G/F and I will have walked Offa's Dyke Path - 177 miles through rural/semi-rural Wales/Marches (and hopefully will go on to complete the Wales Coast Path) by using public transport. I have climbed all but four of the South Wales mountains using public transport (and I have no doubt I would have found a way to the other four if a lift hadn't been offered - I'm not anti-car!). I've visited hundreds of remote sites using public transport.
I walk to the railway station (25 mins) from my house every morning and then catch a train to where I work. It's a total commute of 35 minutes that a car would do in 20-25, depending on traffic, so I'm aware its slower.
I do my shopping in the Co-op and greengrocers down the road, rather than an out-of-town supermarket.
Mustard is quite right that people as a species are resourceful, so why not turn that into trying to cut down on car use? As in my examples above, it's not an impossibility.
Just to clarify, I'm not opposed to cars at all. Nor do I expect to convert anyone to my way of life, it's my choice. I grew up in a rural community, so I do appreciate that it is very difficult to do without cars in such areas. But what I am opposed to is the hundreds of thousands of (mainly) urban journeys (out of town supermarkets, local shops, school) that could be made without such reliance on cars. Car-sharing could be used much more proactively, most cars have one person in them. Local bus routes, bike riding and walking can all play a bigger part. It would help this nation's chronic obesity/diabetes as well as the environment.
I think many people are acutely ignorant of the public transport available in their areas, because they've never needed to consider it. That's not a criticism, just an inevitable truth. There are brilliant websites detailing bus routes, timetables, etc, that can help you plan journeys using the public transport system.
But what all this does take is effort and planning. You might have to get up a bit earlier, you might have to shop more frequently rather than doing one enormo-shop. Even if you make one or two journeys less by car, it all adds up. These are not impossible things, honest!
The local hardware shop has gone, the greengrocer has gone, the off-license has gone, the curtain shop has gone, Woolworths has gone.... so yes, a few things can still be sourced locallly, but even then the price difference is prohibitive for families on a budget.
None of the holidays I've enjoyed would have been remotely possible without a car. Even where public transport exists, it is ridiculously expensive. And believe me, I've priced it up on many occasions.
Here's a practical example of the above. I have a friend who lives outside a large Welsh town with a train station. If I want to visit for the weekend, travelling up on a Friday after work, I would arrive at his house some time after midnight, and the return journey would have cost me in the region of £115 (allowing for advance booking). The same journey by car would see me arriving at 9pm for a return cost of around £60. Now imagine if that journey was two people.
You're correct to say that cutting down on car use is not an impossibility, but for people working full time, or for people on a budget, it's impractical to the point of being as good as impossible. I love public transport, I love travelling by train, and I have looked into similar journeys on many occasions. I'm glad that it's been possible for you, but it certainly hasn't for me - and not through lack of trying.
The reality is that even were it possible to significantly reduce car use (and I should point out that I'm talking predominately about extra-urban car use here. Cutting down in cities is far more feasible), the price and inconvenience will prevent most people from doing so. It's a pipe-dream to believe that people will significantly change their behaviours without external pressure. The only thing that will change the pattern of car use in this country is government intervention. Even then, viable alternatives simply aren't available in many instances, so it would also mean the radical restructuring of our communities, workplaces, leisure activities and shops. That simply isn't going to happen until (and if) car use becomes economically prohibitive. This is largely *why* we have such a poor public transport system. Much as I loathe what Beeching did to our rail network, the reality is that a lot of those branch lines were carrying ghost trains because people preferred their cars.
