Steve wrote: > LOL! What you say is true, Roger. On this list, at least. But not, > thankfully, in the outside world. Congestion isn't engineered; it's > something that comes about as a result of increased road use.
Yep, encouraged by successive governments who have welcomed enhanced affluence and mobility for the reasons that I have mentioned in another posting. > In > London we accepted the congestion charge on behalf of all of you > because the situation had become intolerable in our city as it will > eventually in yours. Hang on a minute, you accepted it on behalf of all of us???? You have the best public transport system in the whole of the UK, where you don't need a car in the main, and you accepted what the Gruppenfuhrer Livingstone dictated for all of us????? Hhmmm, does not compute. You accept what you want for London, the rest of us lesser mortals can decide for the impoverished remainder of the UK ;-))) > In addition, there are those of us who believe in > global warming (I can't believe there there are dinasours who still > don't, but it takes all sorts...) who feel that the wholesale use of > the internal combustion engine at the sort of levels it is now, is > killing the world. We are in favour of limiting car use, and making > those that use cars pay for what is a privilege not a right. We have > made some moves towards making big cars pay more for the roads. Why > not go the whole hog and make them pay in relationship to the use they > make of roads. ie through their fuel. I know this is going to lead to > restrictions in our freedom of movement, and as a libertarian I don't > like that. I'm from the coutry too, so don't tell me I don't > understand the plight of rural communities either. Or that I'm > anti-car either; I own two, how could I be? I have to say that I agree about global warming. My argument is only about how you reverse decades of car-use-encouragement and growing affluence at a stroke, why you blame the car only (particularly in Europe) when factories in the US, Russia and China are belching out emissions. If we in the UK stopped using cars entirely it still wouldn't make a scrap of difference to global warming just because of the intransigence of the US, the industrial expansion of China (and India) and the filthy emissions of Russia. As for the airline industry, they have never had to reduce emissions except for their desire for greater profits through increased fuel economy, unlike the car industry which is pushed by ever more stringent legislation. > > But what else are we going to do? Drive blindly towards the precipice > encased in our hermetically sealed tin pods? Or like Niall, argue that > there's no precipice at all? No, I agree that efforts need to be made, but reversing decades of growth at a stroke will be disasterous for ordinary people (outside London ;-)), kill off a major earner for this country and loads of jobs (the motor industry), and generally reduce people's standard of living UNLESS we are provided with a good public transport infrastructure (ooooh, like London, hhmmm) all over the country. Carrot before stick IMO, and politicians who are honest enough to tell us the truth and explain fully their policies without hidden agendas and spin..........Nah, sorry, was just off into utopia-land there for a moment. Personally I'm sick to death of those, based in London, who tell the rest of the country to use public transport..........I'm all right Jack, is a phrase that springs to mind. Roger nb It'sgoodtodebate
