The Great Transport Improvement Thread

[jon81uk]

But it's the only way I could see developers being forced to leave parking spaces. Right now it's too easy for them not to leave space knowing that whoever buys the house will end up parking on the street.

A council that sets up their planning permission correctly can do something about it. The place we are buying, as far as I can tell originally was refused planning permission and had to increase to two spaces per property and this is for somewhere 15 minutes walk to a station where a lot of people will be commuting to London.
Councils should be doing this and ensuring all homes in developments "out-of-town" have two spaces and most should have at least one for all two-bed properties.

Where we are at the moment within London, there are a lot of flats being built without parking where they are "car-free" so residents cannot get permits from the council for on-street parking. But of course being in zone two of London there is very good public transport so a car is not essential. However our current flat has a car park and we had to introduce a permit system to stop people from other developments coming and using the vacant spaces without permission.

 

[speedy]

A council that sets up their planning permission correctly can do something about it. The place we are buying, as far as I can tell originally was refused planning permission and had to increase to two spaces per property and this is for somewhere 15 minutes walk to a station where a lot of people will be commuting to London.
Councils should be doing this and ensuring all homes in developments "out-of-town" have two spaces and most should have at least one for all two-bed properties.

Where we are at the moment within London, there are a lot of flats being built without parking where they are "car-free" so residents cannot get permits from the council for on-street parking. But of course being in zone two of London there is very good public transport so a car is not essential. However our current flat has a car park and we had to introduce a permit system to stop people from other developments coming and using the vacant spaces without permission.

That sounds fair, in London where space is at a premium and they're trying to reduce inner city pollution, it makes no sense to provide parking spaces. Regarding "out of town" developments, most of these probably shouldn't be built in the first place. We need new houses yes, but they should be built in places like you described, within 15 minutes of a station (possibly on reopened lines) or on brownfield sites.

 

[rob666]

People will not buy brownfield housing though.
They actually want to buy the sweet suburban semi on the edge of town.
Developers avoid ex industrial sites because of this, the expense of decontamination and less demand overall, so lower prices for higher cost.

 

[jon81uk]

People will not buy brownfield housing though.
They actually want to buy the sweet suburban semi on the edge of town.
Developers avoid ex industrial sites because of this, the expense of decontamination and less demand overall, so lower prices for higher cost.

I don't think its that simple, many people do like brownfield sites as it gets them closer to the station or closer to work.

 

[rob666]

I know its not that black and white, but when families move up, they tend to move out.

I'd settle for one of those lovely cordless dodgems they get out for bike the lights at Blackpool.

 

[pluk]

In the case of Alton Towers, it should be considered a public service to have at least one train/bus to the park every day which arrives before opening and leaves after closing. Unfortunately I doubt Merlin is interested in subsidising a service because they'll lose parking fees.

If it only services a private business it can hardly be considered a public service and shouldn't have any public money used to provide it.

I'm amazed that the planning process hasn't yet been used to force Merlin to provide transportation to and from the park by means other than a car. I'm sure the ineffective but profitable carpark charges started as a 'concession' to planning, sold as attempt to manage traffic numbers by encouraging visitors use an alternative to cars? But of course with no alternative available it's just a money making exercise. For the traffic issues it causes the local roads they should be forced to provide buses from the nearest railway stations or motorway parking areas. It might not be economically viable as a standalone service, but I bet they could find a way to make it work soon enough if future development depended on it.

Most cars run with three empty seats.
Bigger cars are just a crazy fashion, running directly against the science.
Smaller, lighter, cheaper plastic multifuel vehicles are a real alternative.
But their isnt as much profit in it for the manufacturers.

I think overall it's more of a safety concern for buyers than it is profit issues for manufacturers. I get to see occasionally the result of truck Vs decent sized car, let alone a smart car, or even more so a motorcyclist. You really don't want to be in anything that small on national speed roads. But they are too big for paths and cycle paths, so where is it safe to use them?

I do think someone will come up with a single seater electric 'car' that's more like an oversized buggy or 4 wheeled motorbike that can do 60mph + and achieve a decent NCAP rating and it'll be a game changer.

Electric scooters on the pavement.
Good or evil.
Shoot the cluckers I say.

Evil and illegal. There needs to be a system for people to register them, insure them and use them on a road. Paths are for people.

 

[Orange Ribena]

The public transport is rubbish to Alton Towers and it doesn't seem like many people use it at all.

The trend in this country is bigger cars...the mini SUV is a big growth market taking over from traditional hatch back types. If everyone else if way off the ground I don't want to be honking away like Mr McGoo close to the ground. Also, my dogs prefer a elevated sitting position in a car too.

 

[Skyscraper]

Just seen this video about a "Demand Responsive Transport" (DRT) system in London. Strange but cool, it's like Uber for buses



Great idea, Sheffield could do with one as our buses are terrible.

 

[Mr Pearse]

Just seen this video about a "Demand Responsive Transport" (DRT) system in London. Strange but cool, it's like Uber for buses



Great idea, Sheffield could do with one as our buses are terrible.

sounds a great idea but sadly something like that would never be viable in certain areas.
Where I live we have buses every half n hour till 8pm then nothing, on sundays we have no public transport so unless you drive you are technically isolated.