fuel prices

[Gully]

Park and ride can provide the answer, if it is a cheaper alternative to taking the car. Whenever I go into Cheltenham I use a park and ride, it is far cheaper at £2 than taking the car into the town centre and paying for parking, it is also quicker and saves fuel...it is hard to argue against something that reduces the main hassles of taking a car into a town centre, a complete winner in my books.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

How many households in Brighton run TWO cars, one of which is only used for journeys within the city?

Assume that the second car is a cheap one, that does only 5,000 miles a year. It'll still cost £2,851 a year to run. For that price, you could afford to buy SIX annual SuperSaver tickets for B&H Buses and still have change in your pocket.

Well over half the population of Brighton and Hove live within ten minutes walk of a very decent bus service.

 

[Cian]

Do B&H Buses have the capacity to deal with an en-masse move to bus commuting, though?

 

[Lord Bracknell]

A good point, MYOB. I would say that B&H Buses are more attuned to increasing capacity on busy routes than most urban bus operators in the UK.

There is certainly the capacity at off-peak times to take more passengers. My point about two-car households in Brighton and Hove was that a high proportion of private motoring done in those households is outside commuting times anyway, or it is associated with home to school travel that could easily switch to a non-car mode.

 

[bigc]

Do B&H Buses have the capacity to deal with an en-masse move to bus commuting, though?

They could always invest in some bendy buses, they carry more than double deckers after all

 

[mona]

Driving has been subsidised for so long because we didn't realise until recently how harmful it was.

Sorry. I don't want to pick at your sensible comments but the environmental harm caused by cars was openly discussed by many people 35 plus years ago.

 

[mona]

That, for me, is the best answer. Why something along those lines is not in operation I don't know. And the fact it's not should surely mean someone in power is planning it. I'd find a huge site somewhere around Patcham/Waterhall, run buses every 5 minutes throughout the day, and set a parking AND bus travel cost of, say, £1 per person. Making it THAT cheap and that easy is the only way you'll get people out of cars. Right now, even if Brighton and Hove Buses offered the most amazing service in the world (which they don't), it still costs £3.50 a day which, frankly, is obscene.

Yes. Lets concrete over the South Downs around Brighton.

 

[BensGrandad]

I dream of a large park and ride service at the West, North and East of Brighton, with the capacity to ship large amounts of people into the city at a reasonable cost. There must be sites around the outskirts of Brighton that could cater for this, surely?

I have mentioned this on here before but Ipswich have one in each direction from the city centre ie. N S E & W that operate from 7am to 7pm to encourage people to use it to go to and from work, A couple of years ago when I was there it was £ 2 per car per day £10 per week and £20 per month. Very affordable and very well used, so much so that when I went to do the banking the governor of the pub before going on holiday stressed that it was cheaper to use this than park in the town where it was £4 for the first hour and then per hour after that so even to stop for 10 mins to go to the bank cost £4.

Brighton & Hove buses charge per person, I think so it is cheaper to drive into Brighton if there are 2 or 3 in the car unless, like us you have a bus pass.

 

[bigc]

I think in BH anyway, they really need to push forward with an improved solution.

I remember talk of an RTS last year but it really needs to STOP being talk about BECOME action.

 

[withdeanwombat]

Oh thats the answer.Why didn't i think of that.Not that Labour keeps hitting fuel prices as well as all the other taxes, bills that have increased ten fold since they got in.Thats a tipical response of a plank
I must tell all the haulage companies,taxis,public transport,supermarkets etc your simple answer.

I imagine that once the tories are in they will IMMEDIATELY reduce the tax on fuel by 50%,and all other taxes to pre 1997 rates.

Naturally,none of the conservative supporters have shares in the fuel companies and are making profits from the oil giants that continue to post huge profits with no return to the bulk of consumers.

All those who think the tories are about to return tax money to the average joe need their heads examined.And any tax cuts made will be on the robbing peter to pay Sir Paul priciple; cuts in sevices to pay for a penny off a tax.

The price of oil is pretty much without the influence of GB,as has nearly everything else been since the end of WW2 (perhaps even WW1).For the many on here with overseas experience.........you know what I mean.

Anyway,to get back on topic,I always,ALWAYS,destroy chain letters.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

I imagine that once the tories are in they will IMMEDIATELY reduce the tax on fuel by 50%,and all other taxes to pre 1997 rates.

Undoubtedly.

Who was it who came up with the idea of the fuel duty escalator (the mechanism that commits the government to increasing fuel duties each year by MORE than the rate of inflation)?

Step forward John Selwyn Gummer, John Major's farsighted Secretary of State for the Environment.

 

[bigc]

Undoubtedly.

Who was it who came up with the idea of the fuel duty escalator (the mechanism that commits the government to increasing fuel duties each year by MORE than the rate of inflation)?

Step forward John Selwyn Gummer, John Major's farsighted Secretary of State for the Environment.

But did he feed it to his daughter first?

 

[sod1]

Bassetlaw district council, who cover where i work have a car sharing database. You register with them and they match you up with someone else who lives near you and works near you.

beacause i work shifts the above does not generally work for my firm ,so the firm istelf has there own database.I currently collect two people en route to work and alternating i drop my car at either of their houses and they drive the remainder of the journey. This has reduced my monthly fuel bill by half

 

[Guy Fawkes]

The cost of driving is starting to reflect its true impact on the climate, environment - and the fact that the oil is going to run out. Driving has been subsidised for so long because we didn't realise until recently how harmful it was.

People will drive less - and fewer people will drive - if it's more expensive. Same as anything else.

If I can't afford a house, I don't blame the government for "forcing me to live in a flat" - so it's nonsense to talk about being "forced off the roads" as though you, me or anyone has a god-given right to drive.

You mean you swallowed that crap they spout about the environment, green taxes etc- just a con to get people to happily pay up extra money to the Gov. for crap that isn't really wanted or needed.

Surely it would be far better for the environment to improve public transport, improve the road and rail infrastucture in this country, and get the traffic flowing rather that sitting statiopnary chucking out fumes into the air.

Cars are far more environmentally friendly than they were even just a decade ago, yet there is no compensation to the drivers, just higher tax bills to pay under the pretense its being done to save the environment.

If you don't drive, and live a very green lifestyle, you are still hit badly by high fuel prices, food prices etc all go up because of it.

your point about house prices, so should people be able to own several homes just to rent out to make money for themselves when there is a shortage of new build homes? - all this has done is increase prices, and rental costs, which can hit the poor, the elderly or those with a young family, an area i thought Governments were there to be looking after and acting in their interest

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Bassetlaw district council, who cover where i work have a car sharing database. You register with them and they match you up with someone else who lives near you and works near you.

beacause i work shifts the above does not generally work for my firm ,so the firm istelf has there own database.I currently collect two people en route to work and alternating i drop my car at either of their houses and they drive the remainder of the journey. This has reduced my monthly fuel bill by half

East Sussex County Council run a similar scheme.

Register or Sign In - Travelchoice.org {Part of the liftshare network}

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Surely it would be far better for the environment to improve public transport, improve the road and rail infrastucture in this country, and get the traffic flowing rather that sitting statiopnary chucking out fumes into the air.

Have you been asleep for the last ten years? Public transport HAS improved, especially in and around the Brighton area. Many more people are using it.

But there are still people who prefer to spread the story that they "can't" use it until it gets better. Or that the answer is to spend money on making the roads wider, when, as any fule kno, wider roads create MORE traffic.

 

[Robbie G]

Cars are far more environmentally friendly than they were even just a decade ago, yet there is no compensation to the drivers

But cars still pollute don't they?

And I imagine the advances in environmentally-better cars is being somewhat offset by increases in the number of cars on the road anyway?

 

[beorhthelm]

Cars are far more environmentally friendly than they were even just a decade ago,

im not sure thats true and its certainly not the full picture. individually many cars may be more economic to run, but there's only marginal effect on environmental improvements which were in place in mid 90s. most of which relates to types of pollution at the tail pipe or schemes to recycle parts which were already possible to recycle. the improvements in fuel economy (and there knock on environmental effects) are negated by increase usage over the same time.

 

[Kukev31]

If the governement were serious about cutting pollution and getting cars off the road then they would offset the cost of public transport. Until it is far cheaper to travel on buses and trains then people won't do it.