UK public urged to catch the bus - Local - Mansfield and Ashfield Chad

Public urged to catch the bus - Local - Mansfield and Ashfield Chad: "Claire Haigh, Chief Executive of Greener Journeys, said: “Since 2010 Greener Journeys has been striving to take one billion car journeys off the road and Catch the Bus Week will help us reach this aim. Buses play a crucial role in our society from getting children to school, carrying people to work, the shops or to their local park or swimming pool day in day out. Buses support the economy.

“Buses also help reduce congestion on the roads, promote social inclusion by providing a vital link to those without other means and reduce all our carbon footprints and travel’s effect on the environment."

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Cars choking Belfast, hurting business

Planners insist measures will work once they have bedded in - BelfastTelegraph.co.uk: "They say the measures will ultimately free up street space for those using alternative means of travel as well as motorists who need to drive into Belfast for shopping, work or leisure. But opponents say it is an aggressive ploy to deter motorists and force them into using public transport."

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Mersey [UK] bus operators offering free travel on selected routes in Catch the Bus week - Wirral News

Mersey bus operators offering free travel on selected routes in Catch the Bus week - Wirral News: "BUS rides on routes across Merseyside will be free next week."

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Car-free homes bid branded dangerous (From Oxford Mail)

Car-free homes bid branded dangerous (From Oxford Mail): "RESIDENTS are concerned that a car-free residential development will lead to increased on-street parking in Headington."

Here is the solution. Building car-free homes while people are still car-dependent obviously causes division and stress. Make the buses fare-free, reduce car-dependency first.

Make public transport fare-free before building wind farms

Herald Scotland: "Wild land – with its amazing ability to store carbon, provide water and clean the air – is our ally in coping with climate change. As the weather becomes more extreme, plants and animals will need space to adapt. Nature cannot flourish under a spread of metal and concrete.

We need more imaginative solutions to provide hope for a future where the natural world, including that bit in our own backyards, can thrive. Before turning to diggers, to metal and concrete, we should be doing everything possible to reduce energy consumption. We could bring building insulation up to Scandinavian standards, offer free public transport to cut car use, reduce long-distance transportation of goods and even help convert rural oil-heated houses (which, though often situated close to wind farms, don't benefit from them).

"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe," Muir famously wrote. By observing the natural world, he recognised that an intricate web of life sustains us all. That is what we are playing with when we destroy wild land."

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Free public transport a lifeline for older people in UK

Weak economy, motorists going green hit Cheltenham Borough Council in the back pocket | This is Gloucestershire: ""This is partly because of the weak state of the economy, which is causing many people to do fewer journeys by car.

"But there are also more positive factors at work, including a long-term increase in the use of public transport. This is particularly significant among older people who benefit from free bus fares.

"The council's policy is to encourage people to use public transport for the sake of the local environment, so we can hardly complain when people do what we want them to do.""

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The case for free public transport by @the_SSP_ #yesscot

Scottish Socialist Party 

• Free fares would be the biggest single pro-environment policy enacted by any national government anywhere on the planet, dramatically slashing car use and CO2 emissions.• Free fares would be the biggest anti-poverty, pro-social inclusion policy enacted in Scotland, or anywhere else in the UK. It is mainly people on low incomes who rely on public transport

• Free fares would cut the number of road accidents, reducing human suffering and relieving pressure on the NHS and the emergency services. The Scottish Executive estimates that road accidents cost £1.4 billion a year to the Scottish economy. (On an average day in Scotland there is one fatal road accident; another 8-10 involving serious injury; and 250-300 minor accidents. The vast majority involve cars.)

• Free fares would be help to reduce the levels of asthma and other respiratory illnesses, which have risen steeply in line with the expansion of road traffic

• Free fares would potentially increase the spending power of over a million workers by between £40 and £100 a month, boosting the overall economy.

• Free fares would increase business efficiency and productivity: the CBI estimates that traffic congestion costs business across Britain between £15 and £20 billion a year.

• Free fares would be a major tourist attraction, bringing hundreds of millions of pounds into the Scottish economy every year from increased visitor numbers. An increase in tourism of just 20 per cent would bring an extra £1 billion into the Scottish economy.

• Free fares would attract worldwide support, especially from the global environmental movement, and would bring pressure to bear on governments throughout Europe and the wider world to adopt a similar policy.

• Free fares would reduce Scotland’s reliance on depleting oil reserves; 67 per cent of all oil produced globally is used for transport.

Things that go away with #freetransit: parking headaches

Hospital parking fees knocked by municipal council - Living - The Vanguard: "Councillor Leland Anthony says several residents have come forward expressing concern for seniors and others who must visit the hospital on a regular basis for physiotherapy, blood work or similar services."

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What mobility means to the disabled: joy, togetherness, community involvement

Column: I cried when I heard about the mobility allowance cut – I can’t take any more: " Yes, it’s tough, but if I could explain to you just what it means to have accessible transport of our own, it still would not portray the happiness, the togetherness, joy it means to both of us. We go shopping on our own, we bring friends with us, we can go anywhere we want to without having to rely on other people. If there was no one around, we would be prisoners in our home.
We won our ‘lotto’ when we got our accessible transport. It also means I can attend meetings outside my town as I am very involved in my community.
...

The Department is taking the view that it was forced to take this action. The Department is not the victim here, the 4,700 people with disabilities and their families are the victims of what can accurately be described as an unprecedented and unannounced withdrawal of vital funding. This comes on top of the general attrition of the recession. I wait in haste to see in four month’s time what the Government will put in place of the Mobility and Disabled Drivers Grant."

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Chengdu is interested in cooperation with free public transport in Tallinn

Tallinn: "China's Sichuan provincial capital of Chengdu, Liu Shoucheng deputy mayor in charge of Transport confirmed on 26 At a meeting in March, Mayor Jim loop Chengdu interest free public transport in Tallinn and deepen contacts Chengdu to participate in the activities of the public transport network."

Transport plans don’t meet goals : Views and News from Norway

Transport plans don’t meet goals : Views and News from Norway: "Norwegian politicians continue to spend huge amounts of public funds on bridges, roads and tunnels in outlying areas that benefit as few as a hundred residents or less, while hundreds of thousands of commuters in metropolitan areas are left to face heavy traffic or unreliable public transit systems every day. Now much of the justification for the politicians’ priorities has been proven untrue and urban residents are demanding relief, but not much is in sight."

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UK pursues "let them drive cars" policy with public transport cuts

South Yorkshire public transport cuts - Business - Doncaster Free Press: "Passengers who use public transport in South Yorkshire are being warned front-line services will be affected by the next round of funding cuts."


George Osborne's constituency: the coalition cuts hit home | Politics | The Guardian: "(the lack of buses made it impossible for car-less Longridge residents to apply for 100 jobs that came up in a country hotel recently)"

Park your car, ride two weeks for free | Yle Uutiset | yle.fi

Park your car, ride two weeks for free | Yle Uutiset | yle.fi: "Any local resident who wants to take a break from the wheel can order a 14-day free public transport pass up until the middle of May."

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Cars choking Purley, UK

Fears over 'parking nightmare' at Purley Hospital | This is Croydon: "Tarsem Flora, a local architect and the group's chairman, said: "We are looking at double the number of visitors to the hospital but no parking provision. It will be a nightmare.""

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Cars choking Bristol, UK

Bristol mayor disputes grid-lock figures - 'the traffic is because we're a successful city' | Blog: "Despite this Mr Ferguson says he acknowledges that congestion is a problem in Bristol and welcomes TomTom’s efforts to highlight the issue."

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Switzerland - If you want tourists, it is good to be #carfree

Scotsman.com: "If any place fits the traditional image of a chocolate-box Swiss village then it is car-free Saas Fee which nestles under the Dom, the highest mountain entirely in Switzerland at 4,545 metres."

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Cars choking Nottingham, UK

Slow-go as Nottingham is named 24th worst in Europe for car snarl-ups | This is Nottingham: "CAR journeys in Nottingham take nearly a quarter longer in rush hour than at other times because of congestion, a report has revealed.

This makes the city the fifth worst for congestion in the country and the 24th worst in Europe."

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Sunderland, UK, another £234,000 to try to make the auto-system work

BBC News - Sunderland traffic light upgrade of Grange crossroad begins: "The four-week project will replace the 30-year-old system at the Grange A1018 Newcastle Road junction in Fulwell with lights with sensors.

Sunderland Council said the £234,000 lights will react to the flow of traffic easing congestion."

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New Italy political party wants to promote #degrowth by ending waste

‘Degrowth’ Enters the Italian Political Arena | Degrowth Magazine: "“We want a government with priority about public water, degrowth and smart mobility,” said Vito Crimi, leader of 5 Star for the Italian Senate in an interview with Corriere della Sera, hinting at the debates to come."

Poor transport 'traps thousands of pensioners in their homes'

This is Cornwall: "Transport cuts have left thousands of Westcountry pensioners trapped in their own homes despite free bus passes, a new charity survey has found."

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