Your opinions please...

[Paul12345]

After yesterdays trip to one of the oddest towns in Britain (MK) (and probably one of it's worst) it seems like a good time to ask people's opinions on research I am currently carrying out as part of my postgraduate degree on our beautiful city of Brighton and Hove.

I am focusing on how Brighton has fared under a New Labour government over the last 10plus years. I'm basically asking what should I be writing about?

Do you think Brighton and Hove has changed?
If so, has these changes been for better or worse?

More generally if you could change Brighton and Hove, what would you change?

Equally having grown up here there are many things I love about our city, so feel free to defend B&H too!

Any opinions would be very much appreciated

ps just for the record we were definitely louder on the left side yesterday

Paul

 

[Djmiles]

Why do I get the feeling you're some randomer on here to do a bit of research?

 

[¤DãŃn¥ §êãGüLL¤]

Let's talk about TITS

 

[Muhammed - I’m hard - Bruce Lee]

and BEER

 

[¤DãŃn¥ §êãGüLL¤]

Ok! You start!

 

[Bombadier Botty]

Why do I get the feeling you're some randomer on here to do a bit of research?

 

[Paul12345]

Yeah I suppose I am on here to do a bit of research but I certainly aint a troll or a randomer in the sense that I am a BHAFC supporter (who goes regular) and an old Newman boy. I am a complete novice at forums-you got me there. I'm not sure what you want me to say really?

I would love to be able to write about tits and beer but my lecturers aren't keen on the ethical dilemmas that throws up when it comes to the research

 

[blue and white army]

f*** the tories

 

[Muhammed - I’m hard - Bruce Lee]

tits and beer...thats what all us good old catholic newman boys talk about

 

[¤DãŃn¥ §êãGüLL¤]

Mmmm.... beer ON tits

 

[Don Quixote]

f*** the tories

I'd give David Cameron a go. He's got a nice pair too.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Nearly 12 years of a Labour Government has changed B&H for the worse. There seems to be more social deprivation despite promises to slowly eradicate poverty. Spiralling house prices in London have seen the make up of the local population change as they have bought property locally which in turn has pushed prices out of reach of those born and bred here. If I could change one thing to improve B&H it would be to give all the druggies , chavs and workshy scum a one way train ticket to another part of the UK. (Liverpool did this in the 1990's to fiddle the unemployment figures and thats why there are thousands of Scousers still living in Bournemouth)

 

[Muhammed - I’m hard - Bruce Lee]

Nearly 12 years of a Labour Government has changed B&H for the worse. There seems to be more social deprivation despite promises to slowly eradicate poverty. Spiralling house prices in London have seen the make up of the local population change as they have bought property locally which in turn has pushed prices out of reach of those born and bred here. If I could change one thing to improve B&H it would be to give all the druggies , chavs and workshy scum a one way train ticket to another part of the UK. (Liverpool did this in the 1990's to fiddle the unemployment figures and thats why there are thousands of Scousers still living in Bournemouth)

yeah yeah yeah

blah blah blah

what about TITS and BEER

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Be positive. Of all cities outside London, Brighton & Hove has seen the greatest improvement in the quality of its bus services. Everywhere else has seen a decline in bus use. It's up by more than 50 per cent in Brighton & Hove.

http://www.osmose-os.org/documents/108/Os_Aw_Appl_20Brighton&Hove.pdf

Accessible City Buses

Location: Brighton & Hove City, UK

Initiator and partners:

Brighton & Hove City Council in partnership with Brighton & Hove Bus and Coach
Company

Short description of the activity:

This case study explains the Accessible City Buses project. This project is designed to
solve everyday problems of people with difficulties to get on and off buses. This could be
people with mobility impairments, mothers with pushchairs, elderly people, etc.

Background and objectives:

In 2000 Brighton and Hove was granted City Status and in the same year, under the
requirements of the Transport Act 2000, it had to develop a five-year Local Transport
Plan (LTP). The first Local Transport Plan LTP1 (February 2001 to June 2005) introduced
the aims and objectives of the City Council. This was followed more recently by LTP2
(July 2006 to November 2010) with the following objectives:

· reduce danger for all road users
· improve accessibility on sustainable transport modes
· encourage partnership and innovation
· seek compatibility between transport and planning policies
· seek to maintain and improve the existing highway network
· reduce road traffic, pollution and congestion
· increase community awareness of the impacts of travel decisions
· improve the economic, environmental and social viability of the city

The city council has four guiding policies, one of which is “Social wellbeing and caring for
vulnerable people”. The public transport team has an ethos for service delivery of
“Transport for All”.

Within this framework, the Accessible City Buses project was developed, which is
designed to solve everyday problems of people with difficulties to get on and off buses.
This could be people with mobility impairments, mothers with pushchairs, elderly people,
etc.

Implementation:

The following solutions were chosen in order to enable and speed up boarding and
alighting for all bus users and to enable easy access for wheelchairs and buggies:

Accessible bus stops. This involves the raising (and sometimes building-out) of the
footway, to provide level access direct onto the bus platform. Accessible bus stops also
speed up general boarding and alighting times, hence increasing bus reliability and
efficiency. Professor Nick Tyler of the Centre for Transport Studies at University College
London, acted as the council’s consultant in this process. He carried out considerable
research into the ideal layout of accessible bus stops and the approach and departure
arrangements for buses. This research was very beneficial in maximising the
effectiveness of these bus stops. Since January 1998, the council has installed over 200
Accessible Bus Stops and another 30 are being built in 2006-07.

Use of low floor and “kneeling” buses. Brighton & Hove Bus & Coach Company invested
nearly £20 million in its fleet of 280 vehicles. The average age of the fleet is now just
less than five years old (compared to a national average of 8.5 years) and over 70% of
the fleet is low floor, kneeling or fully accessible, enabling easier use for wheelchair users
and people with walking difficulties. The modern layout, in conjunction with the council’s
initiatives on accessible bus stops, has also brought benefits to parents of children in
buggies, which are now able to wheel the buggy straight onto the bus, without the need
to remove the child and fold the buggy. The bus company has stated that their planned
strategic investment will mean that 100% of its fleet will be fully accessible by 2010.

The accessible bus stops also feature the installation of ‘Kassel’ kerbs, to guide the bus
driver right up to the footway, without damaging the vehicle’s tyres. Solar-powered
‘Kassel’ kerb lighting is being trialled, to help the driver align the bus closer to the kerb at
night.

In addition, an innovative process of ‘Public Participation’ has been adopted with the
council’s work on the creation of Accessible Bus Stops. Bus users, local residents,
frontage holders and local businesses are invited to a public meeting, before any detailed
engineering drawings have been prepared. The views of all parties are taken into
account and only then do our consultants produce fully worked-up engineering drawings.
The end results have proved to be very satisfactory since all parties can see that their
views have been taken into account and there is a much greater degree of local
‘ownership’ of the final scheme.

Conclusions:

A number of the accessible bus stops have been modified as a result of the feedback
from users and bus drivers.

During the 12- month period to March 2006, there were 36,400,000 passenger journeys
on the city’s bus network. A 3.3% growth over the previous twelve- month period can be
compared against a general national trend of reducing bus patronage and against the
Government’s ‘Ten Year Transport Plan’ target of 1% year-on-year growth. Over the last
ten years, bus patronage in the city of Brighton & Hove has grown with 50%. 80% of the
local population live within easy reach of a weekday bus service operating at a frequency
of ten minutes or better.

User satisfaction with public transport information and local bus services was measured
in April 2003, as a requirement of Best Value Performance Indicators BVPI 103 and 104
respectively.

This survey indicated that 74% of the users who had seen the information were satisfied
with the provision of public transport information. Satisfaction level overall with local bus
services by users was 79%. In both cases, we exceeded our target and are well above
the national average.

Brighton and Hove has seen a 10% reduction in city centre traffic levels over the last 3
years.

37% of households have no car in Brighton and Hove compared to only 19% in the whole
of the South East region.

Other local authorities, including Transport for London, have visited Brighton and Hove to
see the accessible bus stops, as a model of good practice.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

it seems like a good time to ask people's opinions on research I am currently carrying out as part of my postgraduate degree on our beautiful city of Brighton and Hove.

I am focusing on how Brighton has fared under a New Labour government over the last 10plus years. I'm basically asking what should I be writing about?

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but if you need to ask what to write about, then you've already failed your postgraduate degree