"Green" policies are destroying this country

Rural buses failed because they don't come when they are wanted, if you own your car it's there when you need it, sharing never works because there's always one Ahole who doesn't pull their weight, damages the vehicle,not pay towards fuel and repairs, gets caught speeding or drug/drunk driving and vehicle is impounded,

"Ah sure yer grand" is not a life motto anyone should be adhering to.

My household has 2 cars, one does around 15k a year the other around 5k, both are long paid for so no credit, the 2.0diesel uses around €1k a year in fuel, the 1.3 petrol around €500, insurance for both is €850,€700 for motor tax, Nct is €110 and roughly €300 in parts, so approx €3.5k a year or less than 5% of household income, compared to the taxes that are taken off me and spent willy-nilly on random shyte by the collection of crooks ,liars and halfwits in the Dail I don't see much of a nightmare,

Yeah, with all the one-off housing allowed around the country, a lot of people are going to be very car reliant for the foreseeable.

Tell me, where did I say I got 13 years out of the same car?

Please tell.

I've one of them 7 years and the other three, one was 9k when bought the other 3k, with current values one is worth around €4k and I'd get more than I paid for the other. Domestic appliances have likely cost me more than the cars in the same period,

Of course I fly. I'm not a green fanatic or something. I'll reduce, reuse and recycle, and avoid wasting energy when I can. If fuel for flights was taxed properly, I'd tolerate that too.

Only if WFH goes away, the people who were doing the biggest commutes are the ones actively chasing full time work from home; clean air, nice garden, no scumbags and remote working is an ideal life.

Pretty sure cities are still jammed full of brand new cars last time I checked also and those are people with public transport on their doorstep, its almost as if people don't want to cycle in the rain or take the bus 🤯

I do not think selfdriving car is coming any time soon. Yeah, teslas are fine until they get confused and end up as a pile of smoldering metal and lithium.

Car sharing is complicated it may become insurance racket as it is now with car hire companies chasing people for everything. I know of people going around car with a videocamera as to document any potential scratches or dents which may not be included in papers but will be charged at a super premium price when you return vehicle.

Somehow I doubt it that this futuristic car share as described by some people here will be available soon and even if some form of it emerge it may not be as attractive as having your own car in front of the house every time you need it.

Privatisation was definitely on the cards and the bould Danny was hot in the scent. Yes it was meant to be another utility bill despite the fact that car tax was and still is being used to fund water.

I would love if car sharing worked.

I was a member of one. There were only 2 cars and one van available near me. I had to walk 3km to pick one up, which i didnt mind. Problem was that if you want to go away anywhere you cant just take the car and then leave it at the destination. You need to bring it back to the destination.

Also a lot of the time one wasnt available when i needed it at short notice.

I think car sharing could work in this country if there are proper fleets all over the place. Not just 3 cars in a 10km circle. Also there has to be a decent chance of getting one at short notice, so there need to be more. And if you could do it like Dublin bikes that would be the game changer.

Of course autonomous driving solves all those problems but until then, car sharing wont work for the vast majority of people.

It all goes back to the dispersed pattern of living in Ireland, doesn't it, with the plague of McMansions across the rural countryside. If only people lived in the villages, towns and cities, like in the rest of Europe.

United Nations

"Cities are major contributors to climate change. According to UN Habitat, cities consume 78 per cent of the world’s energy and produce more than 60 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions. "

The world urban population | Infographics

In 1980, 1.731 billion people worldwide, i.e. 39% of the world population were living in cities. In 2015, the number had increased to 3.968 billion (54%). According to projections, the urban share of the world population will grow to 6.419 billion (66%) by 2050.

The talk about cities being a green place to live is only opinion, the actual data seems to suggest otherwise.