| Author | Message | ||
     Rocket_in_uk |
http://blogs.hotrod.com/fuel-burning-vehicles-to-b e-banned-in-london-at-what-cost-130001.html#axzz3A 206uRDE Rocket in England | ||
| Reepicheep |
I will say many nice things to say about London. If I had one criticism, it would be that Londoners and the UK government are willing to spend their own and other peoples money at staggering rates to achieve the things they believe to be important. | ||
| Aesquire |
Think how much cleaner London would be if they banned people. Give them time. http://www.davidicke.com/headlines/34-the-green-ge nocide-agenda-saving-the-earth-by-killing-humans/ Rocket, you don't live in London, right? so it's no skin off your nose if this action drives out some businesses and makes life a little harder for some people. It might even be a good idea from some perspectives, the very rich are not going to be badly affected, because they can always just buy a new green luxury car, or pay to get an exception for their chauffeur driven Rolls. Also a great deal for investors in car parks on the edge of the city, and will reduce local noise and traffic. ( at the expense of poorer people, but who cares? they don't donate to politicians anyway ) | ||
| Reepicheep |
A car in London is already a luxury good, and pretty damn impractical to boot. You couldn't pay me to be burdened with one when I am there. Now a Scooter, or a Uly without luggage, and now we are talking! | ||
| Xdigitalx |
Is that mayor related to FartFaceDeblasso??? lol. | ||
| Teeps |
ROI will come with increased property values for those lucky enough to live in an area that has a high walkability rating. http://www.walkscore.com/score/45-trafalgar-square -london-england-united-kingdom My place in Torrance has a score of 85... cha-ching $$$! | ||
| Rocket_in_uk |
If it happens in London it will spread the nation, just like the 20 mph speed limits have in the cities and towns, and the 40 mph limits on rural roads. Local authorities have recently been given wider powers, away from central government, where they can enforce regulations, and no doubt fill up the local revenue coffers (absent of government funds once enjoyed) raping the UK motorist further. Rocket in England | ||
| Ourdee |
If it happens in London it will spread the nation, just like the 20 mph speed limits have in the cities and towns, and the 40 mph limits on rural roads. What the Bloody.........It was 30 and 60 last time I was there. | ||
| Slaughter |
Where does London get its electric power? Does this mean that E-vehicles are coal powered? Nuke? Natural gas? Hydroelectric? Have a co-worker who has a sis living in the Pittsburg area. She was bragging about her Leaf as being a "Zero Emissions" vehicle. He corrected her, telling her that it is actually coal powered. | ||
| Glitch |
Where does London get its electric power? Everywhere they can it looks like, an oldish article, but probably not changed dramatically. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2007/may/23 /energy.nuclearindustry Another oldish article. Makes putting London even more electric is putting them in a bit of a pinch. Again, oldish, but I doubt the situation has changed dramatically. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/201 3/08/130829-united-kingdom-power-crunch/ | ||
| Aesquire |
I keep telling you, you want electric cars, you need more power plants. Not a complaint about electric cars, just a fact you have to figure into your decision making. If x amount of energy in gasoline is switched over to plug in the wall electric cars you need X + Y ( a lot ) MORE electric power generation than you already have. Y because while a fixed power plant should be more efficient than one in a car, you have to transport the electricity to your car, and it changes voltage and form from DC/AC/DC losing some at every step. In the end I doubt you actually save any energy going from a modern car to an electric one. Depending on how your power is made, it may pollute worse. You personally may save money on fuel costs because of government subsidies, but that is true of a lot of energy issues. The PURPOSE of this kind of law is not to save energy. Not to save the planet. Not to reduce CO2, and not to make the air cleaner. The Purpose is to give power and wealth to a few at the expense of everyone else. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Perspective is important too, London is an odd duck. First, the tube system works and works well, so there really is a usable and viable mass transit system that is a good option. A combination of good execution, and a culture of thougtfulness and politeness of the people in the city makes it work there, I don't know how well it would work elsewhere. Also, the average speed for a vehicle to cross London in 1912 was 5 miles per hour. The average speed for a vehicle to cross London in 2014 is 5 miles per hour. Every time I am there, I try and take a long wall (i.e. from London Bridge station to Paddington Station, which is highly recommended and crosses Hyde Park). If I get a cab, it's because I am tired, not because it will go faster. If I want to make time, I drop down into the tube, or get on a train. I havent tried the busses, but expect they are like the cabs (slow). So it's hard to do anything that "ruins" the driving in London, it was really never anything but ruined, at least from my perspective. It is simply too crowded, and has evolved better alternatives over many years. | ||
| Ourdee |
I used to walk a lot in London. Just made sense. | ||
| Aesquire |
When my cousin went to school in Boston, he sold his car. He was able to get a good apartment near school, ( MIT ) and Mass General, where he Interned. Rental on a parking space at his building was more expensive than car payments, and Boston where he needed to go is small, and has a good public transit system. I did notice that having a clean apartment in walking distance of the Hospital attracted a lot of very pretty company. In the insanely busy life of a medical Intern having a clean shower, and sheets, in short walking distance from work must have been a huge factor in choosing who to hang out with. He denied this was a consideration last time I visited him there, and I have no reason to cal him a liar, but I will say the young ( and Hot ) redhead cardiologist taking a shower in his apartment at the time may just have been a clue. But...Boston, and London, are not the proper model for a lot of the rest of the planet. Not that I am against public transportation systems, but a Subway was tried in Rochester , NY years ago, and has long been abandoned. It takes a certain population density, and a certain amount of wealth, for high capital cost transport systems to be effective. So, locally, it's buses. In some places alternative transportation methods are being tried, with varying success. In San Francisco the Cab drivers are upset with the ride sharing apps, and sometimes there are funny side effects. http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2014/08/19/driver s-voice-frustrations-at-being-mistaken-for-uber-tw itter-tweets-facebook-online-complaints-lyft-tweet s/ http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Putting-brak es-on-ride-sharing-apps-3927193.php | ||
| Glitch |
It might make sense in Atlanta proper, read Inside the Perimeter(ITP). But there are thousands of people that commute from Outside the Parameter (OTP) often going more than 50 miles one way. ITP public transportation is good. OTP public transportation can be nonexistent. Maybe after the new battery tech is discovered it'll come to pass. But as it stands now electric is still pretty expensive. All lakes in GA are man made One I know of has a hydo electric generator All those dams doing nothing but holding back water for thirsty Atlantans | ||
| Aesquire |
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/e u/11061538/EU-to-ban-high-energy-hair-dryers-smart phones-and-kettles.html If you have to wait longer for a less powerful heat source to do the job, that's just an Inconvenience. But what if to do the job takes enough more time at lower power that the total power required to do the job is more? Then you are being an idiot. I don't have the facts here, but as I have said repeatedly on other threads, I'm always willing to believe that a giant bureaucracy makes idiot decisions. And the EU is one of the classic examples. There is a reason they don't have buses or trains going to every suburban block to pick up and drop off people. It's not economical in time and money. Public transit takes a certain level of population density, and the more extensive the capital costs the more narrow the application. Buses can change routes much easier than trains. Part of that is that buses use the same capital improvement ( roads ) as cars and freight. The roads are not cheap ( ask Boston ) but they are multi-use to a much greater degree than rail. On multiple levels. You can decide to start a journey when you want and take as much time as you want ( with some consideration for speed differential and safety.... minimum speeds of highways, for example ) While on rails you have to be programmed into the flow. Soon Robot taxi pods will be common, in some places. It will be very interesting to see how we can mess that up too. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Same deal here in the US with oxygenated gasoline! It has something like 6% fewer emissions during the summer, so a win, right? Uh, but it's about 5% less efficient burning, so you burn about 5% more of it, and you have to do a bunch of other extra work to make it (eating up the other 1% and then some). Sigh. There is, IMHO, some real potential for a US mass transit solution that combines the best of what we have in terms of the flexibility of individual vehicles with the EU/UK efficiency of trains and mass transit. Either with autonomous taxis, or with freeway semi-autonomous "digitally coupled car trains", electric vehicles, etc. It will be interesting to see what the future holds. | ||
| Rocket_in_uk |
After several years the EU reversed the ban on curved cucumbers and various other fruit and veg. You would think this is the silliest they could get with their legislation, eventually coming to their senses over this one. But oh no, the vacuum cleaner is the latest to receive the EU treatment - read stupidity. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/e u/10423431/EU-energy-saving-rules-cut-power-of-vac uum-cleaners.html Rocket in England | ||
| Aesquire |
See the link above for the latest effort to save you from dry hair and hot water. How many hours do the Brits take for tea? It's going to take longer. |
