town is gridlocked between 330 and 630 every weekday

[badtraffic]

The answer is to build more homes.

I could cry.

It's only going to get much worse though isn't it? Too many people in a small country.

My local council have said the roads are now at 95% of their capacity and they are looking at ways to improve this. I don't really see how they can.

In busy times a 10 minute bus journey to and from town takes an hour, sometimes longer.

Public transport is appalling in most places. Not joined up, unreliable, dirty and expensive. This is the real problem.

Buses need to go back to being a public service, not a profit making business.
We have lost so many regular bus routes here . There are many areas I could drive to in 10 minutes, but no bus there at all.
Fares keep going up and up; if there are more than 2 of you going into town (often the only place you can get to by bus) it's often cheaper to get a taxi.
We are at a crisis situation the road traffic, and the congestion increases the aggression and bad driving that puts pedestrians and especially children at risk.
So many people haven't taken a bus or a train in years. This is not a sustainable situation at all. I would prefer to use trams/trains/bike/electric buses to driving if they were plentiful and cheap, with proper cycle paths.
If we had usable public transport it would also ease the congestion caused by parents having to drive their kids to every bloody activity!
We need houses but we need the services to go with them.

The councils are to blame in so many of these situations - new development is fine, welcome in fact, but you have to have the infrastructure to go with it. Most developers will bend over backwards in order to get their PP - but the council let them off with a piss poor Transport Plan which boils down to 'give them nowhere to park cars, and provide details of local bus routes' (that's a genuine transport plan I've dealt with before, by the way. Ridiculous. Actually, I lie - they also all got ten bus tickets on completion 🙄).

•This is another example isn't it, of how uncontrolled immigration has caused a huge surge in the population, without the infrastructure to cope.•

Erm nooooo, you appear to be posting utterly unsubstantiated nonsense here SusannahL, not helpful at all.

•The Blair government's idiotic open doors policy has adversely affected everything - the NHS, schools, housing.•

Now see there was me blaming it on Tory cuts and neglect

•Roll on Brexit I say. I'm not holding my breath though.•

Best you don't eh? You do realise all current residents are likely to remain here post-Brexit don't you?

Love the 'get a bike' brigade.

I have one - it's great for leisure and short journeys. Not so helpful for my 100-mile round trip commute which involves two motorways. And which takes 7.5 hours each way on public transport because there is no direct route to where I travel.

In my day (1980's and 90's) we had three buses an hour and Sunday services. Now that area has two buses an hour, reduced Sunday services, and more houses.

I live six miles out of town. There's a bus twice a week...to a different town (smaller). It arrives in town at 11 and leaves at 13.30.

Six miles, may as well be on the moon really.

It sounds like you live in the same town as myself OP

Where I live, there is a bus once an hour - and it doesn't go anywhere near the town where I work. I would have to change three times, and it would take about two hours. Each way. It's 12 miles.

Stuff that for a game of soldiers.

I was coming to ask if it was Bicester but I se it has already been asked. I too lived there until 15 years ago and every time I go back now I think how much I detest the place. It has been ruined by Bicester Village. The whole place is like one giant car park!

It would also help if people sent their children to local schools

Indeed - and it would help when you apply for primary school that you get your catchment school or indeed any of the others you applied for that are on a public transport route rather than one miles away.

I live in Warrington.

Our public transport system is ok but to get from my house to the train station, for example, (a 10 minute drive), I would need to get two buses and it would take me the best part of an hour. Driving would take me half an hour.

But you just said it was a 10 minute drive?

My town is gridlocked too. It's bad enough even when they aren't digging up all the roads at the same time. There are some big new housing estates planned as well.

People complain endlessly about local issues and yet turnout in local elections rarely exceeds 30%.

"Erm nooooo, you appear to be posting utterly unsubstantiated nonsense here SusannahL, not helpful at all."

Er, no.

www.migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/briefings/migrants-in-the-uk-an-overview/

600,000 extra immigrants between 1995 and 2015 in SE England, 1.5 million on top of that in London. 2.1 million people. The entire population of West Yorkshire moving to SE England/London in 20 years. More by now.

Why do some people deny reality ?

My job involves a commute of 30 mins each way on a good day - recently with roadworks 45mins to an hour this morning was stuck in traffic 2 hours due to an accident
I don't have an alternative I need a car to do my job as I travel around the county during my working day

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/28/britain-grinds-to-a-halt-with-average-person-walking-half-a-mile/ maybe this is part of the reason why? The average person apparently only walks half a mile a day. I understand that for some people walking isn't an option but for many it is or would be if they got up half hour earlier. Again, I know using a bike or public transport isn't always an option but for many it absolutely is. There ARE massive amounts of idle people who use their cars to go just a mile down the road which is just crazy IMO. Car sharing of course is another option for many. Until people start using cars responsibly (unlikely) then the problem will continue to get worse.

I think I find this thread particular interesting given the amount of threads that get stared about how incompetent and annoying adults are that can't drive, yet if we all did it then think how clogged up the roads would be then?! Again, I get it's not an option for some people to not drive but if it is an option then why not? it's healthier for the planet, it's free exercise walking everywhere and it's obviously far cheaper (although I assume I spend a lot more on shoes than drivers) - yes it costs more in terms of time but I think the benefits far outweigh the costs.

We moved here with school age DC so in-year transfers. Due to Infant Class Size regs, and various local factors like an army base nearby, the closest school that could take both my DC was 6 miles away in a village. None of the walking distance schools had places - and I visited them all. School is a 10-15 minute drive, or a bus (from bus station 20 minute walk away) at 7am that arrives at 7.35am, so breakfast club doable for DC - but crucially no bus back the opposite direction (for me) until 10am. In reverse, to pick up I'd need to catch a bus at 1.30pm to get to village for 1.50pm for school finish at 3pm. Then wait with DC until 4.15pm, to bus station at 4.45pm, get home (up hill) any time after 5.15 with 2 tired school kids who'd need to do all this 5 days a week.

I had to learn to drive.

I am absolutely not shy of public transport & did it for years and years and years, including when the DC were small/toddlers. I've got myself anywhere and everywhere with timetables, distractions for fractious DC and getting their walking stamina up.

But it's not possible here. Which is such a shame for everyone.

Exactly pisacake, people ARE in denial about the problems uncontrolled immigration has caused this country.

Of course I wouldn't expect looney Corbyn to agree but I am disappointed that more Tory ministers aren't prepared to state the bleedin' obvious.

HOW can it be sustainable to have vast numbers of people flooding into our tiny island year after year?

Do you live in caerphilly? Three days (out of a year of works) of gridlocked roads and proposals to build more houses and a notoriously bad transport system (google arriva trains fails).

I'm pregnant and overdue and dreading trying to get to the designated hospital for town- not the one in the closest city but second furthest).

The 'blame the immigrants' brigade do make me laugh. There are plenty of British

Didn't finsh- British drivers!

Ghosts, I meant that it’s the equivalent to a 10 minute drive but due to traffic it takes a good 30 mins by car and around an hour by bus.

You're blaming the traffic on immigration?

I think the fact that many towns have evolved over centuries and have medieval/Victorian street and road lay-outs that aren't updateable to the age of the car + more people commute to work now (eg. we can no longer afford to live near a place of work) + more people are working may have more to do with it.

In Cardiff it takes two hours to get out of a fucking car park when it's busy: www.walesonline.co.uk/news/local-news/drivers-angry-queues-more-two-13731755

My DSD goes to school 2.8 miles away. It should take 11 minutes in the farm it currently takes 35 because of two year long roadworks.

most problems like this would be solved if kids just attended their nearest local school.

round here it's a dream at holiday time