telecommuting mean commuting will be less of an issue for many people. That, combined with some people choosing to walk/cycle, could reduce the traffic on roads to a level where it flows far more freely benefiting everyone who, for some reason, really does have to travel by car/van/etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purdy Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 There seem to be lots of motorists bleating about the price of fuel these days, almost as if owning and running a car is an essential part of life you can't do without. It might be true that some people are reliant on their cars but then that's something they have chosen for themselves. If you choose to live a long way from where you work where there isn't much public transport then surely that means that you have chosen to become reliant on your car. I'm convinved that the vast majority of people living in Sheffield live within a reasonable distance of a bus stop, tram stop or train station so I can't understand why so many people seem to think they have to own a car. In my opinion, a car is a luxury and in these hard times luxury items shouldbe taxed more heavily than essentials. If it wasn't for massive taxes from fuel, motor insurance and road tax the subsidies for public transport wouldn't be possible. Much of the cost of a train ticket comes from such subsidies so iif folk started using public transport motoring taxation would drop causing a huge hike in the cost of the subsidised transport that you aspire too. It is only because of motorists that the railways in particular survive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkey69 Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 yes of course they are a luxury item. if it was purely transport that was needed was is wrong with a moped?. lets face it 90 percent of car journeys only involve one person being in it. if we were more conciseness of the cost not only in cash terms but in pollution as well we would all think twice about ditching a car and taking to two wheels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purdy Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 yes of course they are a luxury item. if it was purely transport that was needed was is wrong with a moped?. lets face it 90 percent of car journeys only involve one person being in it. if we were more conciseness of the cost not only in cash terms but in pollution as well we would all think twice about ditching a car and taking to two wheels Mpoeds aren't that useful when taking the family out to buy a few grow bags and a new TV and fridge. Also not that clever when you get hit by a truck that's delivering the fridge you had to order as you couldn't get it home using the moped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balpin Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 The wider issue here is not whether people should stop using their cars and start getting the train, it's more a question of why people need to commute at all. Perhaps people might think about actually living within walking distance of their place of work, like they did before car ownership became so common. Also, with the growth of technology, there's no reason why many office based people shouldn't be allowed to work from home for at least part of the week. What about cross siteing pepople? What are we to do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
altus Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 What about cross siteing pepople? What are we to do? Carry on using the car. The real targets of campaigns to get people to walk/cycle/use public transport are those who drive from home to work in the morning and back again in the evening - particularly those who work in the city centre. It wouldn't take too many doing this to reduce the traffic to a level were congestion was greatly reduced and journeys much quicker for those still driving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jf plumbing Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 There's nothing in the OP about businesses delivering stuff in vans. Or they could get a job nearer home. People do have choices and have to prioritise the things they think are most important. If they make choices about home location and schools that mean they have a long commute it was still their choice - so not a necessity. It is good but I'm not sure it helps with congestion much. Sounds like dis guy and op failed there driving test lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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