Norwich's congestion madness
On the second day of the ‘January’ sales, my girlfriend and I took the bus into the city. I was shocked and disgusted that it now costs £2 to get a single on First from where I live (just inside the Outer ring road) to the city centre. No wonder the bus was mostly empty.
Cycling into town next morning, on the third day of the ‘January’ sales, I was struck by the even more dire traffic levels than there had been the day before. The entire central area of Norwich was gridlocked.
It is desperately urgent that, with the coming of the long climate crisis, we sort out our transport system. We simply must find ways of encouraging people out of their cars, and onto buses and bikes.
But this will obviously never happen while the bus system in cities like Norwich is run by profit-grabbing private companies.
The appalling congestion that I have witnessed and that many many others have been caught up in, sometimes for hours, over the past few days, must be the last of its kind. This is why, in 2008, with unitary status at last in sight, I will be pressing very hard for serious money to be put into Norwich’s buses. We must have a Quality Bus Contract, and we must build the Norwich Cycle Network. Anything less is really an insult to those of us who want to use our cars less, and of course to those of us who don’t have cars. We need to provide genuine choice: as my girlfriend remarked to me, it is sheer madness to have buses which, if 2 or 3 of you are travelling on them together, do not deliver any saving, compared to simply phoning for a taxi instead!
Cycling into town next morning, on the third day of the ‘January’ sales, I was struck by the even more dire traffic levels than there had been the day before. The entire central area of Norwich was gridlocked.
It is desperately urgent that, with the coming of the long climate crisis, we sort out our transport system. We simply must find ways of encouraging people out of their cars, and onto buses and bikes.
But this will obviously never happen while the bus system in cities like Norwich is run by profit-grabbing private companies.
The appalling congestion that I have witnessed and that many many others have been caught up in, sometimes for hours, over the past few days, must be the last of its kind. This is why, in 2008, with unitary status at last in sight, I will be pressing very hard for serious money to be put into Norwich’s buses. We must have a Quality Bus Contract, and we must build the Norwich Cycle Network. Anything less is really an insult to those of us who want to use our cars less, and of course to those of us who don’t have cars. We need to provide genuine choice: as my girlfriend remarked to me, it is sheer madness to have buses which, if 2 or 3 of you are travelling on them together, do not deliver any saving, compared to simply phoning for a taxi instead!
posted by Rupert at
Sunday, December 30, 2007
5 Comments:
This really demonstrates the difference between us Cllr Read. When I saw all this (yes, on foot!) I thought it was the queues from the car parks at Chapelfield, Rose Lane, St Giles etc that were causing the build up. My first reaction was the need for more car parking spaces and a better road system.Have a great new year, Cllr A Little (Con)
There are no cycle lanes travelling into Norwich from Sprowston, and buses have to drive on the pavement in Sprowston Road when they meet oncoming traffic because of parked cars.
Norwich City Council has never shown any interest in improving access to the city centre from suburban Broadland.
However I do agree with you regarding the cost of buses. It can't be right for, as a group of 4 people, for it to be cheaper to get a taxi than take the bus.
The answer has to be lower bus fares rather than taxing the taxis though! NCC has, I believe, made it more difficult for taxis generally but we should be making the carrot sweeter rather than the stick bigger.
On car parks: if you build car parks, people will park in them, and that will only INCREASE pressure on the roads.
You cannot carparkbuild your way out of congestion.
do you have any statistics of congestion in norwich?
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