London Mayor Result.

[st4]

Nuclear electricity generation? Rephase traffic lights to reduce congestion? Turn off some lights? Reducing the need to travel to work?

Ther are more effective alternatives that just taxing drivers.

Very well put, taxing people the way Ken did was unimaginative at best and I think there were alterior motives to the way Ken worked.

Boris is at least trying to explore alternatives, maybe they'll turn out well, maybe they won't, but 1st impressions is that he'll give it his best shot, but at least he tried to come up with something new...London is priviledged to have such a creative mind backing them (IMO)

 

[television]

Crickey an SLK or SL looks REALLY bad now....

But in reality how many are being used at any time..

Yep my poor SL sits in the garage most of the time and the SLK opposite me has only been out twice this year

 

[Dieselman]

Boris is at least trying to explore alternatives, maybe they'll turn out well, maybe they won't, but 1st impressions is that he'll give it his best shot, but at least he tried to come up with something new...London is priviledged to have such a creative mind backing them (IMO)

I'm not being funny here, but can you expand on BJ's ideas as so far I haven't seen any reference to what he will do.

All his policies mentioned so far are just 'doing something' with the parts of KL's policies that people don't like.

This was my original question which still appears to be unanswered.

 

[st4]

"I hope he removes the whole CC system, as a retrospective rebate to the people of London."

And with all the buses, London will surely grind to a halt within a few years. Surely if you simply reduce the number of cars you'll reduce congestion and pollution.

I am not pro-CC, but there are too many cars in and around London, and the CC helps reduce the congestion. I am all for road pricing as long as the money is used to improve public transport and reduce the costs of using it to help people get around instead of using their cars.

I voted for BJ, simply as he was the Conservative candidate

Has CC really eased congestion, or has it just lightened folk of the their cash. I really doubt London would grind to a halt if CC was removed, but many working class and middle class people would have more money to spend/save.

Why would you want road pricing? Are you happy paying approx 300% tax on fuel, having your movements monitored, and paying even more for the use of your car?

London has a very well developed underground and train network, and whenver I visit I have no difficulty in getting around without a car, so the network is there, if people would rather drive and wait in a queue, let them. They should have to pay for this choice any more than they have too.

If congestion was such a major issue, more people would take to public transport, its not like there is a lack of it in London.

 

[st4]

I'm not being funny here, but can you expand on BJ's ideas as so far I haven't seen any reference to what he will do.

All his policies mentioned so far are just 'doing something' with the parts of KL's policies that people don't like.

This was my original question which still appears to be unanswered.

All here for you

http://www.backboris.com/policy/index.php

 

[Dieselman]

I will support the Low Emission Zone to improve air quality.

Hmm..

And his dream of removing the bendy busses isn't backed up by the cost model. Needs a proper think on this one I think.

This is what I meant. Is there any information to back up his "ideas".

 

[st4]

Time will tell, I imagine the bendy buses will be phased out gradually as they get older, its what they will be replaced with thats different. They may be "sold" to other bus companies and used in other cities. First use them in Glasgow/Aberdeen. Its very early days, and he not end up being a sucess, but its not like he is filling the boots of a popular man.

I hope he doesn't support the low emisson zone, but like his views on crime etc.

 

[Vickster]

Yes, London public transport is fine during the daytime, evenings and at weekends, but have you tried it regularly between 7 and 9am and 5 and 7pm...It's overcrowded, hotc, slow, expensive, i.e. generally hideous (I am glad I do not actually need to use it often). Do you use it at these times when you visit?

And yes, congestion is indeed less of an issue in London during the rush hours ... i.e. the traffic moves

I am ok with paying fuel tax as from a purely selfish point of view, I would rather that than pay more income tax which would be needed to provide public services if fuel taxation were reduced. I earn a decent amount of money but only do ~5000 miles a year...the current economics suit me better.

 

[Gucci]

I'm lucky enough to use the London train network as a daily commuter so I know the state of them. Yes, crowded, expensive etc, but as much as I love the car, it's a no brainer. It would take me 3x longer (literally) to get to work by car...if I did, there is literally nowhere to park. So for me, as many others, it's not an option. If, on a day off, I drove through the congestion charge, I certainly wouldn't think that £25 was fair in the slightest, since 99% of the time, I travel the "Ken approved way".

It's going to take a few years to see real change. In many ways, there shouldn't be an awful lot of change. Boris will make a few u-turns no doubt, but he won't be trying to con the public (I hope )

 

[Dieselman]

Yes, London public transport is fine during the daytime, evenings and at weekends, but have you tried it regularly between 7 and 9am and 5 and 7pm...It's overcrowded, hotc, slow, expensive, i.e. generally hideous (I am glad I do not actually need to use it often). Do you use it at these times when you visit?

Yes I do. My visits to london vary in frequency but are nearly always business related and at rush hour times.

I find the tube to be pretty efficient but hot in the Summer.

 

[Dragon]

Business had dropped when Congestion Charges was first introduced. Shop owners were shocked and especially quiet during weekdays. Let revive the economy by getting rid of CC.

 

[DaveK]

Business's in St Helens have complained about the continually drop in customers, driven away by the councils high parking charges ( they have a monopoly on the car parks ). The council stand there like a rabbit in headlights as one shop after another closes or moves out of town. Now we have a very expensively reworked pedestrian area with closed down stores on either side and no pedestrians. It's not all that long ago they were looking at Red Kens C.C so I can only believe they are thinking of suicide.

 

[amwebby]

I still remember the day, back in the eighties, when the buses went on strike. I drove all over London that day and never hit a snarl up. Presumably there was more traffic on the street as people who would normally take buses brought their car into town. I think a serious study needs to be done on how much buses cause congestion. Certainly the bendy buses do. I've been in cities like Auckland in New Zealand where they have big wide streets and the bendy buses make sense. In London's crowded and narrow streets they simply don't.

 

[st4]

Yes, London public transport is fine during the daytime, evenings and at weekends, but have you tried it regularly between 7 and 9am and 5 and 7pm...It's overcrowded, hotc, slow, expensive, i.e. generally hideous (I am glad I do not actually need to use it often). Do you use it at these times when you visit?

And yes, congestion is indeed less of an issue in London during the rush hours ... i.e. the traffic moves

I am ok with paying fuel tax as from a purely selfish point of view, I would rather that than pay more income tax which would be needed to provide public services if fuel taxation were reduced. I earn a decent amount of money but only do ~5000 miles a year...the current economics suit me better.

Whenever I visit London its peak rush hour times I have been on the public transport, and have never seen any problem with it. No other city comes close to providing such a good public transport system.

If people choose to drive in, let them-ultimately its their loss. I am not fine with paying approx 200-300% fuel duty, its disgraceful and on top of that £25 to enter a city, thats just day light robbery. Clearly you have more money than me, to be okay with fuel duty.

Looking to BJ he will maybe tweak what its already an excellent system, yes its busy, but so are commuter trains in Glasgow at peak time. Thats just big populations for you ....but he should give those who drive in a break, sadly we can't build more roads, but he can take the some of the slack from their already tight wallets. It would also assist local businesses.

 

[st4]

I still remember the day, back in the eighties, when the buses went on strike. I drove all over London that day and never hit a snarl up. Presumably there was more traffic on the street as people who would normally take buses brought their car into town. I think a serious study needs to be done on how much buses cause congestion. Certainly the bendy buses do. I've been in cities like Auckland in New Zealand where they have big wide streets and the bendy buses make sense. In London's crowded and narrow streets they simply don't.

Its the same in Glasgow city center, whenever there is a junction/lane blockage or any hazard, its a bus that is causing it. Bus lanes cause more congestion as there is a whole lane that cars could use, been given over to a big smelly poluting bus....

 

[Vickster]

If people choose to drive in, let them-ultimately its their loss. I am not fine with paying approx 200-300% fuel duty, its disgraceful and on top of that £25 to enter a city, thats just day light robbery. Clearly you have more money than me, to be okay with fuel duty.

Looking to BJ he will maybe tweak what its already an excellent system, yes its busy, but so are commuter trains in Glasgow at peak time. Thats just big populations for you ....but he should give those who drive in a break, sadly we can't build more roads, but he can take the some of the slack from their already tight wallets. It would also assist local businesses.

If public transport is so fantastic in London then people shouldn't need to drive, and hence they will not be penalised by the CC...
It's ok if you travel from the suburbs to the centre, but woe betide you if you want to go around the outside. I live 5 miles from my work - I have to walk at both ends and take two trains (which may/may not connect depending on whether the trains are running well) and will take me a minimum of 40 minutes to get to work (if it runs like clockwork). If I drive, it takes me 30 minutes on a really bad day...no brainer, especially as the return train journey is a fiver in peak times, I do not use a gallon of petrol

Tell me how to replace the income generated by road tax for public services such as the NHS etc , that does not cost me more than the fuel duty I pay and I'll gladly accept it

Ultimately, we need to stop using so much oil globally (especially to ship and fly cheap goods from the developing world), oil prices will drop as demand reduces and petrol will come back down in price .

 

[st4]

But why force them into public transport, the more that drive the less the strain on public services for one thing, and if they want to drive in the 1st place, congestion can't be a major issue, otherwise the folk that drive would take the bendy bus

After all if your shelling out a fortune on VED in principle the folk that drive in at least get their monies worth. They pay for their drive thru the city centre in fuel duty anyway.

Laboutr has increased public spending, but where are the improvements in the NHS. This is a classic misconception, raising revenue doesn't automatically mean a better public service. The money under NU lab was so mismanaged, imprudentley spent, and we are now only beginning to see the consequences of having Gordon as chancellor for so long...a Tory government will deliver much more for you £ than NU Lab every could.

 

[Vickster]

I don't disagree with that. However, healthcare costs will continue to rise, you get far less for your money than you did 10 years ago. The NHS is so huge, it can never be ultimately efficient. I have never voted labour and never will...

 

[st4]

I don't disagree with that. However, healthcare costs will continue to rise, you get far less for your money than you did 10 years ago. The NHS is so huge, it can never be ultimately efficient. I have never voted labour and never will...

Thats the Nu Lab lagacy, inefficiency and mismanagement. I hope Boris reverses these trends as mayor, I beleive he will.

Maybe income tax rates will have to rise, maybe thats why the 10p band was scrapped as a precursor to bigger changes, it would be a more honest admission than the stealth taxes on cars etc, which IMO pay way over the odds. I for one don't believe it to be neccessary, but I'm just a Bloke on the web without the full figures etc infront of me.

 

[Brian WH]

Why oh why do all posts of this nature go Political, why don't we just discuss the affects of a new Mayor on the London Transport, and not the political implications.

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