Cities around the world that are reducing car access

cgcsb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119375504#Comment_119375504

Why is that though? Does he have a wheelchair or mobility scooter?

Sam Russell

Accommodation for the disabled should be at the forefront of any pedestrianisation project.

It is not true that the Green Party do not give a damn about the disabled and it is wrong of you to say so. Why do you blame them for shortcomings in the implementation of a single project? Disabilities manifest in different ways, and not all disabilities can be accommodated in a plan but generally implementation attempts to cater for as many as possible. Most of the problems for those that require special provision are caused by those who do not have any disability being thoughtless towards those that do have difficulties, like those parking on the pavement, or those parking in designated parking spaces.

Do you have any evidence that the absence of your partner's requirements were omitted from the plans by anyone at all, let alone by the Green Party?

You are accusing the Green Party of deliberately doing something they clearly had no hand, act or part in. Now I am not in any way associated with any political party, but I object to the continuous blaming of the Green Party for things they do not do, nor propose. Perhaps you might contact them and ask for their views in this matter and inform them of yours. You might be surprised how close your views actually are to theirs.

magicbastarder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119373740#Comment_119373740

i think that's standard in dublin city council territory where paid parking is provided. if you don't have a driveway, you can get a permit to park near your house for €50 a year and i think up to 20 permits lasting 24 hours each for visitors, they were €1.25 each when i got some about 12 years ago.

i've heard of some neighbourhoods rejecting the idea of introducing paid parking schemes like this; the council will often put it to a vote before introducing it in an area.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119374073#Comment_119374073

The problem is not the cars. It’s the unavailability of housing for the grown up children. People getting animated about the wrong thing here

Sam Russell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119376065#Comment_119376065

The reason the plan gets rejected is usually because the amount of paid parking falls short of that required by the residents. For example the street can accommodate 30 cars but the residents think they need 40 places for current requirements.

Pay parking is the way to go in the absence of inadequate provision in a location.

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119375504#Comment_119375504

How does your partner manage in large shopping centres, where the disabled parking could well be a km or two away from the shops?

magicbastarder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119376185#Comment_119376185

IIRC the car must be insured at the property too, part of proving you're not just bagging a cheap permanent parking space for any car. i think this catches a lot of students, etc., out, where the car might be insured at their parents home which could be down the country.

i used to live in phibsboro and got the visitor permits; i didn't own a car when i was living there but was often able to borrow my mother's car, but usually at weekends when there was no requirement to pay anyway.

magicbastarder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119376150#Comment_119376150

one bad thing leading to another bad thing does not negate the second bad thing.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119376296#Comment_119376296

Yes, but solving for the 2nd just exacerbates the first. Not only can the young person not buy or afford to rent a house, they also now can’t have a car (or it’s made more expensive)

Grassey

But putting in more parking doesn't solve those problems... It still doesn't make rent or housing cheaper...

It's a lazy and cheap fix by council to cars abandoned willy nilly in an estate, because they don't need to tackle questions like 'should we enforce parking bye laws' or 'why does every 4bed semi D have 1 on property space... But feel the need to have provision made for 5 cars as close as possible to their house', 'why can't we improve the local bus / cycle /train alternatives' etc etc

Peregrine

What's the matter? Just park on the footpath. It's free.

https://twitter.com/lauren_tuite/status/1550578830263345155

Zebra3

Great to see businesses copping on to what’s bad for them.

https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/dublin/2022/07/23/bt-says-it-banned-car-park-from-using-its-name-due-to-pedestrianisation-dispute/

magicbastarder

Not just about cities but...

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jul/29/fare-deal-ireland-joins-europe-wide-efforts-to-coax-people-out-of-cars?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

magicbastarder

https://twitter.com/AnFearBui/status/1553452305860726784

..

Zebra3

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119411443#Comment_119411443

Staggering. Absolutely staggering.

Seth Brundle

Under the recommended plan, Croke Park would have been a motorway interchange.

I recall another plan to tarmac over the canals.

Edit: typo fixed!

Seth Brundle

More info on the Travers, Morgan & partners plan...

https://randall.ie/unfinished-dublin/?page=3

BonnieSituation

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119322479#Comment_119322479

I've not read them, but I read this for the first time over a decade ago and has been dipped into ever since for use in a plethora of college and university assignments over the years.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2776527-traffic

You'll love it.

McGrath5

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119411443#Comment_119411443

Bonkers stuff, would have turned Dublin city into something like a US city eg Kansas.

gjim

The worst thing about the traffic plans is that they were futile (and the traffic engineers must have known this) because of the lack of money. Dublin Corp could afford initial stage: plan/pick streets for "widening", CPO and buy buildings along the routes, empty the buildings of any businesses or tenants, allow the buildings to fall apart through neglect, demolish them, refused any planning permission for building along the routes, etc. so that over a period of 30 or 40 years, huge swathes of the city were reduced to dereliction and rubble. Dublin in the 1980s looked like a city emerging from a war after suffering major bombing campaigns, thanks to the corpo's traffic engineers and general indifference to state of Dublin.

Zebra3

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/aug/03/low-traffic-neighbourhoods-streets-drivers-violence-oxford

Excellent if scary read.

I hope there’s been a lot of convictions.

magicbastarder

https://www.irishtimes.com/environment/climate-crisis/2022/08/04/reducing-car-use-not-only-cuts-greenhouse-gas-emissions-it-saves-money/

...

Sadly, we live in a country with a huge housing crisis and most people are forced to live outside Dublin.

But of course the jobs are all based in Dublin and lots of employers still expect employees to go to an office each day.

Public transport is really bad, particularly outside of Dublin. Lots of large towns don't even have a rail option.

We need to tackle all of these issues together and find solutions that benefit us all.

Removing cars from the city might be good for some people. But it will make life hell for lots of others.

People not able to afford properties is the real issue.

donvito99

Car free areas /= banning cars from the city centre.

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119427266#Comment_119427266

Attempts to improve public transport as an option to the public are usually met with opposition from various angles. Look at the opposition to the works in Fairview. Look at much of the history of the BusConnects projects.

We also have opposition to any attempts to stop urban sprawl. People don't want to live in areas where there are no nearby facilities yet demand their right to one off housing or for a new housing estate miles from anything.

We want to be sustainable as long as it doesn't present an nconvenience!

magicbastarder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119427266#Comment_119427266

genuine question - how many people do you know who live in the country and drive into the city centre?

Podge_irl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119427266#Comment_119427266

Those driving in from suburban towns would find life a lot easier if people weren't also driving into town from the North Strand. Removing as many car journeys as possible is what does benefit everyone.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119427375#Comment_119427375

I live in Meath. We don't have a train and the bus is expensive, poor service and takes an age to get into Dublin.

Most houses in my estate have 2 cars in the driveway and lots even have a third parked outside.

The vast majority of the estate who don't work from home get in their cars every morning and head into Dublin whether that's city centre, blanch etc.

But I also have plenty of friends in my age group that live in Kildare, Laois, Wicklow etc and most of those are driving also.

If I could afford it, I'd have bought in Drumcondra or Castleknock and I'd happily never have to pay for a car, insurance, tax, diesel, maintenance etc

Sam Russell

I was in Lanzarote many years ago, and driving round I was surprised to see a road that appeared not to go anywhere. I drove down it and it was a development with roads, street lighting - everything except houses. The whole thing was fully there before any houses were built.

In Ireland it is the owner of the site who decides what goes into that site, given zone decided by the local development plan.

Take the Irish Glass Bottle site that has laid vacant for well over a decade with no definite plan of what is to go there - and was in state ownership for most of that decade. Why did the DCC not decide, and actually plan, for what was to go there?

is_that_so

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119427384#Comment_119427384

I was recently forced onto public transport for a week and coming from the outer reaches into Dublin is absolutely no fun and very costly. On average it was twice as expensive, even at these fuel rates and took twice as long so it's really not a realistic option for many.

If you drew a line through Blackrock, out to Palmerston and around to Raheny that is about the extent of good public transport and even there there are large pockets that are poorly served. I see no great issues with the intentions on North Strand but it creates absolutely massive problems for the morning rush hour and some slightly better thinking might have worked better.