Parking places running out.

[stefanovic]

On local TV news, Birmingham is running out of parking places.
Parking Problems in Birmingham (flashpark.co.uk)
82 quid a week might buy you one if you can get it.
London is more like that a day.
With yet another train strike today, here is the solution.
Buy a folding bike, put it in the car and be prepared to cycle.

 

[Rooter]

this country is too car centric. things need to change.

 

[stefanovic]

this country is too car centric. things need to change.

What would you change?
Best answer is not to have any parking places at all in towns.
Then there are no parking problems.

How much would you pay to park?
How about this one.
London property: The £750,000 parking space that's more expensive than the average London home - MyLondon

 

[Rooter]

What would you change?
Best answer is not to have any parking places at all in towns.
Then there are no parking problems.

How much would you pay to park?
How about this one.
London property: The £750,000 parking space that's more expensive than the average London home - MyLondon

We are past what i want, i wont happen. But....

Scrap parking on roads. Roads are meant to be driven on, not for storing cars.

Massively improve public transport, Train and bus travel should cost peanuts. More buses, more trains.

Better cycling infrastructure

Bike storage and security

Teach from a young age the benefits of active travel (health, wealth, Stress, environment)

Get away from the 'just jump in the car' culture for a 5 minute pop to the shops.


In my world, 8 out of ten families wouldn't need a car full stop.

 

[SocketRocket]

We are past what i want, i wont happen. But....

Scrap parking on roads. Roads are meant to be driven on, not for storing cars.

Massively improve public transport, Train and bus travel should cost peanuts. More buses, more trains.

Better cycling infrastructure

Bike storage and security

Teach from a young age the benefits of active travel (health, wealth, Stress, environment)

Get away from the 'just jump in the car' culture for a 5 minute pop to the shops.


In my world, 8 out of ten families wouldn't need a car full stop.

Agree with all that. The car parking in towns now turn most roads into a single carriageway which is silly. Best to stop the parking and put in a cycle lane.

 

[need_my_wedge]

I used to live in Tokyo, which has a much bigger parking problem than the UK. You can’t buy a car in Japan unless you have a parking space. I wanted to buy a car whilst I was there so had to rent a space, 22 years ago cost me £150 a month for the space.

In Japan only about 25% of the landmass is habitable, parking is a big problem for many. They do have some great ways to deal with it. Underground parking with stacked cars - many apartment blocks are built with an underground car park, where each space may hold 2 or 3 cars. Each space is an elevator of sorts that goes up and down stacking 2 or 3 cars. Some car parks are built like this from ground level, meaning more cars can be stacked.

Some of the public car parks are built as a tower block. The parking is an automated carousel. You pull into a single car entrance, on to a rotating plate, when you get out, the plate rotates 90 degrees, a door opens and the plate slides the car in. The system will then take the car up and slot it in a space somewhere above. When you come back, your car is automatically returned to ground level, it slides back out into the plate and rotates 90 degrees ready for you to drive straight out.

These were all in operation when I started visiting back in the 90’s.

In addition, they have a great public transport infrastructure, providing alternative travel, but this is can be slightly overcrowded due to the volume of people using it.

 

[Crazyface]

Were I live it's almost grid locked with the amount of cars on the roads, and still more houses are being built and even more planned. I keep bagering the wife to let us move to Portugal to no avail.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Certainly can be the case on my road…. Though I guess it’s what you have to accept that you sign up to when you move into a town street comprising mostly Victorian and Edwardian era properties.

 

[cliveb]

The fundamental problem is that over the course of many decades, improvements to the transport infrastructure has encouraged far too much movement of people, especially with regards to day-to-day activities such as getting to work and doing the shopping.

It's yet another example of the law of unintended consequences at work - improving transport seems like a no-brainer but it's an insidious positive feedback system. Moving lots of people around long distances is bad for the environment. Doesn't matter whether it's by car, train or plane, every journey has a carbon footprint.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

@need_my_wedge how long were you in Japan before you simply used those car parks and not stand open mouthed, watching them joyfully?

 

[stefanovic]

Japanese do have the answer.
japanese vertical parking - YouTube

 

[Mudball]

Another area where we have gone backwards.. adopted a more american approach rather than European or Japanese model

Even as i write this, my neighborhood is fighting the council for planning permission of 8 flat block with a grand total of 4 parking spots. Station is about a 30 min walk. The bus services have been decimated due to lack of funding. So we will see atleast 4 more cars onto our already over parked road..

First world problems

 

[Bunkermagnet]

Perhpas if cars were smaller as they were a few years ago, it might ease the situation a little. Is there really a need for small bus size cars to take your child out or go to the out of town supermarket?

 

[Mudball]

Perhpas if cars were smaller as they were a few years ago, it might ease the situation a little. Is there really a need for small bus size cars to take your child out or go to the out of town supermarket?

We used to have a 60s built property with a garages in a block.. none of them had cars as new cars would not fit. So despite the garages, all cars were parked on the road

 

[stefanovic]

We used to have a 60s built property with a garages in a block.. none of them had cars as new cars would not fit. So despite the garages, all cars were parked on the road

My garage can only hold a small car, hence that's why I have one.
Leaving it on my access recently I found a paving brick had been picked up and shattered the windscreen.
Had to pay £75 for insurance excess.
Many properties in my area have small garages at the back and lean-to garages at the front which are now used mainly for storage.
Why do people buy large cars? Mainly for status.
Another idea would be to have to pay to use employers car park and the money go to funding public transport.

 

[backwoodsman]

My garage can only hold a small car, hence that's why I have one.
Leaving it on my access recently I found a paving brick had been picked up and shattered the windscreen.
Had to pay £75 for insurance excess.
Many properties in my area have small garages at the back and lean-to garages at the front which are now used mainly for storage.
Why do people buy large cars? Mainly for status.
Another idea would be to have to pay to use employers car park and the money go to funding public transport.

You already get taxed for using your employers carpark.

 

[need_my_wedge]

Japanese do have the answer.
japanese vertical parking - YouTube

That’s an older system similar to my experience. This one is newer and cooler, watch til the end for the full experience

 

[SocketRocket]

Sadly it's another symptom of there being too many of us.

 

[PJ87]

You already get taxed for using your employers carpark.

Do you?

 

[cliveb]

Why do people buy large cars?

Because the manufacturers make large cars. If you want a small car, they don't exist. Have you seen the size of a Nissan "Micra" these days?

And the reason all cars are so big is because of crash testing requirements. You need massive crumple zones to get decent ratings, and they take up lots of space.