How do you know that those cars are just taking a 3mile drive?
Most of the cars seem to be vans and buses tbh.
I hate public transport because it's unreliable, expensive and lots of delays etc.
I rather cycle!
London pollution & ULEZ
- Thread starter jonneymendoza
- Start date
Most of the cars seem to be vans and buses tbh.
I hate public transport because it's unreliable, expensive and lots of delays etc.
I rather cycle!
Caporegime
This happens a lot in rural areas already which is strange as I never see the same in London. The problem in the countryside especially with industry is that a lot of it can be in the middle of nowhere meaning recruitment is a struggle as you ideally need a car.
Just an example there is a factory in the middle of nowhere which gives a free bus service to its employees from the local town and surrounding villages as start times are the same for the vast majority. It has a number of benefits because it gives a little bit back to the employee as they save money on commuting and also frees up the roads as you are reducing traffic massively. It also helps with attracting staff and staff retention as they have a viable free way to get to work.
I can be delivering to London and sitting on the bay in a massive factory complex waiting in my cab only to see floods of cars incoming to start their shift at work.
Imagine if London would use that ULEZ money to subsidise transport for people going to and coming from work or even schools. You could reduce traffic by huge numbers.
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Soldato
I wonder when Dover will bring in its ULEZ? Must be a few people worried about the climate and air quality in that queue...
Kerching.
news.sky.com
Kerching.
Port of Dover traffic: Travellers face two hour delays as summer holiday queues build
A nine-lane-wide queue formed at the approach to the Port on Saturday morning on the approach to the border where French guards were checking passports.
news.sky.com
Caporegime
I’m relieved my car is ULEZ exempt because Heathrow is part of the zone, which means anyone like me who needs to park at the airport will need to add this extra cost to their consideration.
I like cleaner air and I know it makes sense for the inner most congested part of the city but the airport seems weird, considering it’s on the outskirts and you know, it’s an airport, there’s that thing call aeroplane which produces a lot more pollution.
Ps, as for driving to work, recently started walking the 2 miles each way. With my car it’ll probably save £10-15 in fuel a week this way which adds up over a month.
I like cleaner air and I know it makes sense for the inner most congested part of the city but the airport seems weird, considering it’s on the outskirts and you know, it’s an airport, there’s that thing call aeroplane which produces a lot more pollution.
Ps, as for driving to work, recently started walking the 2 miles each way. With my car it’ll probably save £10-15 in fuel a week this way which adds up over a month.
For added comedy, my 420HP 5L V8 that runs me £700 a year on tax, fully ULEZ compliant, no charge, because what a great system xD
Caporegime
I thought my 2.5L 5-pot turbo being compliant was funny but yours takes the cake lol
Soldato
- Joined
- 23 May 2006
- Posts
- 7,588
it does seem daft. personally (and I do get that it sucks as I appreciate some classic cars myself) but I think limits need to be placed on classic cars as well, and if they are too bad they should be hot as well. it's an extreme but that 1970s car I posted yesterday with a 27l (yes 27 not 2.7) spitfire engine in it is ULEZ compliant.
Soldato
I’d be curious about this 3 miles as well. For many people driving more than that would be to drive outside of London and so this would then get disregarded from the dataset. This is going to be a huge number compared to someone popping up the shops once a week. I’ve done the whole walking to the shops thing and it’s a pain trying to shop for a family. You need a big store with more things and you need to buy more than you can reasonably carry.
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That's another thing though: if councils had done their duty and ensured that walking was safe and pleasant far more people would walk.
Walking to work along a tiny pavement beside a busy road with few pedestrian crossing is hardly going to encourage walking.
Hamburg's plan to link the whole city with walking and cycling routes which are are totally car free is the right idea:
Grünes Netz
www.hamburg.de
Caporegime
That's another thing though: if councils had done their duty and ensured that walking was safe and pleasant far more people would walk.
Walking to work along a tiny pavement beside a busy road with few pedestrian crossing is hardly going to encourage walking.
Hamburg's plan to link the whole city with walking and cycling routes which are are totally car free is the right idea:
Grünes Netz
That's the thing, it's 2miles because i take a detour. The most direct route involves walking over a single lane bridge (with traffic lights control) for cars, with no pavement for that section of the road, plus about 50 meters either side. To put it one way, it's a death trap if I choose to walk over that bridge, considering massive lorries also use that often.
So I take a detour through a cul-de-sac area and then through a park, which is actually quite a nice walk but it adds about 3/4 mile to the journey in each direction.
We have one of the best bus services in Edinburgh. Often voted the best across the UK. I only use it when heading into town and it’s still depressing. 6 different people using phones on max volume watching tiktok/YouTube or listening to music (why no headphones) upstairs stinking of weed and tobacco. Bottles and little rolling around the floor and often filled with people clearly ill but continue to use public transport without a mask. Awful :/
Soldato
How does that not make sense? There are alternatives to cars, but not for the planes - yet. A lot of effort is going into making them more efficient and less polluting.
Airlines are far more effective at improving their own footprints purely due to the economics of fuel efficiency, to the point ULEZ applying to planes would be redundant as the vast majority of airplanes are already as efficient as they can be - hence why 747s, A340s and older planes aren’t flying anymore.
And as mentioned a million times before, the vast majority of vehicles are compliant and unaffected.
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Caporegime
I know the argument of even a little reduction for cars helps for the airport but how much are you really saving really in pollution for not including Heathrow? They are clearly not doing it because it's an airport, it's for cars, that much is clear, if it's for the airport then ULEZ will be applied in all airport.
The part that is funny to me is because it punishes people who don't live in London but need to go to the airport, your alternatives....often i like to get an early flight because it works out better in both time zones and price. Is there a train leaving my house at 1am? No....the alternative to get to the airport earlier would get the train a day before, pay to stay close to the airport. The last time I took the train at the airport, due to one thing or another I miss a connection on the way back and had to buy a new ticket. It also takes like 5hrs on the train vs about 2hrs 30 driving.
Do you call that an alternative, sure, it is an alternative, its hardly an attractive one, it's not even close, it's not an even alternative, it's juts above walking considering how bad Network Rail is with so many strikes and cancellations and delays.
The other alternative is the coach service, which means it will limit my choice of flights as they are hardly running every hour, more like twice a day....and it's not even direct, it requires a connection change for the bus.
There are alternatives to cars....but would you really? In my shoes?
I am not even affected btw, this doesn't concern me, but I find how it is implemented weird.
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Soldato
The vast majority of people travelling to Heathrow will be doing so in already compliant vehicles… it’s a none issue? Or get National Express, Elizabeth line, taxi etc.
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Caporegime
I already told you why i don't take the national express - it requires a change...on the bus.
I also told you why i don't take the Elizabeth line....it means getting the train...and i experienced cancellation, had to buy another ticket, not a convenient time, need to stay at a hotel, expensive.
You clearly haven't read my reply.
The fact that the vast majority of people are not affected...means it makes less sense to include Heathrow in ULEZ, considering it is barely inside the M25.
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Soldato
A weekly shop for a family of four isn’t possible on foot or on public transport.
Soldato
Fly from a different airport then? Heathrow wasn’t designed just for you… jeez.
The point of ULEZ is to discourage the use of older more polluting vehicles in terms of certain particulates and speed up their replacement. It should apply across the entire country ideally, not just London, so that older vehicles are phased out quicker than they would’ve otherwise been.
I’m not sure why you’re sticking on the point about Heathrow. Every road contributes to lower air quality when older more polluting vehicles are still in use.
We should scrap perfectly working cars and contribute more to the waste problem . Doesn't seem very green to me.
