please empty your brain below
Arrrrrghhh. Thank you so much those of you who elected him. And please make sure you don't make the same mistake in 2012
It is (or at least, was) backed by the Duke of Westminster who also wanted to pay the bulk of the cost to get it built.
I think it would great, especially if it links Oxford St to Hyde Park.
Boris - funny bloke, terrible Mayor.
After telling us that the reason that our buses move so slowly is because of the bendy bus, and he's going to get things moving more freely with the new Routemaster, we're told
"the advantage of a hop-on, hop-off platform is that you can decide on the spur of the moment that you like the look of the weather or the scenery or the shops, and opt to walk"
But, er, won't the traffic be flowing so freely that the only chance you'll have to do that will be at a bus stop?
Boris can't know much about London geology, or about the practicality of re-using tunnel boring machines. They're normally abandoned because you can't just turn them round - they're very hard to dismantle and they can't be reversed, being bigger than the tunnel they've just dug. Most of the Channel Tunnel boring machines, for example, are buried deep under the channel. It's only if you dig a tunnel outwards from the middle that you can re-use some of the machines afterwards.
I've actually got some thoughts of my own as regards bus lanes.
a) It defies my logic why some bus lanes are operative "At All Times"
b) Given that buses (and taxis) do get the use of London's bus lanes, wouldn't it be real nice if they used them and stayed in them?
Now that there's the Congestion Charge, with the result that private motorists are effectively paying a toll, isn't it only fair to them to provide them with what they've paid for, which is being able to use THEIR paid for parts of the roads, without them being clogged with buses and taxis?
Surprise surprise.
Yes, Bojo is intent on letting m/bikes into bus lanes; well at least according to the Standard he is. That'll be supremely comforting to any nervous cyclists, and those of us cyclists that think we should have to experience a little less burnt fuel up our noses aren't best pleased either.
I see some of what you're saying as I ride a bicycle myself.
I do however also ride a motorbike (not as a commuter any more) and it's with them my first sympathies lie.
Following the introduction of the Congestion Charge a lot of people did switch from getting into London by car, to using a PTW (powered two wheeler, etc) and it is a plain fact that bikes and scooters do not cause traffic congestion the way cars do.
However, there's been precious little that's ever been done for them.
Although there are now many more PTWs, there's been little if any provision of extra parking spaces. Indeed, bike bays used to be free but even that could be coming to an end with Westminster setting the precedent of introducing a charge.
To me, personally, it makes no difference if motorbikes can or can't use bus lanes, but again the fact that they currently can't could be taken as a sign that bikers do largely seem to get the thin end of the wedge.
I did, actually, make a rare visit to London, last week (for the grand opening of Westfield). FWIW, I went on my motorbike.
On a number of occasions I found myself outnumbered and surrounded by people on pushbikes. So here's some plain honest truth: I can't say any of them looked very nervous or in need of any 'comforting', to me.
So perhaps this Boris idea isn't such a daft idea after all.
But his plan for an airport in the Thames is nonesense. Jet engines and migratory birds do not mix well - and the Thames estuary is full of birds. How will Boris persuade a flock of Canada Geese not to fly into the path of an Airbus A380 as it takes off from Maplin International? I think that was one of the main reasons why the previous plans were dropped.
There's just the completely different tunnel width issue, then?
Actually, the DLR tunnels were relatively short, so the planning calculation is you buy one machine with a service life of 2xtunnel length and the fact that you've only got one tunnel progressing at a time doesn't impinge on total project timescales because the tunnels themselves aren't that long. You've saved money overall.
This doesn't apply to Crossrail nor any entirely vapourware tube projects for south of the river. On the other hand, Boris is quite willing to can two tram projects for south of the river, so his verdict (rather than his journalism) is actually a hearty 'eff off' to everywhere, really, (except Bexley and Bromley, the latter of which he'll conveniently visiting over the weekend).
Ah well, at least he's getting rid of bendy buses, hopefully...
Oh, and RogerW, you don't see the cyclists that are frightened off the roads.
Just as an addendum, I travelled to and back from town on the tube on Monday, and I was forcibly reminded just why it is that I like cycling so much. I really feel sorry for everyone that has to do it day in, day out - get on a bike, give it a try.
What's this I read about central government wanting to accelerate funding of capital projects? http://www.guardian.co.uk/politi...-energy-
housing
Perhaps they should promise to fund some of Boris' rejects? That would embarass him.
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