£12m might not make life easier (From Bournemouth Echo)
When news happens text pix and video to 80360. Start your message with BE then leave a space.
£12m might not make life easier
10:37am Tuesday 12th February 2013 in Opinion
£12m might not make life easier
IT’S not often that local authorities find themselves within an extra £12million to spend.
But there is a risk here of raising public expectations too high.
The government expects the grant to be spent on promoting alternatives to the car, so anyone who wants new roads will be disappointed.
And on the conurbation’s clogged major routes, any measure to improve life for one group of users is likely to make it harder for another group.
What’s more, bus companies now tend to concentrate heavily on their most lucrative routes, leaving some areas with little or no service.
But perhaps the biggest challenge is this. Most people agree there should be fewer cars on the road.
The trouble is that most of us think other people’s cars are the ones causing the problem.
Comments(6)
rayc
says...
1:26pm Tue 12 Feb 13
rayc
says...
2:02pm Tue 12 Feb 13
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) says towns need to find new ways to attract people.
They should make them easier to get to and easier for car drivers to navigate around, it says.
FNS-man
says...
3:20pm Tue 12 Feb 13
rayc wrote:Errr, the people on the buses? You can get far more shoppers on a bus than you can into a car.
Who will shop in Ashley Road when those passengers in the priority buses whiz by? Those motorists who currently use the 30 minute free parking bays will avoid the road once they are replaced by heavily enforced bus lanes.
rayc
says...
4:22pm Tue 12 Feb 13
FNS-man wrote:This scheme is all about getting from Poole to Bournemouth to Christchurch and reverse. Do you really think people will get a bus to Poole and then another to Ashley Road to shop?
rayc wrote:Errr, the people on the buses? You can get far more shoppers on a bus than you can into a car.
Who will shop in Ashley Road when those passengers in the priority buses whiz by? Those motorists who currently use the 30 minute free parking bays will avoid the road once they are replaced by heavily enforced bus lanes.
If I was a shop owner on Ashley Road I would be hoping your prediction is right compared to mine.
FNS-man
says...
7:16pm Tue 12 Feb 13
rayc wrote:This story is completely bogus. The shopkeeper in the story says that pedestrianisation is ruining his business. If you have a look on Google maps at where his shop is:
It is ironic that at the same time this was announced that Welsh councils are being asked to look again at pedestrian zones amid concern they are deterring shoppers. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) says towns need to find new ways to attract people. They should make them easier to get to and easier for car drivers to navigate around, it says.
https://maps.google.
co.uk/maps?q=bus+sta
tion+road+in+colwyn+
bay&hl=en&ll=53.2957
86,-3.72657&spn=0.00
2411,0.004587&sll=53
.290155,-3.728786&ss
pn=0.009646,0.018346
&hnear=Colwyn+Bay,+S
eafield+Road+(W-boun
d)&t=h&z=18
then you see the big highlighted road, which is within about 50 yards of four car parks. So I'm not really sure what pedestrianisation has to do with it.
The other problem is, apparently, out-of-town shopping centres. Which are... pedestrianised. You're not going to get your car any closer to the shops in an out-of-town centre than you will to this guy's shop.
s-pb2 says...
12:30pm Tue 12 Feb 13