Councils should ditch anti car dogma

[Westdene Seagull]

What puts me off town centre shopping? Traffic congestion, that's what.

It's the parking charges that put me off and that's exactly why I no longer shop in town and rarely use restaurants there either.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Look, central Brighton's about the same area as the Square Mile in the City of London, you can easily walk anywhere to anywhere else in about twenty minutes max. **** off with your cars and leave it a nice place for the rest of us to enjoy.

 

[Beach Hut]

Cost £4 to park for one hour in Brighton just to get Mini a new pair of footie boots, bloody expensive charge in my view.

 

[Working class pride]

It's the parking charges that put me off and that's exactly why I no longer shop in town and rarely use restaurants there either.

Park at the car park opposite the Hove Town Hall Council Offices because surprise surprise its cheap as chips to park there. I always park there if going to Brighton. The strange hatred of the most popular form of transport does not seem to extend to paying the same price for their parking as most of the rest of Brighton. As for what a council should do as a result of a loss of revenue, then I would suggest they be more efficient (shock horror) and employ less people so to free those staff to actually contribute to the economy by creating wealth in the private sector. But obviously such an idea will have people throwing their hands up at the very thought, as it is of course the peoples republic of Brighton where some cars are more equal than others.

 

[Garage_Doors]

Didn't know

 

[Garage_Doors]

But ... unlike other UK towns and cities (other than London), bus use in Brighton has doubled in recent years. They must be doing something right.

http://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/content/press-release/bus-patronage-doubles

It's only because they are being forced onto buses because of the anti car statergy, don't dissolution yourself in thinking it because people are "choosing" to use the bus by choice.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

It's only because they are being forced onto buses because of the anti car statergy, don't dissolution yourself in thinking it because people are "choosing" to use the bus by choice.

It's obviously not that simple.

Key statistics from the 2012 National Travel Survey and DfT traffic statistics include:

* Distance travelled per person per year is down 4% since 1997 for all modes of transport and down 7% for driving in a car or van.
* The annual average distance travelled per car has fallen 11% since 2002
* Car ownership levels are now lower than in 2005 at 1.13 cars per household (in 2005 it was 1.15 cars per household)
* The latest DfT traffic statistics for 2012 show that the amount of traffic is now below the level seen in 2003 (259 billion vehicle miles per year, vs 260 billion ten years ago).

A national policy to reduce car use and traffic was first proclaimed by the Conservative government, in 1995, when John Selwyn Gummer was Environment Secretary in John Major's government.

 

[yxee]

Look, central Brighton's about the same area as the Square Mile in the City of London, you can easily walk anywhere to anywhere else in about twenty minutes max. **** off with your cars and leave it a nice place for the rest of us to enjoy.

What about the other 100,000 people that don't live right in the centre of the city, or those with the temerity to buy something that is too heavy to carry a mile?

Opinions like this are nothing more than "you're doing something I don't approve of, so I think I should try to stop you".

 

[Garage_Doors]

* Car ownership levels are now lower than in 2005 at 1.13 cars per household (in 2005 it was 1.15 cars per household)

Is this for Brighon? Of all the people/ families i know none have fewer than 2 most have 3-4.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Cost £4 to park for one hour in Brighton just to get Mini a new pair of footie boots, bloody expensive charge in my view.

You should have got the train...after all it is free.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

What about the other 100,000 people that don't live right in the centre of the city, or those with the temerity to buy something that is too heavy to carry a mile?

Opinions like this are nothing more than "you're doing something I don't approve of, so I think I should try to stop you".

If its too heavy get it delivered.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Look, central Brighton's about the same area as the Square Mile in the City of London, you can easily walk anywhere to anywhere else in about twenty minutes max. **** off with your cars and leave it a nice place for the rest of us to enjoy.

Quite. Why do car drivers feel they have a right to park where they like?

 

[melias shoes]

If its too heavy get it delivered.

He did by CAR!

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Is this for Brighton? Of all the people/ families i know none have fewer than 2 most have 3-4.

Local figures will become available when the 2011 household census results are published.

The 2001 figures are here:- http://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/sit...es/downloads/citystats/7_Transport_Travel.pdf

This is the 2001 commentary on the figures:-

Car ownership in Brighton & Hove is the lowest in the South East region and the 38th
lowest out of 376 local authority areas in England and Wales. Over a third of
households in the city do not own a car and only 19.6% own two or more. This
compares to the South East average of 19.4% of households not owning a car or van
and 36%, or over one in three households, owning two or more such vehicles. In
Brighton & Hove the average number of cars and vans per household is 0.87
compared with 1.3 (i.e. more than one per household on average) in the South East
as a whole.

In 1991 42% of households in the city did not own a car and 16% owned two or more
– so while remaining much lower than the regional average the current percentage of
households not owning a car has fallen over the past 10 years and the percentage
owning two or more has increased.

 

[Albumen]

Not going to go down well with B&H council is it. Shame it doesn't mention unnecessary cycle lanes. The Edward Street plans are the craziest yet.

http://http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-23837610

Since when has a cycle lane been unnecessary?

 

[Lord Bracknell]

These figures have been released, as the first stage of publishing the full 2011 census results:-

Car ownership in Brighton

The most recent information from the 2011 Census paints a picture of a city increasingly relying on public transport as car ownership bucks the national trend.

In 2001 the city’s residents had 0.87 cars for every person eligible to drive but this declined over the decade to 0.82 cars/person in 2011. In real terms this means a reduction of 4,248 vehicles despite the number of potential drivers increasing by 6% over the same period.

Even in 2001 the city was well below the national benchmark for car ownership which stood at 1.1 cars per person. Ownership in 2011 has increased to 1.2 cars/person; a 9% increase against Brighton’s 6% decrease.

http://www.brightonbusiness.co.uk/htm/ni20121212.218907.htm

 

[Garage_Doors]

These figures have been released, as the first stage of publishing the full 2011 census results:-

Car ownership in Brighton

The most recent information from the 2011 Census paints a picture of a city increasingly relying on public transport as car ownership bucks the national trend.

In 2001 the city’s residents had 0.87 cars for every person eligible to drive but this declined over the decade to 0.82 cars/person in 2011. In real terms this means a reduction of 4,248 vehicles despite the number of potential drivers increasing by 6% over the same period.

Even in 2001 the city was well below the national benchmark for car ownership which stood at 1.1 cars per person. Ownership in 2011 has increased to 1.2 cars/person; a 9% increase against Brighton’s 6% decrease.

http://www.brightonbusiness.co.uk/htm/ni20121212.218907.htm

In 2001 my household had 2 in 2013 we have 6 so I guess I'm not the norm.

 

[Prettyboyshaw]

Business parking permit in Hove pre Greens £160 then increased to £300 80+% increase. Nice of them to support small business