Monday, February 29, 2016

Controversial link road now costs £100 million more than original estimates

theargus : "Green party activist Andrew Durling said the scheme was calculated by the Department for Transport in 2011 as the worst "value for money" road scheme as well as the worst for CO2 emissions.

Mr Durling, who said local taxpayers would have to foot £68.3 million of costs with the rest coming from central government, added: “East Sussex County Council has squandered, and continues to squander, huge sums of council taxpayers money on just three miles of new road at a time when it is making nearly £40 million of cuts to adult social care services."

Governments say they want to cut carbon emissions, but when it gets down to it, they keep building roads.

Plans to widen the A34 in both directions through Oxfordshire in £800m scheme are still on table (From Oxford Mail): "PLANS to widen the A34 in both directions through Oxfordshire could be presented to the government by the end of the year.

Despite an apparent lack of activity, Highways England bosses have confirmed the £800m scheme is still on the table and research is being carried out."

Saturday, February 27, 2016

To reduce carbon emissions, make urban buses fare-free

This is such an obvious step to take. Making urban buses and trams fare-free would reduce car-driving and lower carbon emissions. Why are we not hearing this idea in the major conferences like #COP21?

The answer is simple. Free public transport is a threat to capitalist profits. People will buy fewer cars, and will not be a likely to live in sprawl where they need even more consumer products.

When a politician will not support fare-free buses, you will know right away he is pro-growth and that puts him directly opposed to protection of the biosphere.

Friday, February 19, 2016

Buses are what moves people

CityMetric: "Rising bus fares and the loss of bus routes have not attracted an equivalent level of scrutiny, despite the heroic efforts of organisations like the Campaign for Better Transport and the Campaign to Protect Rural England. Bus services are not, generally, regarded as newsworthy outside of the regional or local press. They rarely occupy the national headlines. They are often passionately supported by campaigners and the passengers who rely on them. But they do not receive the political attention that is proportionate to the number of people who use them."