mercredi 13 janvier 2016

Rearranging the urban furniture

from the because-we-need-the-space-for-other-things department
The Bristol Traffic blog, which claims to be about "getting around Bristol", obviously got off on the wrong foot when it was named "bristolcars", so I suppose it was hardly surprising that it failed to publish this comment, beneath a post there regretting "the war on the motorist." They are, of course, under no obligation to publish any remark of mine, though their unwillingness to debate their ideas is duly noted. As ever, I offer it here instead:

"The car is a victim of its own success. Car ownership over the last twenty-five years has continued to increase linearly—see this RAC report for example on: Car ownership in Great Britain According to the RAC, there were 20 million cars on Britain's roads in 1991; by 2007 there were 26 million, with considerable growth in two- and three-car households. Whilst these might at first sight be considered figures in support of your argument for more parking and roads, the problem in town is that space is limited and choices have to be made. If every trip into the centre of town were to be made by car, congestion would rise. Consider the graphic attached to this tweet
which illustrates the amount of road space needed by 48 people using various transport modes: a car, the bus, walking, or a bike. It is clear that cars occupy a vast amount of urban space—and the faster they move, the more they need. This high requirement for space is to the detriment of all other modes, and choices have to be made. Presenting this as a war on the motorist is to fail to understand the impossible demands of the mode for urban space in any streetscape conceived before the 20th century. A streetscape designed for the car looks like Los Angeles, not Bristol, and if you want a city like Bristol to work for everybody, car use has got to be limited in some way."

mardi 5 janvier 2016

Elisabeth Carnall 17 July 1935 — 23 December 2015

Sad to report that my mother died recently. Apologies for the delay in announcing this, and any distress that may have been occasioned if you thus heard the news by a tortuous route. 
All who knew her personally are most cordially invited to her Memorial Meeting 2.30pm Saturday 30 January 2016, Quaker Meeting House, Victoria Terrace, Edinburgh.

Donations to Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre (online possible via PayPal button top right of that page). 


Memories and messages to d@bzr.bzh