FIEND OR FRIEND OF THE EARTH?

Dear Chris and fiends/friends

On the eve of 'Catch a Bus Month', one Zoom attender at last night's meeting of FoE Midlands region told us that he had had to give up the bus and take to using his car because of pressure on his finances.  My thoughts are these:

1. Buying and running a car is much more expensive than using public transport/regular bike, even if you are too young to get free travel and have to pay.
2. I am a life member of national FoE since the 1980s and, in the 80s and 90s in the week, I used to merrily turn up in my car at the Warehouse in Allison Street and park up, without a pang of conscience.
3. This outrageous behaviour of mine I justified by saying I was an essential car user because I was a full-time Brum social worker and had to have a car to do my job.
4. From January 1995, when I bought my first mountain bike, I started cycling and using the car less and less to zero use.  I got paid 15p/mile on official council business when using the 100% food fueled bike.
5. By the time I retired in July 2013 at 65 and a half, I was cycling for nearly an hour over Romsley Hill to get to my workplace and was being paid 20p/mile to and from social work visits.  Sometimes, a wonderful rural two hour cycle ride home and the unavoidable Clent Hills.
6. Ten years on, I now feel well and truly guilty when using my 2015 diesel car on medium to long journeys only.
7. Since St Greta burst on the world scene, I have been limiting my car mileage to half of what I was doing and driving between 60 and 65 mph in the nearside and middle lane of motorways and only twice a year in an attempt to visit everyone of Scotland's 1,000 big hills over 2,000 feet (but will never be achieved).
8. I now park up further away from the long walk, cycle in to as near to the summit(s) as possible and then start the summit slog.
9. In recent years, I refuse to give lifts to friends into urban centres on hospital visits, saying that they must use taxis (unless an emergency when I obviously will help).
10. When we don't cycle into Brum centre on our 6 miles traffic-free cycleway and towpaths, my wife and I use the bus and enjoy the ride and the view from the top deck.  Never the infernal combustion car.
11. We take the car, loaded with our bikes on holiday but, are pretty good at then cycling once we've arrived at our holiday destination.  This year, we rode the truly superb cycleway, NCR 5 on long parts of the N Wales coast and quiet lanes for cycling in west Oxfordshire.  The car was subservient to the 100% food fueled bikes.  Arriva bus on another day was fun and worked well.
12. Use a folding bike that can be taken on bus and tram.  I've done train/bikepacking in Wales to avoid the car but no folding bike.

CATCH THE BUS, TRAIN, TRAM INCENTIVE to avoid enraging the vociferous and soft in the head car lobby so incensed by LTNs and ULEZ and Brum's CAZ.

My bus/business lane, two year experiment for Hagley road, where there are two lanes in each direction, includes giving the reward of Fare-Free Public Transport to car commuters (AND EVERYONE) who give up their cars for their work to avoid the charge.  The charge, in the six hours of rush hour each weekday, is for motorists who have failed to register and submitted proof that they are essential vehicle users for their work.  Perhaps, it might work on every bus route regardless of two lanes in each direction?  Buses might carry the cameras to fine the unregistered vehicles in the six hours each weekday?

Any feedback, please?

Tim W