1.6 Tonnes is the new heavy

[IanF]

According to the French anyway! Bizarre that they want to improve the “greeness” of Paris whilst also including EVs in the parking fee increase.

https://news.sky.com/story/paris-votes- ... s-13064477

[Mito Man]

£192 for a 6 hour stay. Fuck don’t give our dipshit mayor ideas now.

[Mito Man]

Mind you at least the French will protest it and start burning down the city. We just bend over and take it whilst saying thank you

[mik]

“Just 5.7% of voters turned out in the referendum, which asked if voters were "for or against the creation of a specific rate for the parking of heavy, bulky, polluting individual cars?"



And yet, it’s now good to go.

[Brannen]

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?

[Sundayjumper]

“Just 5.7% of voters turned out in the referendum, which asked if voters were "for or against the creation of a specific rate for the parking of heavy, bulky, polluting individual cars?"



And yet, it’s now good to go.

I think the voting was by residents, who don't have to pay, so I'm guessing largely DGAF.

I'm in favour of making cities less polluted & more pedestrian / cyclist friendly. Motorists are incredibly selfish expecting everything to revolve around them.

[Swervin_Mervin]

“Just 5.7% of voters turned out in the referendum, which asked if voters were "for or against the creation of a specific rate for the parking of heavy, bulky, polluting individual cars?"



And yet, it’s now good to go.

I think the voting was by residents, who don't have to pay, so I'm guessing largely DGAF.

I'm in favour of making cities less polluted & more pedestrian / cyclist friendly. Motorists are incredibly selfish expecting everything to revolve around them.

Yep, this.

[duncs500]

No problemo, enough headroom in 1600kg to bring another one.

[mik]

“Just 5.7% of voters turned out in the referendum, which asked if voters were "for or against the creation of a specific rate for the parking of heavy, bulky, polluting individual cars?"



And yet, it’s now good to go.

I think the voting was by residents, who don't have to pay, so I'm guessing largely DGAF.

I'm in favour of making cities less polluted & more pedestrian / cyclist friendly. Motorists are incredibly selfish expecting everything to revolve around them.

I'm also fully aligned with this, with a caveat.

I once joined (unwittingly - I had a mate who regularly took part in group-based marketing exercises, who would pull me in occasionally - I thought I was going to another of these, but it turned out to be) one of Tony Blair's think-tanks on transportation policy. Initially there was fairly open discussion about everyone's behaviours and tendencies, the pros/cons of different options etc, but it became clear that the focus was assessing how car users would respond to making the use of their car less attractive. There was no interest at that time in discussing how we could improve the attractiveness of public transport, walking or cycling - it was all about driving (pun intended) people in those directions by simply making it more difficult/expensive to use their car.

I don't want to get to the situation where it's only Alan Sugar and Elon Musk who are driving their cars into towns. Remember in the early 2000's when Ireland created bus & taxi lanes (mainly around Dublin), so Michael O'Leary promptly incorporated "O'Leary's Cabs", spent EU70k odd on a taxi license, and stuck it on the back of his S-Class so he could breeze daily past the hoi poloi.

So yeah - lets shift behaviour, but by making the other options more attractive than they are today. From my perspective as a non-resident : London is a long way from bad, but other European cities do it far better (with properly separated cycle ways, spotless regular and reliable public transport services, and single-tickets that cover train, underground, bus etc).

[Swervin_Mervin]

“Just 5.7% of voters turned out in the referendum, which asked if voters were "for or against the creation of a specific rate for the parking of heavy, bulky, polluting individual cars?"



And yet, it’s now good to go.

I think the voting was by residents, who don't have to pay, so I'm guessing largely DGAF.

I'm in favour of making cities less polluted & more pedestrian / cyclist friendly. Motorists are incredibly selfish expecting everything to revolve around them.

I'm also fully aligned with this, with a caveat.

I once joined (unwittingly - I had a mate who regularly took part in group-based marketing exercises, who would pull me in occasionally - I thought I was going to another of these, but it turned out to be) one of Tony Blair's think-tanks on transportation policy. Initially there was fairly open discussion about everyone's behaviours and tendencies, the pros/cons of different options etc, but it became clear that the focus was assessing how car users would respond to making the use of their car less attractive. There was no interest at that time in discussing how we could improve the attractiveness of public transport, walking or cycling - it was all about driving (pun intended) people in those directions by simply making it more difficult/expensive to use their car.

I don't want to get to the situation where it's only Alan Sugar and Elon Musk who are driving their cars into towns. Remember in the early 2000's when Ireland created bus & taxi lanes (mainly around Dublin), so Michael O'Leary promptly incorporated "O'Leary's Cabs", spent EU70k odd on a taxi license, and stuck it on the back of his S-Class so he could breeze daily past the hoi poloi.

So yeah - lets shift behaviour, but by making the other options more attractive than they are today. From my perspective as a non-resident : London is a long way from bad, but other European cities do it far better (with properly separated cycle ways, spotless regular and reliable public transport services, and single-tickets that cover train, underground, bus etc).

That's fine in theory, but making other options attractive only works to a certain extent, especially in countries such as the UK where the typical mindset is that the car rules and where snobbish attitudes towards public transport use prevail. In practice you need both the carrot and the stick.

[mik]

In practice you need both the carrot and the stick.

Fair enough, and with limited spaces, increasing the appeal of X may naturally force a reduction in the appeal of Y, but let’s ensure the carrots haven’t been frozen to allow them to be used as sticks/prodders too.

[Swervin_Mervin]

In practice you need both the carrot and the stick.

Fair enough, and with limited spaces, increasing the appeal of X may naturally force a reduction in the appeal of Y, but let’s ensure the carrots haven’t been frozen to allow them to be used as sticks/prodders too.

I like that.

The UK is catching up, but very slowly, and decisions like HS2 North don't help. And look at the resistance to change when new junctions or the like are rolled out to much public fury.

I just checked before and should we ever lose our minds and choose to drive to Paris, both the Superb and the 330 are under the 1.6t threshold. Weirdly, they've a quote kerbweight only 1kg different (1554 vs 1555). The Skoda much lighter than I expected given it's a foot longer than the E91 and wider to boot.

[V8Granite]

That’s a huge surprise for the Superb, that’s what modern cars should be like.

Is there a city which has noticeably improved from being more pedestrianised ? I won’t go to Cambridge anymore due to parking and the awful road network, I’m probably in the minority though.

Milton Keynes is where we go for shopping and Stamford, Leicester as the parking and driving there is so good.

Dave!

[DeskJockey]

“Just 5.7% of voters turned out in the referendum, which asked if voters were "for or against the creation of a specific rate for the parking of heavy, bulky, polluting individual cars?"



And yet, it’s now good to go.

I think the voting was by residents, who don't have to pay, so I'm guessing largely DGAF.

I'm in favour of making cities less polluted & more pedestrian / cyclist friendly. Motorists are incredibly selfish expecting everything to revolve around them.

Yep, this.

Agreed.

[Rich B]

I wonder where they take the figures from? Mine seems to vary from 1575kg to 1625kg online! Could be an expensive few kgs for some!

[Mito Man]

That’s a huge surprise for the Superb, that’s what modern cars should be like.

Is there a city which has noticeably improved from being more pedestrianised ? I won’t go to Cambridge anymore due to parking and the awful road network, I’m probably in the minority though.

Milton Keynes is where we go for shopping and Stamford, Leicester as the parking and driving there is so good.

Dave!

That's the thing, keeping cities/towns for locals is all well and good if you're a local but you can see the effect of it eventually. People don't visit as much, don't spend as much, just go to large out of town shopping centres. You just end up with a shitty empty town centre filled with charity shops, coffee shops, vape stores and homeless people. And then people bitch about the high street dying. People can't see the wood for the trees...

[Mito Man]

Also I think all of Paris will be Crit air 0 from 2030 so another 6 years and you'll be visiting in a sub 1.6 tonne EV so you'll be going there in the small battery Nissan Leaf which will need about 10 charging stops

[Rich B]

Ascot has a small high st, but it's always busy and bustling, partly (imo) due to the fact it's a car town. The whole high st is 1 hour parking so you can just rock up, parallel park, walk 20 steps and grab what you need, walk another 20 steps and stop in to get a coffee and head off quick. 5 mins and you're done.

They keep on talking about pedestrianisation options, but I think it would kill it - if you have to park up and walk in, you might as well go to Bracknell where the shops are better.

[DeskJockey]

As we're heading to Paris over Easter I'm hoping they've not implemented the changes yet. Apparently the lightest version of the Galaxy comes in at 1697kg.

I have my Crit'Air sticker though.

[Swervin_Mervin]

Ascot has a small high st, but it's always busy and bustling, partly (imo) due to the fact it's a car town. The whole high st is 1 hour parking so you can just rock up, parallel park, walk 20 steps and grab what you need, walk another 20 steps and stop in to get a coffee and head off quick. 5 mins and you're done.

They keep on talking about pedestrianisation options, but I think it would kill it - if you have to park up and walk in, you might as well go to Bracknell where the shops are better.

Depends how you go about it - crucially it's striking the right balance. There's been a gradual shift in Altrincham, and as a result it's booming. Consistently cited as one of the top places to live in the UK, and the centre itself is fully pedestrianised, with the main through route upgraded to make it a nicer place to be on foot, without closing it off to traffic. The bus and rail station has been renovated to create a more integrated transport hub, with buses, Metrolink and rail all practically under one roof.

People moaned like hell at first, and some morons still do, but most love the transformation. It's become a place people don't just dive in and out of, but will happily spend a good chunk of their day. And, most crucially of all, if you haven't driven you can have a drink

Main through route now:


One of the main pedestrian areas: