The Big 'Let's sell our cars and take buses/ebikes instead' thread (warning: probably very dull)
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It was? Not something I pay attention to, maybe it could be expanded?
The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.Veronese68 wrote:PB is the most sensible person on here.0 -
This. Where I used to live was near the Oxford - North railway line, and there were continuous container freight trains rumbling up and down.
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It's mostly the really heavy stuff that would break ickle trucks. Construction products and raw materials. Currently about 7-8% of freight, I think, so room for expansion. That would of course require not cancelling railways that are already half built.
1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition0 -
This.
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Probably right, definitely irrelevant.
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My major issue isn't people using cars over PT for long journeys or hard to reach places. My issue is with people taking short and unneccesary journeys by car, and those commuting by car when they have easy PT options available.
The amount of multiple car ownership houses is also a major problem near me. Lots of extended families with 6-8 cars on the drive, essentially one per person which is just ridiculous. It also means lots of streets are now cluttered with cars parked on the road as there are more cars than driveway space.
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I agree with this 100%. 70% of journeys are under 5 miles. If you could switch even 20% of those to bikes or buses, that's a huge amount of congestion lifted.
Also if you could crack the culture that everybody needs to own their own personal car that's a lot of space back (the average car is used for 9 hours a week and sits idle the rest of the time). That feeds into the housing thread because 1. a lot of room is taken up by car parks in prime spaces that could have houses on them and 2. because the space required for housing is much more when each house / apartment also needs two / three car parking spaces outside.
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True. The houses on the road where I live mostly have space for 3 cars except for the few that haven't had their front gardens paved over. There are still cars parked on the street and the grass verges. It's ugly. We all bemoan that kids don't play out any more, but that is because the car has taken over. You even get signs in streets saying no ball games becuase they might damage the cars, our priorities are screwed up.
The bus used to cost £3.50 to go the 3 miles into town and I never used it. One of the great things that has happened recently is that it is now £2.00 and I use it frequently.
Convenience may be why everyone has cars these days, but it is an environmental disaster, both from the point of view of saving the planet, but also because they are destroying the places where we live. This justifies making car ownership more difficult, though it must be balanced by investing in public transport and active travel so that Steve's journey is more feasible without having to resort to the car.
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Convenience, inertia, and an utter inability to imagine there's a better way of doing things, even when they are moaning their arses off complaining about how terrible the traffic and parking is. They just can't/won't take in that if more people discovered that private cars aren't actually always the most convenient/fastest option, then for those for whom cars are necessary things would improve, and life becomes better for everyone.
I still reckon that the car industry is like the gun industry in the US: they've persuaded enough people that there is no other way than the one they've been promulgating for decades, to the extent that they will ignore all counter-data. It's all about freedom, innit?
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I still find it incredible that in the space of about 50 years the developed world went from hardly anyone owning a car to the majority of the population being unable to grasp the concept of everything not being designed around car use. That 1960s view of the car as a means to personal freedom has a lot to answer for (even if at the time the downsides were not so obvious). You'd think no-one was able to get around prior to the 1960s.
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Why?
"I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]0 -
It's the equivalent of people who respond on twitter to anything that tries to encourage cycle use by saying "well you couldn't deliver a washing machine on one".
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A real life example is relevant in my view and you did concede that I was right, so thanks.
"I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]0 -
Your "Pricing like that is just nature's way of telling you to drive." was correct, and describes the problem accurately.
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Just boarded a train the length of England. Walk-up price for one adult and two kids (one free) was £76 with discount card. Train is very modern and very quiet. Feels like a bargain.
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Someone will be along shortly to tell you different.
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I am being met by a car though as the once a week bus service is a little too infrequent even for me.
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So if the train is the length of England does that mean you get on at one end in Lands End then walk the corridor to Gretna Green? Seems a very inefficient and slow journey, no? And they charge you for it?
Sometimes. Maybe. Possibly.
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I'd ask why you needed a discount card. It sounds like the way trains should be all the time apart from that.
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Gretna is in Scotland. There's a replacement bus service for that.
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Welcome to this party too, telegraph readers. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/activity-and-adventure/britain-looking-after-cyclists-europe/
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Considering the volume of dangerous anti cycling dross they put out, this is just annoying tokenism.
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£37.85 for the return leg, but I booked a while ago. Also a reasonable price.
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Too many electric cars causing congestion in central London these days. Hope they start paying a charge soon.
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Too many cars. Maybe time to do the Paris thing where they alternate days for odd- and even-numbered numberplates being allowed to drive in (as well as making the congestion charge apply to all vehicle types, if it's still congested). #waronmotoristswhowontchangehabits
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Congestion charge for electric vehicles won't be there until end of next year. Way too late.
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Still no plans to charge taxis or uber
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I thought only black cabs were exempt?
They should definitely cancel that exemption
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