[David9694]

Anyone noticed??

(The Times 4/12/21)

Topic

[David9694]

“Mr Baker 55 […] had been

“Mr Baker 55 […] had been taking his daughter across town for maths tuition on November 26 when [the] 3.5-mile journey took an hour and 10 minutes by car – when it should have been 10 or 15 minutes on a normal evening.”

“it’s ‘too dangerous’ for you to cycle, here I’ll drive you. “

[David9694]

Trying to think what has made

Trying to think what has made public transport so poor over the past 40 years.

Can other readers help? 

[Awavey]

If he’d said Cambridge he
If he’d said Cambridge he might have been onto something, though the train is a far better option, but theres not alot of shopping in Ely to write home about.

[Hirsute]

Not sure he was asking for

Not sure he was asking for car parks to be free in general but pointing out that the town would lose out to other towns during this month. Some places do offer off peak free parking to encourage Chistmas shopping (as long as you have a phone with an app !)

[Jimmy Ray Will]

As someone that both cycles /

As someone that both cycles / walks whenever it is practical (which is often), but at the same time works in an office 30 miles from my home, I am able to see both sides of the argument.

For all the great intentions behind many comments posted (alongside the anti-car rhetoric), this whole rejoicing at the purse of the average man being emptied has a number of flaws, namely;

Many – I count myself as one – have little choice but to use the car for commuting. There are sadly not any realistic alternatives, even if people like to pretend there is. Until that changes, fuel price increases won’t change anything,  it’ll just make people poorer. 

Electric vehicles are beyond the budget of those most feeling the pinch of current fuel prices. Poorer people are unable to make better choices.

Public transport options are terrible for anyone not living in a large city. Again, without a viable alternative, nothing can change. 

Whilst many short car journies are absolutely avoidable, the fact they are so short means that the corrolation between fuel spend and alternative travel methods will not be made… it takes a very long time to empty a tank only driving a car a couple of miles to the shop and back. Therefore, fuel price increases are unlikely to change attitudes / behaviours in arguably the most easily achievable areas.

And that’s not forgetting that these fuel price increases are not part of some greater drive for sustainability, rather the simple drive for greater profits from big corporates. I’m surprised that so many are seemingly so OK for the big guys to rinse us with impunity so long as it negatively effects people you don’t ‘like’. 

 

 

[Awavey]

Another classic example of
Another classic example of the attitude here from the East Anglian this weekend, guy who normally cycles to work,complains it took over an hour to drive 3.5miles…and car parks should be free too apparently.
https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/frustration-over-roadworks-and-traffic-in-suffolk-town-8540030

[lonpfrb]

The Finance industry provides
The Finance industry provides loans based on their perception of risk and appetite for that versus the rewards they can gain. Asset backed lending is one of the highest quality, i.e. lowest risk. Thus the mortgage loan with the loan to value ratio as their measure of risk. If you default, what part of the asset value are they confident that they will get at auction..

Ford of Europe makes more money from their finance company than they do from the actual manufacturing of the vehicles. Obviously retail banks are delighted to use their credit rating of customers to lend on an asset like a motor vehicle. Much better than unsecured personal lending.

So both car companies and banks are all in on making motor vehicle ‘ownership’ as accessible as possible. While that remains the case, there will continue to be multiple vehicle per household, or even per person.

Structural change is required in the Finance industry to change that. Pay per use rather than ‘ownership’ needs to be caused by a collapse in the perceived asset value of the internal combustion engine vehicle so that starting again makes pay per use of an EV or H2 powered vehicle attractive.

Making pavement parking illegal and actually enforcing that would also help to convince the hard of thinking that 95% idle time is a poor transport choice….

[HoarseMann]

Should read:

Should read:

Fuel prices to remain high. Retailers recouping costs associated with previous crisis caused by panic buying motorists, which resulted in additonal tankers being laid on and security staff deployed to forecourts.

[Philh68]

Same here in Australia,

Same here in Australia, complaining about the cost of fuel. Yet our government recently published this which shows different. I have a different measure, when I stop hearing some 18yo lad destroying another set of tyres at 2am in the sports ground carpark then I’ll know fuel has become too expensive.

https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/australian-petrol-prices-in-2020-21-were-lowest-in-22-years

[ktache]

If only the chancellor had

If only the chancellor had finally increased fuel duty in line with inflation, let alone making up for all of those years it was frozen, then maybe, just maybe some might think twice before using the car…

[David9694]

We went for short break to

We went for short break to Shropshire the weekend it all kicked-off. London and the well-connected south east seemed to be the worst affected in terms of queues; rural Shropshire, where you actually could actually get stuck, seemed pretty chilled about it. 

[wycombewheeler]

ktache wrote:

Even during the fuel supply issues of a couple of months back, I reckon that I failed to notice any reduction of unnecessarily huge motor vehicles accelerating towards the next red light or queue of other unnecessarily huge motor vehicles.

as I recall it was always possible to get fuel, it was just a little inconvenient. Unlike the fuel tanker strikes of 2000, when there was a very significant reduction in vehicles on the roads

[wycombewheeler]

meanwhile those same drivers

meanwhile those same drivers will say they can’t afford to use the train or bus. Hardly proving the point that driving is expensive.

[TheBillder]

chrisonatrike wrote:

chrisonatrike wrote:

If the world keeps warming people in some cities will flood / suffer droughts but in Scotland I’ll keep my feet dry and the reservoirs won’t empty.

Well put. Few are willing to make the changes needed unless they are forced to financially, and that just hits poorer people harder. Make petrol £10 per litre and people will still hammer it up to the lights, and they’ll vote for a populist who promises to cut the tax.

Warren Buffet’s line about the tide going out and you can see who’s swimming naked doesn’t work because no one has any Speedos in this one.

[David9694]

It’s an age-old driver whinge

It’s an age-old driver whinge, the world owes me a free pass, poor little me, the underdog, taxed to the hilt etc 

A snap of the article below.

[Author]

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