Chris Bertram wrote: ↑Wed Apr 14, 2021 13:15
Bryn666 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 13, 2021 20:47
London has the lowest rate of car ownership in the UK, at 56%...
That's as may be. The trouble with a raw number like that - and note that it is a majority, if not a huge one - is that I don't know whether it's been trending upwards, or downwards, or staying stable over, say, the last 10 years. WHBM, as a local, probably has a much better feel for that than either of us. Anyway, London has the best public transport provision in the UK by a country mile, but people who need their cars, and for whom even the excellent PT doesn't work, still need their cars and will be taking attitudes to congestion charging and ULEZ zones into account when deciding who to vote for.
Car ownership, at least here in our road, is much as it always has been - pretty much everybody. But they don't get used a lot compared to the rest of the country, even in other cities, and certainly not for mileage, although they may get used every day and thus get hit with the charge.
My car being petrol is OK; we are inside the zone. And, to be honest, I don't think that anyone living in a congested city and who uses their car a lot should choose a diesel nowadays, not even a current compliant one, when alternative petrol or electric cars are available. Having said that, it's notable that over recent years cars, overall, have been squeezed out of inner London roads, especially the major ones; the majority of traffic now is commercial - who are almost wholly diesel. It's also notable that our air quality here does not seem out of step with elsewhere. The government and EU have legislated on emissions, and to be honest you don't see many vehicles more than a few years old (and thus currently compliant, at least for petrol) on the road in central London anyway. It seems to be a revenue grab on commercial diesels who have no option, and has along the way scooped all the older cars of residents who don't do that much mileage anyway - but do maybe use them every day.
I am however hacked off with the extension of congestion charging to 24x7, when there isn't any, and when access across London is not nearly as good as weekdays, nor the typical destinations as focused in the centre. It has incidentally increased my driving across Central London. I used to go to the office by Heathrow out by M11/M25 (in morning charging time) and return evening through the centre (after charging time). Now I may as well go both ways through the centre; it's slower and costs more fuel by the M25, one way sort of OK, not both ways. Once things get going again it will be found to have damaged much of Central London leisure commerce. Notably the Night Tube has been withdrawn; Andy Byford, Transport Commissioner, said the Night Tube would not be restored anytime soon "because it didn't make money". That's fine, but don't then stiff those who come in to Central London at weekend nights by car instead. You can't have it both ways.
Incidentally, speaking of Commissioners, my onetime university colleague, Peter Hendy, former Commissioner (different university but we touched on a field trip), would I think never have tolerated this, seeing it as against normal London residents. I remember him versus the Olympics zealots in 2012. They all wanted loads of exclusive streets, all for a couple of months. Hendy, meanwhile, on the news : "The residents of London will not be deprived of their mobility for one minute longer than necessary". That's the attitude to have. And he won.
I do believe that increasing the charge times, the charge itself, and the ULEZ has been done at the worst possible time. My neighbours, with a older W-reg small Toyota, which they use just several times a week to see and carry East London relatives, have lost most of their income due to the virus (one made redundant, one furloughed/short time), are faced with a huge bill every time they drive it now, or they have to buy a new car they cannot currently afford.
Khan does not realise that many people are at their wits end for money currently - most of those employed at London City airport have been made redundant, and likewise most restaurants and a number of shops across Canary Wharf have not only been closed, but given up for good. And yet they introduce the charge that is crippling for them. TfL have lost a vast amount of money on the public transport side, it's surely inappropriate to leave all their fares and concessions much as they were, and stick the big increase on road users. Very funny to the profligate TfL lot who thought it all up, none of whom by the way have lost their jobs it seems. Most of us here do not drive any significant distance each day (I'm surely the main user).
Do not delude yourself that public transport is excellent for London residents; that only really applies to journeys to/from Zone 1, inside the Circle Line. Anything else in inner and outer suburbs is a chance. Our journey to school, for example, by car, takes 10 minutes each way, and always has done (unless the Blue Bridge into Canary Wharf docks goes up for a ship, as yesterday
). Public transport - well over an hour. In fact by the time one has only walked to the DLR station, I can be driving back home again. And the roads are not impossibly congested, otherwise people would not do it.
I'm going to vote as I am because I don't believe this is the time to hit the population with extra costs and/or the need to buy new cars when so many have suffered loss of income. The economic devastation of the last 12 months should surely trump any political greenwash or those whit a tunnel-vision agenda.
We notably shielded last year. As some may know, I got the Coronavirus really badly in Jan/Feb this year. Very nearly hospitalised (in fact I would have been if not for me railing against it). Well done Mrs W through all this by the way
. This was got in the ONE trip by Underground etc that was made in late December; the dates all align, medics agreed. The population of London has likewise been sensible and moved from public transport to independent cars in a big way. Roads still full; Underground/DLR pretty empty. How sensible at such a time. For Khan to introduce a measure which runs completely counter to this and forces people back to public transport just so he can make a revenue grab and squander it on things like Crossrail (opening December 2018 don't forget, with the highest paid public executives in the country managing it and telling us so) is just criminal. Yes, they have lost much money on the public transport side. That's your problem, Mayor/TfL. Not ours.
As it's a TfL scheme I'm also not clear where the road users are going to be (if Khan wins) measured - is it only on TfL roads ? In which case there will be much diversion off the main routes like the Limehouse Link, onto inappropriate rat-running. I await some maps for this.