Lord Bracknell
On fire
... and some of them will be sharing the post-match drinking opportunities with us in the North Stand concourse.
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Transport an' tings, am I correct in thinking it's turning out very well?
- Thread starter Herr Tubthumper
- Start date
Because some time in the next year or so we will need to get planning permission from the council to get more seats. One question that is bound to come up is transport policy and the question will be asked "What are you doing about sustainable transport?" I reckon that telling a Green-led council that we're asking pedestrians and cyclists to subsidise car drivers would be a sure-fire way to ensure that our request for more seats will be turned down.
EDIT: In fact, I think it should be that the club should be looking to increase cycle parking at the club. Someone on here the other day suggested that cyclists should be given a money on their smartcard or additional loyalty points. I'm not sure that that's feasible but I certainly think that if we do want to put 8000 more seats in, we should be looking at ways to get more people walking or cycling not fewer.
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Lord Bracknell
On fire
I've had a conversation with a senior Green councillor who did offer the opinion that the Club weren't doing enough to discourage car use.
Ouch! Perhaps anyone living in the City should be banned from using the car parks or park and ride and leave those facilties to the out of towners! Seriously with all the special bus and coaches , and I think I read 4000 using the train and 4000 using P & R not sure what else you can do.
The Peanut Roaster
Banned
I saw a few (who should know better, but shall remain nameless), showing Withdean travel vouchers at Brighton station on Saturday and getting through.
That could be the problem though - if there isn't much more to do then how can an additional 8,000 people get there other than by car?
West Hoathly Seagull
Honorary Ruffian
I see your point there, but could they not key the voucher onto your smartcard, so that you could opt for one with it included, or one without? Mind you, I suppose that would require the transport operators to modify their vehicles to accept card swiping, and it would be a bit much to expect Metrobus to do this as well as Brighton and Hove. I have to say that I have not had any real problem with the system. I've paid my £30, and if people are getting a free ride, there is not much I can do about it. By and large, the drivers of the 28 and 29 and the staff at the ticket barriers at the stations I've used other than Falmer have checked the voucher (the guy at Lewes was collecting them after the Peterborough game).
How is a compulsory travel voucher 'subsidising car use'? No one ever said that at Withdean, indeed I can't think of anything better to discourage car use than to say "Look, your match ticket also gives you free bus and train travel, so leave the car at home."
Agree with you about the cyclists and doing more to encourage it. People who cycle up should be able to hand their unused travel voucher to a steward and get a free bottle of Lucozade or whatever it is you lycra lads drink.
Lord Bracknell
On fire
The biggest single "pro-car" piece of marketing that the Club have done is to promote sales of 1901 Club seats by chucking in priority access to car parking spaces. It might have been an effective way of selling more 1901 Club seats than anyone thought possible, and I'm not knocking people for taking up the offer - but it certainly contributed nothing to the Club's image as an advocate of sustainable travel.
Uter
Well-known member
It'd be interesting to know what percentage of supporters travel to the Amex by public transport. Personally I'd be surprised if there is any club in the country that achieves as high a proportion as us, outside of London.
Did they go into details about what else the club could be doing?
Lord Bracknell
On fire
It wasn't a conversation that was about the club, just a throwaway line that he dropped into a more general conversation about Green transport policy in Brighton and Hove. In fact, I don't think he even knew that I was an Albion supporter. His main point was that there were too many car parks in the City and the football club were adding to them.
Uter
Well-known member
But even then they were sold 1 space per 4 Gold seats and 1 space per 2 platinum seats.
I do think the club could perhaps do more to squeeze as much use out of the car parks as possible. E.g. a car sharing database or allocating full cars more preferable car park spaces. I suppose you could argue it sends out the wrong message, but we need to be realistic. We are obliged to provide a certain number of spaces and people are going to use them. We might as well utilise them as well as possible. Plus it would take a bit of strain off the trains and buses.
Lord Bracknell
On fire
I agree, Uter. There are two questions here. The first is how can the Club promote the idea of stadium expansion in a city where the Council's administration wants to see minimal car parking provision associated with new planning? The second is how can supporters get to matches with the minimum of disruption?
The Green Party doesn't see Park & Ride as a solution to the first question, if it merely adds to traffic volumes in the city. But more Park & Ride facilities are, I think, an essential part of the answer to the second question.
Ees complicated.
The Green Party doesn't see Park & Ride as a solution to the first question, if it merely adds to traffic volumes in the city. But more Park & Ride facilities are, I think, an essential part of the answer to the second question.
Ees complicated.
West Hoathly Seagull
Honorary Ruffian
I'm surprised the Council hasn't introduced a Boris Bikes-style scheme in central Brighton, including the Station, which would surely encourage more people to cycle to the Amex. Perhaps the club could sponsor such a scheme. I would certainly consider cycling from Brighton Station to the Amex for the Saturday games if parking wasn't such a pain in Haywards Heath, getting fitter and seeing parts of Brighton I don't normally visit. As it is, it is so much easier for me to drive to Lewes and park somewhere I know is usually free then take a bus or train.
Because the travel vouchers are also used on the park and ride.
Now, if the suggestion is that the club should include the cost of the travel voucher with the ticker and the people who use the P&R have to pay extra on top of that, then, yes, I think that's a reasonable option. But I don't think that that is what was proposed.
Good idea about the unused travel voucher too - that's something that would work - half of Harveys would be better though.
I think that getting 8000 more people to the Amex is going to be a big headache and I agree with Lord B that producing more P&Rs isn't the right answer. Personally, as I stated a few weeks ago, I think one solution is to encourage more car-sharing by predatory pricing for one or two person-occupied cars, coupled with an expansion of bike-parking. It's certainly something that the club really has to address if it wants to get these extra seats and I really don't think more car parking is going to endear us to the city councillors.
Twinkle Toes
Growing old disgracefully
If you get the opportunity, Your Lordship, could you ask him what he thinks we should do? Perhaps he'll organise some training sessions so we can weave our own coracles out of ethically sourced tofu? Or maybe we can offset our carbon footprint on matchdays by having a massed juggle on the beach of an evening??
Hunting 784561
New member
- Jul 8, 2003
- 3,651
The most appropriate solution to accommodating an extra 8000 spectators is a major upgrading of the train service- probably need a 12 car train every 5/10 minutes.
The club should in all honesty contribute to the infrastructure costs in conjunction with Southern rail, which given the massive cost of the stadium is not unreasonable.
Anything else is just tinkering at the margins.
The club should in all honesty contribute to the infrastructure costs in conjunction with Southern rail, which given the massive cost of the stadium is not unreasonable.
Anything else is just tinkering at the margins.
Lord Bracknell
On fire
To be fair to him ... he recognises that it's not easy to achieve his party's objectives. But he also thinks a Green council has an obligation to try to make a difference.
Lord Bracknell
On fire
"Not unreasonable", but, if you want to cover the infrastructure costs of delivering, say, six eight-carriage trains an hour between Brighton and Falmer, it will be considerably more expensive than the stadium.
A 12 car train every 5/10 minutes would cost hundreds of millions. Brighton station would need more platforms, for a start.
Charging £15 for a car parking space? so high a price that not all of the relatively small number that available have been sold. What f***ing planet do some of these looneys live on??