Earl Aelfheah

I was asked for a link so I provided one (Yes, it looks at several countries across Europe, including the UK). If you're not happy with that one and would like another, you could use Google Scholar, I'm not a librarian. There is general consensus that the externalised costs of motoring exceed the revenue paid in taxes. It is also the case that driving in a city like London has significantly higher externalised costs than the average, so in truth the subsidy here is far greater (hence schemes such as congestion charging and ULEZ). There are more than three million licensed vehicles in London, and the average car is parked for at least 95 per cent of the time. TfL data shows that 43 per cent of all cars are parked on-street (at the kerbside). A simple calculation taking into account the size of a standard parking space shows that parked vehicles alone take up well over 14 km2 (1,400 hectares) of space on our roads and streets – or the size of 10 Hyde Parks.

Google "externalised costs of motoring UK" and you'll find several studies that all reach similiar conclusions. But here is an example: https://www.greens-efa.eu/en/article/document/the-true-costs-of-automobility "A report by the Dresden Technical University in Germany calculated that externalised costs amounted to £303bn per year across the 27 EU member states – According to the authors of the report: “It must be stated that car traffic in the EU is highly subsidised by other people and other regions and will be by future generations: residents along an arterial road, taxpayers, elderly people who do not own cars, neighbouring countries, and children, grandchildren and all future generations subsidise today’s traffic.” The study said UK drivers accounted for £48bn of costs, or about £815 per person per year. This figure did not include costs from resulting from congestion or ill health caused by sedentary lifestyles. Motoring related taxes have never been hypothecated, but even if they were, at the time the report was released there would be a £10bn shortfall between revenue from motoring taxes and the £48bn costs." But frankly, when you just look at how much public space is provided for cars (with only 54 per cent of London households having access to a car), it's fairly clear that cars are hugely subsidised.

Most analysis shows that driving is highly subsidised (that is, the amount bought in to the exchequer from car related taxes, doesn't cover the costs of all the money spent on infrastructure and 'clean up' from the impacts). Many of the costs are 'externalised'. If you just look at the huge amount of space given over to cars in London, this is fairly self evident.

This is what they’ve done in Hackney (and Camden and probably some other boroughs) https://news.hackney.gov.uk/over-70-new-on-street-dockless-bike-bays-installed-in-hackney/

I would rather a Poundland than a Foxtons, but if we're going to have another chain store, I'd rather a basics clothes shop like H&M, or Uniqlo, than another supermarket. Especially when there are already Poundland stores in Camberwell and Peckham, both a short distance away.

@sparticus - no need to narrow the carriage way. Just remove parked cars and reallocate the space to pedestrians. Buses cannot drive through parked cars. This is physics.

Not sure that would work in practice as widening the pavements would remove the bus lanes leaving a single lane each way. Every time a bus stopped all the traffic in that direction would come to a standstill and the idling would result in increased pollution - not exactly the ideal environment to sit in. It just needs some of the parking to be removed. People will not slow down buses any more than parked cars. They did widen the pavements during COVID opposite the cinema. They are much wider outside the eco shop / Spinach. More widening could be accommodated elsewhere. North Cross road is ripe for pedestrianisation, which would enable planting, seating etc. Our own 'Dulwich square' in ED. The more space we make for people, the better the shops will do.

RE. Lordship Lane, I just wish the council would remove a lot more of the parking, widen the pavements, put in a bit more seating, planting and bike parking - generally make the Lane much nicer for people to visit and spend their time on. Pedestrianise North Cross Road too, and landscape it properly. That would go a long way to supporting the high street shops. Would give the SUV brigade over on the other thread something new to moan about too.

Southwark do not want to ban cars either. They do want to reduce the number of car journeys, reduce congestion, pollution and road casualties, and increase the amount of active travel. These are all aims that everyone on here (and even the most vociferous anti-LTN folk) say they support too. You can't have it all ways. If you make it super easy and convenient to drive, with no restrictions on how, when or where people use their car, you wont' progress those aims. The problem, as with all things, is that we want others to change, not ourselves.

That leak has been going for far too long. Leaving it unfixed must be causing more damage.

"investment in cycling infrastructure should be considered in terms of the numbers commuting by bike." ...and the same for cars? I didn't mean that!! "You should take away on street parking around LTNs" ...good idea! I didn't mean that! "pedestrianisations couldn't work here, it's not central London." ...let's do more of it in central London then I didn't mean that! "I'm all in favour of more active travel and fewer car journeys in principle" ...Ok, so let's encourage cycling and walking and discourage car use Militant!

And the reason it’s a pain to get anywhere is because too many drive, not the other way round. Cars slow buses, put people off walking or cycling and cost the exchequer huge amounts of public money in ‘externalities’, which might otherwise be spent improving public transport. Most journeys in London are short distance (under 2km) and the private car (and increasingly the SUV) is an incredibly inefficient way to do many of them.

Ok. So why have we not pedestrianised most of central London? Soho, Oxford and regents street, seven dials, brick lane, etc etc. truth is that cars dominate almost every part of this city - totally disproportionately. And any attempt to dissuade people from making short journeys by car, externalising the costs and impacts of that decision, is met with hysteria. Car drivers have been stopped cutting through a hand fall of back streets and they won’t stop moaning about it. Entitled or what?

@heartblock - I would be very happy to see on street parking removed and a lot more pedestrianisation. If we did that (like they have in other European capitals), we would see much more walking and cycling (and community life generally).

@Rockets - You were suggesting that investment in cycling infrastructure wasn't worth it because 'so few' commute by bike. I'm just pointing out that only 8.8% commute by car. How much more space and investment do we put into driving infrastructure? Streets make up 80% of public space and most of it is devoted to motor vehicle use and storage. When you also consider that most of those journeys could be cycled in around 10-15 mins, (or walked in under half an hour) it just makes your argument even weaker.

That's really lovely.

19% of Southwark commuters travel less than 2km - around a 20 minute walk It's really difficult to justify why the vast majority of public space is allocated to motor vehicles when most households in the borough don't have access to a car. Especially when most of the costs of motoring are 'externalised'.

The same figures show that 53.5% of those commuting to work in Southwark travel less than 5km. For most that'll be around a 10-15 min cycle one way. We need to make it much easier, safer and pleasant, by removing motor vehicles from many more public spaces (as they have in other European capitals). Also 5.7% commute by bike, versus 8.8% by car or van in Southwark. Yet, every single street is full with two lines of parked cars as well as busy roads. Less than half of households have access to a car. Most cars sit stationary at least 95% of the time. Another reason we need to reallocate more space to people.

The sheer number of trees on the pavement suggests that the Council have not done a good enough job of making collection easy and / or communicating the process well imo.

If you do want to catch the tube at Brixton it’s very easy to cycle there (around 10 minutes from the village). You can take a Lime bike (electric hire bike) for the same cost as a bus ticket)

There is a data dashboard which shows what's happened as a result of the scheme. It's published on the Southwark council website. Shows increases in active travel and decreases in the number of motor vehicles, both within the LTN and on most boundary roads.

Unlike double parked cars

The cabinet were fed up with being sent out in front of the media to say stuff that later turned out to be untrue (and known to be untrue at the time they were sent out there). They'd lost all confidence in the PM and the number 10 operation. If you fundamentally doubt any reassurances you are given by your boss, then that makes your job impossible. Whether or not a lot of gullible people liked Johnson's airy, flippant, entitled manner is irrelevant. Being a 'right laugh' in the opinion of some of the electorate, doesn't mean you're capable of leading a major operation, responsible for governing the country. They did entirely the right thing getting rid of man baby Johnson, regardless of what happens at the next election. The shameful part is that it took them quite so long.

"According to those living in the area, the bollard bombardment is the result of problem parking outside the primary school. Parents were said to have been pulling onto the pavement, parking two abreast, blocking driveways and then abusing residents who challenged them. The school is said to have asked mum and dads to park carefully. But despite wardens being deployed on the area, it is only since the bollards went in that the errant parking was stopped." https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/55-bollards-been-installed-a38-25897399

It's such a great local spot. Hope it's there for a while yet.