The public transport issue

I think we are doing pretty well on many fronts, but there is one area where we are struggling: transport. We keep trying to cut down on car use, and we have succeeded to some extend, but almost every time I decide to make use of public transport it ends in stress, frustration, tears or most often all three.

Public transport is do-able when you are an adult travelling, but if you are travelling with kids it is a different matter, and I am yet to be convinced that it can be easy.

Theoretically speaking we are well placed for using public transport, as we are lucky enough to live in a town that has both train and bus links.
I have been doing a few journeys to Edinburgh lately and tried out some different options, but none of them have been straight forward.

The first time we tried the bus. I chose this option because it can be quite a job to get to the train station. We live in the opposite end of town and walking to the station takes a good 20 minutes for an adult, walking with 2 children takes a lot longer! We can't cheat and take the car as there is no parking to get anywhere near the station, and although there are busses going through town they are unfortunately not frequent and reliable enough to trust getting to the station in time. So to avoid this we got on the Edinburgh bus that passes within easy walking distance of our house. The journey time is approx 1 hour, passing through different smaller towns on sometimes winding roads - so with in 15 minutes I was feeling travel sick! Luckily that didn't happen to the kids and the older one only got impatient after 25 minutes which is pretty good going for her, but 35 minutes of 'when are we getting off' can still be rather tiring. The younger one fell asleep, so he had to come on my lap, which made for rather cramped conditions, but I guess he was quiet at least. The journey in was however a whole lot better than going home...

The thing about busses is that you never really know when they are going to come, they are quite likely to get stuck in traffic. So when heading back we waited at the bus stop for more than 20 minutes in rather cold windy weather, during which time my daughter kept swinging around and accidently hitting other people and my son made several attempts at escaping to the other side of the road, not to mention doing mega splashes in a puddle and picking up old cigaret butts. Great fun for me! Of course the bus came eventually and that was when the party really started. My 2 year old son insisted on standing in the middle of the bus rather than sitting on a seat, which I couldn't really let him do, so he decided to have a tantrum. For more than 25 minutes he was screaming the bus down! Not only was that aggrevating for me, but I could literally feel the waves of anger coming from the other passengers in the bus - not pleasant! Obviously at the same time my daughter was complaining of a sore tummy and saying she wanted to be home. A delightful journey!

So when we had another Edinburgh trip ahead of us last week I decided we should try the train instead. Overall more successful, but not exactly enjoyable. I managed to solve the issue of transport to the station by half cheating: we had managed to plan it so that my husband was coming off a train shortly before we were leaving, so he could take the car home and solve the parking issue. This time I was also only travelling with my 2 year old, which made things slightly easier. My son is like most other boys his age obsessed with trains and he was highly delighted we were going on 'the chu chu'. What he didn't quite understand was the fact that you have to get off the train again and he was very upset when it was time to get out - poor wee man.
On the way home he was so desperate to get on the train again, that he really wanted to stand right at the edge of the platform to look for it. Not exactly a safe place to be, so once again we had a bit of a stand off, although luckily not a 20 minute screaming fit. When we got on the train there were nowhere to sit (we were getting closer to rush hour), but guess what nobody offered us a seat, so for most of the journey I had to stand trying to keep hold of myself, my son who really wanted to look out of the window and a pushchair. Not great! Obviously we had tears once again when we had to get off the train, but at least that should mean he enjoyed the trip.

So here are some of my reasons why I struggle with kids and public transport:
- Public transport is exactly that: public, so when your kids are having a bad day you can't hide it, they will aggrevate both you and everybody else!
- In a car the kids are strapped down and you know exactly where you have them, in busses and trains you have to constantly watch them and keep them occupied to avoid them jumping on the seats, running away etc.
- Public transport always includes waiting time, and one thing the kids hate is waiting!
- There is less time flexibility on public transport. If your child realises they need the toilet a second time just when you are about to leave the house that could mean a 5 minute delay if going by car, but much more if going by public transport, because you just might miss your bus and then have to wait for the next one (please see above regarding waiting time).
- Public transport can be uncomfortable and I hate to say it but unfortunately people are rarely very helpful.

I do realise that these arguments shouldn't really stop me using public transport if I truly want to be green, but I am not quite sure how to overcome them. Most of the other things we do I have come to enjoy to varying degrees, e.g. growing vegetables, saving money on energy, walking to the shops; but public transport is different. It seems to increase my stress levels and that is something I really do not need. Help needed - how to travel with young kids on public transport with out risking a heart attack??!!