Coronavirus: Private and Commercial transport

[Truvelo]

I have two flights booked this summer. One with BA and the other with Eurowings. I'm not worried about either airline going bust. What I am concerned with is vouchers the airlines are providing to use on flights later in the year. These vouchers are pegged to the value of the booked flight so if the alternative flights you choose later in the year are more expensive then you pay the difference. Of course, the general feeling is the price of flights will skyrocket once things get back to normal as airlines need the cash. This will mean these vouchers will be worthless as it will be impossible to book similar flights for the same price as those I'm booked on. This is why I either want a full refund or be booked on flights in the autumn without the need for stupid vouchers.

[XC70]

I have two flights booked this summer. One with BA and the other with Eurowings. I'm not worried about either airline going bust. What I am concerned with is vouchers the airlines are providing to use on flights later in the year. These vouchers are pegged to the value of the booked flight so if the alternative flights you choose later in the year are more expensive then you pay the difference. Of course, the general feeling is the price of flights will skyrocket once things get back to normal as airlines need the cash. This will mean these vouchers will be worthless as it will be impossible to book similar flights for the same price as those I'm booked on. This is why I either want a full refund or be booked on flights in the autumn without the need for stupid vouchers.

Well once they cancel the flight you can get a refund and pocket the cash.

[JohnnyMo]

Well once they cancel the flight you can get a refund and pocket the cash.

Easy Jet are being unhelpful, all the flights in April are sold out so you can't book them, but not cancelled.

[haymansafc]

Depending on how early the police set up their 'Intercept Teams', it could be inevitable that I'll be pulled over sooner rather than later. They've now popped up on the A494 by the River Dee bridge, utilising the wide hard shoulder on the westbound carriageway before the lane drop. A route which is part of my daily commute.

If it wasn't for the Coronavirus, this would be a headline I'd never thought I'd see... Surreal.

[CrazyInWeston]

I have to make a daily trip to ensure that my brother is okay. He is living independently but still needs help for shopping or for changing his bedding, cleaning his kitchen, hoovering his lounge etc... We are trying to give him such independence so he doesnt have to rely on us all the time (because well, we wont be around forever, and in the long run, it is beneficial he learns how to do such things)

I am allowed to visit him as he is vulnerable, and the one thing I have noticed since the lockdown is the LACK of parking spaces on the road I live.

Its a residential road with no driveways, so you know what they are like... usually middle of the day, plenty of spaces, but lately middle of the day and maybe only one other car or 2 has left and when I return, these spaces are filled up, so I'm finding it harder to park near to my home at the moment.

[darkcape]

At work, we're in the process of acquiring letters from essential services who we supply, stating the business we're in is an essential part of their supply chain. It's unlikely I'll end up with a copy, but the delivery drivers will be having one. At the moment, myself and a few others remaining in the office have a signed letter from the managing director basically stating we cannot do our work from home – should we get pulled over.

Both my and my wife's employer has also issued letters - her company is a food producer so still going, but the earliest report was 4am Tuesday morning of their staff being stopped, they are based in the city centre though.

Traffic seemed a little busier on Thursday - maybe more people venturing out with the ongoing good weather and cabin fever setting in? Friday was quieter again. All the traffic lights didn't know what to do with the lack of traffic and by Friday morning they were all switched to off-peak timings usually used on the weekends. Some are running purely demand-based which you normally only see between 1am and 5am.

[brummie_rob]

There has been police checkpoints on the A53 Endon between Stoke and Leek catching people heading into the Staffordshire Moorlands and in Biddulph. There was also one yesterday on the A500 at J16 heading out of Crewe.

[Big Nick]

If they'd had the foresight to say at the outset 'Stay Local' and 'Stay Away From Other People' we would be having far less of these problems now.

What were the government doing between the virus outbreak in January and its arrival in the UK 2 months later? We seemed to start ordering ventilators and PPE supplies when it got here while Italy was clearly struggling with a lack of such things.

[someone]

If they'd had the foresight to say at the outset 'Stay Local' and 'Stay Away From Other People' we would be having far less of these problems now.

And not going on TV to literally tell people they can go for leisurely drives.

Anyway, a little off-topic but France has turned a train into an ambulance-cum-hospital to take patients in the overwhelmed Grand Est region to other areas of France and neighbouring countries with available capacity.

One of the many advantages of using a train is it is much smoother than transporting patients by road, so doctors and nurses can treat them as they would in a hospital. That was according to a translation I read from the man leading the project, who is seen at the end of the (French) YouTube video which shows how they are using the train.

https://www.france24.com/en/20200326-hi ... s-patients
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHSrGUyhwVk

[DB617]

There are a lot of anecdotal reports of police overreaching and sending people like commercial supermarket cleaners back home, resulting in their stores not being cleaned. I know nobody knows what's going on but I thought there was a basic intellect requirement for joining a Police force.

[Barkstar]

There are a lot of anecdotal reports of police overreaching and sending people like commercial supermarket cleaners back home, resulting in their stores not being cleaned. I know nobody knows what's going on but I thought there was a basic intellect requirement for joining a Police force.

It does rather suggest that currently the police have time on their hands. I did think that the pictures all over the press of the roadside check - in Wales iirc - was a tactic to put the frighteners on everyone. From what has been said it seems these checks are to keep the countryside clear, at least so far. Remains to be seen if my trip to collect my car from Penrith will pass without incident. It may come to pass that they are busy with other things in the coming weeks as cabin fever takes hold and people start getting antsy.

There's a hint of bolting stable door about blocking carparks with boulders - that weekend was a set of circumstances that won't happen again. There's no real reason why someone couldn't drive into the countryside and go for a walk from a self distancing point of view. But there are simply too many of us so inclined. I had thought to stop on my way home with the car to get some fresh air but I'm not so inclined only because I have no desire to have to explain myself, and that doesn't sit easy with me at all.

[Truvelo]

My brother says he has seen plenty of hill walkers passing through his village in North Wales over the last few days. Obviously police can't be everywhere and they seem to be concentrating their efforts on national parks and other tourist hotspots.

[Fenlander]

As an NHS keyworker my wife has a letter to print off and put in her car for when she has to go to work, sounds fairly sensible but what about those that can't work from home so are allowed to go into the office - essential journey or not? Similarly shopping, there's a balance to strike between 7 trips a week getting the normal amount, 1 trip a week overstocking and trotting round 7 different shops to get an item out of stock Vs 7 different shops to get a particular brand.

[trickstat]

As an NHS keyworker my wife has a letter to print off and put in her car for when she has to go to work, sounds fairly sensible but what about those that can't work from home so are allowed to go into the office - essential journey or not? Similarly shopping, there's a balance to strike between 7 trips a week getting the normal amount, 1 trip a week overstocking and trotting round 7 different shops to get an item out of stock Vs 7 different shops to get a particular brand.

There does not seem to be anything actually stopping me spending an hour or so* driving via Tesco, Sainsbury's, Aldi and Morrison's and 'cherry-picking' a few particular items from each of them. However, that does not seem to me to be in the spirit of isolation and distancing.

*If it was the afternoon, the extra queuing likely in the morning would increase this time by quite a few minutes.

[Glenn A]

Traffic numbers seem to be down 80% locally and even the traffic around the supermarkets is quieter, as people try to avoid arriving at busy times where there are long queues outside.

[mark3evo]

i worked from home mon to thursday , but had to travel to work Friday morning to our manufacturing unit
M180 i realised that i was the only Car for 9 miles till M18, just Lorries and vans
made me feel really conspicuous.

Feb 2020 average commuting time for 45 miles normally 55 mins to 1 hour 10
covered with ease in 48 minutes.
it was noticeable the average speed of cars on M18 was well over 85mph, due to clear view of Motorway

[Chris Bertram]

i worked from home mon to thursday , but had to travel to work Friday morning to our manufacturing unit
M180 i realised that i was the only Car for 9 miles till M18, just Lorries and vans
made me feel really conspicuous.

Feb 2020 average commuting time for 45 miles normally 55 mins to 1 hour 10
covered with ease in 48 minutes.
it was noticeable the average speed of cars on M18 was well over 85mph, due to clear view of Motorway

And despite the increased speeds, were there no more accidents than normal?

[Glenn A]

I wonder, though, when this ends, there will be a massive increase in people wanting to visit areas popular with tourists like Cumbria and the end of home working could see the roads back to normal at peak time.

[Big Nick]

I wonder, though, when this ends, there will be a massive increase in people wanting to visit areas popular with tourists like Cumbria and the end of home working could see the roads back to normal at peak time.

That's partly my worry. I have the first week of May booked off and if the restrictions lift I won't be having the quiet getaway I was hoping for.

[bothar]

Traffic on the M50 in Dublin at noon was 11.5% of that 3 weeks ago while cross border traffic on the M1 is only 8.5%.