Mungo

It was in the news this morning that a committee is going to publish a report stating the fact that the government is failing to deliver its commitments on transport improvements - traffic congestion is still getting worse, the railways are still poor, etc, etc.
Their recommendations are going to be to make it even more expensive for drivers (road pricing etc) so that cars are forced of the road. [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img] Do they just not get it? Public transport has NO more capacity, and is totally unreliable as it is. It is just not a viable option. I would happily take public tranport to work, but there is no bus to take me to the station, so it's a 20 minute walk, I have to change trains (nice planning - a 27 minute wait) and there's no indoor waiting room to do it in. Net result? It takes at least 90 minutes (if the trains run on time) to get to work. Driving takes 45. I cannot waste an hour an a half of my day like that.
This government has wasted the last 6 years - they came in on such a landslide they could have really made a difference with some hard choices - proper investment in services and public transport, but instead they worried about presentation (spin) instead of substance and have delivered nothing. I'm a real conservative by nature, but some things just cannot be run to make a profit and public tranport is one of them. The railways need to be re-nationalised, and also some of the bus network - how can it be profitable to run buses in some rural communities? It's not, but you can run a public service to help these people get into local towns. (It's off-topic, so I won't touch the post office privatisation). Why are there so few (passenegr) railways in the US? Because private enterprise cannot afford the investment to turn a profit. Central government needs to pay for it, and people need to understand that taxation will provide them a decent service. You can still run it efficiently, but it has to be centrally funded.
How can politicians be so badly out of touch with the realities of life today?
Rant over, sorry.

Leslie

As matter of interest, can anyone say what they actually have performed on which has benefited the electorate so far?

Les

pugoetru

we have a beautifull building in edinburgh!

Devil's Refugee

Pug,

Which monstrosity is that then ?

But yeah, has the Govt delivered any of it's promises ?

We're shafted whichever Govt comes into power.

PPPMAT

Public transport is a bit of a disaster. I agree that some serious thought should be given into re nationalising the railways and some bus services.

I am a conservative by political leanings but privatisation just hasn't worked in my view and if car users have to pay a bit more for a decent alternative transport system then thats fine by me.

Dracoro

The root problem is still not being addressed.

We can make the public transport into cities brilliant.
We can make the roads leading into cities brilliant.
This just creates congestion. Too many people trying to get into too small an area (just look at London!)

What the govt. need to do is invest in smaller towns, deprived towns etc. Stop making London and other large cities bigger and more congested.

Or make transport in cities so crap that people wanna get out and work somewhere more pleasant. I see where they are going now

Sith

While I was enduring delays on SWT a few weeks ago I drove into London. Took 45 mins. Would have been quicker if it wasn't for traffic where the A3 goes from 3 lanes to 1.

My journey by train on a good day takes 55mins.

The gov wonders why people would rather drive.

ozzy

Public Transport is **** and always will be if the only incentive is too make a profit or work to stupid government targets.

I've got several options to get to/from work (40-mile door-to-door round trip):-

1. Car.
Advantage - fast; very rarely get held up by traffic and I've severals alternative routes.
Disadvantage - expensive; scooby fuel ain't cheap. (£40 per week)

2. Train & Bus. Station is only 10min walk from house, but destination is 5-mile from office (and it's at the bottom of a big ****-off hill). Journey takes 30-45mins as it stops at every little station. Then I need to make 2 bus changes just to get 5-miles from the station to the office and since that isn't direct it adds another 30mins to the journey time.
Advantage - cheap(ish). £25 per week.
Disadvantage - takes feckin ages for a 24-mile journey. The train is every hour so, I need to leave at 07:30 to start the journey. I can leave at 08:40 and still make it too work with the car.

3. Train & Push-Bike. I could bike the extra distance from the station to/from work.
Advantage - cheaper and keeps me a bit fitter.
Disadvantage - just as slow; no showers at work, so I'd need to drop past gym every morning to change. Also need to carry change of clothes and it's no fun when the weathers cr@p.

I used to use buses when I was at College and when I started my first job. I hated it then and I haven't seen it improve in the 8 years since

Stefan

ozzy

Just to add, I spent 3 weeks in the Czech Republic last year and a week in Rome @ Xmas. In the cities, the transport is great, but (like the UK) anywhere remote has the same problems of public transport being few and far between.

Unless the busy and money-generating routes can subsidise the little-used remote communities, I can never see a public transport infrastructure ever working.

Stefan

Mungo

The whole point is that the government can't just price motorists out of their carts without a viable alternative - the economy will grind to a halt.
General taxation should pay for the improvements to public transport, and when the services are sorted, then you can penalise people for not using them.
Taxing car usage to fund public transport is just not working as people will not switch from their cars to a sh!tty train/bus service that will not reliably take them to where they want to go.

DEEDEE

Goverment not performing on anything I reckon