It is very expensive to run a car, yet many people still regard driving as the best way to get around town. Of course, there are benefits associated with driving a car, since you can get to where you need to go without waiting around in the cold for a bus, for instance. However, if you’re looking to save yourself some money it might be a good idea to abandon your car and choose public transport, instead. Although using public transport isn’t always convenient, it certainly works out a lot cheaper than paying to maintain your car.
Cars aren’t cheap to begin with, and as soon as you’ve bought one you then have to fork out for insurance and road tax; you need to have your car serviced every so many miles and keep everything in tip-top shape. On top of all this you have to pay for fuel, which increases in price every time the government decides to increase tax on it. If you drive everywhere you could end up spending a great deal of money just to keep on moving. Even if you find yourself unable to use your car, you still have to pay tax and insurance, so that you may be better off getting rid of it altogether.
However, using a car seems to be the quickest and easiest option when you live miles from work and need to travel every day to get there. Yet, public transport has seen significant investment in the past few years, as the government has woken up to the fact that there are too many cars on the road, leading to congestion which isn’t exactly doing the environment any good. It may not be quite as convenient to take a train or bus to your destination or to hop on a tram, as you have to check in advance of your journey to see what time you have to leave, but it can save you money.
Trains and buses don’t always run on time, which can be rather frustrating when you have to be somewhere and can’t be late. If your train arrives only a couple of minutes late it probably won’t make any difference and while you may have to occasionally face delays, this is also the case when you’re driving, since you can find yourself involved in an accident or stuck in traffic. Besides, at least when you use public transport you just pay your money on the day, or purchase a season ticket, and then just sit back and read a book or look out of the window. Using public transport means you don’t have to worry about all the extra costs that come with driving a car.