What is public transport like where you live ?

Absolutely no public transport in this part of rural France. There are some mobile suppliers, frozen goods, bread etc. There is a bus from our village once a week into Limoges but no return. A lot of older people or those without a licence drive
'sans permis ' cars which have a motorbike type engine and don't require a licence. They are not allowed on autoroutes and are expensive. We love living here and thankfully we are fairly fit and able to drive. May have to rethink in a year or two.

I live in a suburb in the the USA. Our transport system is practically non existent. If we didn't drive we would have to take users. You are so lucky in the UK.

Having specifically chosen where we now live because of the local bus service, the service has been cut and cut.

Now the buses run every two hours between 9.00am and 1.30pm, so only three buses into town. The return journey only has two time options and finish at 12.50. The nearest bus stop is only a few minutes walk, but the next one would be too far for anyone with walking issues.

The various buses on the main road are quite frequent, but all arrive within a couple of minutes of each other, so if you miss any of them there's a half hour wait for the next one!

Used to live 20 miles from Cambridge and had 3 buses an hour there and back but the cost was eyewatering £6.40, and you frequently had to stand for the 45 minute journey. Moved to Bispham, Blackpool am so blessed with buses every 10 minutes, a 3 minute walk to another route every 10 minutes, tram again 10 minutes and all buses link up with other buses and trains to make frequent connections. I can go up and down the coast and inland with good connections. Someone got it right round here. If I had to lose my car, I could manage.

I live in a large town and at the moment I can still walk into the centre but often get the bus back, they are every 30 minutes. We have a bus stop just around the corner with services to several smaller towns and villages. There is an excellent service between our town and the nearest city.

I tried to learn to drive but I hated it an I was hopeless, so I have always had to rely on my husband. Because of me, we have always shunned the idea of moving to a rural setting, and I am so glad we did, because just under a year ago, with no warning, my husband was struck down with a medical condition which forced him to give up driving. It just goes to show the dangers of relying too much on private transport.

And don't even get me started on the postcode lottery of the bus passes. I am currently 64 and still have to wait over 18 months for mine. Yet people in Wales, Scotland, London etc. can get theirs at 60. Makes my blood boil!

It's awful. I live in a village in the South East and I think there is one bus a day which doesn't go anywhere useful.

I don't drive and am having to learn (in my 50s) which makes me annoyed because I don't want to. I'd be happy to rely on a bus service if there was one. As it is, at the moment I have to rely on partner to ferry me around.

If I don't manage to pass my test we will have to think about moving because I will be stranded if my partner becomes ill or disabled.

One of the reasons I'm reluctant to move, despite having the desire to, is that my current location, despite being virtually in the countryside, has supermarkets, chemists, doctors all a 2 minute walk away.

When I wasn't allowed to drive, post-operatively, I was fine. Everything on my doorstep. Very easy to live here when I'm very elderly.

One bus leaves the village 07.21, goes into the city centre bus station and back out to drop students at the sixth form college at 08.25.

Four buses a day to the other side of the city. Last bus leaves town at 17.40. The railway station is 1 and 3/4 miles away down an unlit and unpavemented lane, and its city destination is still a bus ride away from the shopping centre.

I am able to run a car, thankfully we have a brilliant volunteer driver scheme to get non-drivers to hospital appointments as there is no easy way to get from here to hospital on public transport.

It’s not good. Two buses an hour to our nearest big town - one goes all round the houses and makes a 10 minute journey take 45. One bus an hour to our nearest city, and that service stops at teatime. And it’s expensive - the road to our son’s from town has 6 different companies running along it, and each has its own cheap day ticket, so you can wait for ages for the right one to come along.

Okay for us now that we are retired, not restricted to when we travel, and both - finally! - have our bus passes, and we use public transport whenever we can rather than the car. But it’s awful for anyone who has to rely on the buses for work, or just has to pay.

Our nearest station is miles away.

When we moved to this house in a small hamlet - the availability of excellent public transport weighed heavily in our choice. Regular buses go both into France and down to the Valley- for access to the local Swiss and French villages/towns and the French and Swiss railway network, including the TGV fast train to Paris and on to St Pancras. Would have never moved here otherwise.

We have a very good bus service here - runs every twelve minutes and stops five minutes from the house. It goes into the town centre and then out again to one of our main hospitals. It also connects with our Supertram system which serves various parts of the city. We used to use it all the time, but during this pandemic we have got out of the habit of using public transport and now DH has health issues which make it more sensible to use the car.

Ours is fine. We have a tram stop at the end of our road and trams running every few minutes.
We have free travel on all public transport nationwide.

One of the reasons for choosing to live here was the excellent transport network: buses every ten minutes to the city, stopping 100 yds away, even night buses on Fridays and Saturdays, trains 15 minute walk or 5 mins plus a bus, quick road access to two main roads leading to A1 or M1 in 30 mins, local shops, library, doctors etc. In the city, a tram link takes you to the hospital.
My husband drives everywhere! I walk where I can, or bus into the city( not often since Covid). But I need the car to visit family and go to choirs. My daughter lives in a lovely village ten minutes drive away but there are only buses at school times.

Hi
I have never driven and I'm medically retired so rely on busses. We have ones ever half an hour in the village. However, none on a Sunday and also intermittent after 6 and none after 8 .
I simply organise myself within those times or plan when people visit.

Grammaretto

I wonder about the proliferation of TV programmes enticing older people to move to the country
There should be a strapline warning: ^The house and view may be wonderful but this house will become a prison from which you can't escape^

So agree with this. Every time I see a couple longing for rural bliss I shake my head and think well okay now but what about a few years time. As we have got older my priorities have changed. Think of the difficulty of stairs and steps. Would need a regular bus service, wi fi and a good tv signal. Also a doctor and dentist. Then again access to open spaces and a manageable garden. That is why we haven’t moved in over 40 years.

Public transport is fabulous round here and is one of the reasons I chose this house it's on a bus route with buses going by every few minutes. I do drive, especially for my weekly shopping due to the need to carry four large bags but if I had to stop driving I'd just have to make more frequent journeys.

We have two buses going into town two different ways and a £10 taxi ride to the station.