Campaign for Better Public Transport.

[EddieEagle]

I believe "if you change, the world changes"....... ( I think)!
The radio today has Doctors calling for no cars on school runs . Air pollution is a real issue in towns and cities.
The sad demise of the mathematician and campaigner , Simon Norton, pointed me to the site campaigning for better public transport

https://bettertransport.org.uk

A bit of a step out of my comfort zone, is it something mainstream or just for the extremists out there?

 

[Digger]

City folks have the advantage of public transport. I have to take the car as there is no alternative. I am sure if public transport was comfortable and safe its use would be increased. Pressure groups and others will pursue their aims and sometomes be oppresive but it would be great to have good affordable public transport.

 

[WelshGas]

Until the Government adopts such a policy and forces Councils/Railways to institute changes it just won’t happen, and certainly not for those outside the urban areas.

 

[ArunAlec]

Until the Government adopts such a policy and forces Councils/Railways to institute changes it just won’t happen, and certainly not for those outside the urban areas.

Sadly I think you are right, and I can’t see it happening.

 

[Wobble’s Mum]

Apart from the fact that public transport is too unreliable, it is not realistic to expect such changes with more and more families having two working parents.

Employers are still reluctant to work around parents and the school run duties (no matter what policies exist to combat this) and most parents that I know, could not possibly drop children off and get to work on time without a car of their own.

Why is it just no cars on a ‘school’ run?
I know people without kids, that live less than a mile from their workplace and could benefit from the walk every day...

 

[EddieEagle]

I think the queues of cars outside schools was the point on the radio this morning .
Such a shame our wise leaders chose to promote cars instead of good public transport . Remember Beeching and the wonderful branch lines?
I know they were losing money but at what price in the long term.

 

[Amarillo]

Having a fast and effective public transport system is a real advantage for us. We have a bus which stops literally 5 metres from the end of our driveway with an off peak frequency of every 20 minutes, first bus at 06:17, last bus 00:20. We are within walking distance (15 mins) of two mainline railway stations, which take just 12 minutes to London Bridge - frequency 8 per hour (4 per hour from each station).

No wonder that 55% of Inner London households have no car.

The school run is ridiculous. The catchment area for the school is a radius of just 771 metres, yet dozens of parents drive their children to school, making the roads unsafe for those who walk or cycle to school. They park literally anywhere, and open their car doors into the paths of children walking or cycling. The school does have a special needs unit, and a deaf unit, so there are reasons for some parents to drive: the catchment area for these units is much larger. But can they stop legally near the school? No way! It has to be seen to be believed.

There is talk of the road outside the school being closed (to motor traffic) between 8am and 9.30am and between 2.30pm and 4pm.

 

[Bellcrew]

I believe "if you change, the world changes"....... ( I think)!
The radio today has Doctors calling for no cars on school runs . Air pollution is a real issue in towns and cities.
The sad demise of the mathematician and campaigner , Simon Norton, pointed me to the site campaigning for better public transport

https://bettertransport.org.uk

A bit of a step out of my comfort zone, is it something mainstream or just for the extremists out there?

"Cooking a roast dinner drives indoor air pollution up to levels found in some of the most polluted cities in the world, according to new research.
The act of roasting and boiling meat, potatoes and vegetables pushes particulates in the air up to 13 times the levels recorded on the filthy streets of central London.
Even making a piece of toast can briefly cause pollution spikes that exceed safe levels set by health authorities." Independent.
We will soon be forced to eat raw fish/uncooked vegetables etc to ensure we will breath unpolluted air in our homes, and don't even mention pollen and pets causing asthma in children.

 

[ArunAlec]

I think the queues of cars outside schools was the point on the radio this morning .
Such a shame our wise leaders chose to promote cars instead of good public transport . Remember Beeching and the wonderful branch lines?
I know they were losing money but at what price in the long term.

Look on the bright side .... great cycle path down the old railway line to Wickham!

 

[EddieEagle]

Look on the bright side .... great cycle path down the old railway line to Wickham!

Agree with that. I can remember the line when it was running.......just

As in just remembering, not just running..........

Adjust as necessary.

 

[RodCouncil]

What amazes me is what qualifies people to say there is no alternative, if I can walk 10km a day and ride my son around in his cycle carrier another 25km, frankly there is no excuse, and I don't do this at speed, gently, gently.

While public transport in the UK is expensive and on the whole unreliable, most folk are just plain lazy and wouldn't even consider walking, let alone taking a bike.

 

[Amarillo]

What amazes me is what qualifies people to say there is no alternative, if I can walk 10km a day and ride my son around in his cycle carrier another 25km, frankly there is no excuse, and I don't do this at speed, gently, gently.

While public transport in the UK is expensive and on the whole unreliable, most folk are just plain lazy and wouldn't even consider walking, let alone taking a bike.

Agree. Since Ben’s first day in reception he has cycled to school, and since Jack’s first day in nursery he has gone on the seat on the back of my bike. They have only ever been collected by car when picked up early for an hospital appointment. But, I guess we are fortunate in having our very own bike shed at the front of our house. It would be very different if we had to lug bicycles down from a balcony multiple storeys high in a block of flats.

If 40% of commutes in Amsterdam are by bike, London can do the same if there is continued and substantial investment in appropriate infrastructure.

Cycle commutes in London are just 2% of all commutes. This is up 250% in the last decade.
https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/londons_cycling_infrastructure.pdf

 

[flying banana]

"Cooking a roast dinner drives indoor air pollution up to levels found in some of the most polluted cities in the world, according to new research.
The act of roasting and boiling meat, potatoes and vegetables pushes particulates in the air up to 13 times the levels recorded on the filthy streets of central London.
Even making a piece of toast can briefly cause pollution spikes that exceed safe levels set by health authorities." Independent.
We will soon be forced to eat raw fish/uncooked vegetables etc to ensure we will breath unpolluted air in our homes, and don't even mention pollen and pets causing asthma in children.

What's happening though is ths kids are eating this roast dinner and the parents then drive the little fatties half a mile to school

 

[Velma's Dad]

I think living in the UK for any length of time bakes in a "no alternative to cars" mentality, and a lot of folks have never actually seen how a proper integrated transport system can work. But the problem is, how to move from where we are now to that end state, given how hard it now is for the state to raise taxes for almost anything.

Anyone who's been to Japan will tell you about the way integrated public transport can get you pretty much anywhere, fast. Before I went there I'd assumed it had been done by a massive and relentless government investment programme. But in fact most of the rail lines are privately owned - although very tightly regulated by the state.

I gather that the tight fares regulation in Japan has meant that the rail companies had to find other ways to make money, so invested in commercial property development around stations, to create in effect "rail integrated communities".

That's what some of the pre-war rail companies did here in UK - most famously the Metropolitan Railway that collaborated closely with property developers to create housing that grew into whole new towns on the 'surplus land' left over after building its stations - that then in turn provided more commuter traffic for the railway.

It seems to be me that little new housing and commercial development in the UK today starts with an existing transport link. Instead, private property developers are given consent to build new communities at great profit, while the public is left to fund the necessary transport infrastructure.

 

[Amarillo]

It is a combination of things. Certainly not helped by ineffective cycle helmet campaigns run by Road Safety Officers, scaring cyclists off their bikes and into metal cages on wheels. It would have been far more effective (and far more expensive in the short run) to persuade cyclists to communicate effectively with other road users through hand signals and eye contact.

 

[mccp]

Having a fast and effective public transport system is a real advantage for us.

Here we have 7 buses a day into Cambridge - about 10 miles, starting at 06:30 and ending at 17:30. Last bus back is also 17:30. Alternatively, walk 2 miles, then get the guided bus, which at least has a reasonable schedule but it costs £7 each return, so it's cheaper to drive in and park in a multi-storey car park.

 

[BikerGran]

We live in a rural area and there is very little public transport. There's a train to one local town but most people work outside of towns on industrial estates. Years ago we had a lodger who was being helped by Social Services - they found her a job but we worked out it would take her 3 hours to get there and the earliest she could arrive was 2 hours after the beginning of the working day. She would arrive home mid-evening if she was lucky enough to get a connecting bus - and the whole thing would cost her almost all of her earnings.

Cycling is an option - my daughter used to cycle about 8 miles to work but she gave up after a couple of incidents as she preferred not to get killed - very busy but rather narrow road with a lot of lorries in both directions. They've built a so-called cycle path along part of it now - it's in fact a widened pavement shared with pedestrians which is less than ideal, but it also means that cyclists have to stop every time a road joins from the side, which is not practical. And it's only one side of the road which means cyclists crossing the busy road, but not as part of the traffic flow.

Then there are mums with small children AND a baby, disabled people who need to park close to their destination, and so on, and so forth.

Public transport has to be integrated and accessible AS WELL as abundant!

 

[EddieEagle]

The debate on air quality is heating up here in sunny Basingstoke as in all large conglomerations. Our local council is encouraging us all to turn off our engines whilst stationary........With the current rate of house building around here we will all be permanently stationary before much longer..
Cycling is not being built into our many and various road improvement schemes, just the odd cycle lane, shame as I’d rather use a bike but it is just not cyclist friendly.
The latest roundabout improvements have put traffic lights around them so no chance of free flowing traffic. Why oh why are they not making these lights on at peak times only?
I remember a talk from Johnathan Porrit in the 70,s. He rode a bicycle everywhere, just took him longer. As with the ideas on the better transport website I admire and respect those who are ready and willing to go the extra mile (sic) and make the lifestyle changes necessary to make a difference.
I feel a bit hypocritical expecting anyone to listen to my opinions whilst I jolly around in my 3 tonne gin palace. It feels like a global problem being passed down to the end user when the solution has to come from the top.

 

[Amarillo]

Cycling is not being built into our many and various road improvement schemes, just the odd cycle lane, shame as I’d rather use a bike but it is just not cyclist friendly.

Cycling just doesn’t appear to be considered as a mode of transport distinct from motor transport. They build highways with carriageway and footway, but no cycleway as they have in the Netherlands since the 60s. In London we perhaps have better provision for cyclists than most British cities, but it is nothing compared to what you might expect in the Netherlands, Scandinavia and Finland.

 

[Bellcrew]

The debate on air quality is heating up here in sunny Basingstoke as in all large conglomerations. Our local council is encouraging us all to turn off our engines whilst stationary........With the current rate of house building around here we will all be permanently stationary before much longer..
Cycling is not being built into our many and various road improvement schemes, just the odd cycle lane, shame as I’d rather use a bike but it is just not cyclist friendly.
The latest roundabout improvements have put traffic lights around them so no chance of free flowing traffic. Why oh why are they not making these lights on at peak times only?
I remember a talk from Johnathan Porrit in the 70,s. He rode a bicycle everywhere, just took him longer. As with the ideas on the better transport website I admire and respect those who are ready and willing to go the extra mile (sic) and make the lifestyle changes necessary to make a difference.
I feel a bit hypocritical expecting anyone to listen to my opinions whilst I jolly around in my 3 tonne gin palace. It feels like a global problem being passed down to the end user when the solution has to come from the top.

Always tricky in a democracy to expect voters to elect people who will force said voters to change their lifestyle by force/taxation. Now if we are ruled by an unelected elite the solution can of course come from the top without the plebs having any choice in the matter.

 

[EddieEagle]

Cycling just doesn’t appear to be considered as a mode of transport distinct from motor transport. They build highways with carriageway and footway, but no cycleway as they have in the Netherlands since the 60s. In London we perhaps have better provision for cyclists than most British cities, but it is nothing compared to what you might expect in the Netherlands, Scandinavia and Finland.

Agree wholeheartedly
Cycleways are just not being built. People would use bikes more if they weren’t at the mercy of impatient motorists, potholes and the debris on the roadsides.

On my bike…

 

[T6 CFO]

Interesting topic.

Below is a link to state of Bristol 2018.

Bristol traffic is still terrible but the move away from the car has been dramatic.

Figures under Transport are worth a read and show how quickly things can change with the right policies.

https://www.bristol.gov.uk/document...+2017-18/94b14c82-b664-0f5f-4487-8623f4be9ae6


Mike

 

[EddieEagle]

Interesting topic.

Below is a link to state of Bristol 2018.

Bristol traffic is still terrible but the move away from the car has been dramatic.

Figures under Transport are worth a read and show how quickly things can change with the right policies.


https://www.bristol.gov.uk/document...+2017-18/94b14c82-b664-0f5f-4487-8623f4be9ae6


Mike

Interesting, esp. the green buses. All of ours are old and polluting, idling at the bus stops...
Didn’t Bristol pioneer the more than one person in the car lanes?
Famous for blow up personages in the passenger seat!
I’m told …

 

[EddieEagle]

http://www.basingstoke.gov.uk/clean-air

 

[RodCouncil]

Agree wholeheartedly
Cycleways are just not being built. People would use bikes more if they weren’t at the mercy of impatient motorists, potholes and the debris on the roadsides.

On my bike…

Over here you cannot build a road without the cycle and pedestrian infra beside it, it’s that simple, but that costs money, something that councils don’t have.