Vehicle use ‘should be a privilege, not a right’
Friday 21st October 2011, 2:30PM BST.
SMALLER buses, more one-way streets and electric vehicle charging points are some of the options laid out by Environment that could one day form a road transport strategy.
But the department has not submitted any firm proposals of its own, as it was requested to do when the Assembly last year passed an amendment to its operational plan in 2010. It has instead published a list of ‘menu choices’ for consideration.
And it says that the starting point adopted is that vehicle use should be a privilege and not a right (see panel below).
Minister Peter Sirett said no in-depth plans could be prepared unless the States gave a clearer direction of what road transport measures it wanted.
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I never thought I’d hear this sort of environazi claptrap in Guernsey. This ‘privilege’ being given by the department that makes some of the most bizarre ‘whichever-mood-takes-them’ decisions. They are more concerned with achieving their carbon footprint target, who all but the most gullible environuts, or those with vested interests, know is a complete fiction. In one breath they say there is overcrowding on the island’s roads… in the next they talk of electric car charger points. Since when has an electric vehicle taken up no space? I can imagine the chaos when everyone lines up to charge their cars. And you thought people stopping at hedge-veg boxes was annoying! Beware any government that issues decrees that certain practices are privileges. But then, in their eyes, we are there to serve them.
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It’s not April 1st? The Environment Department Civil Servants must be incredibly over staffed and bored at the moment to come up with these daft suggestions.
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Should never have got rid of the tramlines!…
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turn a blind eye once again…money rules the day.
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I think you’ll find that you cannot tell us what is a privilege and what is a right. We elect the government, therefore they serve us. Not the other way around.
Proposals like this make me sick with rage.
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take away the cars of all those on the environment board for a year,that will bring them into the REAL world
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Vehicle use is already a privilege! A “right” is something that is inherent in a person and cannot be taken away…. Driving is not something that is inherent it is something governed by the issuing of a license and ongoing rules and regulations. You can take away a privilege not a right. When people break the law they can have their license to drive taken away ie they have their privilege to drive taken away from them.
I understand that they are trying to decrease pollution on the roads and I applaud that, but get your terminology straight before making attention grabbing but inaccurate statements which only serve to undermine the important message that environment is trying to convey.
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Really, would you say that ridding a horse is a privilege also. By the way the supreme court ruled decades ago that the right to travel by automobile was a right. How about the right to pursue “Life Liberty and Happiness; kinda hard to do that if u have to walk to the supermarket or get to hospital in the winter. Or how about work how are you supposed to get to work; and don’t say take a bus because not everyone lives in the city. Really where are you from Russia?
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what complete and utter cr*p, First of all make all of the States Members sell their cars and then and only then can they tell us what to do, if my memory serves me right there are more “gas guzzlers” owned by our politicians than should be, I seem to remember at least one of them has or has had a Porsche in recent years.
Until they get public transport that is even half way decent then they should shut the hell up, I will NEVER give up my car, I work long and anti-social hours , often returning home at 2am in unlit streets, so get these idiots working towards a decent plan or vote them out at the next election.
My Vehicle is a RIGHT, it may be old and tired but its safe , well maintained and reliable, unlike our green monstrosities that attempt and fail to be “public transport”.
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They had better set aside a whole week for this debate
Everyone,including non driver Gollop, is a traffic expert and will want to add their tuppence worth
I see that Minister Sirett was interviewed in the TV studio car park at Bulwer Avenue.That must have been quite a walk for him?
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Think it is time environment used their brains as they haven’t got much common sense and got rid of those huge buses which should never have been allowed on our Island’s small roads. Be like Turkey and have mini buses which take about 14 passengers. Around the lanes in St Martins I have seen bus drivers having to tack to go round corners – its mind blowing. Even more ridiculous is that most of the time the bus is empty or perhaps at a push there might be 2 or 3 people on board. We pay our taxes and have every right to own a car and drive it – how dare they say we should consider it a privilege hope to goodness next year they dont get re-elected.
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i wonder how many deputies and civil servant have free parking? quite a few. how many actually walk to a states meeting,? also how many cars has peter sirret own,, i am a car driver, bus user and walker, about time these people practice what they preach,
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Privilege is probably not the best use of words but still we shouldn’t take the use of cars for granted. In Bermuda, there is a one car per household policy but you can own as many mopeds as you like and they have a similar population/island size to us. Now that would cause a stir but it’s good to think outside the box. Our buses need to be much better like Jersey but with smaller, narrower buses that don’t clog the traffic up!
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Ive heard they may only allow bicycles from next April.
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My mind set, usually in pretty good order, all marbles function, is absolutely gobblydegooked at the latest – what? – I can’t even dignify it with a verb, Environment’s latest offering.
This comic opera group were instructed to come up with some ‘plans of action’ some 12 months ago, by which I understood that Rep Sirett had been charged to do just that, he now wants more guidance; what of? What has changed? This comedy of tax paid errors, some of us voted in, have failed abysmally.
Roll on April Elections.
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Vehicle use should be a privilege. This one comment sums up the Environment Department in its attitude to the people it masters, sorry serves. Some of the ideas are total non starters and does make you worry about the people who come up with some of these ideas. Afraid car ownership and need in the modern world is essential and something we have to put up with. We only have ourselves to blame for the problems we have. We have produced such a wealthy island over the last couple of decades and with wealth people will spend. Modern requirements are a home and all the goods that come with it and that includes a car. How many have swimming pools, indoors and out, that are a drain on the water supply? Of course ideas are needed to try and minimalise the impact but sorry a sign of the times. Anyone who has older relatives ask them about the days of cycling or walking across the island to and from work, all weathers, and see if they would go back to that? The public have been calling for smaller buses on some routes for years to no avail and now this idea is being thrown up as another brilliant idea by our governing bodies! Makes you worry about the future.
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Who decided that buses were more environmentally better?
Does it take you from your door to where you want, when you want? No. Does it keep you dry and warm for your complete journey? Again no.
Better roads, better parking facilities and possibly smaller cars are the answer.
How is it that the French have their towns so much better organised, with ample cheaper parking and free parking between 12 noon and 2pm? Plus their pristine multistorey car parks put Ours (Jersey’s) to shame.
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More garbage from Val Cameron, where do we get these people from? We survived perfectly well without all these “experts” before, lets please get some common sense back in to this island before its too late.
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Freedom of speech and expression is a right
Being able to freely vote in an election to decide who governs you is a right ( one we all probably ought to exercise quite strongly next year )
A fair trial if I am accused of a crime is a right
Owning a tin box with wheels so you can get from exactly where you want to exactly where you want whenever you want is a convenience and a luxury, not a right.
If I have a right to transport that gets me where and when I want then I demand the right to a helicopter for my personal use 24 / 7. Why, in these modern times, should I have to rely on airlines that will only take me to and from where they decide, and when they decide, to operate ?
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Roll on the next general election and vote this most imcompetent States out once and for all.
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Tony
OR … Why,in these modern times,should I have to rely on a bus company that will only take me to and from where they decide,and when they decide,to operate?
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Tony has a point, a car is not a right, the other examples are.
Cars have just become another facet of expected modern day life, but they are not a right.
However a suitable sized and regular bus service would make a good start into eroding away the dependance on cars for every errand.
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Peeps its simple
1 Paid Parking 25 Pounds a day
2 Toll Road fees 5 Pounds for,St Julians Avenue,Val Des Terres and Glategny Esplanade
3 Busy Bee Bus Services and 50p per ride
4 Company Car parking incur a 50 pound daily fee
PEEPS
You know it makes sense.
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I don’t think anyone can deny that there is an issue with traffic on the island.
Something needs to be done about it, and whatever ‘solution’ is decided upon it will be unpopular with some.
Personally, I got so fed up with parking/traffic jams that I took to two wheels.
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Why not bring in M.O.T. that would get rid of half the cars/vans etc…
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I am not sure which planet the Environment department lives on but it sure isn’t planet reality. This is where introducing paid parking would be an advantage. At the moment if you want to be in town for more than two hours it is annoying to have to move your car. You tend to leave rather than continue shopping or having coffee/lunch etc. the shops would probably get more business rather than less as people would stay longer.
If people had to pay to park then this would encourage people who work in town to use another method of transport to get to work. I still see people coming out of work and going to the piers to change their clocks. If you are at work all day what on earth do you need your car in town for?
If perhaps they viewed parking in town as a privilege that you had to pay for then it might just free up the roads and encourage people to use public transport. Just a thought!
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Bunch of jumped up dictators. It is not a priviledge, it is a right. Human beings have the right to travel, and in the modern day that includes motor vehicles.
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Absolutely livid to read this article, considering bringing back a tax?! Sorry, “registration fee”. Hang on, excuse me if I’m wrong but we’re paying a ridiculous amount of tax on our petrol.
I remember when we were all going crazy around hurricane Katrina time when petrol was a whopping 60p per litre!! Now, it’s about £1.10!! When motor tax was scrapped, it was on the basis we’d pay a few pence extra on our petrol instead. HA!! That went from a few pence to what, 60p a litre in tax?! It’s crazy. It is costing us all a darn sight more not paying tax in favour of extra tax on petrol for what, for these cret1ns to now propose a new tax on cars!!
Roll on the next election
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Worried about the Environment, Environment Department??
Maybe you should have allowed me uPVC windows then, instead of of fighting me tooth and nail for the wood ones, of a specificity you FORCED me to have, which means my fuel bills are through the roof?
Strategy….. not really a term I’d associate you. The right arm doesnt know what the left arm is doing, and even if it did, the rules would probably be so that any effect that the left arm is trying to aceheive would be offset by the right arm blindly following the law. Meanwhile neither arm is permitted to use common sense.
Is is any wonder why people are COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY fed up with this department and its hackneyed and frankly ridiculous ways, under the guidance of the most closed minded of all our deputies messr Sirret!
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There is a philosophical right to freedom of movement. Rachel is wrong about the existence of driving licences demonstrating that driving is not a ‘right’ – though the State can refuse someone a driving licence, or revoke one, such actions must be reasonable, proportionate and necessary.
It’s a very unfortunate result that the right to freedom of movement in Guernsey now basically amounts to the right to drive a car, and it’s the result of inaction by the States over many years to tackle the problem and promote the alternatives.
I applaud much of what’s in the report, but think it would have been a lot better without this particular red herring about rights and priveleges. I also wish Environment would focus less on ‘sustainability’ and CO2 emissions, and more on tackling the perverse inefficiency which results from our reliance on the car.
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It’s nice to see a it of comradeship amongst us islanders once again!
@SB Well said my kind sir!
WE elect the Government! WE say what is a privilege and what is a right!
Power to the people!
Speaking of buses and a more environmentally method of transport…My. Gentle. Jesus! I almost choked to death driving behind one of those things earlier on today, and then one almost ran me over (and yes, I was on the pavement).
I am all for a Tram system that goes along the front. That would be marvelous and imagine if we could power it using renewable energy!
Traffic is fine in Guernsey when the road closures aren’t all going on at the same time.
A decent government moderated car-share service would do wonders for our carbon footprint.
Government subsidized engine conversions to run on green fuel, hemp and sunflower oil etc.
Where are the initiatives?! The few that come up seem so Orwellian and archaic.
How does one go about voting for a Tram system to be implemented on this island? Does anybody here no how a group of people would go about such a thing. The people really do need to make the first move eh?! Otherwise we seem to be stepping backwards as opposed to evolving and optimizing our society and economy. Earth does have a reset switch and we are close to pressing it. WE need to do something! Otherwise we will choke on our own ignorance (and CO2) my friends…
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paid parking for non electric cars and better public transport, sorted.
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M.O.T
That would clean up the roads
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My occasional drive into Town this morning was rather alarming.There was hardly any traffic and I wondered if I had forgotten to set my clock back / forward an hour
Then I remembered it’s the first day of half term
By the way do any of the Environment staff
(and any of the posters who say the island is clogged with traffic) EVER venture onto the roads at other than the morning or evening rush?
While you’re tucked up in your offices between 9 and 5 most roads outside of a half mile radius of the Town Church are very free moving
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Well they have to come up with some ideas to justify their salary. Sorry cars are here to stay. If the environment department want to give up their cars it would free up the road for other users – theres an idea!
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Vehicle use ‘should be a privilege, not a right’
Ok, i suggest we start by turning the car park at frossard house into woodland ;-)
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I think its clear, there is a fallout between the States Members and the Civil Service, the Civil Servants are no longer prepared to issue the scripts leaving them without direction and dumbfounded…
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Alternative view
Very well said. I totally agree.
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Can anyone please remind me of the name of the Environment Minister who a few years ago turned up for an interview with the BBC, on car-free day ….in his car. If I remember he failed to see the irony of the situation!
Several apologists tried to say he had to pick his wife up or something and this is why he used his car (of course). Needless to say there was nothing stopping his wife/family member from getting a taxi home (like the hoi polloi have to do).
The Environment Dept, with their edicts and ban on speaking to the press, are getting more and more like the pigs Snowball and Napoleon in Animal Farm by the day.
It won’t be too long before Sirett & co. are spouting a new version of the Animal Farm mantra for the anti-car brigade; “four wheels bad two wheels better”!!!!
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Town Dweller,
Anyone who wishes can relive that glorious occasion by reading the comments on this article:
http://www.thisisguernsey.com/2010/09/21/car-free-week-makes-poor-start/
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Of course we have a right to drive our cars whenever we want since driving has not been outlawed. However, it is sad that so many of us use that ‘right’ as an excuse to drive our vehicles for every journey irrespective of the need and irrespective of the negative effect doing so has on the community at large. Rights come with responsibilities but where cars are concerned we like to forget that. Using our cars might be a right, but it is not in the same bracket as a right to education, free speech, or clean drinkable water…….. all of which I think are sacrosant ‘rights’. Truth is, we could manage without our cars for many of our journeys but we choose not to because we think that it would be too inconvenient….. that is a choice we have made, because we are in the priveledged position to be able to do that. Governments’ job is to make sure that we are encouraged to make the choices that are in the best interests of Guernsey…..not just each of us individually, but for the island as a whole. Unfortunately, that is quite often an unpopular course to take because we prefer to be allowed to do what we want ignoring the wider implications.
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Car use is a privledge? Well for thos eof us who work other than 9 – 5 it is an essential. When do States members actually walk to work, or cycle. If they make statements like that more often and coming up to election make sure they are on their bikes looking for work after the election.
Paid Parking, reduce the amount of if not completely remove onstreet parking. Smaller buses are no answer you cannot meet the present demand for drivers of buses at critical times so how are you to meet demand with smaller buses. A 35 seat bus can do the job of an 18 seat vehicle the reverse is never going to be true. If you get smaller buses you will need more of them to meet present demand smaller buses will not be any less likely to breakdown nor any easier to negiotate the throng of 4×4`s which choke up the roads every morning and evening most of which have never been off road not even mount a kerb to allow a larger vehicle through. Why is it buses which are the target of most peoples ire,? they are always empty people say the same paople who travel to work daily in mpv`s,4×4`s and large cars on their own. Buses at least carry their capacity loads frequently most cars rarely have their full capacity once a month
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The real problem is that there are too many people in a very small island,sort that and you solve too many cars on the road,also some people have more than one car so making the figures look bad,but of course they can only drive one at a time.
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Most of those civil servants have a desk at custard castle, which automatically comes with a parking space. Therefore, would be nice to see how many of them actually car share or are one person in a car…I have two kids both of which go to two schools due to ages, I have to try and get each to school and then get to the other side of the island to work for 9 o’clock a bus is not pratical and in the winter even more so, nothing worse than sitting at work with soaking clothes or a board meeting. So it may look that I am on my own going to work but prior to that and I think you will find the same with most people they would have had kids in the car when they left home. Most have more than one child so this make giving people lifts a bit more complicated. Also lunch time is then spent popping to the shop to get food as when you want to get home its time to spend with kids etc. A car now a days is essential. I would like to know how many top dogs in the government drive in to their parking spaces rather than using alternative transport…
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p.s. The north beach car park has enough space to have another level put on it (but looking attractive nice guernsey granite on the outside) with the underneath being long term (10hr) paid parking (say £1 per day or £30 for the month average 250 spaces = £90,000k per annum) and above short term 3 hours free parking. The paid parking in no time would pay for the additional level in no time. Simples really but no doubt as no one is getting some thing out of it personally this will not be considered. This would also sort out the parking situation for the future.
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Most of these measures are laughable but one concerns me, the consideration of bringing back some form of tax. I wondered why Environment insisted that vehicles were still weighed when they came into the island despite road tax being scrapped (and that’s all the record of the weight was used for). Watch this space!
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Guernsey Press really are adept with the headlines that make people squeal.
Nobody on this island can deny that there is a problem with overcrowded roads. And there is very, very little space to build more roads, except where roads are much less busy anyway.
I think that modest taxes, such as paid parking, fuel duty, maybe vehicle excise duty for larger cars, which crucially are RINGFENCED to allow subsidy schemes for (small) buses, as well as personal purchases of motorbikes, smart cars, electric cars and even bicycles could create a gradual shift in vehicle ownership towards smaller vehicles, which is probably the only solution to this issue that I can see. There are only two alternatives to cars and motorbikes in Guernsey: buses and bicycles, and they are both extremely cheap already. I seriously doubt they could be made cheaper (although free buses would be cool) so unfortunately the only other option to reduce congestion seems to be to make certain types of vehicles more expensive.
And frankly, I don’t see that paying more for a large vehicle is so controversial, unless you need it for some kind of employment, in which case exceptions could be made.
The above will never happen though.
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Isn’t this all about Guernseys love affair with the car. Building more parking may not actually solve the basic problem of car love.
There are things we can learn from other cities to rectify the problem.
The clock system is childish. Charging for parking to regulate demand is a grown up solution.
Bike hire schemes
Establishing car&van pools across the island perhaps by using the Zip car firm, for many people this will eliviate the second car problem.
We also need to evaluate the options for a viable light railway, one that does not use the road.
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Unfortunately cars have made islanders remarkably lazy and suburban and that is the main issue to be overcome in addressing car use.
The size of the island is ideal for trialling all sorts of alternative means of transport and other inventive measures. I would welcome seeing parts of car parks in town being turned over to pasture for horses and camels so that more people can ride to and from work.
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@Keith
‘Nobody on this island can deny that there is a problem with overcrowded roads’
That depends on the time of day.It is now 3.33pm on a Wednesday.I could get into Town from the Bridge in roughly ten minutes from now
Although we’re not talking Grand Prix speeds that to me isn’t an example of crowded roads
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Keith is right: there is no more space to build or widen roads, and it’s unlikely that making cycling or the bus cheaper will have much of an extra effect on the take-up rate.
So the only way to reduce congestion, noise, and pollution would be to make car driving more inconvenient or more expensive. There are lots of ways to do this, like:
put petrol up to £3 a litre
make desirable parking paid at £1 an hour or more
remove car parking spaces
introduce rules on the number of cars allowed per household or the size of car
tax private office parking
make car drivers install black boxes and charge them for road usage
Any one of these would produce howls of outrage from some voters, so no politician will drive any of them through.
So everyone had better get used to a continuation of the gradual build-up of congestion, annoying noise, unhealthy pollution, slow journey times into town, having to arrive earlier and earlier to park, and wasting hours every week on pointless commuting. It’s our right, after all!
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Paid parking is not the solution. If you are someone who needs to use a car, you will use it no matter what the costs are. Paid parking and fuel tax are merely ways to make the motorists pay more for using their cars – it is not an environmental policy at all. If they were doing it genuinely on an environmental basis, then a policy would be passed limiting car usage to x thousand miles per year or something like that. And the simple fact of the matter is that our bus routes are not comprehensive enough or reliable enough to warrant everyone binning their car keys and relying solely on public transport.
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Dan_Gsy
People WILL NOT use their cars “no matter what the costs are”. I currently drive to work every day and it costs me about £3 per week in petrol. I could very easily get the bus but that would cost me a minimum of £5 per week or a maximum of £10 per week (depending on whether I use an Ormer card). Add in the (albeit minimal) inconvenience of using the bus, and it’n not difficult to see why people continue to use their cars.
If, however, it was going to cost me £20 a week to use my car (due to paid parking, increased fuel costs etc) I’d be straight down to the bus terminus to purchase the biggest Ormer card available. There are plenty of people like me if my colleagues are anything to go by, so your point isn’t valid in my opinion. And all that extra revenue could be used to vastly improve the bus network, thereby reducing the inconvenience of bus use further still.
Of course it is highly unlikely that our politicians will take any such action, because they’re scared of being voted out of office by disgruntled motorists, so don’t expect any changes any time soon.
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An Underpass or Overpass here and there at the worst junctions and a GLR (Guernsey Light Rail) between Town and a few select areas would make a world of difference, and not that costly really on the grand scheme of things.
Swapping the current buses for a fleet of double the size with (cheaper) Mercedes minibuses like the London airports use would also help.
Big ticket items like these are expensive at first glance, but better done sooner before the need really is critical. Look ahead, the car usage isn’t going to go away or reduce. Anyone who thinks otherwise is seriously deluded.
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@Ray
True this isn’t a problem at all times of day, but a problem at some times of day is still a problem. I would argue that the road between Town and the Bridge is one of the wider and more amenable to free-flowing traffic, but even that is pretty bad at rush hour. We have it good compared to the mainland, but with populations increasing and a sense of frustration among motorists I don’t think it’s something the island should be shrugging off.
@Dan_Gsy
Phil is right in that cost will deter people from using cars, we’re not talking about dissuading car use for every journey, so people don’t need to bin their car keys. I own a car but I still use the buses sometimes, especially when going out for a meal if I want to have a drink.
You’ve touched into something important though, which is a deep rooted public suspicion of environmental taxes, and that’s crucially why I believe these taxes are a sensible policy when governments RINGFENCE the revenue from them to spend on traffic calming measures, sustainability projects, etc.
Although having said that, I think this island could definitely afford to make the buses free through public subsidy, and as I said I think that would be really, really cool.
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It’s also highly unlikely that our politicians will be seen to use the buses as their main mode of transport. With the exception of John Gollop, who is a regular on various bus routes, I have never seen any other politican on the buses and I use them every day.
I happen to think that more people would use the bus if it was improved.
Who wants a lengthy walk to a bus stop particularly at this pedestrian splashing time of year? Who wants to then have to stand at a bus stop with their fingers crossed just hoping that a bus will turn up? Who wants to board a bus where the driver doesn’t even acknowledge you when you speak? Who wants to have to explain to the boss why they are late for work yet again due to our bus “service”? Who wants to wait around after work until Island Coachways feel like sending a bus to take you home and then have another lengthy walk once you get off the bus before you actually are home? Nobody in their right mind that’s who but that’s what Island Coachways/Environment force us bus users to do. Not everyone can drive and many people rely on the buses. I’m sure many more people would use them if these issues were addressed.
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Phil; James; Keith…… nicely put!
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Fuel is going to keep going up in price, as it is a finite resource, so the planning report should be looking at long term alternatives.
For an island like Guernsey, tidal energy needs to be considered, and how to make the use of tidal generated electricity in running the islands infrstructure. This could mean trams, but it could also mean novel solutions like ski lift type escalators to tow cyclists up the larger hills, making cycling to work more acceptable.
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Perhaps we should limit the amount of driving licenses that are given out each year.All should have the opportunity to drive if they want to .but to keep a license should be made a privileged
Maybe putting points onto the licenses . after so many it get removed and you wait in a queue to get it returned .
so many issued per year..
Also there are many who should not be driving.
I have seen some drive at 5mph and all over the roads .A retest at the age of 70 should be available free of charge .
there are also many at this age who drive very well.so many would keep their license .
our roads are over crowded with traffic.
Perhaps put age up to 21 as well.
We cannot keep adding more and more cars onto our small and overflowing roads ,we have to make a stand soon and deal with this .
Ir this means putting on extra buses so be it but we have to make sure the bus service is up to standard to suit those who need it for work early in the morning and a more regular service in some places .
I like the free bus for the elderly . And i know many who take full advantage of it .
Also the ormer card is also good value .
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Peter De La Mare – a light railway? that would require continuous (and relatively straight) ribbons of available land between A and B. the only way that will be obtained would be by turning over the major trunk roads into railway lines – not exactly conducive to efficient traffic management.
I generally agree with you on the buses thoug – a greater number of smaller buses would be better for the roads and allow more flexibility in scheduling and greater frequency in off-peak times.
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I think the top dogs in environment-traffic should just give up, quit their jobs and go home, save us a load of money :)
But in all seriousness, I drove deliveries for the last 6 years over here. The roads are fine during non rush hour. Of course certain routes are horrendous during rush hour but this is due to the distribution of people/work places and due to overpopulation. Nothing you can do about those really.
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There is a case for no private vehicles on such a small Island but the ruling elite feel good about their expensive new cars.
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Does make you ask the question what they were smoking before they had their ‘vision’(Hemp based fuel bi products maybe?)
Utter bull poo! Next election get the whole lot out, also people who don’t drive cars should not be on a committee that comes up with new and exciting ways of preventing the use of private motorised transport. As a member of the Guernsey classic Vehicle Club I own 2 cars, but only use one at a time! It’s also time they sorted their records out as I know for a fact that there are many hundreds if not thousands of vehicles no longer on the roads, but the owners have hung on to the log books to keep the high value reg number for future use or sale, or have lost log books to cars sent for scrap many years ago. I know of one guy who has over 50 cars stored all over the island. and another well know site up near the airport that has hundreds of vehicles stored in fields around the house. The car is a fantastic tool that gives us the ability to go where we want when we want and that my friends is freedom, it’s what most people aspire to! but to threaten to limit its use? that’s not a vision of the future I want to see!
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In order for us all to exercise our “right” to drive from A to B whenever we like there needs to be 3 things in place – space for our cars at point A , space on the roads inbetween, and space for our cars at point B.
Anybody who has been anywhere near a school in the morning or afternoon, the Rohais chippy at a weekend, Admiral Park at the weekend, Le Friquet at the weekend, L’Aumone at the weekend, The Grammar School on Saturdays, Beau Sejour during the Eistedfodd, the various summer shows, and Town and its surroundings at various times during the day ( not just the rush hours ) can see that the required capacity just isn’t there.
The only options then are either for us all to use our cars less ( heaven forbid !! ) or the States to build even more car parks and roads. Since we don’t physically have the space for the latter, you might think that the only logical alternative is the former. But then This Is Guernsey, and logic seems to work differently here ……
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Why is transport an issue apart from the environmental issues it causes.
So there are cars on our roads. Only the drivers of those cars are inconvenienced with traffic jams, having to find a parking space at the end of their journey and the cost of ownership.
Car drivers pay tax on their fuel, keep others in work through paying for insurance, driving licence, car maintenance and repair, the purchase of fuel and buying a car in the first place. All of the businesses supplying those needs pay tax and employ people who also pay tax.
If we restrict cars we restrict the above revenue streams for the States and as it all goes into general revenue it will effect what can be spent on education, health and social services.
The number of vehicles on our roads will restrict itself as the cost of motoring increases or the frustration of not finding a parking space or being stuck in more and more traffic jams increases and means people opt to walk, cycle, take public transport or work from home etc.
If we want to ban the car to save the environment or for safety reasons then that is another matter
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The solution is simple RELAX AND CHILL OUT lifes to short.
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Cabbage for CM
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I’m looking into ways of halting petrol supplies into the island for at least the next 3 months. That should ease the congestion so I can get my bus passengers into Town on time and improve the bus service almost instantly!
Of course, that would mean keeping the huge (you really think they’re huge? lol) buses to accommodate the extra passengers.
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The headline is code for ‘we wish to make it so expensive to own and run a car that most will choose an alternative transport.’
I suppose that means that the islands populace will have to get on their bike and have a spare suit in the office for when they get wet in the driving rain. As one thing is for sure the busses would not cope if this happened.
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Terry Langlois – A Light Rail between Town and Bridge would be very straight forward without using any road space. The Docklands Light Rail, which I use daily, has 90 degree turns along its route and also goes up and down steep inclines as well as underground and high overhead. Destinations other than the Bridge would need a combination of solutions, but nothing that today’s engineering can’t meet. As with any new rail project, it would be delivered in stages as funds allow and as it proves itself.
Let’s not stifle ideas with one line slapdowns, the great solutions are often born by tossing around silly ideas that imagination and need develope into workable plans ;)
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I WALKED past Sir Charles Frossard car park at 9am today and it was full. Practice what you preach environment. Sixteen more flats being built in Victoria Road with no parking. Why do we need more flats, sort out the population problem, that should be your priority.
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Peter de la Mare
I’ve always liked the idea of a tram along the seafront (ironic really as we used to have one!) but I’m not so sure that you’d easily get one along Les Banques in the Admiral Park area. Its so narrow there that you would have to go very high overhead (the expensive flats there would love that!) but I suspect that the impact of strong winds would rule that out on safety grounds.
The Billson proposals of 2 or 3 years ago to reclaim land in Belgrave Bay though would provide the extra space available. Can you imagine trams going each way all day from the Bridge to Town? That really would be worth looking at.
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Peter De La Mare – in case you have not noticed, Guernsey is not an urban environment (or for that matter, a derelict industrial one, which the docklands was when the DLR was first built).
A rail link to the Bridge would be feasible, but hardly worth bothering with. How on earth would you get a rail link from Town to St Martins or St Andrews without destroying the essence of Guernsey? an elevated sky-rail going over people’s gardens is never going to happen.
I am a big supporter of finding ways to reduce our dependency on the internal combustion engine, but let’s be realistic, please.
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Peter De La Mare
I love your outside of the box way of thinking.
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Peter de la Mare
Just had a quick read about the Edinburgh Tram project
Commissioned in May 2008 at £280M for 18.5km of tram line.Due for completion in 2011 but delays and overspends mean that the projected cost is £545M.
Scottish Parliament consider cancellation but as £430M had already been spent on just 2.4km of track and cancellation would cost another £116M it was agreed by one vote to press ahead with a shortened track of 13.4km at a total expected cost of £776M
I don’t think that even Roger’overspend’ Berry would have had the balls to propose that as a solution to a couple of hours or so each day of traffic congestion in Guernsey
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Terry. It doesn’t matter what the geographical landscape is. You’ll be aware of the Woolwich extention which opened in 2009 at a cost of £150m? And even more recently the expansion of the stations to accept 3-car trains? At that time (2 years ago) the Docklands area was as developed as anywhere, and moreso than Guernsey maybe. In time I can envisage it running from town all the way around the north end of the island with spurs servicing population centres inland. Dream a little! ‘Can’t do’ attitudes never accomplish anything :)
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Peter De La Mare and Ray.
What’s the difference between a tram and a bus, if you have a dedicated bus lane?
Surely the bus is the cheaper and more flexible option?
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There is only 1 reason why SOG are not keen to follow any traffic strategy, its simple!
Fuel tax + private cars = big income
Bus full of passengers = dropped income
You are now yelling “I need my car” or “bus service times/routes don’t work”
So, lets introduce paid parking in busy areas 1st.
Those that feel able to pay, good for you, lets hope you like the proposed one way system
But as the paid parking fees come dribbling in, so the bus service should improve!
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Town Dweller
Time to stop all this airy fairy rubbish … PLEASE tell everybody WHERE you think we can fit in a dedicated bus lane when we have just about managed to scrape together enough room for ONE dedicated cycle lane which in parts has to be shared with pedestrians
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