Parking wars outside my house

[marinyork]

Much has been made of "living near your place of work", or, "living near children's schools".

These two items are not fixed. Children go to different schools at different stages of their education. Jobs are not jobs for life, it may be necessary to change jobs several times in one's "working life". If there are two working partners, then there may be the added problem of having to be near both places or work.

Humans are creatures of habit and their brains work associatively to a larger extent than they will admit. It is out of the remit of this thread but why people end up in the jobs they do is very locked up in these two ideas.

 

[BoldonLad]

Humans are creatures of habit and their brains work associatively to a larger extent than they will admit. It is out of the remit of this thread but why people end up in the jobs they do is very locked up in these two ideas.

I don't doubt it, but, isn't that just going to make it even more difficult to change the situation?

I used to work in Systems Development, which often meant change. Most people do not like change, no matter what they might say!

 

[Big Andy]

There are bigger targets, it's just the private car user easier, although I do support the abolition of VED & put it onto fuel, that way the people who drive the most either by mileage or consumption pay the most. However the Treasury won't entertain that (I did ask) as it would have an affect on rural dwellers.

Those that drive the most already do pay substantially more in tax of course. 59p per litre is fuel duty and then both that and the actual fuel cost are then taxed at a further 20%. Ive always considered the VED as the "standing charge".

 

[marinyork]

I don't doubt it, but, isn't that just going to make it even more difficult to change the situation?

I used to work in Systems Development, which often meant change. Most people do not like change, no matter what they might say!

Why people explore the ideas of particular jobs is interesting, but outside the remit of this thread.

People often stay in the stable more boring job rather than the more exciting, riskier job for the same money.

It will be very difficult to get people to change. In the late 90s it was hypothesised that fuel needed to be about £2 a litre before behaviours started changing quite a bit.

 

[nickyboy]

Is where you live typical? I don't think so at all.

A massive jobs hub nearby in one direction. In the other direction people can pop over the pennines and do to the edge of this city, if they do at the right time as they aren't going to be sat in traffic as much as say if they drove from Sheffield to Rotherham (a short distance by comparison). If there were a few small towns in the way, people wouldn't commute all the way over here in such numbers. To me it's very atypical.

Dunno if it's typical or not. It's just a dormitory town (there are some minor industries in the town but not many) of which there are a great many in this country.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Those that drive the most already do pay substantially more in tax of course. 59p per litre is fuel duty and then both that and the actual fuel cost are then taxed at a further 20%. Ive always considered the VED as the "standing charge".

But quite often the repmobile diesel Audi/BMW only pay £30 a year VED & the firm claims back all the VAT

It will be very difficult to get people to change. In the late 90s it was hypothesised that fuel needed to be about £2 a litre before behaviours started changing quite a bit.

Didn't people say that about a packet of 20 fags, Google now suggests the price is just under £10, there was a marked decrease, but just recently I perceive that it's on the increase again, purely anecdotal, but seem to see more people smoking & it does seem to be the younger crowd.

 

[Julia9054]

Actually smoking is an interesting parallel. The duty on cigarettes has increased massively over the years. It has had the effect of decreasing smoking slightly and in the lowest socio economic groups, not at all. Smoking has decreased massively across the whole population - including young people - due to the ban on smoking in public places.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Actually smoking is an interesting parallel. The duty on cigarettes has increased massively over the years. It has had the effect of decreasing smoking slightly and in the lowest socio economic groups, not at all. Smoking has decreased massively across the whole population - including young people - due to the ban on smoking in public places.

I think that is one of the causes for the increase, although initially it generated a large decrease, now groups including those that did not smoke would go out with the one that did, but over time the rest of the group joined in. Today for the first time in a long time I saw some children (young teens) smoking.

 

[Julia9054]

I think that is one of the causes for the increase, although initially it generated a large decrease, now groups including those that did not smoke would go out with the one that did, but over time the rest of the group joined in. Today for the first time in a long time I saw some children (young teens) smoking.

Large drop from 2007 - 2014. 2017 figures show no further drop but no rise either.

 

[Big Andy]

But quite often the repmobile diesel Audi/BMW only pay £30 a year VED & the firm claims back all the VAT

Indeed but if they're only paying £30 a year they have chosen a reasonably low emissions vehicle and elected a lower standing charge, still with the high milage they do theres a huge tax take in fuel duty, also company car tax too.
Company cars are also a necessary tool of business in many cases so claiming VAT back is reasonable. Either way the more fuel you consume the more you pay and VED is just a small portion of it.

 

[youngoldbloke]

It all boils down to one thing - the elephant in the room - too many people. Their understandable desire for convenient personal transport results in too many cars for the space available. Too many other vehicles required to service their needs. Just what we can do about it I have no idea. We are rapidly approaching tipping point. I can't see how we can keep up with providing for the increase in numbers of vehicles needed.

 

[youngoldbloke]

OK, cut that, lets leave population growth out of it - but the number of cars is increasing by well over 1/2 million a year, and they are getting larger (as are many of the people using them). They are taking up more space - moving and parked and we are not making provision for them. Money seems to be no object - around here large German SUVs used as school run cars - you're darn right it's a cultural issue. Why aren't they all using Smart Cars? It seems that whatever is done - smart motorways for example - is simply running to stand still.

 

[gbb]

The only thing (assuming government left it all to its own devices) on the short term (that will have any immediate effect) is fuel price and that will only effect car usage, less so car ownership in the same short term. When petrol hovered around £1.50 ltr the amount of people on bikes noticeably increased round here. The shame is it's the poorer sector of society that gets it in the neck as usual, the folk at the upper income end of society will see it as an inconvenience, swallow and still pay the price because they can. High petrol prices will need to be a longer term thing to even begin to reduce car ownership..and I'm not sure I want that either from a selfish point of view...and yes, that makes me part of the problem, just like 99.9 % of the rest of us.
Actually, I did reduce my car usage at that time, i could again albeit less so now. But again, none of that does much to reduce car ownership and therefore ease parking availability.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

...around here large German SUVs used as school run cars - you're darn right it's a cultural issue. Why aren't they all using Smart Cars?...

Or walking.

 

[simon the viking]

Cars are certainly getting bigger which is part of the problem A Current fiesta is around the same size an an 80s escort. A current Focus is around the size of a mk1 mondeo and a five door mini has a similiar wheel base to a mark 1 Range Rover.

Apart from the odd city car most cars are nearly half as big again as as similiar cars were 30 years ago.