2024-08-18
I want to write a little about urban planning (specifically the lefty, Not Just Bikes-type urban planning) in the UK more generally, but specifically from my experience.
I don't think car dependency in the UK is as bad as in some other places, but certainly it is an issue. I've heard many people mention how they learnt to drive as soon as they legally could, because they lived in a place that was completely inaccessible without a car. Where I live, I can get around by bike, at least for the places I go, but if I try to go to other places, I either have to stick on the pavement, hope no one runs me over, or just... not go. If I try to leave the city on a bike, it is horrid. Dual carriageways, an endless flow of cars at 40mph, no pavements a lot of the way. Buses are few and far between, and incredibly slow at that.
The state of the discussion in the UK is disappointing. It generally revolves around whether parking should be free, or we need more parking for all the new houses we will build, or silly ideas for how to manage traffic that obviously won't accomplish anything (round our area, they want to take a road that is so busy it backs up the streets for miles when it gets congested, and make it one way, because that will apparently help? somehow?). We recently decided that the M25 needed another lane, because of course, one more lane will fix it.
It is personally such a shame. I see the quality of the discussion in Europe, where it seems almost every country is on the right path. In the Netherlands, of course it is incredible, but most other countries seem on the right path. France has Anne Hidalgo doing incredible things, I know a lot of Scandinavia has made a lot of progress, Germany has a lot of bike lanes and good public transport (well, not good, but better than ours), even despite the huge amount of cars. I just almost feel like everywhere is doing better, or at least, the discussion is in a better place, and the public are more informed.
Honestly, sad as it is, I don't really have hope for the UK. Perhaps if Labour stay in for two terms, we might see some decent improvement, especially as Reeves seems very focussed on saving costs (or, essentially, bringing back austerity without saying the word austerity): the great thing about good bike infrastructure is that it is really cheap. Of course public transport does cost money, and I think Reeves will probably end up making cuts in it. Which is a shame: the trains are horrid enough anyways, though Labour has promised to renationalise the trains. I fear they will not continue this with the buses, though. Trains are... halfway functional still, but the bus network in the UK has been completely stripped. Busses only come every half hour or so a lot of the time, in rural places sometimes only every hour, or every two hours, and have been cancelled in many places.
As an example, when I went to Draycott on holiday, I had to faff about with the buses: I went to Weston-super-Mare to get the bus from there, but found out the service had been cancelled and didn't run anymore. So I went back to the train station and asked them if there were any services going in that direction. They knew of one, but the stop was a half hour walk away (I think it was the 76 service). So I walked a half hour to the stop, but couldn't find the service listed on the bus stop. A bus arrived and I asked the driver for the service, but she told me that it has never existed (somehow). So I asked her the best route to Draycott, and luckily she knew of one: she would drive me back to town (very kindly for free), and then I could catch a different service to (I believe it was) Winscombe, then walk from there to Axbridge (about an hour), then catch a bus from Axbridge to my accomodation in Draycott. The bus was every two hours, and I had just missed one, so I sat and waited for an hour and a half for the last bus service of the day at half four. That was a horrible experience, and really does not instill hope in the bus service. The trains meanwhile were, not great (I think there were delays) but at least did actually run.
I think it would have to get really bad before it gets better. The amount of cars we have on the road, I think we will get to a point where the traffic is horrid. Then, bike infrastructure (and to a lesser extent, public transport/buses) will improve to alleviate traffic, and hopefully people will switch more to this. But I think the UK will always be very car dependent.
I can really see why people just want to drive. If you want to go on holiday in the UK, it is much easier to drive. Part of the reason why I want to get a motorbike is because the UK is incredibly reliant on road infrastructure, and motorbikes are really one of the best ways to get around, just because the UK is so car (or, motor transport) centric.
I think it will take government, or maybe local county councils, to just... add in good infrastructure, and hopefully people will take to it, and see it is good for them. That is all one can really hope for.
I can't really get to a thousand words on this topic, because it is almost more of a feel thing. I know what good urban planning is when I see it, but it's difficult to get the words out on it. It's just disappointing to see the state of the UK, is all. We could do so much better. Instead, we just have cars, and noise, and congestion, and pollution, and never any suggestion to really improve anything.
Hey ho. I might write about this more in the future. For now, have a good one.