Re: This is just wrong, surely? : Wed May 30, 2012 12:06 am  

Mintball wrote:

I noticed this morning that there's roadworks going on just around the corner to make a 'table' for the walking events.

Obviously that'll improve transport for all Londoners (who have been paying extra for the whole affair via their council tax).

And the stuff about some sort of vastly improved transport system is tosh. One slightly improved route to Stratford does not count as widespread improvement to the transport system.

One slightly improved route is still an improvement.


On the OP. It isn't as bad as the cheating aussies. Ian Thorpe has to be the only person to not qualify for an Olympic event as he false started and was disqualified in his event. THe only way he could qualify was for the person who qualified to give up their spot. Not what do you think happened to the poor bugger who qualified.

Thorpe went on to win Gold.

Re: This is just wrong, surely? : Wed May 30, 2012 7:21 am  

Rooster Booster wrote:

One slightly improved route is still an improvement...

It's pretty poor if that's the benefit that can be claimed for all the Londoners who have been paying extra for the Games via their council tax.

London has massive transport problems (for various reasons – primarily size of roads compared to amount of traffic) and the route in question does nothing to tackle that.

And to return to what I've mentioned previously, that's going to make no difference to the bloke who has to close his workshop for three weeks because the authorities don't want 'unnecessary traffic'. Or the business that is told to change it's names because it's called the 'Olympic Cafe' or some such (and has been for years).

Interesting point about the Thorpedo, though.

Re: This is just wrong, surely? : Wed May 30, 2012 9:35 am  

Conroy wrote:

Who says that? Jessica Ennis is absolutely stunning.

She can make me her '8th event' any time she wants

Re: This is just wrong, surely? : Thu May 31, 2012 12:28 pm  

Mintball wrote:

It's pretty poor if that's the benefit that can be claimed for all the Londoners who have been paying extra for the Games via their council tax.

London has massive transport problems (for various reasons – primarily size of roads compared to amount of traffic) and the route in question does nothing to tackle that.

And to return to what I've mentioned previously, that's going to make no difference to the bloke who has to close his workshop for three weeks because the authorities don't want 'unnecessary traffic'. Or the business that is told to change it's names because it's called the 'Olympic Cafe' or some such (and has been for years).

Interesting point about the Thorpedo, though.

Just what exactly is wrong with the transport in? Driving, granted, is a nightmare and yes the tube shuts at 11pm but other than that?

Re: This is just wrong, surely? : Thu May 31, 2012 1:27 pm  

Enicomb wrote: Just what exactly is wrong with the transport in? Driving, granted, is a nightmare and yes the tube shuts at 11pm but other than that? Sorry – I'm not quite sure what you mean. There are real issues with transport in general in London – too many vehicles on roads that were not remotely designed to deal with such a volume. One accident and you have stuff snarled for miles. Buses are obviously affected by traffic too. The Tube is nightmarish for all sorts of reasons – including but not limited to overcrowding and it just always being horribly over hot. Prices for public transport are crazy. Fares – even with an Oyster card – have gone up around 56% in the last 18 months alone. In terms of the Olympics, a number of roads will be having one lane removed (in effect) from usual use, so that sponsors etc can travel freely. The athletes, of course, will be in the village etc. So in an already crowded city, buses and cabs will be moved from the lanes they usually use, into the rest of the traffic. From what I've been told by black cab drivers, they've been told they can't go nearer the Olympic stadia than about a mile – so won't benefit from ferrying people there and back. Many are thinking of either going on holiday or not working through the Games. More generally: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/242310.html http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/2012 ... 15497.html

Enicomb wrote: Just what exactly is wrong with the transport in? Driving, granted, is a nightmare and yes the tube shuts at 11pm but other than that? Sorry – I'm not quite sure what you mean. There are real issues with transport in general in London – too many vehicles on roads that were not remotely designed to deal with such a volume. One accident and you have stuff snarled for miles. Buses are obviously affected by traffic too. The Tube is nightmarish for all sorts of reasons – including but not limited to overcrowding and it just always being horribly over hot. Prices for public transport are crazy. Fares – even with an Oyster card – have gone up around 56% in the last 18 months alone. In terms of the Olympics, a number of roads will be having one lane removed (in effect) from usual use, so that sponsors etc can travel freely. The athletes, of course, will be in the village etc. So in an already crowded city, buses and cabs will be moved from the lanes they usually use, into the rest of the traffic. From what I've been told by black cab drivers, they've been told they can't go nearer the Olympic stadia than about a mile – so won't benefit from ferrying people there and back. Many are thinking of either going on holiday or not working through the Games. More generally: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/242310.html http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/2012 ... 15497.html

Re: This is just wrong, surely? : Thu May 31, 2012 11:09 pm  

Mintball wrote: Sorry – I'm not quite sure what you mean. There are real issues with transport in general in London – too many vehicles on roads that were not remotely designed to deal with such a volume. One accident and you have stuff snarled for miles. Buses are obviously affected by traffic too. The Tube is nightmarish for all sorts of reasons – including but not limited to overcrowding and it just always being horribly over hot. Prices for public transport are crazy. Fares – even with an Oyster card – have gone up around 56% in the last 18 months alone. In terms of the Olympics, a number of roads will be having one lane removed (in effect) from usual use, so that sponsors etc can travel freely. The athletes, of course, will be in the village etc. So in an already crowded city, buses and cabs will be moved from the lanes they usually use, into the rest of the traffic. From what I've been told by black cab drivers, they've been told they can't go nearer the Olympic stadia than about a mile – so won't benefit from ferrying people there and back. Many are thinking of either going on holiday or not working through the Games. More generally: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/242310.html http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/2012 ... 15497.html I was simply asking what the issues are with transport in London; to which, you've answered quite succinctly. I only ask as the times I've been to London (fairly often) and traveled by car, bus, taxi, coach and tube I've never really had a major issue. Yes car traffic is bad, but (other than the standard of driving) it's not much worse than any other major city. Besides from that the tube is superb; I've always assumed living in London it'd be the first choice of transport. Yes it can be crowded, yes it can be hot but it's still a damn sight better than anything anywhere else in the country. I never really understood the complaints about it to be honest as other than it should be running near 24 hours it's great (oh and less random line closures would be good). Prices on the other hand I agree with, it's very expensive, but i suppose £5 or £6 (not really sure on the exact price as I have an oyster card) isn't too bad for unlimited public transport travel for a day, you can pay that for one bus journey here.

Mintball wrote: Sorry – I'm not quite sure what you mean. There are real issues with transport in general in London – too many vehicles on roads that were not remotely designed to deal with such a volume. One accident and you have stuff snarled for miles. Buses are obviously affected by traffic too. The Tube is nightmarish for all sorts of reasons – including but not limited to overcrowding and it just always being horribly over hot. Prices for public transport are crazy. Fares – even with an Oyster card – have gone up around 56% in the last 18 months alone. In terms of the Olympics, a number of roads will be having one lane removed (in effect) from usual use, so that sponsors etc can travel freely. The athletes, of course, will be in the village etc. So in an already crowded city, buses and cabs will be moved from the lanes they usually use, into the rest of the traffic. From what I've been told by black cab drivers, they've been told they can't go nearer the Olympic stadia than about a mile – so won't benefit from ferrying people there and back. Many are thinking of either going on holiday or not working through the Games. More generally: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/242310.html http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/2012 ... 15497.html I was simply asking what the issues are with transport in London; to which, you've answered quite succinctly. I only ask as the times I've been to London (fairly often) and traveled by car, bus, taxi, coach and tube I've never really had a major issue. Yes car traffic is bad, but (other than the standard of driving) it's not much worse than any other major city. Besides from that the tube is superb; I've always assumed living in London it'd be the first choice of transport. Yes it can be crowded, yes it can be hot but it's still a damn sight better than anything anywhere else in the country. I never really understood the complaints about it to be honest as other than it should be running near 24 hours it's great (oh and less random line closures would be good). Prices on the other hand I agree with, it's very expensive, but i suppose £5 or £6 (not really sure on the exact price as I have an oyster card) isn't too bad for unlimited public transport travel for a day, you can pay that for one bus journey here.

Re: This is just wrong, surely? : Fri Jun 01, 2012 12:06 am  

Mintball wrote: Sorry – I'm not quite sure what you mean. There are real issues with transport in general in London – too many vehicles on roads that were not remotely designed to deal with such a volume. One accident and you have stuff snarled for miles. Buses are obviously affected by traffic too. The Tube is nightmarish for all sorts of reasons – including but not limited to overcrowding and it just always being horribly over hot. Prices for public transport are crazy. Fares – even with an Oyster card – have gone up around 56% in the last 18 months alone. In terms of the Olympics, a number of roads will be having one lane removed (in effect) from usual use, so that sponsors etc can travel freely. The athletes, of course, will be in the village etc. So in an already crowded city, buses and cabs will be moved from the lanes they usually use, into the rest of the traffic. From what I've been told by black cab drivers, they've been told they can't go nearer the Olympic stadia than about a mile – so won't benefit from ferrying people there and back. Many are thinking of either going on holiday or not working through the Games. More generally: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/242310.html http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/2012 ... 15497.html Congestion problems are caused by traffic lights, slow drivers and speed cameras so if you get rid of these then traffic can move through london at a much faster rate e.g 40mph rather than 2 mph. Similarly accidents would no longer occur if the Government banned bad drivers from the road. If these measures were taken public transport costs would decrease as companies would have to cut prices or else consumers could travel via road transport instead.

Mintball wrote: Sorry – I'm not quite sure what you mean. There are real issues with transport in general in London – too many vehicles on roads that were not remotely designed to deal with such a volume. One accident and you have stuff snarled for miles. Buses are obviously affected by traffic too. The Tube is nightmarish for all sorts of reasons – including but not limited to overcrowding and it just always being horribly over hot. Prices for public transport are crazy. Fares – even with an Oyster card – have gone up around 56% in the last 18 months alone. In terms of the Olympics, a number of roads will be having one lane removed (in effect) from usual use, so that sponsors etc can travel freely. The athletes, of course, will be in the village etc. So in an already crowded city, buses and cabs will be moved from the lanes they usually use, into the rest of the traffic. From what I've been told by black cab drivers, they've been told they can't go nearer the Olympic stadia than about a mile – so won't benefit from ferrying people there and back. Many are thinking of either going on holiday or not working through the Games. More generally: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/242310.html http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/2012 ... 15497.html Congestion problems are caused by traffic lights, slow drivers and speed cameras so if you get rid of these then traffic can move through london at a much faster rate e.g 40mph rather than 2 mph. Similarly accidents would no longer occur if the Government banned bad drivers from the road. If these measures were taken public transport costs would decrease as companies would have to cut prices or else consumers could travel via road transport instead.

Re: This is just wrong, surely? : Fri Jun 01, 2012 1:01 am  

Less talk about the London underground and more talk about Jessica Ennis please

Re: This is just wrong, surely? : Fri Jun 01, 2012 4:38 am  

Mintball wrote:

We're funding the policing of this torch relay, for instance.

How much will the UK taxpayer benefit?

The UK government is slashing and privatising services – with the privatised companies slashing wages. Who will profit from these games and what will be the benefit to the UK taxpayer in general and to residents of London specifically?

There has been talk of a 'retail boost' of approximately £60m over the Olympic period. But that'll primarily be big companies (at the new mall) that already make millions and, as we know, use every means possible to avoid paying tax.

How will the ordinary resident of one of the 'Olympic boroughs' benefit?

Here is an example of a direct benefit - one of our factories printed the original ticket offer brochure - total cost >£200k it provided work for 4 printers, 3 finishers at 2 support staff for 2 weeks. This would not have happened with the Olympics coming to London. If you cared to take the time you would find hundreds of such examples. To say the Olympics are a negative because you might be put out for a couple of weeks is speaks volumes for your sense of priority. How much of the re-generation costs of Stratford has been born by tax payers who will never benefit from it one bit. London CT payers will be left with superb sporting facilities that can be exploited for future events going forward.

Cities like Manchester will suffer because the elite level training and international events will move from the aquatic and cycle facilities in Manchester to those in London. Yet more centralising of stuff in one city.

Re: This is just wrong, surely? : Fri Jun 01, 2012 7:25 am  

David Titan wrote:

Congestion problems are caused by traffic lights, slow drivers and speed cameras so if you get rid of these then traffic can move through london at a much faster rate e.g 40mph rather than 2 mph. Similarly accidents would no longer occur if the Government banned bad drivers from the road. If these measures were taken public transport costs would decrease as companies would have to cut prices or else consumers could travel via road transport instead.

You are completely off your trolley.

Congestion may, at times be exacerbated by traffic control systems but congestion is caused purely and simply by an excessive number of vehicles on a particular road network at any one time. The solutions are either to build more roads (difficult in a city like London) or reduce/restrict the numbers of vehicles using the available road space.

I have only ever once driven through London at a speed that even approached 40mph and that was at 2.00am, in the late 70s, with a 4-strong police motorcycle escort. The reason? I had 14 tonnes of high-explosives on board and they wanted me in and out as quickly as possible.