Sheffield 15 Min Zone

[fools]

37 minutes ago, AndrewC said:

There are huge holes and weaknesses in this country's public transport systems and active travel provision, and if they were resolved with investment and good policy, we'd see a shift towards those modes of transport.

 

To suggest otherwise - or to suggest that somehow public transport, cycling infrastructure etc. is as good as it could possibly be and that anyone who wanted to use them would already be doing so is quite ludicrous and I have to say actually, not just a little bit embarrassingly naïve.

 

Interrupting traffic flow at the behest of a random person, clearly impacts on congestion

 

It's almost as if you are reading from a script

 

There are reasons why people choose not to go about on bikes, or by bus, or by foot. It has nothing to do with infrastructure.

Edited January 23, 2023 by fools

[top4718]

8 hours ago, AndrewC said:

Lol, it's amazing what people have normalised in their heads as 'coping'. Congestion costs an economy money. Every day I see people in queues of traffic up and down Ecclesall Road, AM and PM. Sure, they all get through eventually but at what speed? Barely walking pace.

 

Because you have a very specific load, starting point, and drop-off point, it sounds like car is best for you, and unlikely that improvements in public transport or active travel would change that situation. But you're one person, and clearly not the kind of person being targeted when it comes to encouraging people out of their cars.

 

There are countless people who make small trips in cars that are really either not all that necessary, or could be easily replaced by alternatives if other options were improved. It won't be for everyone.

 

It's worth noting, that in places like Amsterdam & Copenhagen - long held up (rightly so) as kings of how to do cycling, public transport etc. in large urban areas - that across the whole urban area, car is still the transport mode used by the majority. I think the last time I saw a figure for Copenhagen it was something like 60% of all trips still made by car. No one is suggesting that even the very best places at doing this in the world are anywhere near getting all people out of their cars, and there will always be many people who still need to use the car. For a city like Sheffield though, we're still a long way from having only the essential car users on our roads (Sheffield trips are probably something like 80-90% by car).

People who are advocating this restrictive nonsense keep stating similar to what I've highlighted above, when are these improvements going to start, Al Gore was harping on about rising sea levels two decades ago (before he bought his £8m beach side mansion), public transport has probably got worse not better in that time, so what plans are in place to make things easier than using cars and whats the timescale?

[Guest]

40 minutes ago, top4718 said:

People who are advocating this restrictive nonsense keep stating similar to what I've highlighted above, when are these improvements going to start, Al Gore was harping on about rising sea levels two decades ago (before he bought his £8m beach side mansion), public transport has probably got worse not better in that time, so what plans are in place to make things easier than using cars and whats the timescale?

I fully agree with this.

Other options are not being improved at all. Quite the opposite, they are all going downhill.

If governments and councils want people to change, there needs to be incentives and not just a big stick.

No good telling us how important it is when it's not important enough for government money to go on it.

They will be telling us soon, their big plans for Charles's coronation so they can show off to the world again.

I've done a lot of cycling in Sheffield, as well as walking and running and it's hair raising, especially on their, one line painted cycle paths.  Pray first.

Lets see action first, not talk.

 

[Longcol]

31 minutes ago, Organgrinder said:

I've done a lot of cycling in Sheffield, as well as walking and running and it's hair raising, especially on their, one line painted cycle paths.  Pray first.

Lets see action first, not talk.

 

If we are going to make cycle lanes safer, isn't this going to need wider or more separated lanes  - usually at the expense of either roads or footpaths?

[Guest]

9 hours ago, Longcol said:

If we are going to make cycle lanes safer, isn't this going to need wider or more separated lanes  - usually at the expense of either roads or footpaths?

The only sensible answer is YES.

Now is the time for them to put their thinking caps on for a change and earn their money.

Everything is possible to those who will make the effort.

It needs instilling in everyone that there can be no change,      without change.

 

Edited January 24, 2023 by Organgrinder

[Guest]

Further to that -

It is not how wide the cycle lanes are.   It is keeping vehicles completely out of them that is important.

If it was done properly, electric scooters could safely use the same  lanes.

If I was driving from Moorfoot or Pond Street to Chesterfield Rd, I would have a choice of,

Suffolk Rd, Queens Rd, Shoreham St, Bramall Lane, and London Rd.

You can manage without 5 roads going in the same direction so just take 1 away..

That road could be used for walking, cycling, scootering, skating or whatever with no motor vehicles allowed at all.

The people using that would be out of their cars, reducing traffic & pollution.

Imagine Shoreham St as a traffic free road and the benefits of that.

The idiots in charge can't think of anything and can't plan anything either.

Other roads need all impediments taking away so that the reduced traffic can move properly without holdups and pollution.

 

[ads36]

13 hours ago, top4718 said:

...when are these improvements going to start...?

Well...

 

The bus lanes on Ecclesall road, and Abbeydale road are becoming 24hour (i think?), and bus fares have now come down in price (thanks O Coppard!)

 

Work is happening right now(!) to extend the Chesterfield bus lane through Heeley Bottom.

 

Work has started on improvements to The Sheaf-Valley cycle route, and usage is growing considerably, and quickly!

 

(i've gone from riding to work once a week, to 3 times - because i now have a quiet/safe route to work)

 

There are several other cycle-routes which are in the pipe-line, which should start construction this year...(?) (Kelham, Nether-Edge, City centre, etc.)

.

The next few years should see these projects make a difference...

Edited January 24, 2023 by ads36

[dave_the_m]

13 hours ago, top4718 said:

so what plans are in place to make things easier than using cars

Well, one proposal has been to update planning laws, policy and the like to encourage over time, in new housing estates and even in existing estates, the provision of local facilities such as shops, so that many things are within a 15 minutes walking distance, and thus people will tend to may less journeys by car.

Of course such proposals are immediately seized upon by certain members of the community as proof that the government is planning to ban people from travelling outside their local zones, and huge long debates on local forums ensue.

 

Ho hum.

[Planner1]

13 hours ago, Longcol said:

If we are going to make cycle lanes safer, isn't this going to need wider or more separated lanes  - usually at the expense of either roads or footpaths?

There is some relatively recent government guidance published that local authorities are now working to, Local Transport Note 1/20

 

There are several factors involved and yes, width and separation are in there. It can be a challenge squeezing everything in where space is limited.

Edited January 24, 2023 by Planner1

[Planner1]

14 hours ago, top4718 said:

so what plans are in place to make things easier than using cars and whats the timescale?

There are plenty of plans. There’s an active travel implementation plan for South Yorkshire here

 

The government are putting a lot of their transport funding into active travel and public transport schemes. Notable recent investments being £2.45billion in the Transforming Cities Fund (TCF) and City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS) £5.7billion.

 

Theres always a case for more to be spent and of course these funds are allocated on the basis of bids made by the regions, which politicians would argue is unfair and wasteful of resources.