The problems with British Transport (Intro)

Britain has bad transport?

It's kind of ironic when you consider some of Britain's most significant cultural icons are transport-related... the Underground, the Black London Taxi, the Double Decker Bus, Concorde, and luxury cars from makes like Bentley and Aston Martin. And of course, we can't forget Top Gear.

However, the UK has some major problems with its transport infrastructure. A lot of the focus of bad urban planning is on the United States and Canada, and while I don't think the UK is as bad, it certainly has its problems that often get overlooked, and we generally fall behind our European neighbours. I don't think there's one simple problem, which is why I've created this series of articles rather than just one.

The Good Aspect

There is one good thing about British urban planning that isn't as prevalent in the US and Canada, it's walking. Even in areas where public transport is poor, it's at least safe and comfortable to get around relatively short journeys by foot.

In American towns and cities, there are places where sidewalks don't exist and you have fast stroads passing through the city centre, which makes something as simple as crossing the road time-consuming and dangerous. In most British towns and cities, the speed is limited to 30mph/48kph (20mph/32kph around schools), sidewalks are common, and we have pedestrian crossings drivers are legally required to stop at.

That said, it's hard to celebrate that. I consider being able to cross the road safely the bare minimum, not anything groundbreaking.

Not as obvious

I think the reason why British Transport gets overlooked is because its problems are not as obvious. In major cities like London, Glasgow, and Manchester, public transport is very good. So if you're a foreign tourist who comes to the UK and only visits London, you would reasonably assume transport in the UK is pretty good.

If you're a driver, it's easy to take for granted how places that feel close aren't actually that close. My nearest major supermarket is a 5 minute drive away, but walking there takes around 45 minutes (maybe 40 if you're a fast walker), the bus takes around 10 minutes on average but it can take 30-40 minutes to arrive, so you might as well just walk if you're able to.

Geography

The irony is the UK has very good physical geography. It's not too hot, it's not too cold, it's not too big, relatively flat, doesn't get much extreme weather, and natural disasters almost never happen. In contrast, Japan is a very mountainous country, lacks natural resources, has unfriendly neighbours, and deals with Earthquakes. Yet, Japanese transport is regarded as some of the best in the world.

I think a big problem with the UK is where people live. Some countries (e.g., Australia) have a few major cities and the rest of the land is just countryside or desert where nobody really lives, but the UK has a lot of large towns - places like Luton, Crawley, Tamworth, and Lichfield. They're not villages, they're proper towns and a lot of people live there, but there's not much demand for local transport because a lot of people only move there due to their proximity to major cities where there's more work and more things to do.