Stop expanding the ULEZ to all the London boroughs in 2023

[markjay]

This compares nowhere near the rest of the country. My nearest station is 4.1 miles away, the bus service is at best described as irregular. When the train runs, instead of 3 carriages is often only has 2 and is therefore rammed and uncomfortable. The station is a mainline station but has no facilities so no chance of a tea, London public transport is what the rest of the country would dream of.

So there are two ways to deal with this : either we invest more in trains, and in bus and coach routes, bringing the rest of the country to same level (or as near as) as London's public transport system, or.... we buy more cars. To my mind, the right thing to do is obvious.

 

[markjay]

Boris Johnson joins fight against Ulez expansion - after creating first zone

‘You do not need an outer London emission zone - it’s inner London that has the emission problem’, said the former Mayor of London

www.standard.co.uk

At least he's persistent in his views - keeping in mind that when he became Mayor, he immediately cancelled Ken Livingstone's Western expansion of the Congestion Charge zone.

 

[Darrell]

I went to my office in Hackney today. Bakerloo Line, Elizabeth Line, then Overground. 30 minutes door to door. It's 45 minutes in the car.

Great isn’t it.

 

[Darrell]

At least he's persistent in his views - keeping in mind that when he became Mayor, he immediately cancelled Ken Livingstone's Western expansion of the Congestion Charge zone.

Wasn’t the original ULEZ his idea?

 

[ALFAitalia]

How will this work then? Keeping in mind that during rush hour, a bus that takes the same road space as 3 private cars, ferries 30 people - replacing busses with private cars will see at least a tenfold increase in traffic volume for the same number of people - not a good idea, I think.

Maybe if the buses had 30 people on.....But many I see in London are next to empty. The bus lanes have done nothing but slow traffic down and add to the problem.....especially that normally empty M4 bit.....whose bright idea was that? They got rid of it in the end...not a moment too soon....now do the rest!

 

[Darrell]

..especially that normally empty M4 bit.....whose bright idea was that?

John Prescott. A career fat slob.

 

[markjay]

Maybe if the buses had 30 people on.....But many I see in London are next to empty....

Not during rush hour - between 8am and 9am and then again between 5pm and 6pm, the buses do carry 30 passengers or more. And these are obviously also the times when traffic is gridlocked. If we had more buses and less cars, people's journeys will be shorter. But, too many people are happy to sit in the comfort of their car even if it means spending more time in crawling traffic.

 

[Darrell]

Not during rush hour - between 8am and 9am and then again between 5pm and 6pm, the buses do carry 30 passengers or more. And these are obviously also the times when traffic is gridlocked. If we had more buses and less cars, people's journeys will be shorter. But, too many people are happy to sit in the comfort of their car even if it means spending more time in crawling traffic.

What you’re saying is so very true but at the end of the day it’s down to choice. Since the year dot people have fought and died to be able to make a choice.

Once the proles are forced, pushed or threatened into a corner there’s going to be problems.

Current and planned legislation appears to take choice away.

 

[markjay]

Wasn’t the original ULEZ his idea?

Checking on Wikipedia, LEZ came into effect on 4th February 2008, and Boris Johnson became Mayor of London on 3rd May 2008, so LEZ was apparently the brainchild of his predecessor, Ken Livingston. Boris Johnson left the Mayor's office in 2016, and ULEZ came into effect in 2019, under Sadiq Khan. So it seems that Boris Johnson had nothing to do with either LEZ or ULEZ.

 

[markjay]

What you’re saying is so very true but at the end of the day it’s down to choice. Since the year dot people have fought and died to be able to make a choice.

Once the proles are forced, pushed or threatened into a corner there’s going to be problems.

Current and planned legislation appears to take choice away.

My argument here is that when the government is trying to shape public behaviour via taxation (they want us to drink less, smoke less, drive less, etc etc), then people complain that the legislation favours the rich (and, when the Tories are in power, they are being criticized for 'helping-out their rich friends'). When something is banned, it does not favour the rich because they are not expempt from the ban, but then we lose choice. As I said before, personally I am in favour of taxing rather than banning, but I think that for the masses banning is simply more palatable than taxing.

 

[Darrell]

Checking on Wikipedia, LEZ came into effect on 4th February 2008, and Boris Johnson became Mayor of London on 3rd May 2008, so LEZ was apparently the brainchild of his predecessor, Ken Livingston. Boris Johnson left the Mayor's office in 2016, and ULEZ came into effect in 2019, under Sadiq Khan. So it seems that Boris Johnson had nothing to do with either LEZ or ULEZ.

Wow! It turns out that the 2 Labour Mayors have actually been more greedy than the Tory one.

The following comments will be interesting.

 

[Darrell]

My argument here is that when the government is trying to shape public behaviour via taxation (they want us to drink less, smoke less, drive less, etc etc), then people complain that the legislation favours the rich (and, when the Tories are in power, they are being criticized for 'helping-out their rich friends'). When something is banned, it does not favour the rich because they are not expempt from the ban, but then we lose choice. As I said before, personally I am in favour of taxing rather than banning, but I think that for the masses banning is simply more palatable than taxing.

It’s something that’s never going to be fair is it?

 

[markjay]

...especially that normally empty M4 bit.....whose bright idea was that?...

John Prescott...

Well, he had to use it daily going into London, and the Minister for Transport is not one to take the bus or train. The problem with simple people who get into power, is that they can't have enough of it.

 

[BigJase88]

Agreed. So leave cars alone.

Worst London air pollution in six years as home fires burn

Wood fires produce more particle pollution than traffic exhausts in UK, and controls remain ineffective

www.theguardian.com

The guy out the back of me burns wood.

The street stinks when he has it on and depending on how the wind is there can sometimes be a big smog of smoke that hangs around at ground level.

It is really bad and i think he burns things he shouldn't such as treated pallets etc.

I would like to stuff a watermelon down his chimney

 

[Darrell]

The guy out the back of me burns wood.

The street stinks when he has it on and depending on how the wind is there can sometimes be a big smog of smoke that hangs around at ground level.

It is really bad and i think he burns things he shouldn't such as treated pallets etc.

I would like to stuff a watermelon down his chimney

When we lived in Greece we had a wood burner where we would burn Olive wood.

The town smelled lovely.

 

[Darrell]

This morning it was raining a little so instead of cycling I walked to the station which took about 8 minutes.

I bought myself a tea and waited 3 minutes until my 0658 train arrived. It was clean, warm and probably half full.

It got me into Farringdon at 0721 where I changed onto the Elizabeth Line to Bond St. I got into work just before 0740.

A totally stress free journey and if I did the same journey leaving at the same time in the car it would’ve taken twice as long and I’d have to pay congestion charge and parking.

It’s a no brainer, public transport in London is good and people use it.

This was my 0658 from Mill Hill this morning.

 

[poormansporsche]

I would like to stuff a watermelon UP his chimney, nudge nudge

Fixed that for you

 

[markjay]

This was my 0658 from Mill Hill this morning.
View attachment 137054

And I am guessing that this is what the A41 looked like around the same time

 

[markjay]

BTW, when I was living in Mill Hill, I used to take the Thameslink train to Farringdon in the morning, a 20 minute ride compared to 40 minutes in the car. And yet, drive their cars they will... go figure.

 

[Darrell]

And I am guessing that this is what the A41 looked like around the same time

Most likely.
Swiss Cottage would’ve been rammed.