Residents parking

[thirdcrank]

I fully agree that it is journeys of a couple of miles or so that really need the encouragement. ...

In the twilight of the Major govt., (and doesn't time fly) Stephen Norris MP, who was then a transport minister came up with pretty much the same idea but based on journeys of up to five miles. A lot of work was done by various working groups and in due course The National Cycling Strategy was published. It included all manner of action plans and when New Labour came to power in May 1997, they had a ready-made cycling policy ripe for implementation. If it had been fully implemented, I doubt I'd be posting this now. There were various reasons why this was pretty much dead-in-the-water from day one. The overriding killer being a total - complete and utter - lack of political commitment. Various contributory factors such as the stillbirth of Cycle Audit and Review just reinforce my point about the lack of political commitment. (Search words for earlier discussions include Notional (sic) Cycling Strategy.)

There is no greater political commitment now than there was then. eg It's still the case that most provision for cyclists, be it farcilities or something a bit better, is still aimed at regulating cycling rather than enabling it.

And it is correct that the biggest boost to cycling has come from sporting success, but I think it's also fair to suggest that as the motor vehicle increasingly becomes a victim of its own success, that provides reasons to cycle instead.

Here's a link behind a paywall.

https://www.thenbs.com/PublicationIndex ... cId=258653
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Even better, here's a text version, without the silly pictures

http://cycle-works.com/wp-content//pdfs ... rategy.pdf

[tykeboy2003]

I fully agree that it is journeys of a couple of miles or so that really need the encouragement.

My commute is 2.5 miles and it takes me significantly less time on the bike than in the car. I'd say that since August, I've probably driven to work 4/5 times and always because I've needed the car for some reason. When the weather was warmer and it was light I usually made a ride of the journey home. I also tend to call in at the shops often on my way home and only buy what I can carry in my panniers and back-pack, I seldom need to drive to the shops as a result.

I remember a mate saying that he walks for all journeys under 2 miles and cycles for all journeys up to 5 miles, that seems a reasonable rule of thumb to me.

[Bmblbzzz]

Something I have heard of is Group Save, which applies to larger groups without having to be named on a card, but can only be used on certain trains (not peak services, for instance - I think). So the primary problem raised by irc remains: double the passengers on a train, you (in most circumstances) double the cost, whereas costs of car travel are mostly unrelated to vehicle occupancy.

I still disagree that's the case "in most circumstances". Peak services are a small proportion, especially for long distance journeys.

Group Save is good for more than two (basically the same 33% extra for up to 8 additional passengers, with no annual sub) but I didn't mention it for irc because Virgin (East and West) have their own less generous discount schemes instead.

Costs of car travel do also increase, but I accept it's not by as much as even 33% for each additional passenger.

We would all benefit if these more flexible fares were more widely available and better marketed; though I'm afraid it's going to take a lot, lot more than that to overturn the primacy of car travel.

I agree with that, but two people = double cost rarely applies to car travel, so it seems bizarre to me that so many people assume it always does to rail travel... but maybe I'm just used to the idea of rail discounts, as I travelled on a family railcard when very young, then a young person's railcard, then a network card and occasionally a network gold card... I've also travelled on regional day tickets in a few countries, including patchworks of them to make up complicated journeys.

So forget the word "circumstances". Let's say "in most people's minds". Simply put, most people "know" that each passenger on a train, bus or coach needs their own ticket; equally they "know" that two people in one car means half the petrol cost each. Costs such as increased wear and tear don't really figure in the instantaneous calculation of journey costs and are not easily calculable anyway. There's also the psychological fact that train costs are all up front, whereas petrol costs (and other car usage costs) are only incurred during the journey.

[ianrobo]

in this debate we should remember that quite soon we may see major shift in how things operate.

With the combination of Uber, driverless cars, chargeable batteries over wifi etc it is possible the future street won't have your own car blocking roads but it will be streets picking up and dropping off people.

There is a very good piece by a professor in the States who predicts the movement of technology that came across after NY. HE has a very good record of predicting future trends and he goes into detail about this and how Ford, GM etc know it is coming.

It is one reason why the oil producers are becoming desperate to try and stop it.

[thirdcrank]

Here's a shock/horror story of the type that polarises opinion.

Resident with a parking permit gets ticket for parking on a yellow line and ignores it until the collection charges have mounted up.

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/mi ... l-12552422

[Psamathe]

Here's a shock/horror story of the type that polarises opinion.

Resident with a parking permit gets ticket for parking on a yellow line and ignores it until the collection charges have mounted up.

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/mi ... l-12552422

I think the story is more about non-payment of fines rather than parking outside your house. The indiviudla accumulating the fines says ""..... I’ll admit I should have got the ticket, but why has it been allowed to get to this stage, bailiffs and everything?"". I think the reason it has been "allowed to get to this stage" is because she has not payed her ticket and the issuer has the right/obligation to pursue her (it's about "enforcement").

We have to assume the yellow line she was parked on was there for a reason. We have to assume she has no argument to appeal the ticket (if she has then she should have appealed it).

When bailiffs get involved costs go up fast but should she be let-off something she admits because she is hard up and cannot afford the punishment ?

Ian

[Ben@Forest]

Here's a shock/horror story of the type that polarises opinion.

Resident with a parking permit gets ticket for parking on a yellow line and ignores it until the collection charges have mounted up.

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/mi ... l-12552422

It's a non-story - I wonder if it made it to the pages of their print version or if it was just a filler for the rapacious need for new stories when you constantly have to update electronic media? Years ago I got a parking ticket from a London borough for my car which had never been to London. I obviously refused and largely refused their intimation that I had to prove the car was not there - rather than they prove they had the right car.

It took a lot of letters and phone calls for them to concede they could have been wrong and to drop it. Then a few months later I got a bailiff's letter demanding payment, so it was back on the merry-go-round. And this time they also conceded their own staff had agreed I was not at fault but failed to log it properly. Perhaps I'll contact the Mail so they can write a real story rather than this trite nonsense...

[Cyril Haearn]

My neighbour accosted me about my car that was parked before his window, I smelt trouble
..
'Please to park there whenever possible', he bleated, 'otherwise next door parks her *** bus there and we lose the view and the light'

[eileithyia]

My neighbour accosted me about my car that was parked before his window, I smelt trouble
..
'Please to park there whenever possible', he bleated, 'otherwise next door parks her *** bus there and we lose the view and the light'