COP26

[KeithW]

<snip>

Also, as Reading Buses cross a number of council borders, how do you decide which passengers travel free? Is it on any route they travel, or only within RBC borders, or only for for people who live/work in Reading?

I believe Reading Buses get money from WBC for example for running buses on routes which would otherwise be unprofitable, so it could be an extension to that. If you were to charge the Wokies and not the Dingers, I imagine the stops on the Reading side of the border would see a sudden increase in passenger numbers.

[It used to cost me (ie my mum) 2d from Liverpool Road to Broad Street on the 18.]

[Fed-up]

OM - Agreed. Unless the alternative is a similar journey time, at a similar/cheaper cost, then most people won't/can't afford to give up their car.

The green motion addresses the 2nd bit, but the cost of the service needs to be found somewhere and more frequent buses, not just going to and from the centre of Reading are needed to shorten the journey time for a number of people.

[MickEdge]

I don’t think commutes like yours, Oldman, will ever be largely undertaken by public transport. Even if they were free and frequent, they would never achieve the journey times that personal transport does, which is why green personal transport has to be the only solution for most commuters outside of very large urban areas. That technology is here today, but it’s too expensive for most people, and even if it weren’t, currently there is a supply problem which won’t go away quickly.

The government’s key strategy is about public transport (certainly it is today). Maybe that’s where the investment will deliver the biggest environmental benefits, assuming you believe enough commuters will shift to public transport, but that still leaves an awful lot of commuters in other places, who need to be shifted to green personal transport. In Reading, there simply isn’t the money to improve cross town public transport journey times and frequencies, to a level that significantly reduces car commutes. It didn’t see much in that news report that’ll make much difference to pollution or congestion, but what else can be done.

[KeithW]

I don’t think commutes like yours, Oldman, will ever be largely undertaken by public transport. Even if they were free and frequent, they would never achieve the journey times that personal transport does, which is why green personal transport has to be the only solution for most commuters outside of very large urban areas. That technology is here today, but it’s too expensive for most people, and even if it weren’t, currently there is a supply problem which won’t go away quickly.

<snip>

I'm very fortunate in not having to commute more than a couple of flights of stairs, but if I did, I'd rather take longer in a car than use a free bus. Not because of some Thatcherite ideology, but because of Covid.

I'd hope that one good thing to come out of the pandemic will be more room on public transport, not always trying to squeeze in as many as possible. But while our 'leaders' don't use it, this will probably never happen.

And where would we be without Oldman's almost daily near-death experience logs?

[OLDMAN]

Hey I’ve only had one near-death experience with a log when a tree fell over on the A33

Must admit seeing the recent news about HS2, I dint think the government is all that bothered about being ‘green’ or helping others.................


And I reckon we must have both been on an 18 at the same times back in the good old days1

[OLDMAN]

I was very pleased to see they have now jailed some of the M25 protesters – rightly so as well

Now put the rest in with them

[MickEdge]

I was very pleased to see they have now jailed some of the M25 protesters – rightly so as well

Now put the rest in with them

There’s a place for protests, but this lot do more harm than good. You don’t change attitudes and encourage more to be climate concerned by stopping the traffic. Nutters really does seem appropriate.

[MickEdge]

Must admit seeing the recent news about HS2, I dint think the government is all that bothered about being ‘green’ or helping others.................

The Government seems to have shot themselves in both feet. Annoyed the red wall, who saw the HS2 extension as part of levelling up. The BBC struggled to find anyone who wasn’t annoyed by the decision. And by still carrying on with the London to Birmingham section, that’s annoyed a lot of Tory southerners. If HS2 makes sense for the south, how come it doesn’t for the north? If it’s better to spend the HS2 northern budget on more widespread travel improvements, then surely the same applies to the southern bit.

[ChipbuttyG]

The Government as well as our local authority use this 'green' thing as and when it suits them. Especially from a financial gain point of view.

[chris_j_wood]

If HS2 makes sense for the south, how come it doesn’t for the north? If it’s better to spend the HS2 northern budget on more widespread travel improvements, then surely the same applies to the southern bit.

It doesn't make more sense to spend the money on more widespread travel improvements, be-it in the North or South. Firstly because the railways are already at capacity carrying their current traffic, and secondly because trying to re-engineer existing railways to provide the sort of service that Johnson and Shapps are claiming will necessitate closing the lines for months, if not years, on end. And probably end up more expensive too.

[ChipbuttyG]

I had to laugh at the cycle lane provision on the lower Henley Road as I went by on Saturday. Yep, they've really put cycle lanes around parked cars - so when you're cycling along you can easily have a car door flung open as cycle past....

[ChipbuttyG]

Bus fares have risen.

Always good to put up prices to encourage people to use more sustainable means of transport...