Poor govt support for cycling to work schemes

[thirdcrank]

Residents in 'parking chaos' area earn £5 to rent drives
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-l ... e-44922567

Let them ride bikes as Marie Antoinette might have said if she had not preceded the invention of the bicycle. (I thought about a La petite reine quip but decided it was in poor taste. )

[gaz]

There seems a lack of imagination on the part of the DWP in terms of finding a solution that does not involve their staff continuing to drive to their site.

An offer of £5 a day (tax free) and in similar circumstances I might consider letting my drive space but £5 a week wouldn't entice me.

[Cyril Haearn]

3000 staff, 3000 cars?
I wouldn't mind living in Blackpool and walking or cycling to work
Never been there, mind

[AMMoffat]

Why does the DWP think its staff are entitled to get such cheap parking - £5 per week
Presumably they think that is expensive because the 1000 parking spaces they provide are free or permitted out at a very low rate. Yet another example of public funds being used to subsidise drivers. I bet they don't provide a similar level of benefit to their staff who travel by public transport or by bike. It's not as if that office is not close to public transport - 25mins or 20 mins walk from the 2 nearby train stations and presumably Blackpool has buses. But why pay bus or train fares if you can drive and park for "free"?

How about getting rid of the subsidised or free parking and susidising those who travel by public transport or bike so that no-one pays more than £5 per week? Now that sounds daft, but that's essentially what they are proposing, or doing, for drivers.

Government policy gone mad!

[Cyril Haearn]

It's worse than that
People drive from Preston and beyond to work in Blackpool
Blackpool people drive to Blackburn etc etc

A gigantic job-swap must be arranged!

[atoz]

Why does the DWP think its staff are entitled to get such cheap parking - £5 per week
Presumably they think that is expensive because the 1000 parking spaces they provide are free or permitted out at a very low rate. Yet another example of public funds being used to subsidise drivers. I bet they don't provide a similar level of benefit to their staff who travel by public transport or by bike. It's not as if that office is not close to public transport - 25mins or 20 mins walk from the 2 nearby train stations and presumably Blackpool has buses. But why pay bus or train fares if you can drive and park for "free"?

How about getting rid of the subsidised or free parking and susidising those who travel by public transport or bike so that no-one pays more than £5 per week? Now that sounds daft, but that's essentially what they are proposing, or doing, for drivers.

Government policy gone mad!

Not all public sector workers are subsidised in this way- definitely not the sector I work in. The few parking spaces where I work are expensive. Walking to the bus station involves using a subway or chancing it on the pedestrian crossings- 15 mins brisk walk. The train station is further to walk, min 20 mins. The reality is that many people just find somewhere else cheaper to park. Cycling to work in this location is only really for the experienced. Much as we would like more people to cycle to work, for many people the lack of decent public transport means the car wins every time- even when their parking spaces are definitely not subsidised. Originally we used to be at an older site with a lot more parking that was reasonably priced. The lack of this at the new site has not made an iota of diffference to either use of public transport, and even less for cycling. If cycling is seen to be as only for the hardened road rider and public transport only if you have to, I don't see this situation changing. Thsi is why in my opinion, Cycling UK would be well advised to mount a campaign with other groups for better public transport, since realistically it would be in our interest.