Personally I feel that all of the green taxes we pay should be used on schemes to get rid of these dirty cars rather than the onus being on the individual.
Every pound raised through things like the congestion charge, like the duty charged on diesel, should all be used for things like this.
How much of the pollution is caused by buses carrying 80 people which are stuck in traffic caused by new cycle lanes which are barely used?
This is a real chicken and egg issue, if you could guarantee me that I could get from home to my office without sharing any roadspace with a car or lorry I would absolutely love to cycle to work every day.
Unfortunately you can't and because of that I won't do it or allow anyone I care strongly about to do it either.
The cycle highways should gradually change this. If you are going to encourage people to cycle it is exactly what is needed, and with the transport system already more or less at full capacity, I think it has to be the future.
How much of the pollution is caused by buses carrying 80 people which are stuck in traffic caused by new cycle lanes which are barely used?
This is a real chicken and egg issue, if you could guarantee me that I could get from home to my office without sharing any roadspace with a car or lorry I would absolutely love to cycle to work every day.
Unfortunately you can't and because of that I won't do it or allow anyone I care strongly about to do it either.
The cycle highways should gradually change this. If you are going to encourage people to cycle it is exactly what is needed, and with the transport system already more or less at full capacity, I think it has to be the future.
Cycling isn't the answer in my view from the current position (ie an old city built for horse/carriage) - a cyclist effectively takes up the same space as a bus as a bus has to stop to manoeuvre around it, yet the latter carries 80 people and the former only one.
VED is a total con anyway. The roads around where I live are in an utter state of disrepair and only seem to get any treatment if a utility company wants to dig it up. I asked the council to repaint parking lines that are so worn down you'd have no idea they were there If you were new to the area and they told me the lines were fine. Clearly doublespeak for 'we have spent all the money on pointless speed bumps and road calming measures because we're a bunch of fuckwits sucking off the taxpayer teat'.
Opposite where i live is a swanky and slightly absurd gated estate. There resides a Tesla. It is very easy to spot it around, because its a very garish orange In the style we used to paint on interior walls in the 90s. Ragging or something. Sooner or later I will Get the chance to politely accost the owner and ask him or her where it goes, outside Prague. Being in the heart of Europe means going with your car on holiday to Austria or Croatia. I was vaguely pondering the new smaller Tesla, so I looked up how I would do our last holidays with such a car. It would be totally impossible. That orange Tesla is a pure absurd vanity purchase. It is living the life of a Toyota Yaris.
Opposite where i live is a swanky and slightly absurd gated estate. There resides a Tesla. It is very easy to spot it around, because its a very garish orange In the style we used to paint on interior walls in the 90s. Ragging or something. Sooner or later I will Get the chance to politely accost the owner and ask him or her where it goes, outside Prague. Being in the heart of Europe means going with your car on holiday to Austria or Croatia. I was vaguely pondering the new smaller Tesla, so I looked up how I would do our last holidays with such a car. It would be totally impossible. That orange Tesla is a pure absurd vanity purchase. It is living the life of a Toyota Yaris.
Looked at a Tesla and although from a tax perspective it made sense it is both ugly and totally impractical until the charging network is greatly expanded. I just couldn't live with having to rely on plugging it in on a long journey.
Im considering getting an BMW i3. Will be used for a 30 mile round trip to work each day (where there is a charging point). Anyone got any experience with it?
How much of the pollution is caused by buses carrying 80 people which are stuck in traffic caused by new cycle lanes which are barely used?
This is a real chicken and egg issue, if you could guarantee me that I could get from home to my office without sharing any roadspace with a car or lorry I would absolutely love to cycle to work every day.
Unfortunately you can't and because of that I won't do it or allow anyone I care strongly about to do it either.
The cycle highways should gradually change this. If you are going to encourage people to cycle it is exactly what is needed, and with the transport system already more or less at full capacity, I think it has to be the future.
Cycling isn't the answer in my view from the current position (ie an old city built for horse/carriage) - a cyclist effectively takes up the same space as a bus as a bus has to stop to manoeuvre around it, yet the latter carries 80 people and the former only one.
What do you think Amsterdam was built for? Stretched Hummers?
How much of the pollution is caused by buses carrying 80 people which are stuck in traffic caused by new cycle lanes which are barely used?
This is a real chicken and egg issue, if you could guarantee me that I could get from home to my office without sharing any roadspace with a car or lorry I would absolutely love to cycle to work every day.
Unfortunately you can't and because of that I won't do it or allow anyone I care strongly about to do it either.
The cycle highways should gradually change this. If you are going to encourage people to cycle it is exactly what is needed, and with the transport system already more or less at full capacity, I think it has to be the future.
Cycling isn't the answer in my view from the current position (ie an old city built for horse/carriage) - a cyclist effectively takes up the same space as a bus as a bus has to stop to manoeuvre around it, yet the latter carries 80 people and the former only one.
What do you think Amsterdam was built for? Stretched Hummers?
( and Copenhagen and every German city)
I think you'll find Amsterdam has been around a little longer than the bicycle
How much of the pollution is caused by buses carrying 80 people which are stuck in traffic caused by new cycle lanes which are barely used?
This is a real chicken and egg issue, if you could guarantee me that I could get from home to my office without sharing any roadspace with a car or lorry I would absolutely love to cycle to work every day.
Unfortunately you can't and because of that I won't do it or allow anyone I care strongly about to do it either.
The cycle highways should gradually change this. If you are going to encourage people to cycle it is exactly what is needed, and with the transport system already more or less at full capacity, I think it has to be the future.
Cycling isn't the answer in my view from the current position (ie an old city built for horse/carriage) - a cyclist effectively takes up the same space as a bus as a bus has to stop to manoeuvre around it, yet the latter carries 80 people and the former only one.
What do you think Amsterdam was built for? Stretched Hummers?
( and Copenhagen and every German city)
I think you'll find Amsterdam has been around a little longer than the bicycle
Well quite. And yet i have never seen so many bikes in one place as at that bike park at Centraal station
The Ultra Low Electric Zone will make any diesels older than Setemeber 2015 unpractical for Londoners particularly when it goes first to South circular and then to M25 on expansion. Lots of councils planning on diesel surcharges on parking over the next few years.
Cabs and Busses are moving to hybrid / electric over the next 4 years.
Plug in hybrid - 2 friends have Mitsubishi Outlanders and 1 is doing 155 mpg and the other 85 mpg - seems the way forward.
I think the elephant in the room is the fact that London has an extremely expensive and inefficient public transport system.
If busses ran to timetable and fares were half the price and if trains were clean and comfortable and didn't cost a bank loan to use then perhaps more people would be inclined to leave their cars at home.
True but it needs to be managed, this all smacks of blundering
Amen and amen. The way to sort this out would be to subsidise heavily the replacement of diesel and older inefficient cars with electric cars, have world class and cheap public transport and safe cycling... Make it a no brainer to switch without pubishing car owners who bought diesel in good faith... Once a critical mass is reached can increase the price for electric cars and public transport. This will be hugely expensive so never going to happen. The government would rather live with pollution it seems
How much of the pollution is caused by buses carrying 80 people which are stuck in traffic caused by new cycle lanes which are barely used?
This is a real chicken and egg issue, if you could guarantee me that I could get from home to my office without sharing any roadspace with a car or lorry I would absolutely love to cycle to work every day.
Unfortunately you can't and because of that I won't do it or allow anyone I care strongly about to do it either.
The cycle highways should gradually change this. If you are going to encourage people to cycle it is exactly what is needed, and with the transport system already more or less at full capacity, I think it has to be the future.
Cycling isn't the answer in my view from the current position (ie an old city built for horse/carriage) - a cyclist effectively takes up the same space as a bus as a bus has to stop to manoeuvre around it, yet the latter carries 80 people and the former only one.
What do you think Amsterdam was built for? Stretched Hummers?
( and Copenhagen and every German city)
Amsterdam and Copenhagen have the same population as Leeds, not really a fair comparison with London's 8 million.
How much of the pollution is caused by buses carrying 80 people which are stuck in traffic caused by new cycle lanes which are barely used?
This is a real chicken and egg issue, if you could guarantee me that I could get from home to my office without sharing any roadspace with a car or lorry I would absolutely love to cycle to work every day.
Unfortunately you can't and because of that I won't do it or allow anyone I care strongly about to do it either.
The cycle highways should gradually change this. If you are going to encourage people to cycle it is exactly what is needed, and with the transport system already more or less at full capacity, I think it has to be the future.
Cycling isn't the answer in my view from the current position (ie an old city built for horse/carriage) - a cyclist effectively takes up the same space as a bus as a bus has to stop to manoeuvre around it, yet the latter carries 80 people and the former only one.
What do you think Amsterdam was built for? Stretched Hummers?
( and Copenhagen and every German city)
Amsterdam and Copenhagen have the same population as Leeds, not really a fair comparison with London's 8 million.
And the 8 million living in London is the other elephant in the room but for that's not for this thread but certainly a rising population will always coincide with a rising amount of demand for transport and with that a rising amount of pollution.
Get the public transport infastructure right and people will use it.
How much of the pollution is caused by buses carrying 80 people which are stuck in traffic caused by new cycle lanes which are barely used?
This is a real chicken and egg issue, if you could guarantee me that I could get from home to my office without sharing any roadspace with a car or lorry I would absolutely love to cycle to work every day.
Unfortunately you can't and because of that I won't do it or allow anyone I care strongly about to do it either.
The cycle highways should gradually change this. If you are going to encourage people to cycle it is exactly what is needed, and with the transport system already more or less at full capacity, I think it has to be the future.
Cycling isn't the answer in my view from the current position (ie an old city built for horse/carriage) - a cyclist effectively takes up the same space as a bus as a bus has to stop to manoeuvre around it, yet the latter carries 80 people and the former only one.
What do you think Amsterdam was built for? Stretched Hummers?
( and Copenhagen and every German city)
Amsterdam and Copenhagen have the same population as Leeds, not really a fair comparison with London's 8 million.
But they did not choose cycling because they are smaller. They chose it because they believe its a smart way to get around. Some of the tiny AMS streets where trams, cyclists and assertive pedestrians meet are amazing to behold.
Trams of course. Another smart move by us to rip up the london tram tracks. Oxford Street cries out for trams instead of the current madness.
looks like the motor industry is also going to take a hammering, I know its foreign owned but a fair bit is made here particular JLR, can't see how they aren't going to take a massive beating on this and without a plan in place. Given this is a legislative issue not a market issue albeit on the back of serious health/environment concerns, HMG has no excuse for not intervening.
This article suggests Grayling is being even more irresponsible in not clarifying what he means, Euro6 diesels - the current standard (does he mean buying a new or old car?) are unlikely to be affected. Current plan from the mayor is is to ban cars made before 2005..
This table is an interesting if quite technical comparison of petrol vs diesel from the above article
Comments
Every pound raised through things like the congestion charge, like the duty charged on diesel, should all be used for things like this.
But they won't be, you will have to pay instead.
Unfortunately you can't and because of that I won't do it or allow anyone I care strongly about to do it either.
The cycle highways should gradually change this. If you are going to encourage people to cycle it is exactly what is needed, and with the transport system already more or less at full capacity, I think it has to be the future.
@bobmunro is yours a plugin hybrid?
Looked at a Tesla and although from a tax perspective it made sense it is both ugly and totally impractical until the charging network is greatly expanded. I just couldn't live with having to rely on plugging it in on a long journey.
( and Copenhagen and every German city)
Cabs and Busses are moving to hybrid / electric over the next 4 years.
Plug in hybrid - 2 friends have Mitsubishi Outlanders and 1 is doing 155 mpg and the other 85 mpg - seems the way forward.
If busses ran to timetable and fares were half the price and if trains were clean and comfortable and didn't cost a bank loan to use then perhaps more people would be inclined to leave their cars at home.
We need pioneers to move into the future.
And the future is not fossil fuel consumption.
Other than that the haphazard progress of the free market will continue.
Get the public transport infastructure right and people will use it.
Trams of course. Another smart move by us to rip up the london tram tracks. Oxford Street cries out for trams instead of the current madness.
This article suggests Grayling is being even more irresponsible in not clarifying what he means, Euro6 diesels - the current standard (does he mean buying a new or old car?) are unlikely to be affected. Current plan from the mayor is is to ban cars made before 2005..
This table is an interesting if quite technical comparison of petrol vs diesel from the above article