Living in a City
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| mishima |  | ... | 11-01-2007 @ 13:17 |
 pink french superstar beard Member 26, 4030 posts SQ 190, BP 0, DL 205395.0 kgs @ 75kgs UnEq | I dont know Manchester but ive lived in London some years and been quite amazed with transport there. The tube is a real good system, you can cross the town real quick and thats something when you realize the size of this town. Buses on the other hand are a good choice for shorter distances, i wouldnt venture in taking one to go to work though. I dont know if anyone of you have ever been to Paris but thats some different s**t down there, what took me 20 min in London to get back home is 1h30 at least for a much shorter distance in Paris. You guys would cry your eyes out there  . The suburb especially is covered by trains or buses only. It's a bit cheaper than London though but concidering the time wasted, i've got to say the London transports are ace. | ||
| Joni | | ... | 11-01-2007 @ 18:49 |
 left the country satisfied Member 10, 19241 posts SQ 240, BP 150, DL 270660.0 kgs @ 107kgs UnEq | Post Edited: 11.01.2007 @ 18:50 PM i dont know much about london transport - all my mates who have lived there their whole lives use the bus system over the tube on moderate distances, not the long ones. The price is the same than tube anyway for regular commuters with weekly or monthly passes.But even londons transport system is s**t compared to ones in places like amsterdam - f**king awesome. No b**ching about prehistoric networks and stuff, everything is kept up to date and modern, investments are kept high and many suburbs which i have visited are fantastic in a sense that they have nice parks, cycling lanes and what not because everything doesn't have tgo be covered in f**king roads when the public transport is so well functioning. NOwwhere i have seen it like there. Even finland has a better public transport system than UK even if the economics of scale are really against it there. privatisation really f**ked things up here. | ||
| mishima | | ... | 11-01-2007 @ 19:36 |
pink french superstar beard Member 26, 4030 posts SQ 190, BP 0, DL 205395.0 kgs @ 75kgs UnEq | I dont know Finland but im not surprised, northern europe is much more up to date with this kind of stuff. I agree with you about Amsterdam, it's really stunning how transports work up there, the tramway is working really well even if the size of the town doesnt call for such a thing, Amsterdam is the smallest first town i've ever seen. The train are top stuff too, always on time and such room it is almost frightening... How many bikes can be found in Amsterdam? Thats just crazy and it works! Try to ride your bicycle in Paris and you may just get killed | ||
| tokar | | ... | 11-01-2007 @ 20:28 |
 Невыносимо Высокомерный (RIP) Member 11, 965 posts SQ 190, BP 140, DL 255585.0 kgs @ 95kgs UnEq | Originally posted by Joni... you have to be f**king joking man! Manchester is a prime example of a total f**king disaster of privatisation of public transport: busy lines being full of buses from huge array of different companies with different prising models, infrequent and expensive service on non-busy lines. Where there is no two companies doing the same line the buses are often packed full because thats how the biggest profit is made (not from comfortable rides). The workers are faced with a race to the bottom with conditions being undermined by competing bus companies in the profit wars. manchester also seems to have fair few buses which look like have been condemned unroadworthy in Uganda or something and shipped over. Nah man, manchester public trasport is in a dire state in almost everywhere apart from Oxford road -> student areas, and even those have the problems of too many bus companies on the same line. This is absolutely right. If you're a student and you just need ferrying up and down Wilmslow Road/ Oxford Road then it's fine - and it's fairly cheap too. If you work in Wilmslow like me, or live anywhere slightly off the beaten track, it is utterly awful. And as Joni says, it is basically down to privatisation - if you don't use a busy route you're at the mercy of a s**t company monopoly. I agree that London public transport is very good (and not massively expensive as long as you have an Oystercard) - but that's because it's centrally run. And the congestion charge has helped as well. As for cities - I couldn't live anywhere else. I do like Manchester but I've found in my life generally that where I want to be is where my friends are, which is London. I also love London in its own right. I like the size of it, the fact that it has so many "centres", so many cities within a city. You could live there for 50 years and still have new interesting places to see. I'm not the most sociable of people but I still like being around people. I'd feel totally isolated in the country. I like the anonymity of crowds; I like the closeness of culture. | ||
| Cuddles | | ... | 11-01-2007 @ 20:40 |
 Eat.Cycle.Sleep.Win Member 2, 12511 posts SQ 190, BP 150, DL 280620.0 kgs @ 99kgs UnEq Administrator | Post Edited: 11.01.2007 @ 20:41 PM So, in Manchester, if you dont use a busy route you are victim to a poorly run private monopoly. If you're in London, and you dont use a busy route, you are victim to a poorly run public monopoly. To me the only difference here is the words 'public' and 'private', and as I couldnt give a rats arse about who runs my buses, just that they arrive, and get me there on time, London is no better for buses than Manchester in my experience. The busy routes are great, the not so busy ones less so. | ||