Londoners; This’ll Make You Laugh
Yesterday’s San Francisco Chronicle carried an opinion piece regarding congestion in the city and the problems of the transit system. There’s a suggestion that a $3 a day congestion charge might be introduced to reduce car traffic, but the author suggests that before that can be imposed then the public transport network needs to be updated (Londoners, is this starting to sound familiar?)
To put this into context, this is a city with an extensive bus network, trams, cable cars, the Muni (electric trains running underground and along some streets) and the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit - a train service which links the city with the rest of the Bay Area) and which with the exception of the BART, it’s possible to use in any combination to get anywhere from anywhere for $1.50. It’s not perfect, but compared to the horror of a London commute, my journeys here are sheer bliss.
But the Chronicle author includes the following in relation to a workshop to discuss the proposal, which brought me up short:
“As it happened, four students from London’s King’s College were at the Tuesday night workshop. They were studying transit issues in the city, but I asked them about their impressions of London’s toll system that was implemented in 2003.
In general they are supportive of the toll, but they have grave misgivings about bringing it to San Francisco. They raved about London’s comprehensive bus and subway service. That’s why the toll system works there.
“London’s transportation system was already in place,” said Louis Loundy.”
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
December 6th, 2008 at 6:10 am
In place? IN F*****G PLACE!!!! How long have those dweebs been out of London?
My only hope is that the olympic bid obliges everyone to update the system and, after 4 years of engineering works misery, we end up with a transport system that wasn’t invented at the same time as crinolines.
But I’m an optimist.
December 6th, 2008 at 11:38 am
Key word - “students” - no idea of real life or commuting in the morning rush hour as they sleep off their hangovers