That's a good idea, I might investigate those archives if they're available.
It's so strange that no one in other local governments could ever envision monopolies forming over something like a bus service (where bus routes are limited anyway).
I wonder what made only Nottingham have the long term vision to do this unlike other local governments. Do you know what the residents' reaction to this news was when they did it?
"Nationalising" services to a council (idk what that would be called, councilising? lmao?) is so based.
Do you think it's possible for a local council to build something like that again under this government?
How did Nottingham do it?
Does anyone know where I can access any resources on how Nottingham developed its public transport netowork to what it is now? It is arguably the 3rd best system in the UK (behind Manchester and London) despite being the 9th largest city. With austerity getting worse in this country, I wonder if there's anything worth learning about how to establish good public transport on a budget. Maybe similar sized cities like Leicester or even bigger like Leeds can adopt some of the strategies that made Nottingham into an easy place to travel around without a car.
I'm not sure about the economic models of how such cities work, but Manchester and Nottingham have very competent rail/ tram services and public transport. I'm also pretty sure Nottingham also offers free travel to students.
Excluding London, how would you rank UK cities in terms of how good their public transport is?
The UK has some of the worst public transport of Europe's "more economically developed countries" after decades of austerity and lack of investment into public services. But which local councils would you say have made the most out of what they have had to work with in developing a transport network that is effective for people to get to work, school and social events? What would you say makes each of them so effective and how did they achieve these things? I have excluded London as the UK (in my opinion) has a problem with pretending like London is the only place worth investing in when it comes to public transport.
I ask this question so that we can reflect on how places can make the average citizen's life easier for getting about whilst on a budget. Even though the UK is in dire straights at the moment, it might be worth looking to the towns and cities that make the most out of what they're given to understand how to develop good public transport (which will inevitably develop thos
Fair. I have to visit there one time to get a good idea of it.
god i wish this was me
This is interesting. I was talking to someone who studies in Sheffield and they said it's a terrible city for public transport
The problem with this though is if a town/ city can afford a tram network but chooses not to in order to cut corners for upfront costs, it shows a lack of commitment. The wrong government/ council comes into power and a BRT us getting rolled back straight away for car centric infrastructure again.
Fantastic. So a nice small town can really rely on well planned out bike paths with a good tram network if they can afford the upfront costs. If not, then a BRT system or similar with separated bus lanes would be the next best thing, making sure that these "mid" to "short" distance forms of transports linl well with the town's train station(s).
I wouldn't call Birmingham a small city haha, but thanks for this!
Edit: I am an idiot, I get what the link means by "Birmingham is a small city" after taking 5 mins to read.
Edit 2: Just taken some more time to read this and it's gold, thanks for sharing. Really informative.
Sure. Some cities where I come from where trams exists have roads that have tram tracks in the middle of them. As others have alluded to this is probably rare - I don't really know as the last time I took a tram I was too young to remember it and I live in a town that has no trams at all.
Because of my experience with seeing tram tracks on roads I assumed they shared significant parts of their journey with road cars which made me think they're subject to traffic jams.
Yeah this makes sense. I come from a country that doesn't have many trams and when I do see them they tend to be interacting with the road which is probably where my perception comes from.
Thank you
Are trams that good (genuine question)?
Sometimes when watching videos on effective ways of public transport and trams come up, I get a bit annoyed at people not addressing the fact that they seem to share the road with cars. Why do people twerk for trams so much as a form of light rail if they share the road with cars and are subject to being affected by traffic? Doesn't that just make them rail buses without their own bus lane? Doesn't that make them more obsolete? Why do people like them so much?
Edit: Also, does anyone have any resources about the cost to benefit ratio of different intratown/city forms of transport (bike lanes, BRT, trams and other forms of light rail, subways etc)? Would be much appreciated.
Think that's where we differ though - I don't think the artist is complaining, just observing. If my significant other has a quirk and I identify it even in meme format, that doesn't mean I'm demonising them no? Some of my friends who are women complain about when I offer solutions to problems they just want to rant about so I related to this in a way - imo that's not a bad thing, just different and perfectly valid. My GF however likes when I give her inputs on how to handle situations. Both are fine, and I actually preferred my female friends telling me they don't like it because then I could ask my girlfriend or even just other friends (men and women) "by the way, do you like when I offer solutions or would you prefer me to just listen?" The difference between this and boomer humour is the latter would then go onto say "that's why I hate my wife" lol.
I didn't intepret this as "bad"?
I would love to attend local meetings but there are no meetings with public transport on the agenda on their schedul AT ALL. It seems like I would have to shoehorn public transit in which could potentially alienate the cause. I'm also not sure if I really know enough about the implementation of public transport - if I'm met with pushback I can't deal with I'm not sure if the cause will survive.
How thr fuck do I force/ lobby my local council to implement acceptable public transport into my town
I live in the UK and my town has not got transport that allows mobility for all. No bike lanes (and if they exist they're just painted on the road), no bus lanes (buses get stuck in the same rush hour traffic and everyone else which doesn't incentivise people to take them) and these buses are also unreliable and infrequent. What makes it worse is that my local council is right leaning. How do I hold my local council accountable to implementing even the cheapest solutions to traffic and transportation? How can I lead to public transport change in my community?