Have young adults lost interest in the novelty of driving, and is our transport system developing at a fast enough pace to capitalise? 

I’m really not sure when I became one of those people who cares about the transport system, congestion and the environment. In fact, I’m actually a wee bit scundered for myself writing this.

On 11th June 2009 I passed my driving test, one day before my eighteenth birthday. At the time it felt like the biggest achievement in the world, and my over-obsession with learning how to drive and total ignorance that other things were important, was probably an early indication that I was going masterfully fail my A-level exams.

After passing I was the proud owner of a 2002 black Vauxhall Corsa SXI, with all the burned disc Basshunter CDs you could ever dream of, with a bubble gum air freshener and a £2,000 car insurance bill (cheers BT14) and I was living my best life.

Almost nine years later, and roughly (by my dodgy calculations) £10,000+ lighter (a deposit for a house right there), I have slowly become more conscious about my over-use and over-reliance upon my car. What was once a license to freedom feels more like a financial stress.

Likewise, I recently read an article that revealed more and more under 30s are becoming averse to car ownership – as the number of people driving by the age of 30 has almost halved since the 90s. By the same token, lately I have had quite a few friends move to London and leaving the car at home, mainly because it would be a considerable pain to bring it, but also because they have a public transport system fit for this century. Unfair as it is to compare the London system to Belfast, still relatively speaking, in comparison to other UK cities of a similar size we have a long way to go.

Admittedly, I’d love to be like my London friends, but for the most part, mainly due to our questionable public transport, and partially due to my own laziness, I still couldn’t be without it. But over the last six months I have made a real effort to ditch the car, as well as taxis on nights out, for the bus (shout out to Translink for the mlink app). 

Thus, it would be an understatement to say that I was half way between disappointed and irate when the £90m Belfast Rapid Transit System was going to be limited, for the time being, to East and West Belfast. Recently, I received correspondence from the Department for Infrastructure that said its extension to North (whereI live) and South Belfast would depend on the success of the initial phase. Albeit, given the ‘rapid’ could be taken out of the scheme right and quick if it isn’t managed how it was intended, such as allowing taxis in bus lanes, I don’t expect its implementation to be anytime soon.

Admittedly, I know very little about infrastructure or the fine detail of public transportation, but nonetheless it seems short sighted that given our main universities are situated in North and South Belfast, as well as two hospitals, the City Hospital and the Mater, that it won’t be city-wide for a considerable time, if at all.

But is there the demand? 

Each morning that I do take the bus – praying that I don’t miss it as they are irregular as you can imagine – I notice that the 23 or 20a to Parliament Buildings is worryingly empty. Before the ‘no work going on up there’ snipes roll in, it is important to remember that the Department for the Economy, party staff, catering staff, security etc. travel that route to work every day, yet the bus on average never has more than 10-12 people on it.

But why?

There seems to be a chicken or the egg argument here; is there simply not the desire for a first class public transport system here to invest in, or is there no uptake because people don’t rate it?

I’ve no answers to how the problem can be solved. But I’ll tell you this for free: nothing makes you feel that wee bit better about your carbon footprint than ditching the car for the bus, as little as once or twice a week. Stick the earphones in and get a coffee for journey (in a re-usable cup, of course). Oh, and never, ever assume that just because the bus is practically empty that a questionable passenger will not choose to sit right next to you.

So we might as well fill those other seats too.