22/02/2005
Damn. Damn. Damn. Damn. Damn.
entry posted by Inquisitor at 19:30
(permalink).
categories: Idiots
, Politics
Edinburgh just rejected the congestion charging scheme. Damn.
Let me first say that I hope all the NO voters on the DVD Forums discussion are happy now. It's unsurprising, really; most of the people who take part in road-related discussion on there are the kind of "all the cops do is catch speeders instead of real crime" idiots who regurgitate what they've been told by the Scum, Star, Mail or Express, with the occasional sensible person regularly shouted down (which is why I don't take part in them.) It's a real, real shame that we've been shouted down by people who actually think that driving your kids into school is actually a good idea.
The plan was £2 for entering the zone. £2. The "outer zone", covering most of the city, would only have operated between 7AM and 10AM weekdays, while the inner zone (basically just the New Town) was 7AM to 6PM weekdays, so not exactly all consuming; besides, you would only have paid once per day per vehicle anyway. Car clubs, disabled and elderly people with blue badges (which is every elderly person in Edinburgh), motorbikes and similar were all exempt.
Considering Ken Livingstone is about to jack the London charge to £8 whilst increasing the area covered, £2 is an absolute pittance for what could have been the cause for a lot of serious local transport improvements - park and ride schemes, more buses, reopening the Edinburgh suburban railway along SPT lines, even the silly tram scheme.
The trams are going to get built anyway, but the Council will find new and entertaining ways to screw up life for Edinburgh motorists from now on; as a poster on DVF who failed to see the point pointed out, London's road quality went up after the congestion charge came in. Edinburgh does have a decent public transport system, but inflation and stagnation will see to it in the end, just like it did the Tube; without the CC, it has much less of a chance. LRT fares will have to go up, they're subsidised enough as it is. And it will screw over people who intend never to own a car, like me; I quite simply do not see the point of owning something that, in a city where everywhere is accessible by public transport, I do not need. But the cars will give me, and the people of the future something for nothing; CO, CO2, nitrogen oxides, particulates, global warming and air pollution.
So, are you happy now?