Oh HELP! .... so many knowledgeable and thoughtful people at yesterday's fireside chat ... I have tried to filter out the key
public comments people added to the "chat" log during the meeting ...
From Claire Walters : We need to make sure public transport is seen alongside cycling and walking, rather than in competition, as not everyone will be able to walk or cycle for all journeys.
From Jasper Selwyn : Somehow we have to raise the profile of public transport before everyone gets back in their cars.
From Jasper Selwyn : We have changed our behaviour because of health risks from tobacco and Covid-19. How about pollution?
From David Redgewell : we need to keep cars out of city and town centre s except for disabled access. crovid19 is illnesses in the lungs. poor air quality will make crovid19 out breaks worse .in urban areas.
From Catherine Mack : The rising mistrust in public transport can be directly linked to the speech by the PM 12 days ago: despite the clear awareness of the transport authorities to the contrary. Surely the only solution is fro Adrian to give a talk to the PM?
(( Todays new links diabetes with COVID and this leads to futures outbreak cost avoidance and leads into particulate point ))
From David Redgewell : Bristol city council is closing parts of the city centre to walking and cycling and public transport.
From Dick Daniel : As David Redgewell says keeping cars out of towns & cities. Here is a great video of a whole city spacial plan in Ghent.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEOA_Tcq2XA&t=2sFrom Bryony Chetwode : Of course frequency can improve if congestion is reduced
From Mike Lambden : The person who has really led the don't use public transport message is Sadiq Kahn and the PM followed his line. He keeps making this message.
From Catherine Mack : James Freeman (First Group)has asked our local bus users group to get together with his team to discuss a proposal for the LAuthority. Meeting next week. Will report back
From Claire Walters : Private cars are the "enemy" of congestion measures and clean air, as well as frequency and reliability but there is political fear about upsetting drivers.
From David Redgewell : extra buses could run but needs department for transport money grant and more drivers. David Redgewell.
From Andrew.Ardley : Perhaps fewer seats longer term is an opportunity to make the remaining ones more comfortable and wider. Quality will be really important going forward.
From Paul Johnson : Cycle parking. Is a problem, offices do not have storage space. Needs rethinking cycle parks in urban areas is this the station cycle hub?
From peternickol : I agree with Cate about the PM’s speech putting people off public transport. Together with his encouragement to people to drive, even long distances, it leaves those of us without cars at a big disadvantage, especially for accessing the countryside.
From Bryony Chetwode : enabling whole journeys so interchange between modes is manageable would assist uptake. The barriers are very normal everyday concerns like bike theft, etc.
From Catherine Mack : To add to the questions to ask but not necessarily be able to answer: the value put on public transport is based entirely on ticket numbers are price: there is no recognition/valuation oft he social and health benefits of its use. The whole system is out of date.
From Lee Fletcher : Your 2 metre social distancing rule is your biggest barrier. Here in France, relaunching public transport after lockdown is proving more practical - allied with some control measures in the larger cities - because our social distancing is set at 1 metre
From James Harkins : The simple fact of the matter is according to WHO and Defra report last year confirms that the Non Emmission Exhaust
From DP : Whenever an article appears online advocating walking, cycling or PT, there is a widespread reaction along the line of "I need my car because....". Often the reasons are only true because the car has been allowed to become dominant and everything is planned around it. We need to be ready with answers to such arguments.
From Mike Reddaway : Very likely the car will be the principal means of transport in rural areas because of distance to bus routes. Buses usually unattractive due to low frequency.
From James Harkins : NEE is dangerous and kill significantly in the Urban corridors
From Mike Lambden : Trent Barton buses in the East Midlands have researched their customers and they reckon that they will get at least 80% passengers back once restrictions are over. Home working will lose some of their existing business
(( When I was back in Dundee 2 weeks ago, I noted a bike rack next to a bus stop in Invergowrie - a place I hadnt been to for 20 years! I wish we could mount bikes on the front like in the US ))
From Ian Harrison : What are the public transport operators doing to push back on the 2m distancing, and to demonstrate that travel on buses and trains can be safe?
From James Harkins : No the common enemy is the rubber road interface
From Lee Fletcher : If 2 metre rule is enforced rigidly in
UK▸ across public transport, then I am afraid all you will manage is damage limitation until you can rebuild out of the debris at some unknown point in the future
From Bryony Chetwode : Excellent point about comfort as we accept that useful workplaces do not need be retricted to offices.
From Bryony Chetwode : Surely the government will have to avoid the consequences of COVID repeating
From DP : Chances of tourism restart this summer? Distancing on PT looks different if family groups of 4 can travel in close proximity.
From Paul Johnson : Surely electric cars/buses and hydrogen technology can help the particulate problem?
From Andrew.Ardley : Ref Ian Harrison's point on pushing back on the 2m distance - I've heard Iain Duncan Smith pushing this but operators don't have access to any science to prove this to contradict PHE. The funding pressures on
DfT» for rail's EMA will no doubt prompt a discussion with the industry on this - perhaps a staged reduction in distance but this is only a guess.
From David Northey : I think the biggest challenge will be people switching to work more flexibility in future , such as home three or four days a week and into the office occaisonally
From Andy Burkitt -
SERA▸ SW : We need clear Workplace Parking Levy and more realistic charging for fuel etc
From Claire Walters : There's quite a lot of discussion going on presently with DfT and the wider government about the 2m social distance requirement. I have asked without success what the 2m rule is based on, when WHO recommends 1m and most other countries except Spain, USA and Poland. If it's not safe inside 2m, that's fine but there ought to be evidence. If it's safe in countries which have lost far fewer people than the UK, there ought to be another look at why we're going further. Certainly it could be part of the road to lifting lockdown and that's what's being asked for by operators, as far as I'm aware.
From David Northey : A survey undertaken by the
TSSA» identified that 60% said they would like to work more flexibly in the future with a further 20% say they would consider it
From Verona : I do agree with John. At present, petrol is cheaper than ever. Unless public transport is seen to be the 2cheaper" option, it will be very hard to change people's habits.
From David Northey : Google and Twitter have already said that working from home becomes the default and travelling into an office is a choice
From Bryony Chetwode : David Northey that is such an important point for this region. It will require business collaboration but offers a much better spread of resource in terms of experience
From Nick Thwaites : We must to forget It is not only the cost of driving it is also the availability of other forms of transport like buses
From David Northey : How do we think about about what our new travel patterns will be in our regions
From Andy Burkitt - SERA SW : Most of the WHO and other scientific research I have seen talk about 1m not 2m
From Andrew.Ardley : Working at home more often might actually help - it makes the fixed costs of a car look more expensive whereas public transport per journey can be a marginal cost if priced correctly
From David Redgewell :
RMT▸ Tssa aslef and unite the union please remember that 61 public transport workers have died on the front line social distancing is very important to public health director s in the south west at a meeting today
From DP : Extremely difficult to provide a strongly-evidenced justification for 1m or 2m. There are just too many unknowns that affect the risk.
From Graham Parkhurst : Free to access article on interactions between particulate matter and COVID-19 virus:
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.15.20065995v2From Graham Parkhurst : Agree that the 1m and 2m debate is important. Perhaps 1m if effective masks are worn by all?
From Dick Daniel : Many cities in Europe, & even USA, have found that a backbone of trams carrying large volume of passengers, integrated with good quality buses networks. Most of these cites have also restricted private vehicle access at the same time providing segregated continuous cycling routes.
From Stuart Phelps : Only 13% of UK Particulate Matter [PM2.5/300 premature deaths per year are attributed to air pollution in Bristol. 168 of these are due to PM2.5, not Nox which is primarily due to transport. During lock down Nox has fallen, but PM2.5 has stayed the same/risen as more people are at home burning wood
From David Redgewell : social distancing on tourist seaside town s countryside and our Historic cities is causing concern today and the access to tourism hotspots by cars .
From Lee Fletcher : To answer David,s point, here in Brittany, both the trains and buses have buffer zones of seats locked out of use around the driver areas, and ticket checks on trains are currently suspended, so there are practical steps that can be taken at 1 metre that could also work in UK
From Claire Walters : As a former electrician, I would caution that electric batteries are not " clean energy" in themselves, depending on whether they use lithium, nickel etc and disposing of them is another issue that hasn't yet been given sufficient attention.
From David Redgewell : each council has responsibility with the bus operator s to plan bus network with crovid19 bus operators grant Somerset county council are spending more money on buses on the grant. from dft .
From Mike Lambden : Research from the free bus travel in Estonia shows that the biggest change is from walking to bus rather than from car. CILTUK magazine article this month.
From James Harkins : The NEE 2.5 particulate from DEFRA shows that 70% comes from tyres etc only 30% comes from fires
From David Redgewell : even Dorset the county of my family is improving the rural bus service under pressure from the department for transport. and public transport users group users group s could learn a lot from Bridport.
From Stuart Phelps : Sorry - the data in Bristol from the Lufdaten network clearly shows the problem of PM2.5 comes from domestic heating
From David Redgewell : social distancing on local trains is only 45 passengers on 3 car local trains on Bristol temple meads to Severn beach line
From Graham Parkhurst : EVs and particulates: the role of the driver is important - how smooth or aggressive and whether the regenerative braking rather than friction brakes are used. We need to know more from real-world.
Not sure what / how to follow up on all of these - I could spend all weekend at it.So good - though - to be questioning as we move forward.
* Why 2 metres?
* What do family groups do to transport capacity when we leave assumption of everyone travelling alone behind us?
* Diabetes, heart disease, Asthma and dirty air issues - quantify and balance?
* What to do with your cycle when you get to work
* Living near where you work ...
... the list is endless!
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