1.6 Tonnes is the new heavy

[Rich B]

Meh, I get that you can transform towns with good design - Bracknell has been transformed recently and it's only 5 miles down the road - it's now brilliant.

but it's a totally different usage that we don't need to copy in Ascot. I know I'd use it far less if it was changed because I use ascot as a quick stop where I can get 2 or 3 things sorted (small supermarket, Argos pick up, drop off a parcel, get a coffee type stuff) in 10 mins. It's always busy but it just sort of flows.

[GG.]

"Some 54.5% of Parisians voted to increase the price of parking passes for cars weighing more than 1.6 tonnes from outside the city"

Or, EFA "Some 3.1% of Parisians voted to increase the price of parking passes for cars weighing more than 1.6 tonnes from outside the city"

[Mito Man]

Wonder if it's like my council who made no effort to inform anyone and there was just an anti car facebook group which some locals all joined in, knew about it and only they voted.

[JonMad]

Not been to Bracknell in ages, 'brilliant' is a strong term!
Only ever pass around the edge of Ascot on the way between Windsor and the M3

[Rich B]

Not been to Bracknell in ages, 'brilliant' is a strong term!
Only ever pass around the edge of Ascot on the way between Windsor and the M3

yeah, Bracknell town centre used to be somewhere to avoid, I'd go so far as to call it an absolute shithole.

They've redone it really well - I'm no fan of shopping so wouldn't ever go on a Saturday afternoon, but to wonder through on a quieter weekday evening it's a really nice place to be.

[Jimexpl]

5.7% turn out which seems crazily low.

I would have thought that would impact a lot of cars, especially the trajectory that modern cars seemed to have increased their weight. I know the French stereotypically like their small city cars, but cars like the 3 series would probably fall foul of that 1.6t limit. Or is it purely based on car type?

It feels like a pretty irrelevant legislation to me anyway. As someone who drives through Paris at least twice a year I think aside from your typical 5 min dash into a shop, I last parked on the road in about 2010. There's hardly any spaces in areas you'd actually want to park and you can almost guarantee bumper damage.
It's a far nicer city to drive through than London these days (even the Arc de Triomphe feels 'organised' compared to our gridlocked Hyde Park Corner!), but when I need to park up it's straight to my preferred underground car park until we leave the city.

[JonMad]

Not been to Bracknell in ages, 'brilliant' is a strong term!
Only ever pass around the edge of Ascot on the way between Windsor and the M3

yeah, Bracknell town centre used to be somewhere to avoid, I'd go so far as to call it an absolute shithole.

They've redone it really well - I'm no fan of shopping so wouldn't ever go on a Saturday afternoon, but to wonder through on a quieter weekday evening it's a really nice place to be.

well well, may have to make it a destination at some point. Cheers.

[duncs500]

If pedestrianisation is done right it's great I think, gives so many more options for business and just makes the town centre a much nicer place to spend time, but I guess it does very much depend on the layout and infrastructure.

In my local town after a trial around covid time they cut off access to the high street on Saturdays (possibly Fridays too) and its much better, there are actually some other nice streets that I wish they'd do it to as well. However, in my town the streets in the town are not really useful streets for getting anywhere anyway and have pretty limited parking, but there are a few good sized car parks a few mins walk away. So it all works well here, not every town centre has a good set up like that though.

[IanF]

All very well pedestrianising small towns, but what does that have to do with major cities such as London!? You can’t park on the outskirts and walk across it! Mik’s correct that you need to incentivise people to travel on public transport, not just punish people who drive there.

I can drive in, park at Q Hyde Park all day , or even Grosvenor Sq (paying CC) , and it’s still cheaper than paying for 3 of the 4/5 we usually have in the car to get the train in.

But when I get a London address, I will absolutely change my mind and ban anyone from driving in who lives outside the M25!

[RobYob]

So yeah - lets shift behaviour, but by making the other options more attractive than they are today.

Absolutely this.

The likes of the "fuckcars" knobbers will happily sabotage road infrastructure for the sake of their politics.

Most places are not ready and may never be ready for non-car transport. Screwing over drivers might be temporarily trendy but is the cutting off your nose to spite you face level dumb.

[Simon]

The reality of a lot of London is that it's not suited to created separate bus/cycle/car routes as the roads are old and too narrow, so you end up with idiots like Ian and Rob talk about trying to frustrate people out of their cars rather than any sort of joined up thinking about how to tackle the issue. Like, for example, proper car parking at stations on the outside of town so that people can drive from their villages to the main station, then take the train in. Instead, station parking is extortionate, unsafe and often full, so people can't/won't access it. It's called an integrated transport policy,

[IanF]

so you end up with idiots like Ian and Rob talk about ….

Had to read that twice!

[dinny_g]

Station parking is part of the solution for sure. We used to drive to Stanmore and get the Jubilee into London whenever we were having a day out etc but it was always a very nervy drive down as on 2 separate occasions it was full. The first time we drive around for an hour before we caught someone leaving and nabbed their space the second time, we gave up and came home. They then extended it - almost doubling in size but the issue is still the same.

Finally, the Congestion Zone extended to include Stanmore so we don't use that option any more and generally go on the train. Except when thery're striking.

I'm all for improving public transport as an alternative to the car but something needs to be done about the unions because as cars become less and less of an option for most journeys, the unions have a strangle hold over the government to get what they want. Too powerful IMO

[RobYob]

so you end up with idiots like Ian and Rob talk about ….

Had to read that twice!

thought I'd strayed into Boatshoes forums for a moment...

[Simon]

[Rich B]

We still drive into London for family days out. We quite often go to the natural history museum and park on the road next door for free on a Sunday, or if we go up on a Saturday we'll book a private parking.

Even with 3 people it's cheaper than the train. We went to the Tower of London the other day and parking a 5 min walk away was £20 for the day and congestion charge was free because it was NYE. The trains would have been £30 each plus parking at the station is £10.

We do have to take my car rather than my wife's though because hers isn't ulez compliant.

[dinny_g]

The trains would have been £30 each plus parking at the station is £10.

That's pricey - we get 3 adult return tickets from Milton Keynes to Euston plus Underground travel for £44 at weekends.

[Rich B]

To be fair, having looked now, there is similar deal cost for us too - but that's only to Waterloo- you still need to get to where you're actually going on the bus/tube/bike/etc

[dinny_g]

Yeah that's true - add £10 for the day's parking at the station but to be honest, even if I was guaranteed parking at Stanmore, I'd still get the train because the Jubilee line can take 45 mins to get into central London and the train (at that price) is only an hour.

We occasionally treat ourselves to the more expensive option £55 which gives us access to the Avanti - 30 minute - service, more for the way home really

[Mito Man]

You can build an ExCeL sized parking area for your train station, however this glosses over the fact that, at least where I am, the train is already packed with people and you’re standing for 40 minutes. Not great for your £49.30 ticket.