Dacia re-election a disaster for motoring and businesses

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Riva811

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We know he hates motoring, roads are becoming unbearable in London. The domino effect has been dying businesses in Central London. CC, T-charge and ulez stagnated shopping in the area, ULEZ expansion will force people to abandon their non compliant vehicles. Sad day
P. S I meant Sadiq, phone always thinks its smarter than me
 
You might get a lot of 'that's why I don't live in London/Bristol/Manchester/Any city ' comments on here but the truth of it is once people like him get their teeth into 'Green' issues they see them as vote winners hence the expansion of CC and ULEZ zones , let's face it once these kind of zones were implemented they were only going one way they were NEVER going to get smaller in area.

Not enough voters in London agreed with Trumps assessment of SK "A stone cold loser who should focus on crime in London" . A bit rich coming from POTUS I agree , but the sentiment was real.

It's easier to paint lines on the road and block off streets than it is to stop marauding drug gangs.
 
Without making this political... I live in London and bear the brunt of the new traffic arrangements, and while there's no doubt that that things could have been handled better, ultimately I think that it is inevitable that city centres will be closed to private vehicles.

Nowadays almost everyone has a car, and allowing all these cars into our city centres is nigh-on impossible. Frequent, clean, subsidised public transport is the way forward, in my opinion.

The bit that I don't understand though is the concessions to EVs - no Congestion Charge and near-free parking - EVs take as much road space as any other car and contribute to accidents and brake and tyre dust like any other car.
 
ULEZ is - to mind - a step in the wrong direction. It has the downside of sending-out a message to the masses that there is a away that they can all keep driving their cars into London, rich and poor a like. But this is false - there isn't.
 
ULEZ is - to mind - a step in the wrong direction. It has the downside of sending-out a message to the masses that there is a away that they can all keep driving their cars into London, rich and poor a like. But this is false - there isn't.
Congestion Charge has stagnated central london as well. Not being able to drive for a show, dinner or shopping because of the costs means the businesses are shutting down one after the other. ULEZ is even worse because in essence he is taking mobility out of people who cant affort to change car right now.
The thinking that people will come by other means is wrong. People wont come at all.
 
This is true, but should we allow congestion and pollution to continue just to support local businesses?

I am not unsympathetic to their plight, but just as garages will have to adapt in time for the imminent demise of ICE, so will businesses have to adapt to the ultimate demise of private cars in city centres.

And, the long term solution is efficient, clean, and affordable public transport - but no one seems to be talking about that (not yet, anyway, but they will eventually come around to it, because there's really no alternative).

The issue as I see it, is the lack of overall planning. Congestion Charge and ULEZ were more of a populist knee-jerk reaction than a long-term plan. Again, to my mind, it sent the message that there's a way that we could all continue driving our cars into Central London, but I don't believe this is sustainable, EVs or no EVs.
 
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London has an excellent and reasonable cost public transport network.
For other cities that don't, and this is more applicable up North, persons would be out in the cold and wet to be taken a significant distance from their desired destination, eventually. And pay more for that inconvenience.
Aside from the discomfort that gives greater opportunity for the criminals to take advantage of the less able while they walk.

Taxis aren't affordable to many.
 
London is a massive behemoth commercial city, to think one can have a normal urban lifestyle there is IMHO fanciful
 
London has an excellent and reasonable cost public transport network.
For other cities that don't, and this is more applicable up North, persons would be out in the cold and wet to be taken a significant distance from their desired destination, eventually. And pay more for that inconvenience.
Aside from the discomfort that gives greater opportunity for the criminals to take advantage of the less able while they walk.

Taxis aren't affordable to many.

Taxis are just one part of the public transport network. People will have choice, and those who are better-off will have more choice than others, but I am not trying to fix Capitalism, just to solve London's traffic and pollution problems... :D

At any rate, as things stand, my choice is currently between driving the car into Central London (£15 Congestion Charge, £15 street parking, plus fuel), taking the bus or Underground (free as I am over 60), or Uber or Black Cab (£10-£15). So as can be seen, anyone who can currently afford to drive into London, can certainly afford to take an Uber or Black Cab instead.

The removal of car lanes in favour of wide (and mostly unused) bicycle lanes was bonkers, but the addition of Bus Lanes is very welcome - it provides an incentive for not using private cars (as in most cases you'll actually get to your destination quicker by Bus or Taxi).

So, again, making public transport a quicker and cheaper alternative to use of private cars is a move in the right direction, but encouraging the use of EVs is inexplicable.
 
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Taxis are just one part of the public transport network. People will have choice, and those who are better-off will have more choice than others, but I am not trying to fix Capitalism, just to solve London's traffic and pollution problems... :D

At any rate, as things stand, my choice is currently between driving the car into Central London (£15 Congestion Charge, £15 street parking, plus fuel), taking the bus or Underground (free as I am over 60), or Uber or Black Cab (£10-£15). So as can be seen, anyone who can currently afford to drive into London, can certainly afford to take an Uber or Black Cab instead.

The removal of car lanes in favour of wide (and mostly unused) bicycle lanes was bonkers, but the addition of Bus Lanes is very welcome - it provides an incentive for not using private cars (as in most cases you'll actually get to your destination quicker by Bus or Taxi).

So, again, making public transport a quicker and cheaper alternative to use of private cars is a move in the right direction, but encouraging the use of EVs is inexplicable.
That's the problem, it's not quicker it's not always cheaper and it's not always easy. I work for Africa BTW 😂
 
I'm in zone 2. I can't remember the last time I drove into the west end and am not entirely sure why anyone would particularly want to. I usually just jump on the tube. Will come back the same way or maybe by Uber.

Further out, trains are often even quicker than tubes.

Why bother drivng?
 
My point was that London is leading a fashion of cities creating Congestion Zones, Clean Air Zones or other revenue creations that aren't thought through imho.
But as said London is attempting some strategies that become vey questionable.
Electric scooters spring to mind.

If I were to live in London I would have to question and justify ownership of a car.
 
The bit that I don't understand though is the concessions to EVs - no Congestion Charge and near-free parking - EVs take as much road space as any other car and contribute to accidents and brake and tyre dust like any other car.
I’ve been saying this for years. Why don’t they just come clean (!) and call it a Pollution Charge?
 
I'm in zone 2. I can't remember the last time I drove into the west end and am not entirely sure why anyone would particularly want to. I usually just jump on the tube. Will come back the same way or maybe by Uber.

Further out, trains are often even quicker than tubes.

Why bother drivng?
Until just over a year ago I would have completely agreed with you. As much as I've always disliked public transport, I can't remember when there was a better way of getting to, from and around London. But last September I did drive into London because the easier alternative of taking trains meant being trapped in containers for over an hour each way with possible Covid transmitters. I instead opted for the middle ground of driving to a location just outside the CC zone, parking there and walking to my overnight destination. The total cost was less than travelling by train but the time spent in very heavy traffic on the outskirts of the CC zone made the experience quite uncomfortable (not least due to prostate pressures!). I suspect that very many people will be like me and reluctant to use public transport of any kind for some time to come. Our personal bubbles (AKA cars) will likely remain our weapon of choice.
 
Perhaps, one option for cities could be micro cars, little vehicles that are enclosed, seat one or two people, and take a fraction of the space of a standard family car or hig Merc? I do believe a certain Clarkson made this very point before?!
 
I’ve been saying this for years. Why don’t they just come clean (!) and call it a Pollution Charge?

Should be 'City Centre Pollution Charge'.

Keeping in mind that owning and driving an EV simply generates the pollution elsewhere.

Not a bad thing, moving polluting away from where large concentrations of people live and work, but let's be clear about what exactly it is that we are achieving with EVs.
 
I'm in zone 2. I can't remember the last time I drove into the west end and am not entirely sure why anyone would particularly want to. I usually just jump on the tube. Will come back the same way or maybe by Uber.

Further out, trains are often even quicker than tubes.

Why bother drivng?
I said the very same on this forum a while ago and got slated for saying so.
 
Easiest way to have solved some of the congestion would have been to stop encouraging businesses to set up in the middle of London. Apart from a business based on use of the Thames or hotels etc. The need to be there hasn't been necessary for a very long time and does anyone really care about having a central London address as a footnote on an email.
 
Easiest way to have solved some of the congestion would have been to stop encouraging businesses to set up in the middle of London.
I never knew that businesses were encouraged to set up in the middle of London.
When did this start?
 

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