Comments on: Anarcho traffic management: is it the future?

By: First in line « The Bristol Blogger

First in line « The Bristol Blogger — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 16:23:38 +0000

[...] was confirmed by a poster on The Blogger recently who described attending a transport consultation event where he was openly told by a [...]

By: bluebaldee

bluebaldee — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 22:04:35 +0000

Excellent post, however I’d like to take issue with one statement from the Bristol Blogger:

“…the public transport system wallows somewhere in the1950s…”

That’s a gross and egregious disservice to Bristol’s transport system in the ’50s – it was far, far better than the shite we have today. Cheaper, more reliable and not run by rapacious fuckers (First) and overseen by pathetic incompetent twats (BCC).

and another from Hans Monderman:

“….Never treat anyone in the public realm as an idiot, always assume they have intelligence.”

Sorry Hans, but you’ve clearly never been to Bristol. If you’d ever encountered the names Holland, Primarolo, Pickup, Comer, Eddy, Bradshaw, Brain, Janke, Berry, etc etc you wouldn’t make such a reckless statement.

They’re all in the public realm and I’ve never seen such a bunch of idiots.

By: redzone

redzone — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 13:24:08 +0000

the road structure in bristol is just not capable of sustaining a decent public transport system.
quite why the bcc continues to pursue this ridiculous theory used to baffle me.
now things become clearer, we have the never ending traffic calming schemes, one way systems, bus/cycle lanes, no entry zones & over the top traffic light controlled roundabouts, most of which are i’m sure designed to cause chaos!! to clog up the major routes & ultimately justify the road congestion charge??
more money in the coffers to waste on projects closer to the hearts & pockets of the selected few who claim to run the city for the benefit of the citizens?

By: The Last Bristolian

The Last Bristolian — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 11:52:13 +0000

It’s not just public transport that needs to be improved. It cannot efficiently serve all the remote leisure/shopping/work sites we’ve all gladly used our cars to get to in the last 20 years. How could you make Avonmeads/showcase cinema accessible by public transport for people coming Fishponds, and Bedminster and Clifton. and then make Sainsburys at Ashton accessible by public transport for people from Bedminster, Clifton and, say ,Knowle. And do the same for Aztec West and Cribbs. You can’t, it’s hugely impractical, and thats where lots of the congestion we encounter is driving to. Reverse some of these planning decsions – or any money spent on public transport will be a waste. This is why large scale out of town developments are discouraged in many tram friendly euro cities.

By: transformedia

transformedia — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 02:33:58 +0000

Not that my opinion as an American would have validity, BUT, I have visited London and environs 3 times over the last 15 years and the visible signage and other ‘improvements’ seem to have slowed things down. I dunno, my view is certainly skewed, yet it sure takes longer to get from, say, Docklands to Paddington than it used to.

By: BristleKRS

BristleKRS — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 13:45:39 +0000

Talk about timing... Today BBC News Bristol is offering up yet more exciting artist's impressions of transport plans that will never happen - this time round a cable car!

Atkins, the company behind the plans, said although it would not be a mass transit system to solve congestion, it would offer fantastic city views.

Hooray!

By: Rose

Rose — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 13:00:11 +0000

I went to the State of the City debate and it seemed to me that if they had opened the windows they might have got some oxygen to their brains and then maybe, just maybe, been able to think about what is wrong with their administration. The main things wrong with Bristol are Drink, Rubbish, and Traffic – all things they could do something about if they cared. If they had had to walk or bicycle to the meetings istead of driving they might notice these things. Public transport could be set up using a combination of tramways, waterways, and bicycle lanes. Rickshaws could be used for the elderly and disabled. Parking should be phased out of Bristol’s streets, then cars would not be brought into the city in the first place. This would all take leadership and explaining, but once the car had been banished people would se the point and wonder how they ever allowed it ot blight our lives. Ditto with drink as the only leisure pursuit.

By: thebristolblogger

thebristolblogger — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 10:21:33 +0000

Elements of 'shared space' are also incorporated at Temple Meads but neither that nor the university plans are on anything like the scale I'm proposing. They aren't schemes primarily aimed at cutting the citywide congestion problem either.

By: Greengage

Greengage — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 09:33:45 +0000

Sorry Blogger, that well known anarchist Eric Thomas has got there before you. Bristol University’s Masterplan proposes redesigning Tyndall Avenue as a “shared space”:
http://www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/Bursar/masterplan06/masterplan_section4.pdf

It’s all part of their “Urban Realm Strategy”. Lots of work for the civil engineers, there, methinks.

By: Archie

Archie — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 06:35:32 +0000

What Bristol needs is an underground,I suggested this to some transport roadshow people in Broadmead a few years back,the guy said “trains underground are too expensive to run, the Gov will only give funding to bus based schemes” I replied “put electric buses underground then and let anyone apart from First run it, build some healthy competition this city needs” his reply “First and stagecoach have a gentleman’s agreement not to work on each others patch” I said “guess you have never been to Manchester then?” his reply “thanks for your comments, would you like some pens?”