Pro-congestion policies

[supermono]

You know the sort of things -- random "no right turn" signs to make sure many millions of otherwise needless vehicle kilometers are travelled per year. Phasing of lights so they're all red at the same time for a few seconds at the overlap, bus lanes of course, speed humps, etc.

Supposing we had a government which commissioned software engineers to model the traffic flows through town centres and even trunk routes, and enabled them to test out various solutions to traffic jams using the models and properly balanced public surveying (asking for example "if we implemented a park and ride it would cause congestion with bus lanes but if enough people wanted to use it reduce congestion", then on discovering that nobody wanted it scrapped the proposal)....

You see I'm thoroughly convinced that although car usage has ramped up recently, the lentilists and other anti-car/anti-progress/anti-freedom nutters are becoming increasingly dependent on what amounts to valdalism of our intra-city traffic routes to make sure the congestion continues to worsen.

So imagine a party with enough courage to take on this minority of eco-nutters with their beards and bicycles for the greater good of all us motorists who are committing the "crime" of needing to get from A-B so that we can work/run our businesses/contribute to the bottom line of UK PLC?

I can't for the life of me see why nobody has siezed what must be a *huge* opportunity to win votes...

SM

[turbobloke]

Has car usage ramped up that much recently? Ttraffic volume trends in urban centres have been reported static, yet journey times are increasing.

The pro-congestion policies include those you listed:

Road closures (no real excuse e.g. to target 'rat runners' an abusive and offensive term)
Road narrowing two lane to one lane or one lane made narrow to prevent 'non-pc' overtakes
No-turns and one-way systems
Pedestrianisation schemes
Bus lanes (mostly empty) and busisation of whole areas
Humps, bumps, chicanes
Gating of cars at traffic lights (phasing)
Introduction of more and more traffic light controls e.g. 1800 now planned for London
Ever slower speed limits e.g. 40 to 30, 30 to 20 with multiple and confusing signage
Lack of signage altogether or disappearing destinations so drivers get lost
False or out of date information relayed via traffic information boards
No parking areas, lack of free on-street or low-cost off-street parking causes traffic to circulate
Lack of road building and motorway construction or widening schemes
Roads left in a state of disrepair so traffic crawls along potholed tank tracks

I could probably think of a few more given another two minutes. All designed to make many routes congested, and force traffic onto certain 'approved' routes - the first gives the excuse for road charging and the second makes it easier to implement.

'not done in our name'