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Stop expanding the ULEZ to all the London boroughs in 2023

I think the only reason I noticed was the first one I saw had the ‘green flash’ number plates on it.

The video mentioned support from some organisation. I suspect the cost of conversion wouldn’t have been cheap! :)
 
It’s definitely been a few years since I first saw these :thumb:
 
The video mentioned support from some organisation. I suspect the cost of conversion wouldn’t have been cheap! :)

Very unusual for any big company to be operating even 10 year old diesel vans in London traffic on a daily basis. Converting older ones to electric would effectively 'zero time' them, and with grants etc. possibly no more expensive at the time than replacing with new diesel ones. Obviously in hindsight an excellent call given the congestion charge / ULEZ / etc. situation now!
 
In London, all black cabs registered after Apr 2018 must be electric, and the busses are being converted to electric too. I hope that Glasgow is taking a similar approach?

The black cabs in Glasgow are less relevant than in London. It's partly an issue of the size of the city. And partly an issue of boundary charges. Many of the cabs had been upgraded to hybrids and can run o electric in the city centre.

The buses were (and still are) a problem - though there is a programme of electrification. The problem really isn't the buses but the tradition of routing a proportion of them across the city through congested choke points. Some of the routing is convoluted. The worst street for pollution - Hope Street - is one way - uphill - and there are multiple junctions.

The council has created other choke points for traffic in the city with an underutilised (I'm being kind .using that word ..... more accurately it is empty and devoid of actual buses) bus lane system that reduces road capacity and complicates traffic flows.

Back in the 70s the city had two main bus stations - one to the north and one to the south west of the centre. And there was an interchange at the south. Buses routing through parts of the centre could take fairly straightforward routes.

The bus station to the south west and the bus interchange are long gone - leaving just the main bus station to the north. Some buses coming from the south west and south head up to the northerly bus station or route round the streets to drop off / pick up and head back out. The city has two mainline terminus stations - basically not connected. Bus interconnection with the stations is not good for many journeys - and the environment for connecting from the main station is .... unpleasant.

I could go on. But my general view is that Glasgow has spent three decades actively creating road transport issues rather than solving them and that these policies have aggravated pollution issues. The tendency having created a problem is to come up with a new 'solution' that is just going to be another problem.
 
I see Khan is looking at charging for the Blackwall tunnel use next . Figures of £5 each way being mooted .
 
I see Khan is looking at charging for the Blackwall tunnel use next . Figures of £5 each way being mooted .

The Silvertown tunnel being built next to it will be tolled.

If the Blackwall tunnel is left untolled then it's likely that it will be overused and the new tolled tunnel underused.

So the straightforward solution is to either leave both tunnels untolled - or have both tolled.

And it's pretty obvious which solution generates more money .....
 
If the Blackwall tunnel is left untolled then it's likely that it will be overused
If anyone is under the illusion that the (untolled) Blackwall Tunnel isn't already "overused", I have a bridge for sale... ;)

The reality is that in his constant grabbing for cash, Khan is engaged in a dangerous game of splitting London with the river between north & south even more than it already is. That the crossings east of the centre are heavily used is a good thing for Londoner's and the London economy, but Khan doesn't give a stuff about that so long as he can continue to buy the residents of Newham, Tower Hamlets, and their ilk.
 
If anyone is under the illusion that the (untolled) Blackwall Tunnel isn't already "overused", I have a bridge for sale... ;)

The reality is that in his constant grabbing for cash, Khan is engaged in a dangerous game of splitting London with the river between north & south even more than it already is. That the crossings east of the centre are heavily used is a good thing for Londoner's and the London economy, but Khan doesn't give a stuff about that so long as he can continue to buy the residents of Newham, Tower Hamlets, and their ilk.


The Queensferry crossing that was constructed across the Forth is not tolled. I don't believe there was any question that it should be tolled once a decision was made to go ahead with the project. I believe the costs were/are not dissimilar to those for the new Thames crossing.

The need to expand capacity across the Thames has been criminally neglected.

But its obvious that given the way London works that if Mr Khan can charge motorists for anything then he will. Maybe we could be less cynical if the ULEZ income from charges was used to build the new tunnel toll free and other toll free strategic road infrastructure.
 
Just look at Dartford. "we will only apply tolls until the construction costs (debt) are paid for".

Then we will change our mind....
 
I wish they’d fix Hammersmith bridge before they start building new crossings elsewhere! :)
 
Is it closed still?
Yes, has been for many years now.

AFAIK it was a three-way argument to do with who would pay for the repairs.

Crazy that they could build stuff like this hundreds of years back with hand tools and basic machinery yet in 2023 they can’t keep a bridge open in the Capital.
 
The bridge was fully closed in 2020 on public safety grounds, following the identification of micro-fractures in the 136-year-old structure. It was reopened in 2021, to pedestrians, cyclists and river traffic following extensive investigations and the introduction of a pioneering temperature control monitoring system.

Hammersmith & Fulham Council (H&F) has been told by the government to pay an unprecedented 33% of the original estimated £150million to £200million repair bill which would normally have been paid in large part by Transport for London (TfL) and the Department for Transport (DfT). We have made it clear we can only raise that amount of money via a road user charge or toll.

Toll or road user charge​

In an unprecedented move, the Government has instructed H&F to pay a one-third share of the total repair bill which traditionally would be paid largely by the DfT or regional government. H&F has made it clear it can only fund its share of the capital costs and ongoing maintenance through a toll or road user charge.

A toll or road user charge would ensure that those who benefit from directly using the bridge, ie: motorists, pay for its repair and continued operation.
Seems petty to me, there’s a lot of technical stuff and excuses to do with materials but it hasn’t just got to that state overnight!

All about the money :)
 
Fuel duty raises far more than is ever spent on transport, so in substance is just general taxation, presented in an eco wrapper.





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skysmotor.co.uk sells the following products online: closed loop stepper motor, pancake stepper motor, servo motors, planetary gearbox and can be purchased online if required.
 
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Fuel duty raises far more than is ever spent on transport, so in substance is just general taxation, presented in an eco wrapper.





____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
skysmotor.co.uk sells the following products online: closed loop stepper motor, pancake stepper motor, servo motors, planetary gearbox and can be purchased online if required.

Reported.
 
I seem to remember our illustrious mayor waffling on in his speech on NYE telling us that London was the greatest city in the world.
Not for much longer methinks.


 

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