Congestion charging supporter or not?

[LazyBob]

Have a look at http://www.getedinburghmoving.org/pledge.php?vgbshow=4 (it's number 58 in the list).

At first glance this bloke appears to be a hardened congestion charging supporter but look more carefully and perhaps he's not so keen.

Top Tip (If you don't know what an acrostic is then you can find out here http://www.answers.com/acrostic&r=67)

<edit>Depending on how you read this there is a sweary word in it beginning with F and rhyming with 'luck'</edit>

 

[KillerHERTZ]

Never, why should we have to pay road tax, and then another tax to drive our cars???


And Im from Cambridge (4th worse traffic in the land IIRC)

Im all for car pooling lanes though, works in the states

 

[stwat]

Sorry Bob, You've lost me

But anyway, Im totaly against. Like KillerHERTZ said. Why should we pay(at least) twice to use a road? The taxes and stealth taxes that we as road users pay at the mo takes the piss. This is one of many things that pisses me off.!!!!!! In shefield over the last 5 years, the council have brought in lots of " traffic calming measures" ie, masive speed bumps and road thining* exorsizes(*turning a perfectly useable and functional road into a nightmare road with lots of speed bumps and one way gates meaning, a road that used to work fine with no delays now takes 20 mins to negotiate and gets tempers rising high) without actualy asking the residents if they actualy want them. And when residents say they dont want the measures the council say " we did a servey and the residents didnt object!!!!!! When did they get the chance to object??At the closed meeting that the public wernt alowed to attened???? Even the emergency services have voiced their concern about the speed bumps saying it adds a hell of a lot of time to an emergancy call because they have to slow right down because of the bumps. Just imagine, your in the back of an ambulance haveing a heart attack and the ambulance is wollowing over speed bumps instead of getting you to the hospital as fast as it can!!!!!! Its just not right. And the worst thing is,,,,,, They leave the roads in a total shambles with potholes and pitts everywere. They will spend hundreds of thousends on road humps and leave the roads around the humps with holes and rutts that are so bad they can(and do) damage your suspension/ wheels, or/and take a motorbike rider out!!!!!! But the council dont give a shit, as long as theyve got their sub from the gov.

I could go on and on and on, but i wont. Thank ----,you say

Stu

edited for content by Shude. Howcome the forum software didn't pick that up?

 

[RichieRuss2000]

Eventually we'll have as much congestion charging as we do speed cameras.

 

[LazyBob]

Sorry Bob, You've lost me
....
Stu

When you read the 58th post on the site it looks like a normal anti-car rant but if you read down the post, reading only the first letter of each line there seems to be a different message. I wonder if he meant it ?

 

[portzy]

I have often thought that "Traffic Calming" had an hidden agenda and still do.

All my motoring life I have been lead to believe that the I/C engine was at its best and purest when cruising along at a reasonable speed and therefore not alegedly poluting the atmosphere and therfore not giving ammunition to the enviromental lobby whos carreers depend on the aleged polution in the first place to keep them in employment <nearly a rant there!!!!!!>.

Anyways, one way of creating a perceived polution problem is?, yes, slow everything down to a near standstill, engines working at minimum efficiency, install monitoring equipment close to the "Traffic Calming", and hey!, bingo!, the car is bad and we can prove it!!!!!!!!.

Yeah, right, whatever, I'm the bad guy again for daring to enjoy my pride and joy.

Now where did that fox go? <mmmm, 'spose that was a rant> maybe I should post this on the GOM forum as well <falling off chair lol >

 

[peterchurch]

Hi,
congenstion charging started as a way of _TAXING_ a group of people that didn't have a choice in the matter. Unfortunately there was a massive number of traffic users, that did not need to be there and when it came to stumping up £5 just to drive around they thought sod it and traffic was reduced by accident (Kens system now runs at close to a loss, far from providing more money for public transport ) Other cities want to pick this up but the problem is...

1) You have to have a good ringroad to take "through traffic" away from the city. (Most don't)

2) The city needs an alternative route though the center to allow locals to move. round the zone (most don't)

3) The greater travel infrastructure needs to allow for people to leave cars behind and get on a bus / train in the first place... (park and ride is not the answer, as you just move the congestion out further)

I was suprised to hear that the road that I live on has seen traffic grow by 17 % since 2001 but its the only form of transport around hear so whats new???

 

[SilverSaloon]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I AM AGAINST IT.

GONNA COST ME basically £3 per day (£2 toll + 80p Forth Rd Bridge), and thats without the PETROL just to get to work!



if we pay road tax then we shouldnt have to pay to use roads. money grabbing b@stards


PLUS I BET THAT THE ROADS ARE STILL AS CONGESTED ANYWAY AS A LOT OF PEOPLE WILL JUST PAY THAN GET A BUSY TRAIN.... ESPECIALLY GOING INTO EDINBURGH WHERE MANY PEOPLE HAVE PRETTY GOOD JOBS THAT ENABLE THEM TO JUST THINK 'ill just pay it'

 

[SilverSaloon]

Plus (and i am sure most people on here from edinburgh would back me up)....

(a) if the traffic light systems actually had better timings on then the traffic would flow much better - especially down the A90 from the Forth Rd Bridge

(b) the roads in edinburgh are pot-holed to hell.

 

[SilverSaloon]

When you read the 58th post on the site it looks like a normal anti-car rant but if you read down the post, reading only the first letter of each line there seems to be a different message. I wonder if he meant it ?

lol:

For much too long now cities like Edinburgh, have been suffering
under the number of cars on the road.
Cars need to be restricted and the congestion charge will give
kudos to Edinburgh and will encourage other cities who still have
yet to come up with a solution to do the same.
Even the people who cannot see that there are huge benefits right
round the corner will eventually understand that the current growth charts for car use will cause traffic to flow even more slowly unless
hard decisions are made.
All the income from charging will go to better public transport giving
regular, clean and efficient mass transit systems which in turn will
give Edinburgh an edge over other clogged up cities.
Eventually all cities in Scotland will follow Edinburgh's example, in setting the example Edinburgh shows it is forward thinking.

 

[BenzComander]

Very funny post!!!

Just add congestion charging to all the other stealth taxes (Speed cameras, poll tax etc) we are forced to pay to support a crippled health service and failing education system.

It make's my blood boil that every time they think up a new way to improve something all of the money very rarely goes to the thing they are trying to improve

Rant over

 

[Shude]

It make's my blood boil that every time they think up a new way to improve something all of the money very rarely goes to the thing they are trying to improve

If taxes were applied in a manner proportional to their cost the prices we pay for things would be wildly different.

 

[Tan]

Congestion Tax.... hate it.
May be if they want to filter those that use their cars unecessarily in the zone, maybe design a "congestion zone exemption permit" thus making things fairer for those that have no choice.

I also belive that they should design some form of PAYG system so that it will automatically deduct your charge from a pre paid credit thus reducing the over priced fines. The money that would be paid into a PAYG system would earn healthy sums in interest!
I know the fines generate huge sums, but that is not supposed to be the point.... is it!

Finally, if congestion charge is £5 for one day, how on earth is it fair that you get charged double that if you pay it in the last two hours of the day!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why do we put up with it?

Regards

Tan

 

[scotth_uk]

You're going to hate me, but....

Huge fan of the congenstion charge (and I've been fined 10 times since it started). Only gripe is the fact that you don't have 48 hours afterward to pay it before getting stung by the fine. PAYG system like Singapore would be very good. Many other cities around the world have congestion charging and it works for them.

Here's some Singapore info (reducing prices after 10+ years)

http://www.lta.gov.sg/motoring_matters/motoring_erp.htm

I have to drive through it a few times a week, and journeys have been much better since introduction.

Fully support carpooling lanes- had them in Brisbane and they were great.

Don't support the stupid over the top attempts to calm traffic in backstreets though - although I cannot think of a better way to do it.

Speed cameras are simple - just don't speed. Or buy something that tells you where they are. Agreed they are a money raiser, but the fact still remains - just don't speed. You have it too good here, they are all painted yellow and you can find out where they are. The gov could just turn around and hide them all and really make your lives hell.

 

[Satch]

In London the Congestion Charge is expected to raise between £80m to £100m per year and now they want to extend the congestion zone.

How could politicians in other cities resis free money? It is just another tax.

 

[Tan]

Plus the London Congestionn Tax is going up from £5 to £8 per day!

 

[scotth_uk]

The more I think about the price rise, the more I think that particular aspect is a shady move by Ken and co...

As for extending the zone. All for it, ESPECIALLY around the West End and Chelsea areas. It takes me so long to get through that area any time of the day or night in any direction. It's ridiculous. Encouraging less people to be on the road there is a great idea.

 

[Shude]

I think the real problem is that the public transport system can't cope with the increase in passengers and ticket prices are due to go up to cover this. Where was the congestion charging money going again?

 

[scotth_uk]

Central London is a bit of a nightmare in general. Not a lot of options left, as the tube takes a long time to upgrade, there are only so many more buses that you can put on the road, roads are narrow.....

Having a think about it - arguments aside - can anyone think of anything that might help? I can't.

 

[Satch]

Central London is a bit of a nightmare in general. Not a lot of options left, as the tube takes a long time to upgrade, there are only so many more buses that you can put on the road, roads are narrow.....

Having a think about it - arguments aside - can anyone think of anything that might help? I can't.

TfL could try removing the choke points it has deliberately created to make driving as unpleasant as possible both inside and outside the Congestion Zone. They have changed traffic light timings so that jams exist where none did before, altered certain traffic flows so that natural bottlenecks occur and in general buggered around so that, despite what anyone may say about reduction in traffic volume in Central London as a result of the Congestion charge, getting around now takes longer by any form of road transport than it ever did.

You do not need to ask a Black Cab driver: they will tell you