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CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!
"How have rising transport costs affected your life?"
(17 posts)-
Posted 13 years ago #
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I can't join, but found yesterday a tyre that cost me £7.99 this time last year is now selling for £10.99.
Or, if I was a daily rage headline writer;
COSTS OF CYCLING SOAR ASTRONOMICALLY BY 38% AND ARE SPIRALLING OUT OF CONTROL, IMIGRATION POSSIBLY TO BLAME
Posted 13 years ago # -
kaputnik: Daily Rage would have omitted "possibly".
Posted 13 years ago # -
actually the daily rage would probably say something about "small relief for hard pressed motorists as rising costs force lycra louts off the road",
Posted 13 years ago # -
BBC News - How are motorists saving fuel?
Adrian Tink of the RAC...
Fewer car journeys means less pollution, fewer road accidents and shorter traffic jams, all of which would be welcomed my many. It's a point Mr Tink is happy to acknowledge. Economising is not a bad thing, he says, but there's a danger that people are being priced out of their cars, in a society that for 20 years has been designed around them.
"danger"? What danger? If the levy on fuel is beginning to make people drive less then fuel is just about reaching the "right" price and should be maintained at a level where it discourages driving for driving's sake.
Also 20 years? More like 40 years.
One family in Exeter has been putting these principles into practice. The Boults have saved 54% from their fuel bill since last summer, which amounts to an annual saving of £619 for the two-car family.
...after some eco-driving lessons from Shell as part of the Shell Smarter Drivers Initiative.
"There were little things like putting more air in the tyres. And I had always felt it was good to fill the tank but if you half fill it then the car is lighter and you use less fuel.
"I used to pull up at traffic lights and think they would go green in a little while, and leave my feet on the clutch and accelerator, but now I put it into neutral, the handbrake on and take my feet off the accelerator, which can save you about £10-20 a week.
It really irks me that basically driving properly and within the law and keeping your car maintained is being badged as "eco driving". Don't get me wrong, it's a good thing, but until they have a car powered by photosynthesis, surely the only real "eco" driving is not driving!
Posted 13 years ago # -
And Mrs Boults clutch replacement bill will have gone down too, so there's a double bonus.
Posted 13 years ago # -
"which can save you about £10-20 a week."
How much are you spending on fuel when that saves you £20!!
Posted 13 years ago # -
I know - I have a pretty unremarkable car but it will go almost 200 miles on £20!
Again, I don't see what the fuss is about. Fuel duty is to go up by inflation plus 1p, or inflation plus 0.7%.
Meanwhile rail fares are to rise by inflation plus 3% - a four times larger increase in real terms.
Posted 13 years ago # -
"
"Lower-income drivers, poorer rural residents, volunteer drivers, youngsters looking to their first jobs are some of the vulnerable groups struggling to stay on the road."The AA said a family with two petrol cars had seen their monthly fuel cost increasing from £242.70 a year ago to £280.54 now.
"http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/news/Wheels-come-off-as-petrol.6731413.jp
Posted 13 years ago # -
Sigh. I really do tire of this incessant whingening from the AA being reported so diligently by the gutter journalists. But I can't help myself...
Lower-income, poor, volunteer, youngsters, vulnerable... all nice soft and fluffy words to tug at the heart strings then a swift change of tack to "a family with two petrol cars had seen their monthly fuel cost increasing from £242.70 a year ago to £280.54 now.
And so what? That's a 15.5% increase in fuel cost over a year and would quite easily remedied by driving 13.5% less. Simplistic I know, but point is that if you can't afford to do x amount of something, you can still afford to do y amount of something. The AA "facts" assume that 100% of all driving is entirely essential and the world would stop spinning if it didn't happen.
Posted 13 years ago # -
More propaganda from the motoring lobby in the morning chipwrapper;
EDINBURGH is among the most expensive cities in Britain for commuters, new figures have revealed.
The daily cost of petrol and parking in the Capital is £20.65, cheaper than Glasgow at £21.25 and London at £22.65 but significantly higher than the £13.65 UK average.
The survey, commissioned by Virgin Business Media, shows that the average employee spends £3782 a year on petrol and parking while commuting to work, rising to £4853 in Edinburgh.
Neil Greig, of the Institute of Advanced Motorists, said: "We need to be looking at better value for money for parking in Glasgow and Edinburgh.
"What we have been saying is that we don't think Scottish drivers are getting anything extra special for that extra money."
Conversely it's no more expensive to cycle here than anywhere else! What is an "advanced" motorist anyway? I take it those are the ones I always find blocking the advanced stopline box?
Posted 13 years ago # -
It's nonsense to suggest that we "need to look at better value for money" in Edinburgh parking.
Whenever I look, I see city centre streets full of cars - no empty spaces that aren't just about to be filled.
The law of supply and demand tells us that the cost of parking is not too high - if that was the case, it would stop people parking.
I'd argue that the city has a duty to make as much money from the public estate as possible - after all, it's not like anyone at all is forced to park. Why should we give people a discount when they're willing to pay more?
Posted 13 years ago # -
The survey, commissioned by Virgin Business Media, shows that the average employee spends £3782 a year on petrol and parking while commuting to work, rising to £4853 in Edinburgh.
There is no way that this is true! At my work - a large number do not travel by car, several car share and most commute a round trip of less than 20 miles(hence I reckon about £3 in fuel per day?), none of whom pay for parking. I would not think we are too unusual. For £20.65 to be the average some people must be paying collosal sums, or they have a different meaning of average to me.[I'd love to see the figures]
Posted 13 years ago # -
That could be a true average, with a highly skewed distribution. Without being able to see the figures you don't know how far apart the mean and the median are...
Posted 13 years ago # -
@Kim
Hmmm.Can you explain this a little. Are you suggesting that they've calculated the median or the mean? Not driving a car I can't picture who would be paying £20+ a day. What percentage of people pay for parking and what do they pay?
Also I've read that 48% of journeys into and within Edinburgh during the peak morning period are made as the driver of a car or van (admittedly this does not mean commutes).Posted 13 years ago # -
I think Anth and Kaputnik made the point I was trying to make far more clearly in the similar thread
"EDINBURGH is among the most expensive cities in Britain for commuters"Posted 13 years ago # -
@Kaputnik, an "advanced" motorist is actually the one who is least likely to be in the asl, who should be driving within the posted limits, allowing the proper space if they pass and looking and planning far enough ahead not to bother passing if they are then going to have to slow down or stop immediately.
In fact, a proper "advanced" motorist is exactly the sort I'd like to share the roads with while I'm cutting about on the bicycle, doesn't mean I agree with all their spokespeople though ;-)Posted 13 years ago #
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