I don't have a car. Where I live is handy for the town centre and for the 12 bus stop which takes me to work. From leaving home I can be at work in 15 mins so no real need for a car. But earlier in the week I had to pick someone up at Exeter Airport early in the morning. Now the shed was fairly full of rubbish that has been thrown in there over the last 7 years so I decided to kill two birds with one car hire and hired a van instead so I could take the rubbish to the council tip, sorry recycle centre.
So of to the airport, then back to Torquay, quick cup of coffee, then load the van up and of to the recycle centre in Paignton. When I got there the person in charge came up to me and said, "No vans here mate, we only let cars in here." Now next to me was a camper van big enough to hold the population of a smallish village and on the other side was a 4 wheel drive towing a trailer big enough to play football in. I explained that I didn't have a car and that the contents of my van was in fact household rubbish and not commercial. A sniff, followed by, "Well OK mate but don't make a habit of it." Been there, done that, haven't got the tee shirt though.
Any way when I was taking the van back I filled up with fuel. Now most nights when I finish work I drive the bus in to the depot and on to the fuel pump where the cleaners fill it up with 100 litres of fuel. I don't have to pay for it though. In fact I haven't filled up with fuel and paid for it for years and could not work out how I had done 54 miles and it cost £10.00. Thats 5.4 miles per pound. Or to put it an other way 18p per mile. How can people afford to run cars with fuel costing so much. Is it a backdoor attempt by the government to try and stop people using cars? Well if it is, sorry Tony, I am afraid it just isn't working.
1 comment:
Not so much a backdoor attempt, it was a policy started by the Tories, fuel tax escalator.
The real problem currently isn't the tax (which is high), it's that demand now exceeds supply; China is buying a lot more fuel than it did even 4 years ago, and supply is falling off, something about a war in a sandbox.
Peak Oil is also, I'm told, a problem, but I don't read about peak oil too much, it's depressing. I drive a lot, but I run a cheap fuel efficient diesel. You rented a van, not renowned for fuel efficiency either.
Yup, the tax is too high. The problem is that the revenue isn't being used to improve public transport properly (it is, but not enough).
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