If you need to travel to a destination within the United Kingdom, there are only two affordable methods of transportation – driving your own car, or taking public transport (although I am not including flying here as that is somewhat extravagant).
But the trouble is, how do you know which is the better option for you? Both types of transportation have their pros and cons, and both can either be cheap or stupidly expensive depending on your individual requirements and circumstances.
Here are some points that you should consider if you are undecided as to whether to buy a car from a car dealer such as Sandles, or take public transport.
How often do you need to travel?
If you are one of the many millions of Britons that commute to a fixed place of work every day of the week, then how you get to work and back will depend on many factors.
These include how well the public transport network covers your home and work locations, whether both locations are easily accessible or in remote areas, and how you feel about dealing with rush-hour traffic on a daily basis.
Should you only have a need to get to work and back, and you live near a supermarket or shops for your grocery and other shopping needs, then depending on how close your home and work locations are to train stations or bus stops, it might be better to stick with public transport.
In fact, if you live in central London, for example, then owning and driving a car in the capital might be your idea of hell!
How good is the public transport in your local area?
Many folks prefer the peace and tranquility of living out in the country as opposed to suburban or densely-populated locations. The thing is, if you decide that you want to rely on public transport to get you around then you have to determine whether public transport is suitable for your needs or not.
For example, I used to live in a remote Oxfordshire village that had literally one bus an hour going past the main road and the nearest train station was just under an hours walk away from my home at the time!
In that case, I had decided that I needed to own my own car in order to get to work on time, and to also drive into Oxford city centre for my shopping needs. At my current home, I only live about a 7-minute walk away from the nearest train station, and there is a bus stop just around the corner from where I live, so I dont particularly need a car.
Do you have a family?
Even if your area is served well by a good and reliable public transport network, those of you with a family should seriously consider buying a car.
Anyone that has a family will tell you that cars make a parents life so much easier in so many ways, and it means that you dont need to be traipsing around everywhere with children and shopping bags in tow!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianac37/6172046561/-Image Source
