C_steam

But does the load need to be there in 4.5 hours? In most cases, not.

we seem obsessed with speed of delivery wheras the real obsession needs to be with planning of delivery. Car mfrs run JIT systems in the UK with leads of 3+ days for some distant suppliers. 'Overnight' delivery means nothing to me - invariable it turns up in the middle of the day when no-one is in and I have to tootle off somewhere the following saturday to pick said item up - an unnecessary car journey. Just 2 examples.

ukpopdems

Hi, Guys.

One of the answers to this dilema is much better public transport - much better and much cheaper. Public transport works for most of Europe - why? Because it's better and cheaper

Do you know you can get from practically your doorstep to anywhere in UK already by bus - no-one knows about it.

I would like to see the number of buses doubled and travel for free - not just for oldies like in Scotland.
I'd renegotiate the rail contracts so that train services are also doubled by the end of the contract - and, if revenue coud stand it - make rush hour fares much cheaper.
Congestion charges for cities is OK as long as the public transport system is already excellent - so some way to go outside London, there.
Another way in cities is light railway with park and ride systems on the periphary. This works in Canada, Germany and other countries.

Thee are plenty of good solutions for public transport, but no government has had a serious transport policy for thirty years.

mkpdavies

You sure you're not a communist?

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C_steam

Most people know about it - few actually want to do it!

Paid for by what exactly? - remember, you're the guy who wants to reduce taxes.
Do some research on pathing constraints. Once you understand the limitations of the current infrastructure, you might start making sense.
No, congestion charges are NOT OK. Yet more back door taxation unless you are going to reduce fuel tax. The way to make public transport work is to make it more attractive and cheaper than a car, not by pricing cars out of the cities.
Generally agree.
True - apart from the policy that says 'make car use unavoidable, then tax the ******** out of it.

John Carter

My ma's house by car: 5 minutes.
My ma's house by public transport: 3 hours.


My car: Sets off at the time of my choosing, is the temperature I like, is driven by someone I trust as a driver, has no undesirables in it, doesn't stink of pee, is an enjoyable experience.

Public transport: See Matt's thread in the Talk About Anything section.

tito

What utter bloody nonsense!

You honestly think Wales is underpopulated? Ha!

A flat in my town is beginning to cost over £500,000; yet the whole town is composed of them. Small business is closing because they would make much more turning into flats, and it carries on because people are lining up to live here.
The situation here is just as dire as in England.

euromutiny

Immigration has not been of benefit to the UK. Whilst GDP has increased at a faster rate, this is the Gross Domestic Product, basically the nation's total income. More people = more people's income. Countries with big populations have a higher GDP than those with smaller populations, like China compared to the UK, Luxembourg or Switzerland. So if the country's population expands, so too does its GDP.

Gross Domestic Product Per Capita, the measure of average individual income, has not increased as fast as it would have without immigration or, as I believe, has declined. More people means more competition for jobs, driving down wages. Particularly as the population has expanded artificially by immigration, and very quickly.

It is GDP Per Capita that matters. I'd rather live in a country with a small population on big salaries than a crowded one with low wages.

There's an argument that immigration keeps inflation down. It does, by keeping wages down. I'd rather stop immigration, let our wages rise, and halt the inflation with cheap imported goods instead.

Of course Labour wants to keep people poor so they vote Labour. They won't be getting me.

PatrioticBriton

Now you have proven that you don't know what you're talking about.

By that logic, China and India should be richer than the US, because their populations are bigger. And Brazil should be richer than Germany as its population is twice the time the population of Germany. But they are not. Link: https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications.../2001rank.html

GDP has gone up by 54 billion pounds since 1/1/2005. Great Britain's population has grown by 2 million people since that day. Calculate yourself if GDP per capita has gone up or down.

Yes, and if you're such an idiot that you can't get a job, it's your fault. It would be tough to get a job even if GB was isolated.

Not necessarily.

It's not the immigrants' fault. The reason why wages are so low is because the economy, which was declining in the 1970s, has not yet become strong enough so that we could earn a GDP per capita equal to Denmark's, Ireland's, Luxembourg's etc. GDP per capita.

Nope, this won't work simply because there are no "cheap cargos" except the low-quality cargos imported from China, Taiwan and SK.

ukpopdems

How come all the debates in BI&DF end up as EU bashing or Immigrant bashing. Even when we're talking about transport, for gawds sake!!

Back to the world of dreams.........Yes, public transport much better and cheaper so people want to use it rather than being forced to use it. Does anyone disagree with that?

Cars - private cars and commercial vehicles are by far and away the best all round transport for short and medium distances. Only parties as detached and power crazed as Labour (or Green, or LibDem or NewTory) could think otherwise.

Gordon knows we'll never stop using our cars so he can tax until our eyes pop - and give nothing back. Who's voting for these characters?? It makes you wonder.

What's the answer then? Fewer cars or more roads?

I actually think the problem lies with commercial vehicles, trucks and vans, especially HGVs, rather than private cars (except the school run).

Look at the M6 and other routes - practically all trucks. How often are you sitting behind trucks overtaking on a two-lane motorway, or stuck behind a truck on A and other country road. And how many trucks are foreign? Masses.

I think radical solutions are called for in the short term. In return for reducing HGV road tax I'd:
1. Restrict HGVs to inside lane of motorways in busy periods, and certainly on two-lane dual carriage-way.
2. Encourage HGV overnight journeys.
3. Route HGVs so that they take M-ways, then A trunk roads, then A roads to their nearest point of delivery, before coming off to other roads.

John Carter

Because:

1) Traffic density is directly related to population levels. Population levels are currently directly related to immigration.

2) Immigration is directly related to not having control over our own borders. Which is related to EU membership.

So you want to keep me awake all night? Because that's what HGVs driving down the local A road all night would do.