| Topic: | Re:Re:Yes we can cope. The question is how do we make our lives better? | |
| Posted by: | Andrew OSullivan | |
| Date/Time: | 03/06/19 23:25:00 |
| It has to be conceded that there must be some people who have perfectly good alternatives but are so wedded to the car nothing will persuade them to change. However, I don't know any body like this and I believe them to be relatively rare. I worked in an office in the centre of London many years ago before congestion charging etc. There were about 500 staff and 8 parking spaces reserved in the development. Four were reserved for directors and the rest were available for all staff if they wished - I never saw more than four cars parked in them and it was widely known at the firm if you needed to drive in there would be a space. There is a bit of a myth about commuter parkers. Most people in well paid jobs work in central London and adequate transport means that the proportion who don't drive in is well over 90%. I don't know about Chiswick Business Park but I've never heard of any problems with traffic due to people driving in there for work in the morning or evening. The crush every day at Gunnersbury suggests that most people take the tube. The only people I know currently who drive into work in London are those in relatively poorly paid jobs like firemen and teachers who have to live in places with inadequate transport connections because they are much cheaper. The expensive cars you see in the morning are probably Ubers. The point of all this is that the number of people on the road who could practically change their travel routines is less than the extra journeys that are going to be happening due to construction and diversions and the other issues that will make travel in our area more difficult, the next three years are going to be highly problematic. I'm not confident that anyone is looking at this from a strategic point of view and that transport policy in London is dysfunctional at the moment. |