YOUR VIEWS: Highland life is complicated and expensive without a car
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Here’s why no car is not an option for most
I’ve seen two articles go by in the last week in regards to public transport (Highland Council wanting to expand their bus service) and active travel (it should be a more common form of travel in the Highlands).
I really want to respond to these articles as I don’t drive and I feel penalised as a result. I am learning to drive but truthfully would prefer to rely on public transport or using my bike. To provide context, I live in Munlochy and commute to Aviemore where I work full-time as an outdoor instructor. This is the only company I found I could work for and not have to rely on a car to get to and from work.
However, let me explain my journey options. Before this week, I was car sharing to get to Inverness to catch the 7.55am train to Aviemore, which wasn’t an issue as I got to work on time to start at 8.45am. As I finished work at 5.30pm, I would catch the 5.50pm train home which didn’t get me back to Inverness until 6.25pm. This meant I missed the bus to Munlochy at 6.20pm. I was now faced with the choice of asking my husband to drive back into Inverness to collect me or to wait until 7.40pm for the next bus and getting home around 8.15pm.
If I finished work early I could pay for a bus ticket and get back to Inverness for 5.55pm, which allowed me to catch the bus, though more often than not my husband would wait an hour for me and then we would car share. Neither of these options is preferable as I had a season pass for the train which meant paying extra for the bus from Aviemore, getting home ridiculously late if I waited for the bus or stress for my husband as he had to make an extra journey to Inverness.
This week, I’ve asked work to reduce my hours by changing my start and finishing times to enable me to get the first bus from Munlochy to Inverness to catch the bus to Aviemore at 7.20am to start at 8.15am. And to finish work at 4.15pm so as to catch the 4.29pm train back to Inverness where my husband can pick me up after he finishes work and we can car share to return home.
While this works well in theory, in practice it’s going to cost me roughly an extra £100 a month. Before, I could pay £222.40 for a monthly train ticket. Now, I pay £3.60/day for the bus from Munlochy to Inverness, £71.90/10 bus tickets for Inverness to Aviemore and £70.60/10 train tickets for Aviemore to Inverness. This works out to £357/month or £17.85/day to commute via public transport plus the time consideration. I leave my house at 6.30am to start work at 8.15am.
You may be wondering why I’m telling you this. The reason is to show how complicated it is to commute in the Highlands and equally how expensive it is. If someone owns a car, they are not going to consider using public transport.
I recognise my journey is perhaps more complicated than most, but it goes to show how much money and time I am spending to get to work every day. Unless there is better connections between Stagecoach, Citylink and ScotRail both in terms of ticket options and timetabling, no one in their right mind who has a car is going to consider using public transport. Thankfully, my job is seasonal as this wouldn’t be sustainable for the long term.
Someone may consider active travel and I have cycled regularly between Munlochy and Inverness, but this is a huge ask for people as it takes about an hour each way and there isn’t the option of taking bikes on buses, so people can’t even combine active travel with public transport. And this goes for the train as well, the expectation is that I book on my bike onto the train prior to travel. If I hold a season ticket or flexi-pass, this means I have to ring ScotRail every day to book my bike on or risk not getting my bike on board each time I travel. I have a second bike in Aviemore which allows me to make the final connection to work as I don’t want risk not getting my bike on the train or bus each day.
It’s also worth pointing out that if a bus or train is cancelled or delayed, then I will be late to work and incur extra costs to use other modes of transport.
Anyway, a very long way to explain the complexities of travelling by active travel and public transport in the Highlands and why it’s not an option for most people.
In an ideal world, we would all wheel, walk or use public transport to get to our places of work/education. But at present, particularly when it comes to cost as you can’t get combined bus/train tickets, it’s not a viable option.
And to be quite honest, local bus tickets aren’t cheap either, for a monthly ticket to cover Zone 2 (Munlochy, Beauly, Dingwall etc) costs £118/month with Stagecoach. While it takes longer than driving, this isn’t such an issue as it can be more relaxing or rewarding. Though time is a consideration when the connections are poor and a journey takes twice as long because there is no direct connection.
Claire, Munlochy
Short-term A9 safety improvements
I totally agree with the comments in this article (There are ways to improve A9 safety now, Courier, July 11). I travel from Strathpeffer to Glasgow on a regular basis to childmind my granddaughters – usually at least once a month.
We always stop at Bruar for a sandwich and toilet facilities. Never at Ralia as I am too scared to come out and join the A9 going south. We stop at Ralia on the way home going north. I am always amazed and terrified by the amount of dangerous overtaking along the whole of my journey. I have seen so many near misses. I have to say I always feel nervous before my trips to Glasgow. More double white lines to stop overtaking at dangerous spots would be an excellent idea.
Jane Smith, Strathpeffer
Vet retires after 40 years of caring for pets
Alison was put on Earth for one reason and that was for looking after animals and their owners. An absolutely amazing person.
Ian J Fraser, Inverness
