malumbu

Rather dismissive of you @Rockets There's other words that come to mind. You've hardly discussed anything with me over the last five years. You've ducked a number of perfectly reasonable questions. And I'm not sure why your cabal seem to be liking what you say. Anyway I'm still reflecting on £3 Billion pounds that road congestion apparently costs London. This as said is compared to journey times should roads be running freely. Unless you actually break down what causes congestion and what can be done throwing large numbers around seems pointless. It needs to be delays that can be avoided and the reasons for these delays. I expect a principle reason for delays is our crumbling infrastructure and increasing number of road works, but planned and, Thames Water being the prime example, emergency Delays due to accidents and how this can be reduced, I expect that bad driving is a major factor. The weather, it is bad, it is raining heavily, traffic increases and slows, with a likelihood of increased accidents Poor driving, I'm sure we've all waited at lights due to drivers running the red and disrupting flow, stopped to turn right or having to turn right on red because a number of cars have run the red light, blocking junctions nose to tail etc etc. Both at normal junctions and roadworks Traffic management including the phasing of traffic lights. Yes you can bring bus lanes, bike lanes and preferential treatment of groups of road users. I expect road works are a massive component of the cause of congestion and that this may have increased. Views on the above from those prepared to engage most welcome. Well done to the men's curling team for making the final. An exciting and nail biting evening. Shockingly with all this interest in Andrew Battenberg not even made the main page of BBC news yet.

@springfleur55 returning to your original question I expect that Southwark use transport a transport consultant to model and assess the impact of schemes, There will be standard models that are adopted in this area, improved as further data comes to hand. The models will tell you exactly what happens, but give a likely scenario (if they are deterministic ie A B and C happens) or probabilistic if the likelihood of things happening across a number of possible scenarios. Traffic flow, carbon emissions and air pollution depend on numerous factors (variables) which is why it is never an exact science. A good example is forecasting the weather, a far more complex job, where we are told the likelihood of something happening. So just because there is 90% probability of rain over an hour, it doesn't mean that the clouds may not break and the sun shines briefly. As for the specifics, you would hope that drivers quickly realise what is going on and quickly stop using the route. My main experience is the Goodrich School Street where locals are well aware of it. Whether drivers don't look at signage because they are on auto being a route they have always used, or taking more notice of their satnav, I don't know. All the people I know who have been fined simply hadn't looked at the signage. At least one said to me "well I have always driven that way". You have some good experience so suggest fire a question off to Southwark, a complaint if you think it needs one. You could try your MP who in turn may write to the Transport Secretary but all my experience over the years is that this doesn't get anywhere. Probably even less so as now officials are allowed to use AI in drafting ministerial correspondence. Not sure if an FOI will reveal more, but pretty simple to put together and AI will do it all for you know. I've done a few in my life but not for some time. Apols for making this so simplistic. Many I believe don't understand the process and as someone who has worked in a technical area for much of my career, including modelling in my earlier days, it really gets my goat when people slag off, for example, weather forecasting. Worse in this post Brexit "what do experts know" world.

I'm a bit worried by your sudden involvement on this Forum. The former Prince Andrew is now Andrew Mountbatten Windsor Mountbatten in an anglicisation of Von Battenburg adopted by that branch of our Royal Family in 1917 due to anti-German sentiment. Another anglicisation could be simply Battenburg as in the checker board cake. So I surmise that your are Andrew Battenburg, aka Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and that you have infiltrated social media so that the country can put the emphasis on Mandelson rather than yourself. Bit of a failure. I don't expect an answer from police custody.

This smearing the academics because you don't like the results is tiresome and desperate. We've been through all this on multiple threads but you keep returning to it. Can you not give it a break? I expect many reading these threads think 'oh dear he we go again'. Sunak didn't like the results and, genuinely, tried to bury them. Apologies everyone else. I'll post later about the subject matter, as per original question.

Green Party policy on driver behaviour: Default 20mph Speed Limits: The party supports making 20 mph the default speed limit in all residential areas. 40mph Speed Limits: Proposing a default 40 mph speed limit in non-residential areas, excluding major roads. Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs): Promoting the expansion of LTNs to reduce "rat-running" in residential areas. Ending Internal Combustion Engine Sales: A target to end the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030. Environmental Charging: Implementing a Carbon Tax on fossil fuels to increase the cost of petrol and diesel, incentivizing a shift to electric vehicles or public transport. Prioritizing Active Travel: Shifting funding from road building to walking, cycling, and public transport infrastructure, aiming for 50% of trips in towns and cities to be made by these methods by 2030. Improved Driver Training: Supporting "eco-driving" techniques to reduce emissions and fuel usage. Some of which is good, some unrealistic, and on driver behaviour doesn't go far enough. Difficult to summarise the Lib Dems position as it is a bit wishy washy wanting to appeal to both the eco warrior and the NIMBY. Sadly I know people who are both! Labour (nationally) said that local measures are a local issue, which was quite sensible, after Sunak;s we are going to end the war on motorists last stand, but don't like upsetting hard working motorists for example chickening out on fuel duty rises.

@Insuflo NO, please no, please don't encourage him to post more often! 😒

Yes, but there doesn't seem to be any acknowledgement or apology from at least one LD on this site!

Before resorting to social media it is always worth checking out the details that are out there: Southwark's spending for this year: https://www.southwark.gov.uk/council-tax/how-we-manage-council-tax/our-budget-and-how-we-spend-council-tax/our-income-and As you will see, as with most if not all London Boroughs, shed loads goes on social care and children's services. The cost of paying for residential care, and for 'specialist schools is massive. As with other boroughs they have been hit hard by austerity under the coalition government. And the failure by successive governments to sort out social care. That is a thread all in its own rights. Local authorities of all political persuasions across England are facing tough times, several have gone into administration: Birmingham, Woking, Thurrock, Croydon, Slough, Northamptonshire, and Nottingham and 11 are on bailouts. Covid will not have helped. Some will have made some poor investment decisions in the past eg Thurrock and Woking; Some total mismanagement and one has been hit by historical debt through not paying their workers fairly (Brum). Reform promise simple solutions to cutting spending. Not that easy is it Nige?

@Rockets Very doom and gloom. As we are polls apart in our take I wondered if there was any point of discussing further. My mood further darkened by Kirsty Muir finishing fourth again and watching the last episode of the second series of the Night Manager. Traumatic (that is not a spoiler alert). However I thought it worth looking at your £3 Billion pounds cost of congestion in London and whether this was actual loss in economic activity. Politicians love throwing big numbers around to justify policies, and the masses also pick up on numbers to support their own views. GLA/TfL for example use this to increase the cost of the C charge The 3 Billion is assessed on drivers additional journey times, "average time lost sitting in traffic compared to free-flow traffic, resulting in 101 hours per driver in 2024". Not sure how many of these typical drivers there are. This is congestion vs free flowing traffic, and during peak times there is hardly anywhere where you could say traffic is free flowing, and its been like that for decades. It also assumes that the driver would be doing something constructive during that lost time. It's very much the back of a fag packet calculation. But that is the nature of the game with so many variables. Now me, If I was on the bus stuck in traffic I would probably read, catch up on e-mails/Whatsapp, scroll or at worst case spend far too long on this forum. But I wouldn't call that unproductive time. For everyone who routinely drives during peak time they do this in the knowledge that traffic is unlikely to be free flowing. An of assessment of economic activity based on delays to deliveries, delays to appointments, getting materials and the like would be far more valuable, An office worker taking an hour for a journey that may take 30 minutes first thing on a Sunday morning will not do 30 minutes less work. And it is part and parcel of working in a big City. You talk about a fundamental rethink - what are your thoughts? From the last few years it would seem you want roads opened up, the end of the 20mph speed limit, and removal of bike lanes. I expect that would result in some mode shift away from public transport and active travel, but I am not proposing any sort of trial. Me, as I have repeatedly said, is a change in attitude to motorised transport in urban areas which for many there are viable alternatives. That is from the top of government, to communities and us as individuals. We've hijacked this thread, I still think there is a lot of fuss about not very much and there have, and will be further, changes to the scheme. On the west side of the Rye it has always been a nightmare in term time, and thinking of your free flowing traffic issues I wouldn't know how you would deal with this. You can't get rid of the junction with East Dulwich Road, and going onto Peckham Road, Peckham Hill Street etc is a right mess of junctions. Why you would drive down there in peak time, unless you really had to, I don't know. The Rye is also crying out for a bike lane, and this could be on the Rye itself but the Peckham Society would die in a ditch over that. Local civic societies do a lot of great work, and I have been a member of two, but they don't fully represent an area, rather, a aprtiocular demographic which I expect in Peckham is fairly narrow. And my experience is there can be fair element of NIMBYism. I tried to get into conversation with the Telegraph Hill Society who were frothing at the mouth about the possibility of a CPZ. PS well done to Kirsty Muir, next time a medal!

"In Southwark, you can recycle plastic plant pots at home in your main recycling bin, provided they are not black, as black plastic is often not detected by recycling machinery. Clean, rigid plastic pots (tubs/trays) are accepted, but soft plastic pots should be taken to a local supermarket drop-off point" B&Q take as well https://www.diy.com/responsible-business/community/community-re-use (I've just found much of this out) Or you can make little men

Plastic flower pots full stop, have so many of them and most go into the recycling rather than being reused.

@Spartacushow would you to define what is essential? A quick view from me: Are there quicker ways of getting from A to B? for jouneys to central London public transport may be faster, and from much of my time in London cycling is far quicker If I'm moving a largish weight of material around would it be easier to order on line and get delivered? Are their healthier ways of getting there - for example is it a relatively straight forward walk? Cheaper alternatives, for many in London ditching the car and using other means in terms of annual costs makes better financial sense Could I share the ride with someone else? - particularly relevant for childrens' activiities Do I want to consume alcohol? Leave the car behind. Can I justify in my own mind why I should be adding to congestion and pollution by driving? Will an extra few minutes taking the bus be an inconvenience ? I usually take a book or paper, but most of us have a hand held computer and telecommunications device Are there less stressful alternatives - for example if there is a lot of traffic, difficulties in parking and the like? @Rockets it would be good to get your take on what is essential, as well as your response to my other six questions. As driving is habitual for many, there may be little thinking on much of the above

Good heavens, would this scheme really cost the economy that much? But to be serious, you band round these figures and seem to suggest that this is all down to LTNs. I could say, with more justification, it is more to do with too many unnecessary car journeys. Would you get rid of all restrictions on vehicles? By ending school streets would you argue that economic activity, and the freedom to drive where you like and when you like is more important than school children's safety.? Meanwhile I await your response to my four questions from yesterday as well as the two above. Ignore the first one, that was me just making a point.

I answered your questions honestly. No need for all the above.