Local council leader says cyclists are 'annoying'

[rosscbrown]

It's not a good time to be a cyclist in Dumfries. Local council leader has, in a front page news item, stated that cyclists are annoying and people just want to drive up to a shop and park right outside. The story us here: http://www.dgstandard.co.uk/dumfrie...der-criticises-his-own-policy-51311-27189593/

Some quotes: “The idea was to convince people to get out of their cars. That is why it was designed like this – to annoy the motorist."

“It can be shown from our last survey on the budget that people are not interested in green issues; they want it as easy as possible to get into the town centre and to be able to stop their cars outside a shop and get out."

Now I'm yet to be convinced of the London bike hire scheme that is about to be launched but as for the other improvements; I'm all for them.

I can't wait to hear your thoughts on the actions of my local council! :-)

 

[rosscbrown]

That should read "London style bike scheme"...

 

[snorri]

I can't wait to hear your thoughts on the actions of my local council! :-)

D&G Council should have talked it all through before applying for the funding, others could have put the money to good use.

 

[BSRU]

He obviously fails to realise the more people on bicycles means less are in cars, which means less traffic congestion and a more pleasant drive for the remaining motorists who have no real choice but to drive.

 

[PBancroft]

Sounds like much of a muchness to me. He is questioning the validity of a council scheme which has public opposition - that's exactly what a councillor should be doing.

 

[jig-sore]

if you read it properly.... thats not actually what he says

 

[ufkacbln]

I read this as "I am an inconsiderate and egocentric motorist and object to anything that compromises that!"

 

[taxing]

Tories.

This bit is true, but he seems to miss the point of what he's saying: "The idea was to convince people to get out of their cars. That is why it was designed like this – to annoy the motorist." That's how human behaviour is influenced, by making it more inconvenient to do the unwanted behaviour and more convenient to do the wanted behaviour. If it annoys the motorist it's working, because we don't want them to be a motorist any more; we want them to be a cyclist or public transport user.

In other words, wah wah, poor motorists. Get out of the car fatty.

 

[HLaB]

He seems to grasping the point of the scheme, to encourage sustainable transport but on the other hand he seems to be against inconvenience for his voters. He's probably looking for an excuse to make cut backs.

I want to know what are the consequences of stopping this project now ?

Its quite simple more folk get lazy, society gets obese and ends up costing more in the long term in terms of healthcare etc. Not to mention the environmental consequences, etc

 

[ComedyPilot]

I rode 43 miles today on a round trip to drop a dvd off at my local town's blokebusters (direct would have been 10 miles round trip).

Trouble is, this country as a whole (me NOT included) is too effin' idle to make a little effort, and would sooner drive a couple of hundred yards than walk or (perish the thought) cycle.

I shop with panniers, and old people have a thing called a trolley bag that they carry shopping in.

The rest of the (idle barsteward) nation would sooner clog the town up with their fume-belching rot-boxes and then complain about traffic levels.

 

[lit]

I read this as "I am an inconsiderate and egocentric motorist and object to anything that compromises that!"

More or less this, you can't educate fools/lazy people who don't want to be educated, they will still stick their fingers in their ears and go "la la la la".

 

[rosscbrown]

Having read more into the scheme, it is not all about cycling as the news item and council leader suggests. The main "action points" are:

• Travel demand management through parking control and 20 mph zones - parking control, did you know that all council run parking in D&G is free of charge. Nice, right? Those 20mph zones do sound annoying though - thank goodness they are mostly in built-up areas that because of the road layout/use make it pretty diffuciult to actually get above 20mph!
• Personalised travel planning - this is actually annoying. The council had people going door to door asking people where they worked and planning a sustainable route to work for them. I guess you could always pretend to not be in or politely decline the offer of assistance.
• Bus network and ticketing improvements - I'm not sure how improved ticketing and better bus infrastructure (bus stops, etc) would annoy other road users. They are not adding extra bus stops are narrowing the road for existing stops.
• Introduce Car Club and promote salary sacrifice for cycle to work and season ticket purchase - more cars! Madness. The'll either be parked up in perfectly good parking spaces or on the roads adding extra connection. I can see why car users are against this.
• Self service cycle hire scheme - more cyclists on the roads. Now that is "annoying"!
• Promote journey sharing through use of DG Tripshare database - Databases are evil. End of...
• Improve transport interchanges in Dumfries - very much needed if you ask me, some of the bus interchanges cause unnecessary congestion on main commuter routes. Everyone wins with this one.
• Introduce park and choose sites - having to drive past more free parking to get to work. Sounds dreadful, never mind annoying. I feel for the people that might actually use these carparks as they are more convenient than the existing ones. Oh the shame of being a car driver and having to use one of these "sustainable" facilities.
• Develop high quality radial green commuter routes - that's good for everyone, right? Most of the cycle paths are shared use and off road/roadside too.
• Undertake research on the carbon footprint of transport initiatives - meh.

Maybe I'm missing something but I really don't see how this scheme is "annoying". Parts of it are misguided for sure - I'm unsure of the suitability of the bike hire component given the lack of docking stations and their locations, and perhaps the carbon footprint research can be sourced from elsewhere but overall the scheme looks like it might benefit everyone.

 

[marinyork]

Travel demand management through parking control and 20 mph zones - parking control, did you know that all council run parking in D&G is free of charge. Nice, right? Those 20mph zones do sound annoying though - thank goodness they are mostly in built-up areas that because of the road layout/use make it pretty diffuciult to actually get above 20mph!

Why? 20mph zones are possible to be highly desirable to pedestrians and cyclists.

 

[rosscbrown]

[/i]Why? 20mph zones are possible to be highly desirable to pedestrians and cyclists.

Sorry, I've mixed a little sarcasm into my commentary. I think the 20mph zones are largely a good thing, and in areas where it is difficult to drive above 20mph owing to the the road conditions I fail to see the issue in making them "officially" 20mph zones - other than it perhaps being seen as a misuse of public funds - to prevent driving that is otherwise impossible.

 

[marinyork]

Sorry, I've mixed a little sarcasm into my commentary. I think the 20mph zones are largely a good thing, and in areas where it is difficult to drive above 20mph owing to the the road conditions I fail to see the issue in making them "officially" 20mph zones - other than it perhaps being seen as a misuse of public funds - to prevent driving that is otherwise impossible.

The 'public' funds thing is a difficult one. The UK is very slowly drifting over to 20mph zones (something people seem to have great difficulty understanding). The zones if implemented on a larger scale actually save money. If you do the sort of scheme that seems to happen with a lot of kicking and screaming like where I used to live that made a whole 7 small roads into 20s, it costs a lot more money having to put up endless signs.