OK. hands up ...

[streaky]

those of you who could car-share between junctions 12 and 15 of the M25.

In the days when I commuted into London, I never had a set of colleagues, friends or even just aquaintances who could have benefitted from car-sharing scheme. Friends and aquaintances worked in different parts of London and worked different hours. I had no colleagues who lived within 20 miles of me. London (and many other UK cities) is simply too large a catchment area.

In Washington (and many other US cities with 'beltways' and HVO lanes) it is different. Many people live in the 'burbs and work on campuses that enable car-sharing. Many of those employees work 8 to 5, or sufficiently similar hours.

The US does not provide a good model for car-sharing in the UK.

Is is argued that car-sharing could be assisted by providing large car parks (near J12 and J15 for example) ... so where? And would it work in practice?

Hands up.

Streaky

[puggit]

I know of 4 or 5 colleagues who share the pain with me of driving from Reading to M4 jc2 every day.

However we all work different hours depending on workload, and driving around Reading dropping people off will add another hour to my 90mins covering only 35 miles.

No thanks!

[jezzaaa]

Absolutely agree Puggit - about half of the reason why I don't wanna use public transport is because it stops at loads of other places other than where I want to go and adds significant time and inconvenience to the journey.

The car pool lane thing will probably be tried, and it will almost certainly be empty for the most part for reasons already decribed. But, as with the M4 bus lane, failure doesn't mean that they'll remove it again afterwards. Twats.

J.

[M@H]

There is a slim chance..

UKIP manifesto said:

UKIP also believes that the introduction of bus lanes has tended to slow traffic flow, and will aim to remove bus lanes where this is the case.

[streaky]

jezzaaa said:

The car pool lane thing will probably be tried, and it will almost certainly be empty for the most part for reasons already decribed. But, as with the M4 bus lane, failure doesn't mean that they'll remove it again afterwards.

It will undoubtedly be kept for use by President B'liar ... rather like the M4 B'lair Lane. Images of of Zils proceeding through Moscow come to mind.

Reminds me of the story of Premier Brezhnev being driven back to the Kremlin from his dacha. His driver felt ill and Brezhnev offered to change places. As he was unfamiliar with the lanes reserved for the cars of senior Politburo members he was stopped by a policeman. When the policeman demanded to see his papers he let fly with a barrage of Russian oaths and the policeman let him go.

"Who was that in the back?" asked his colleague.

"I have no idea. But h must have been important ... Brezhnev was his driver!"

Well, maybe it was funnier at the time ... and in Russian!

There must have been three policeman, they always went around in threes. The joke in teh Western embassies was that one could read and one could write. And the third? Oh, he was there to keep an eye on the two intellectuals.

Perhaps you had to live it to really understand it!

Streaky

[Richard C]

The dry self deprecating understated Soviet humour was always very funny and better in Russian - I think it is not quite the same in the post Soviet era ? It depended on indirectly poking fun at the pompous establishment.

But as we head slowly but steadily towards a police state maybe ours will become the same ?

[Peter Ward]

M@H said:

There is a slim chance.. UKIP manifesto said: UKIP also believes that the introduction of bus lanes has tended to slow traffic flow, and will aim to remove bus lanes where this is the case.

Can anyone point to a bus lane which has not "tended to slow traffic flow"? And all they can offer is that they "will aim to" get rid of them? Sounds like the Tory promise to "consider" raising motorway speed limits... Must be an election coming up.

[streaky]

Peter Ward said:

And all they can offer is that they "will aim to" get rid of them? Sounds like the Tory promise to "consider" raising motorway speed limits... Must be an election coming up.

Election manifestos these days consist of promises to think about thinking about consulting widely before considering (in committee) whether or not to suggest making some change that will later be discovered to be impossible to implement because of some previously unforeseen consequence or EU regulation implemented unheralded in UK law.

Streaky
[Cynic? Moi?]

[Fire99]

The point is all these hair-brain schemes are based around inflicting hardship on the motorist..

Forcing Motorists to find a friend to share a car with etc..(as if that's gonna happen)

And as said before the policicians don't lead by example because they are allowed to break their own rules on the grounds of national security...

Sounds like a big ego issue here. who would waste their time trying to bump off President B'Liar or Many Jags Prescott??
Atleast do it to someone who would be missed!!

[M@H]

Peter Ward said:

M@H said: There is a slim chance.. UKIP manifesto said: UKIP also believes that the introduction of bus lanes has tended to slow traffic flow, and will aim to remove bus lanes where this is the case. Can anyone point to a bus lane which has not "tended to slow traffic flow"? And all they can offer is that they "will aim to" get rid of them? Sounds like the Tory promise to "consider" raising motorway speed limits... Must be an election coming up.

Its said the same thing for the last two-three years. Its no worse than any of the rest of them are trotting out!

[M@H]

Fire99 said:

The point is all these hair-brain schemes are based around inflicting hardship on the motorist.. Forcing Motorists to find a friend to share a car with etc..(as if that's gonna happen)

same source said:

UKIP believes that current policy designed to force car owners off the road and onto an increasingly poor public transport system is unrealistic, unfair and destined to failure. UKIP believes that the decision to favour public transport should be voluntary and not enforced through legislative and administrative changes which punish the less well off disproportionately. We are opposed to punitive measures directed at motorists.

[Fire99]

same source said:

UKIP believes that current policy designed to force car owners off the road and onto an increasingly poor public transport system is unrealistic, unfair and destined to failure. UKIP believes that the decision to favour public transport should be voluntary and not enforced through legislative and administrative changes which punish the less well off disproportionately. We are opposed to punitive measures directed at motorists.

[/quote]

Well i have no idea about most of UKIP's policies but that particular one is right on the money!!!

[chrisgr31]

When I used to work in London and lived in the sticks (as I still do) on rail strike days I used to pick up some colleagues in Orpington and drive them in.

In fact if I was leaving the office at the same time as them it was just as quick for them, and me, for me to drop them home, rather than taking the train!