Cities around the world that are reducing car access

cgcsb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118920486#Comment_118920486

The point being that if cars were removed in favour of a new public transport service, as suggested by the poster I quoted, the same people would be up in arms.

LXFlyer

Listing every single route is a bit disingenuous when some are night time only and others peak time only - they are pretty much irrelevant to this discussion.

A more realistic list of bus routes serving Lucan village is:

C3 and C4 along the Lucan Road to/from the city centre every 15 minutes combined (every 30 minutes to/from Maynooth, Leixlip and Celbridge).

Local routes L51 and L52 linking with Adamstown and Dodsboro every 30 minutes combined and Liffey Valley via Willsbrook Park & St Loman’s Road or Clonsilla and Blanchardstown every 60 minutes.

Local route L54 linking with Leixlip, Ballyowen, Clondalkin and Red Cow every 30 minutes.

The C3, C4 and L54 are at a reasonable frequency, but I certainly think that the L51 and L52 are too low in frequency - they both need to be every 30 minutes minimum to make the bus an attractive option to driving for local trips.

Potentially waiting up to an hour for a bus from local areas is not going to attract people out of their cars.

Edit: For the record I certainly don’t think that the decision was the right one, but there is a need for better connectivity between Lucan Village and the sprawling suburbs south of the N4.

magicbastarder

we live beside a scout hall which is on a busy road with bus lane outside it, and this weekend there have been of plenty parents dropping off or collecting their kids, possibly for a scouting weekend. it's almost funny; loads of them park half on the footpath, half on the bike/bus lane directly outside the scout hall while waiting, and stand around for 10 or fifteen minutes chatting. there are marked public parking spaces 80m from the scout hall, and you cannot get to the scout hall without passing them.

Sam Russell

As has been said many times on this thread and others - enforcement of existing parking rules is needed.

AGS are too busy to do it, and do not want anyone else to do it as it is their job. Now, how do you get past that. I have seen Garda cars parked exactly as described - even with the Garda sitting inside it - not a bother.

downtheroad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118934194#Comment_118934194

Of course they have to drop the kids in the car, it's not safe to walk/cycle/take a bus because of all those other people in their cars!

Sam Russell

There was a time when kids of scouting age would cycle to the various activities, but now, despite having the bike, they get driven everywhere by the parent in the SUV, which must of course be driven as close as possible to the venue no matter how much congestion and danger it gives rise to for other SUV drivers bringing the scout to the venue.

Of course, the scout organisers could ask for a change in behaviour but they do not.

magicbastarder

To be fair, the cars I see parked outside the scout hall didn't seem to be predominantly SUVs.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118934567#Comment_118934567

Do you understand the difference between a Crossover and a Sports Utility Vehicle?

While some purchasers have migrated to CUVs and in certain cases SUVs the majority certainly have not: https://stats.beepbeep.ie/

What is more, in the migration to an alternate body shape in recent years many have downgraded from class D saloons/berlinettas to more space efficient compact class C hatchbacks and CUVs.

Less prejudice, more facts please.

Sam Russell

Well, I use the term SUV to include all tall cars, whether they are 4WD or just 4WD lookalikes. They are taller and wider than they need to be for no particular reason other than fashion. The manufacturers deliberately confuse the distinction by producing a graduated range that have a strong styling continuum that the difference between the models is hard to distinguish.

But whatever they are, they tend to park causing grief to others.

That reminds me, it's going to get more expensive to buy SUV's soon (hopefully)

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/green-party-wants-to-examine-heavier-taxation-of-suv-style-vehicles-in-budget-2023-1.4843506

serfboard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118934984#Comment_118934984

“Looking at” is political-speak for testing the water to see how much pushback a proposal gets.

If the proposal is for higher purchase tax and annual motor tax on new vehicles, it might work, although you will still have people who want to drive electric SUVs roaring.

However, if it’s for higher motor tax on existing SUVs then it’s a non-starter.

The article doesn’t elaborate on what is envisaged.

donvito99

Motor tax should be a function of tail pipe emissions and weight.

And taxing the arse out of second hand cars (with relatively dirtier power trains) in favour of new builds (increasing demand for carbon intensive manufacturing elsewhere and sending our €€€ abroad) needs to be reviewed as a policy by the Greens. It plays to their well to do base who can afford a new build electric car, but that's not an option for the average motorist.

I stopped behind a Ford Anglia at the lights the other day, which was behind a 212 reg X5. Families have gotten smaller and yet family cars have exploded in size. Yes, safety improved. But principally safer from other enormous cars crashing into you. There would be plenty of space for bicycle lanes if cars weren't so bloody wide.

Sam Russell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118935513#Comment_118935513

Weight should certainly figure in tax for motor vehicles, and perhaps size.

The €333 tax for 'commercial' SUVs should be abolished. Why should well paid workers be allowed to drive a polluting diesel SUV and only pay a derisory Motor Tax compared to he €2,000 to €3,000 that he vehicle would cost if taxed as private. Many are bogus anyway.

If you compare BMW 3 series or 5 series over the last few decades shows 3 series has grown bigger than the original one and the 5 series is now bigger than the old 7 series.

I know someone who traded an old Golf for a new Polo and says it is bigger then the old car.

buffalo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118935513#Comment_118935513

Safety for car occupants has improved. Not so much for the pedestrians and cyclists.

active and passive safety on Cars has improved immeasurably with respect to other road users. It is designed in to modern designs by law.

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118937031#Comment_118937031

Unfortunately, those laws do nothing to prevent larger and larger vehicles, with higher bumpers and built up fronts, guaranteed to smash the pelvis and cause serious damage to the body core of a pedestrian, instead of rolling them over the bonnet as would have happened with standard saloon or hatchback cars. These 'modern designs' frequently include touch screens in recent years, so the driver has to take their eyes of the road to operate volume or ventilation or similar, instead of good old fashioned knobs and buttons that didn't require eye contact.

magicbastarder

https://twitter.com/GalwayCityCars/status/1515307470167621636

Sam Russell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118937551#Comment_118937551

I think they will go with voice control eventually. They are trying to be super high tech without concern as to the implication for safety.

Why is it not legally required that all (new) cars have a simple hands-free connection for mobile phones. When you get in the car, the hands-free unit detects a phone and asks to be connected if it not already enabled - well that is how it should be.

donvito99

Phone calls aren't the issue. The issue is seeing someone looking at their lap as they're oncoming, veering out of their lane towards you, only to glance up from their draft text, correct their progress and avoid the collision. You then notice in your rear view mirror that they're drifting again, probably finessing the spelling.

The issue, as with all of these things, is enforcement. Nobody (in most circles) would dare drink and drive nowadays. If similarly well resourced enforcement and punishments were doled out, you could kill this behaviour too

lalababa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118919079#Comment_118919079

It maybe a chicken before the egg scenario. Slowly deincentify cars...by having a conjestion charge, inner city ban, high parking rates/fines, compleat city ban on ices followed by eventually a citywide conjestion charge so high that it is effectively a ban. You may insert a functional or perpetually improving public +taxi+hackney +car sharing/renting between any or all of the above disincentives.

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118938178#Comment_118938178

Phone calls are a big part of the issue, distracting the driver even when done hands-free, entirely legally.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118938318#Comment_118938318

A big part of improving public transport involves reducing the number of private cars on the road, to leave more space for public transport.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118938136#Comment_118938136

It isn't possible to distinguish between a phone inside the car, and a phone nearby outside the car.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118938489#Comment_118938489

How is talking hands free, using voice activation to dial, any different to talking to your passenger or the kids in the back seat

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118938505#Comment_118938505

For a start, your passenger and kids can see what's going on around you, and will know when to shut up or back off depending on what's happening.

It is absolutely a distraction.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170605085356.htm

https://nsc-org-storage.azureedge.net/cms/nsc.org/media/site-media/docs/safe-driving/cognitive-distraction-white-paper.pdf

Sam Russell

'It isn't possible to distinguish between a phone inside the car, and a phone nearby outside the car.'

Of course it is possible - the driver will know which is which. If the phone is the driver's usual phone, it will connect automatically as it does in my car. If it is an unrecognised phone, the driver will be offered to connect with it - or not - simples.

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118938505#Comment_118938505

To many people, it feels counterintuitive that hands-free conversations represent more of a danger than, say, chatting with someone in the passenger seat. They assume the only serious risk of phone use in the car is the need to hold the device. But as the research indicates, that assumption is false.

Whether you are holding the phone, communicating with someone outside the car deflects your attention away from what’s happening right around you. Moreover, when you’re cruising through town or down the highway, your buddy in the passenger seat is probably aware of the immediate driving environment while Aunt Helen on the phone from Chicago is not. If you enter an icy or otherwise dicey intersection, your buddy should know to pipe down. Aunt Helen in Chicago will keep sharing the family gossip, oblivious to your road conditions.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/hands-free-cellphone-driving-risk/2021/03/22/780d7ae8-8112-11eb-ac37-4383f7709abe_story.html

many studies show that hands-free mobile phone use does not reduce the level of risk when compared with handheld and makes little difference to the level of impairment in driving performance or crash involvement rates. This is because the mental distraction and divided attention involved in conducting a phone conversation is responsible for the increased risk. Many drivers consider that a hands-free phone call is just the same as talking to a passenger but research has shown that it is more dangerous (Charlton, 2009). Indeed, having a hands-free device in the vehicle may actually encourage drivers to use their mobile phone while driving more often (Gras et al., 2007).

https://www.drivermetrics.com/blog/research-evidence-dangers-hands-free-mobile-phone-driving/

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118938566#Comment_118938566

Yeah, I’m not sure any of what’s been posted illustrates a causation. Rather some finger in the air guesses as to why there might be a correlation.

im any case, impossibly to police absent a law to disable phones while a car is turned on.

and if your kids are aware of what’s going on around then on the road then they are more attentive than my nieces and nephews

probably not much point going down this rabbit hole anyway

magicbastarder

many studies show that hands-free mobile phone use does not reduce the level of risk when compared with handheld

whatever about comparing talking to a passenger with talking on a hands free, i find this claim here very hard to believe.

p_haugh

DCC Executives have recommended the full pedestrianisation of Chapel Street from May!

https://twitter.com/JanetPHorner/status/1518631725219336192?t=SxdqBsH8S7KboX1cKhRkTA&s=19

Peregrine

Has to be approved by councillors on Wednesday. Well, technically it can still go ahead but it won't if they vote against.

Zebra3

How will businesses on Capel Street survive if a customer can’t store their vehicle directly outside their shop??????