Public transport

I try not to use the tubes mainly because of the stairs that have to be negotiated at both ends. It takes me ages as I am disabled, walk slowly and use a stick. Wherever I go there are stairs.

I have to admit that I have been extremely lucky re being offered a seat. It is mainly the city boys as N&G noted who have heads down and do not want to know.

On buses it is children and teenagers who take up the disabled seats but most of the time I remind them that they can easily go upstairs whereas I cannot.

I think that the excessive cost was because you did not order your ticket in advance- gone are the days when one can go anywhere by train on the spur of the moment. I used to be able to visit my S in L by marriage at St. Leonards by train for around £20 off peak.

I also travelled to central London daily for work but I was fit and not disabled in those days and could stand the entire journey if necessary. I could probably do it now but it would be difficult.

There is a huge difference if you can travel off peak. A recent, similar distance journey to London cost £21 including Underground travel.
I also wonder if it is worth checking National Express - they are often cheaper.
I would also add that it is always worthwhile checking in advance - of course I don't know how tight your budget is generally - but had you been prepared you could have transferred some money from elsewhere, taken a snack yourself, at least not be put in this position.
You can also, sometimes, get some deals, even at peak times, if you put in advance. I recently made a journey from Northampton to Manchester at peak time for £38 return.

Having said that, apart from London, it is usually more expensive to travel by train that take the car. I haven't included in the above figures fuel to the station & car parking charges, and public transport to the train station is not an option unless I want to sleep in the station overnight!

What is public transport ??

I spent a large part of my career commuting into central London.

I hated every second. I'm disabled and walk with a stick and standing for more than a few minutes is extremely painful for me.

I rarely got a seat . I had to get the 06:20 train to be in with a chance of a seat and even then it was hit and miss. The carriages were full of builders and city boys , and they would studiously avoid my eye because if they saw me they might have to offer me a seat for the 35 min journey.

Many a time I had to get off before my destination just to get a seat on the platform for a few mins before trying again. They even sat in the allocated disabled seats and even then rarely gave up their seats.

The underground was even worse and in fact the commute was the reason I finally gave up work, 9 years before retirement.

I even tried driving into London but had to leave at 06:00 to try to get a parking space somewhere close to my office and then , even leaving a 16:30 the journey home often took 4 hours and I physically couldn't do it.

I don't miss it a bit!

The trams in Manchester are clean, efficient and frequent. I love them