To think our roads are no longer fit for purpose because they are too busy?

[Itisnoteasybeingdifferent]

Yestday we took a trip from Essex to Hampshire to collect some goods we have ordered. According to the route planners it should have been three hours each way.

Leaving before six the traffic was slow all the way. There was an accident on the M1 causing huge tailbacks onto the M25. Thousands of people were late for work causing millions of pounds of lost work. Goods will have been delivered late causing expenses. There was a monbile crane on it's way to a building site. That job would be halted and people unable to work agqin huge costs for someone. Later the advice signs were informing of 90 minute delays between J7&J6. That was increasing to 120 minutes and more. The journey took over four hours each way. I averaged 40 mph. The journey was motorway and dual carraige way for almost all the way. I should have averaged over just under 60.

That is a 30% reduction in efficiency and output for anyone who was stuck in the traffic. This is a huge economic drain and loss of ability to work. I was pretty tired at the end of the day.

We need a huge invetment in transport.

InvisibleKittenAttack

That is true, we bought a house an hour away from work knowing that we have a car to get there. But the fact is that house prices closer to our work are about double the price of ours,because it's within the London commuter belt, whereas we live well outside that. Not only that but we have a support network of family locally, which was important when we were starting a family. I am glad we have this option and were not forced to work closer to home because there aren't any local jobs in our field!

It's funny isn't it how we say 'stuck in traffic'.

We ARE traffic. Each one of us (when in a car) is traffic. But we all talk about it in a 'my car is my car, all other cars are traffic' sort of way.

Not criticising anyone, just think it's a funny turn of phrase.

But house prices and the presence of shops etc reflect demand - the reason there are fewer local shops is because people drive somewhere cheaper 15 mins up the road. If that wasn't an option, local shops would come back. Similarly wherever people are willing to commute from has higher house prices. If this was a smaller distance, the house prices would follow suit.

There are an amazing number of people who'd rather drive 1-2 miles than walk or cycle simply because they either can't bothered, or see it as beneath them.

I think cars should be banned from urban areas altogether and roads should be tolled. That would get people onto the trains and buses. Obviously there would need to be a much better service - but that's hardly beyond the wit of mankind. Just put all road investment into public transport. Cyclists can just use the now empty roads instead of needing expensive cycle provision. Job done!

Yes people would need to think about where they can live in relation to their work, but that's the case now anyway, it's just that they would be basing it on different criteria. Let's face it a cycle of 15 miles would be possible and pleasant for most able bodied people if traffic wasn't so horrendous. Similarly a walk of an hour is fine if not having to cross busy roads and breathe in fumes and listen to traffic noise.

If you could rely on having a job for more than 5 minutes, or it staying put rather than relocating to 20 miles away, then more people could live near work. In the last year I've been persuaded to take redundancy, DP has been made redundant, neighbours on each side have lost their jobs, one with no warning nor last week's pay, lodger's work has moved far away. We're looking all over London and Surrey and will most likely be helping clog up the trains.

Trains are so congested it's impossible to run a reliable service (Southern). Most traffic in London is deliveries and buses and trades that need vans or cars, so hard to reduce that further - at least soon there will be cleaner buses on my local roads.

Employers need to cop on and encourage staggered shifts and flexible working for all the office-type jobs that really don't need to be done between 9 and 5 in a certain place every day. 6.45 to 2.45 to enable school pick-ups, or 10 to 6, should be fine.

Employers need to cop on and encourage staggered shifts and flexible working for all the office-type jobs that really don't need to be done between 9 and 5 in a certain place every day. 6.45 to 2.45 to enable school pick-ups, or 10 to 6, should be fine.

Yes, and that would solve problems beyond traffic as well.

I made the mistake of moving from somewhere flexible to somewhere not. Next time, it'll be a priority to find somewhere with some form of flexi-time, and working from home. I do NOT need to be in an office every day to do my job.

YANBU OP, the SE is near gridlock.

user1471545174 YANBU OP, the SE is near gridlock

Don't be so dramatic. As many of us have pointed out, it's only bad at peak times in most places (and yes I live in the SE too). If everyone who could work staggered hours did, then the problem would be hugely reduced. It needs employers on board as well though as too many of them have that 9-5 rigid presenteeism mindset stuck.

(I actually shouldn't be advocating this because it will make my traffic free commute worse!)

A very high proportion of short trips
are made by car; 23% under a mile, 33%
1 – 2 miles, and 79% 2 – 5 miles. In 2005, 69% of all car journeys were less than
5 miles.

The answer - get a bicycle!

I agree OP. The UK is absolutely full and public transport so bad (mostly) and people can borrow money to buy cars.

I detest cars. Car drivers are getting worse. Pollution is dreadful. Yet, people go on and on about cyclists. I'm not a cyclist but we really do need to look at other alternatives.

We often travel from the Midlands to Manchester for football. 20 years ago it took just over an hour to travel to the stadium, park and go in. Now it's usually 3 hours, and has been longer. The M6 is so congested and there are neverending roadworks.

Public transport is crap, trains are horrendously overcrowded for daytime kick offs and to get a train home when there's an evening kick off would mean leaving the ground midway (at the latest) through the second half as the last train is just after 10 so we have no other option than to drive.

@Zampa A very high proportion of short trips are made by car; 23% under a mile, 33% 1 – 2 miles, and 79% 2 – 5 miles. In 2005, 69% of all car journeys were less than 5 miles.

The answer - get a bicycle!

On another thread this week (about cyclists) I made ref to a comment I'd seen that essentially suggested that cars be restricted to motorways and other carriageways built specifically for motorised vehicles, and free up local roads for human-powered transport. Your stats would seem to support that kind of move.