Cycling UK Forum

Well can't say I'd noticed a difference last weekend! But it might start to bite in coming weeks.

We were in the Lakes last week and I noticed on the return journey a lot of cars going quite a bit slower than usual some even at sub 70mph.
But it didn't slow down the Transit van towing a trailer with a minibus on it,he was averaging 75/80mph

Went to visit my parents last week and for the first time ever the price of driving there was on a par with the price of using public transport.

Although the PT + bike option took around1.5hrs as opposed to 40mins in the car, it was a lot less stressful and I got to have a bike ride too

You may well see that motoring holidays in the UK will be on the decline
now should that be a happy face or a sad one

Had a weekend in Cumbria to see my favourite brother, and I see you guys pay 12p a litre less than we do.

AND


Now we are paying £1.28.9 a litre.


Mind you its TT soon, it always rockets up for that fortnight. Just hope it comes back down again.

Certainly it does make us more thoughtful about going out in the car, which is a good thing at least. We are moving house soon and will be much nearer work... Cheaper to live that way.


Mary

We have an economy that is based on road distribution of goods and road travel by people who provide services.

Except for anybody engaged on a latter day version of the Good Life, a 25% increase in the price of fuel is going to trigger inflation last seen in the days of silly billy Healey and Crisis what crisis Callaghan.

Thankfully the high tax on road fuel is protecting us against the worst effects of oil price increases.

I see that in the USA where cheap fuel has encouraged people to become accustomed to driving very long distances in large cars that some rural residential developments are turning into ghost towns because people there can't afford to drive into the cities every day now.

thirdcrank wrote: a 25% increase in the price of fuel is going to trigger inflation last seen in the days of silly billy Healey and Crisis what crisis Callaghan.

25% can be easily accommodated by better driving & route planning, more importance placed upon efficiency when selecting new trucks and the loss of congestion by people not whizzing around for the sake of it.

we all knew that it was going to happen, it was just a question of when

Mrs L6 and I came south from Islington this evening. On Blackfriars Bridge cyclists outnumbered cars. I never thought I would see the day. And on Kennington Road cyclists outnumbered cars. I had to stop and ponder this one.

For those about to complain about another reference to London I'll flesh this out a bit. These are two major commuting routes - perhaps in the top 6 radial routes going south from London.

Simon L6 wrote:For those about to complain about another reference to London I'll flesh this out a bit.

thanks

thirdcrank wrote:We have an economy that is based on road distribution of goods and road travel by people who provide services.

Except for anybody engaged on a latter day version of the Good Life, a 25% increase in the price of fuel is going to trigger inflation last seen in the days of silly billy Healey and Crisis what crisis Callaghan.

the pre-tax cost of fuel has a marginal effect on the RPI. Doubling it may just inspire people to make sensible choices

For whatever reason, the prices of gas and electricity are also rising quickly. Some fairly basic food items are going the same way. (Some of this is said to be because food production is being diverted to biofuel.) Although some prices are still falling, they tend to be non-essentials like compyter games and flat panel tellies. The £ has just been devalued 20 - 25% against the €. Gordon has been using the national credit card for over a decade.

Against all the so-called prudence, there is now a lot of pressure to concentrate less on fighting inflation and more on keeping the economy going. I.e. reduce interest rates even further to ensure people keep buying on credit.

My choice of the word 'trigger' was intentional. There are all sorts of things that influence inflation but sharp and visible rises in the price of travel, heating and food (and foreign holidays) have an effect on attitudes in pay bargaining and all the rest.

I hope this will not happen. My life savings have been banked and barring a lottery win (I have never bought a ticket) no more will be going in. Even the index-linked pension is limited to annual rises of 5% max. A couple of years like 1975/6 would be ruinous.

It's not going to be solved by everybody putting a couple of inches more insulation in the loft and being a bit more gentle with the right foot.

And back to my original implication, thinking 'I'm a cyclist so none of this affects me and I can gloat' is just naive.

thirdcrank wrote:It's not going to be solved by everybody putting a couple of inches more insulation in the loft and being a bit more gentle with the right foot.

a 25% increase in cost may make people do this, and pay the same for fuel as they did before, but use less. common sense / altriuism / concern for global warming hasn't made them act, maybe a hit to their wallets will.?

thirdcrank wrote: back to my original implication, thinking 'I'm a cyclist so none of this affects me and I can gloat' is just naive.

whether we enjoy cycling around in the evenings more, or feel safer on the motorway as it's less of a race track or see it as some foreteller of imminent economic doom will make little difference to the consumption in china, india, the usa or the amount of oil in the ground. what will be, will be and we may as well enjoy the benefits.

If it reduces the number of those huge gallumping motor homes then the fuel rises will be a good thing.