Transport for all - A high quality of life with no danger or pollution.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Andrew Bembridge on July 21, 2010 at 18:23

As I live in lincolnshire the lack of public transport is a big problem. The problem is not dangerous roads but dangerous drivers. In the present economic climate will public transport be brought to the countryside.

Permalink Reply by Paul Bright on July 21, 2010 at 19:10

Thank you Andrew. With road use priced fairly, according to vehicle weight,
there will be market incentives for better transport.
The revenue raised from road tolls will be useful for other services like Libraries, sports centres, etc.
Also there will be less money required for road maintenance and also less traffic and much, much more public transport. Just think if half of all drivers used a bus or train then there can be regular half hourly services
and a nationwide integrated public transport system for everyone.
Plus, a balanced budget with no spending cuts.
Cheers, Paul.

Andrew Bembridge said:

As I live in lincolnshire the lack of public transport is a big problem. The problem is not dangerous roads but dangerous drivers. In the present economic climate will public transport be brought to the countryside.

Permalink Reply by Andrew Bembridge on July 21, 2010 at 21:08

The other point about living in Lincolnshire is that cars are important in life often two car families. If you start charging the income of families are so low that many people will therefore be forced of the roads. This will then lead to many families ending up in poverty. There is such a vast area of lincolnshire that many people have to do 40+ miles a day just to travel to work and back. This also does not take into account other traveling such as going to the supermarket, Hospitals, children activities these can also be 40+ miles round trips. Living in the country like lincolnshire, Cornwall, orany other total rural area is not like living in a urban sprawl.

Permalink Reply by Paul Bright on July 22, 2010 at 9:02

Thanks Andrew, I agree completely that we must reduce travel poverty as it is essential that people
living in the countryside have access to towns. With safe cycling and excellent public transport there
will be no travel poverty. Of course the dependency on cars has been growing for some time so now is
a good time to start incentives for using public transport and cycling. By starting to charge bigger, heavier
cars more for driving there will be an incentive to cycle and use the bus. Cycling must be absolutely safe
so we need to reduce speed limits and encourage a total safety culture on the roads.
All the best, Paul
P.S. Lincolnshire did have better public transport before, as I found on this link:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/david.enefer/lincs/lincs.htm

Andrew Bembridge said:

The other point about living in Lincolnshire is that cars are important in life often two car families. If you start charging the income of families are so low that many people will therefore be forced of the roads. This will then lead to many families ending up in poverty. There is such a vast area of lincolnshire that many people have to do 40+ miles a day just to travel to work and back. This also does not take into account other traveling such as going to the supermarket, Hospitals, children activities these can also be 40+ miles round trips. Living in the country like lincolnshire, Cornwall, orany other total rural area is not like living in a urban sprawl.

Permalink Reply by Rebekah Gronowski on July 22, 2010 at 9:20

I live in a rural village in an area where there are several small villages and some small hamlets which don't even have street lighting! Rural transport is a big issue here and the Local Council is slashing the transport subsidies for the small local bus firms who service the villages. My village has a bus which does a circle route, one bus going one way and another the other way. These buses run every two and a half hours (approx). There is also another bus which runs ...ONCE a WEEK! However, until the legislation which states that all buses must be wheelchair-accessible by 2017, I cannot use the bus service to get into the nearest town five miles away. If I wish to go anywhere by bus, I have to drive to the town first and then wait for a bus. When the bus does come, it may or may not be an accessible bus - if it is, it may already have a wheelchair-user in the only space reserved for wheelchairs. This means that I cannot get on that bus but have to wait for the next one and hope that it is an accessible us. Until all the old buses are phased out, we have little choice. As for train and trams (shortly in Edinburgh) there is a problem of actually getting on to the vehicles - train stations don't always have access or assistance for wheelchair-users and trams are an unknown quantity for me until I know how they are going to manage the accessibility issue.

I know Lincolnshire very well as I have family there - it would be impossible to rely completely on public transport - it is just not feasible. Two things need to happen - the cost of hybrid or electric cars needs to be brought down so that more people may buy them and rural areas need to have parity with other areas about the cost of fuel. All our rural garages have no choice but to charge more for their fuel - The Scottish Parliament, during its last session, stated that they were going to insist on the closure of the small rural garages. I tackled Tavish Scott on this and said to him that those of us who live in remote rural areas must have access to fuel at competitive prices and that the closure of small garages, which are the sole income for some local families, should not even be considered as an option. I failed to see the logic of this proposal.

Permalink Reply by Andrew Bembridge on July 22, 2010 at 22:30

Paul looked at your link as regards public transport in lincolnshire. As regards this is was not the way to go. The railways never covered much of lincolnshire take for example were I came from. The nearest railway station is a 8 mile round trip in todays society you could not see people making a journey that far without a car as public transport in any other form is not ok. Also when I say 8 miles from were I come from it is now 40 miles a round trip now for the train and there is no chance of making it shorter due to the fact that the railway line beds have now gone and cannot be replaced.

Permalink Reply by Paul Bright on July 23, 2010 at 7:44

Thank you very much Andrew, this is an excellent point that many people live some distance from the railway.
As well as connecting bus lines, small electric buggies can be provided at railway stations. These buggies cost
much less than cars and do no damage to roads, they are also much safer then cars and do not threaten cyclists.
With the road charging in place, based on vehicle use and weight (a car weighs on average 2000 kg) there
would be a constant revenue stream to fund the provision of these buggies which would make everybody
mobile. The buggies are 100 percent electric and solar powered (charged at railway stations if there is no sun).
A buggy sharing scheme (just like a car sharing scheme) would mean nobody needs to buy one and can use
as required. A major obstacle to implementation is the unfair advantage given at present to cars on the roads
because many people feel they need a car simply for protection from other traffic. This is why I call the project
"transport for all" because at the moment the roads are a dangerous place and we have far too many accidents
and people who choose not to have a car are, at present - as you point out - quite immobile. On this link I have
some pictures of the electric buggies and also the public transport connections the buggy brings within reach:
http://brightconnections.fr.gd/Global-Travel-Consultants.htm
All the best, Paul

Andrew Bembridge said:

Paul looked at your link as regards public transport in lincolnshire. As regards this is was not the way to go. The railways never covered much of lincolnshire take for example were I came from. The nearest railway station is a 8 mile round trip in todays society you could not see people making a journey that far without a car as public transport in any other form is not ok. Also when I say 8 miles from were I come from it is now 40 miles a round trip now for the train and there is no chance of making it shorter due to the fact that the railway line beds have now gone and cannot be replaced.

Permalink Reply by Paul Bright on August 26, 2010 at 8:30

Thank you very much for this information.
All buses, trains, trams and boats must be wheelchair accessible with a level gap of no more than one inch betwen the train or bus and the platform. This is quite easy to arrange so I am campaigning for this. Already Brittany Ferries have
this for boarding boats to France and the shuttle buses in France have a ramp which extends so a wheelchair user
can roll on and of the bus independently. There are electric vehicles which are specially built for wheelchairs so that
longer distance travel is possible. These vehicles can also be driven on to trains, buses and boats. In the UK travel
for everyone has been neglected, as has housing for everyone and I work to bring the access people take for granted
in the Netherlands to the UK. Making the UK civilised by respecting the needs of everyone will also make us more
competitive as an excellent public transport system will reduce the cost of doing business in the UK. So investing
money in accessible public transport is a very good idea especially in dificult economic times.

Rebekah Gronowski said:

I live in a rural village in an area where there are several small villages and some small hamlets which don't even have street lighting! Rural transport is a big issue here and the Local Council is slashing the transport subsidies for the small local bus firms who service the villages. My village has a bus which does a circle route, one bus going one way and another the other way. These buses run every two and a half hours (approx). There is also another bus which runs ...ONCE a WEEK! However, until the legislation which states that all buses must be wheelchair-accessible by 2017, I cannot use the bus service to get into the nearest town five miles away. If I wish to go anywhere by bus, I have to drive to the town first and then wait for a bus. When the bus does come, it may or may not be an accessible bus - if it is, it may already have a wheelchair-user in the only space reserved for wheelchairs. This means that I cannot get on that bus but have to wait for the next one and hope that it is an accessible us. Until all the old buses are phased out, we have little choice. As for train and trams (shortly in Edinburgh) there is a problem of actually getting on to the vehicles - train stations don't always have access or assistance for wheelchair-users and trams are an unknown quantity for me until I know how they are going to manage the accessibility issue.

I know Lincolnshire very well as I have family there - it would be impossible to rely completely on public transport - it is just not feasible. Two things need to happen - the cost of hybrid or electric cars needs to be brought down so that more people may buy them and rural areas need to have parity with other areas about the cost of fuel. All our rural garages have no choice but to charge more for their fuel - The Scottish Parliament, during its last session, stated that they were going to insist on the closure of the small rural garages. I tackled Tavish Scott on this and said to him that those of us who live in remote rural areas must have access to fuel at competitive prices and that the closure of small garages, which are the sole income for some local families, should not even be considered as an option. I failed to see the logic of this proposal.