Car-free living

[Oldhippy]

Great new book called Potholes and pavements by Laura Laker which talks about this in depth. Well worth a read.

 

[fossyant]

With UK winters being poor for outdoor activities

Eh ? Cycle all year, all weathers. UK weather isn't particularly extreme, and there is nothing better than getting out. Cycling indoors is mind numbingly sheite !

 

[oldwheels]

I live at the top of a steep hill and while it is possible to get a bus up there is nothing going down to anywhere useful. Unfortunately I am no longer fit enough to cope with either walking or cycling uphill with shopping. A taxi would be possible but in summer are mostly not easily available.
Another problem I have encountered is an inability to hire a car.
In the summer everything is block booked by tourists and in any case no insurance is available from the company used by the local garage due to my age. I have tried to hire if my own car is not available but just blank refusal.
Car free is a good idea for those who live in a suitable area but not where I live.

 

[mjr]

Car free is a good idea for those who live in a suitable area but not where I live.

So give your county-level councillor hell. Www.writeToThem.com What kind of stupid place has useful buses uphill but not down? If the local commercial car hire market is completely tourist focused, why is there no community or public car club for local people? Government should intervene if the market fails.

 

[All uphill]

I don't believe that would make a measurable difference to overall carlessness in either UK or France.

The numbers of people making that journey often enough to matter are insignificant. And the numbers who drive it now but would use the train are an insignificant proportion even of those. The people who don't use the train because of those limitations will usually fly.

What is needed is 5-10 times as many stations in the UK as we currently have, and much more frequent trains from most of them to all nearby (I.e. Within about 25 miles) destinations. Plus a lot more bus services, with frequent buses.

I think that rather than building lots of new stations and tracks it's more realistic that many people will continue to move to towns and cities which not only have trains but also restaurants, theatres, hospitals,parks, cafes, bookshops, clubs, sports facilities...

 

[CXRAndy]

Eh ? Cycle all year, all weathers. UK weather isn't particularly extreme, and there is nothing better than getting out. Cycling indoors is mind numbingly sheite !

Each to their own, as they say.

I prefer indoor turbo setup temperature controlled, than cold or wet or both.

If you prefer outdoor

 

[Marchrider]

so what is going on here ? is this some sort of gym in a barn, and the bikes have been converted into exercise bikes - is it a spin-class (have heard of those but not sure what they are) and what is with the computer screens

 

[oldwheels]

So give your county-level councillor hell. Www.writeToThem.com What kind of stupid place has useful buses uphill but not down? If the local commercial car hire market is completely tourist focused, why is there no community or public car club for local people? Government should intervene if the market fails.

Being realistic the service is certainly loss making and is in fact a diversion which I would not care to tackle with the problems of existing streets with blind and very tight corners allied to badly parked cars.
So far as car hire clubs the population here now is wedded to large 4X4’s with well off retired people and the actual workers are often itinerant and are not very likely to hire cars or are tradesmen who need vans.
We also have a large proportion of rural dwellers in places where no bus service is feasable.
It is all very well being idealistic but real life in places like this gets in the way.

 

[CXRAndy]

so what is going on here ? is this some sort of gym in a barn, and the bikes have been converted into exercise bikes - is it a spin-class (have heard of those but not sure what they are) and what is with the computer screens

It's turbo setup for 3 bikes one is dedicated Stages turbo, the others are outdoor bikes, one is on direct drive the other is wheel on turbo.

All screens are TVs using either hdmi or WiFi connection. In a shed used for storage and gym setup

 

[Alex321]

so what is going on here ? is this some sort of gym in a barn, and the bikes have been converted into exercise bikes - is it a spin-class (have heard of those but not sure what they are) and what is with the computer screens

Spin classes re nothing to do with bikes

The computer screens are because those are ":smart" trainers, which can show you images of the terrain you are supposedly riding over, and adjust the resistance to mimic hills.

And yes, those bikes have been mounted on the trainers to effectively turn them into exercise bikes - it usually only takes a minute or two to mount them and dismount them, if you don't have a dedicated bike to use on the trainer.

 

[mjr]

Being realistic the service is certainly loss making

Well, yes, and also being realistic, most transport is loss-making at the point of delivery, with the exception of a few exclusive high-priced services and some toll roads. The aim is to provide mobility which unlocks benefits, either economic or social. The £125m-and-ever-rising diversion of two miles of the A10 won't make a profit itself, but it'll enable 3200 more houses... what it does to bus and bike service levels is still unclear.

and is in fact a diversion which I would not care to tackle with the problems of existing streets with blind and very tight corners allied to badly parked cars.

So far as car hire clubs the population here now is wedded to large 4X4’s with well off retired people and the actual workers are often itinerant and are not very likely to hire cars or are tradesmen who need vans.

😲 What, all of them? You get a 4x4, you get a 4x4, everyone gets a 4x4, local council as Oprah?

We also have a large proportion of rural dwellers in places where no bus service is feasable.
It is all very well being idealistic but real life in places like this gets in the way.

It's pessimism and Thatcherite worldviews that get in the way, much more than idealism. Don't believe the argument that bus and tram services aren't "feasible" if fares don't cover 100% of their costs: car infrastructure is funded from council tax, not only tolls and vehicle taxes. There's few good reasons not to cover 95% of rural dwellers with a mobility service, even if for some it's only a CallConnect-style online/dialup one (effectively a subsidised taxibus).

 

[Electric_Andy]

Don't believe the argument that bus and tram services aren't "feasible" if fares don't cover 100% of their costs

We've just been told we'll lose our local bus service after 6pm unless 38 more people per day use it in the evenings. The problem is, the buses are always late so you can't really rely on them. Added to that, far fewer people use it in the winter anyway

 

[CXRAndy]

so what is going on here ? is this some sort of gym in a barn, and the bikes have been converted into exercise bikes - is it a spin-class (have heard of those but not sure what they are) and what is with the computer screens

This might help. Indoor racing on Zwift

 

[oldwheels]

Well, yes, and also being realistic, most transport is loss-making at the point of delivery, with the exception of a few exclusive high-priced services and some toll roads. The aim is to provide mobility which unlocks benefits, either economic or social. The £125m-and-ever-rising diversion of two miles of the A10 won't make a profit itself, but it'll enable 3200 more houses... what it does to bus and bike service levels is still unclear.




😲 What, all of them? You get a 4x4, you get a 4x4, everyone gets a 4x4, local council as Oprah?


It's pessimism and Thatcherite worldviews that get in the way, much more than idealism. Don't believe the argument that bus and tram services aren't "feasible" if fares don't cover 100% of their costs: car infrastructure is funded from council tax, not only tolls and vehicle taxes. There's few good reasons not to cover 95% of rural dwellers with a mobility service, even if for some it's only a CallConnect-style online/dialup one (effectively a subsidised taxibus).

Not prepared to argue about a lot of that but it does not alter the fact that many rural dwellers are down a rough farm track so any kind of service is unrealistic.
To go back to car hire I do have car insurance for my own ( non 4X4 ) car but cannot change companies as I have tried and nobody will even quote due to age and no other reason.
I cannot use the bus service to the ferry terminal 21 miles away as I cannot walk far enough unaided and while most people are very helpful there is a limit to what can be done.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

UK weather isn't particularly extreme

Yet, sadly.