Absolutely right; these cities have invested in order to deal with mobility demand. Here, as in so many areas of public provision, our masters prefer to suppress demand rather than get serious about supply. I think it betrays a deep contempt for us citizens.
Also FYI, I once organized a free council-sponsored concert in Blackbird Leys, featuring Benjamin Zephaniah. He arrived by black London taxi and was charming.
No I didn't. So thank you for the history - tearing up the tram system in the 1960s and 1970s was a pretty bad mistake in retrospect. (Though in my hometown, the subsequent boom in bus services laid the financial foundation for what turned into Hanson Trust. My local branch of Lloyds quite literally had a picture of James Hanson above the manager's desk.)
I followed your link to excellent plans to build a metro system for Oxford. Sadly, it concludes this: "But Oxfordshire County Council, which is the local highway authority, revealed it has no plans to support the ‘Oxford Metro’ concept set out by Railfuture." Which is a great shame, but as you know, it's so much easier/cheaper to squash demand than to build supply, and great fun to boss people around too, if you are of that bent.
‘15 minute cities’ or at least 30 min cities are fairly abundant across the continent but extremely unlikely to magically appear in the uK. Why? Most European towns and cities have super fast metro and S-Bahn (tram) lines that get you from suburb to city center in 15-30 min max. UK drip fee investment in tube for over a century while many European cities added line after line each decade. Even my home town Darmstadt has added 5 new lines in the last decade. They are fast, cheap, reliable and comfortable. That combined with huge investments in cycling infrastructure keep the roads free for those who have no alternative eg. Disabled and families with small children.
Absolutely right; these cities have invested in order to deal with mobility demand. Here, as in so many areas of public provision, our masters prefer to suppress demand rather than get serious about supply. I think it betrays a deep contempt for us citizens.
You didn't even google Oxford and trams did you?
http://www.oxfordhistory.org.uk/high/history/transport_1905.html
https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/19190569.plans-oxford-metro-include-electric-trams-new-train-links/
Also FYI, I once organized a free council-sponsored concert in Blackbird Leys, featuring Benjamin Zephaniah. He arrived by black London taxi and was charming.
No I didn't. So thank you for the history - tearing up the tram system in the 1960s and 1970s was a pretty bad mistake in retrospect. (Though in my hometown, the subsequent boom in bus services laid the financial foundation for what turned into Hanson Trust. My local branch of Lloyds quite literally had a picture of James Hanson above the manager's desk.)
I followed your link to excellent plans to build a metro system for Oxford. Sadly, it concludes this: "But Oxfordshire County Council, which is the local highway authority, revealed it has no plans to support the ‘Oxford Metro’ concept set out by Railfuture." Which is a great shame, but as you know, it's so much easier/cheaper to squash demand than to build supply, and great fun to boss people around too, if you are of that bent.
‘15 minute cities’ or at least 30 min cities are fairly abundant across the continent but extremely unlikely to magically appear in the uK. Why? Most European towns and cities have super fast metro and S-Bahn (tram) lines that get you from suburb to city center in 15-30 min max. UK drip fee investment in tube for over a century while many European cities added line after line each decade. Even my home town Darmstadt has added 5 new lines in the last decade. They are fast, cheap, reliable and comfortable. That combined with huge investments in cycling infrastructure keep the roads free for those who have no alternative eg. Disabled and families with small children.