What is needed to get you out of your cars?



The Muffin Man said:
Love driving but it feels like we are arriving at a cross roads where cars as we know them at the moment (petrol, diesel and fun to drive) are about to go the final journey. Clearly this was always going to happen at some point with the finite nature of fossil fuels and of course pollution and climate change.

So question is what would need to happen to get you to abandon the car? When living in London I didnt use one at all Monday to Friday as the tube network was outstanding and it was far quicker to get about London and to work etc on the tube.....To travel back to Sunderland or anywhere else outside of the M25 transport was again not an option and it was back to the car.

Since arriving back in Sunderland I have had jobs where I have got there a couple of days a week running or cycling but have had to take much longer routes to get to work (50% longer than shortest route) to avoid the death trap roads.

In Sunderland I think all major roads having cycle lanes like in other cycle friendly EU states (not just painted lines) and a Metro that connected SR5 from Town End Farm to the town and up to Doxford International would be a huge success.

I get the feeling that lots of people would use alternatives if they were realistic, cheap and were equally as quick as cars. Am I wrong?
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The Metro coming to Washington/Penshaw.
 
if you want to have hobbies that take you out into rural areas, personal transport will have to keep going

how are you going to get your bike out to upper weardale if you dont have a car?

or if I want to go fishing at cow green reservoir....
 
GingerNick said:
if you want to have hobbies that take you out into rural areas, personal transport will have to keep going

how are you going to get your bike out to upper weardale if you dont have a car?

or if I want to go fishing at cow green reservoir....
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Camping trips. Imagine trying to take a family tent, cooking gear, cloths, dog, kids etc on a combination of busses and trains! I’ve done the lightweight backpacking, walking all day then camping at night and it is fine, but not as a family holiday.
 
Just dealt with my V11 "Vehicle tax reminder" & nowhere does it use the term Vehicle Excise Duty, same with the website.

It seems they've changed it back to what most people call it?

Should just scrap it & add the cost to fuel duty, make the polluter pay in proportion to usage.
 
Redandwhitedust said:
Just seen this...

Luxembourg Becomes First Country to Make All Public Transit Free | ArchDaily
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Not so difficult when you have a population of half a million and are only 1000sq miles in size
Just for comparison, the uk is 94,000 sq. miles and population about 70 million.
It's a great initiative all the same
Vinyl Score said:
Just dealt with my V11 "Vehicle tax reminder" & nowhere does it use the term Vehicle Excise Duty, same with the website.

It seems they've changed it back to what most people call it?

Should just scrap it & add the cost to fuel duty, make the polluter pay in proportion to usage.
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Would seem the best solution, the more you use the roads the more you pay, would also encourage buying more economical cars
 
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The last local bus here left in September 2004. (Even then it was only twice a day, to and from Durham bus station) sadly everything relies on car around here. Can't see how it will change
 
hoggs11 said:
The last local bus here left in September 2004. (Even then it was only twice a day, to and from Durham bus station) sadly everything relies on car around here. Can't see how it will change
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That is the problem. The ones in power bleating on about using public transport think everywhere is like London with buses and tubes to everywhere at all times of the day and night.
 
I either cycle or use public transport for work, only exception being if I am on an early morning warrant then I will use the car. There really is no need for private cars to be inside central London, obviously delivery vans etc still need to be there. Public transport is so frequent, integrated and cost effective that it should be the norm alongside cycling and walking.

The mayor brought in his ULEZ charge under the guise of reducing pollution. If he was serious about that there wouldn’t have been the option of paying your way out of it, it should be if your vehicle is over the limit you aren’t allowed in full stop. This is the reason the government, of any party, won’t entirely ban vehicles from city centres, they would lose far too much money.
 
The Muffin Man said:
Love driving but it feels like we are arriving at a cross roads where cars as we know them at the moment (petrol, diesel and fun to drive) are about to go the final journey. Clearly this was always going to happen at some point with the finite nature of fossil fuels and of course pollution and climate change.

So question is what would need to happen to get you to abandon the car? When living in London I didnt use one at all Monday to Friday as the tube network was outstanding and it was far quicker to get about London and to work etc on the tube.....To travel back to Sunderland or anywhere else outside of the M25 transport was again not an option and it was back to the car.

Since arriving back in Sunderland I have had jobs where I have got there a couple of days a week running or cycling but have had to take much longer routes to get to work (50% longer than shortest route) to avoid the death trap roads.

In Sunderland I think all major roads having cycle lanes like in other cycle friendly EU states (not just painted lines) and a Metro that connected SR5 from Town End Farm to the town and up to Doxford International would be a huge success.

I get the feeling that lots of people would use alternatives if they were realistic, cheap and were equally as quick as cars. Am I wrong?
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Need cheap, reliable, electric buses, and an integrated network, including metros and trains. Currently pay about £4 for a return to only travel a mile or so. If there's a couple of you then it's cheaper to get taxis about than buses. GoNortheast scrape a 12% profit off their intake each year, but continue to scrap services and increase prices. Hopefully once we leave the EU we can start nationalising these and bring them together.

More express buses and bus lanes wouldn't go a miss, nee good taking nearly an hour to travel 10 miles.
Have to address these sort of things if we're serious about cutting down on car usage, rather than just sticking taxes on roads/bridges as an excuse to fill council coffers.

Need proper cycle routes, sticking half a yard of non-continuous cycle lanes on the side of busy roads, does nowt to encourage people who don't normally cycle.
 
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electric folding bikes for free or completely tax and interest free government backed credit (cycle to work extension basically)

specific cycle routes separated from the road by more than a 2mm high paint stripe where you can use them up to 500W

metro extended to cover the entire northeast and have enough trains so everyone gets a seat and space they can connect to wifi and work from

SUBSTANTIAL income tax break on earning for making car free journeys
 
Mackem00 said:
I know. The alternative being even worse doesn't make the tube/bus any more enjoyable tho.
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I prefer it to driving. I see driving as a waste of time. On my own I take public transport, walk or cycle over the car in most scenarios. I am weird and I like to read, so I see the journey as an opportunity rather than a chore.
 

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