Today I was the victim of some very aggressive driving from a Range Rover Vogue driver, nearly pushing me into the kerb and causing an accident. So I thought that today was as good as any to write up another one of the interesting things that came out of the Birmingham City Centre Masterplan “Big Ideas” event.
Over recent years I’ve become increasingly irritated by these hulking ego boxes tailgating me, clogging up the roads of Kings Heath and Moseley and the other narrow roads of Birmingham, burning up fuel that is becoming more and more scarce and generally representing all that is bad about the car industry.
I’m sick of them and it would be a happy day if I were to see these machines removed from our cities, particularly Birmingham.
They are anachronistic - a 4×4 that was once used as a rural tool has now become a distasteful show of disregard for environmental issues.
Land Rover’s business model is a car crash waiting to happen. The public no longer has the taste for 12MPG urban transport any more and over coming years we’re going to see growing derision for the solipsism that drives people to continue buying them.
They’ve made a lame attempt to add some ‘carbon offsetting’ to their new sales, but having met a couple of in-the-know people from Greenpeace this year it’s clear that a £175 charge to new customers of a £60,000 vehicle does not adequately represent the cost of offsetting (if this is even possible with the schemes they invest in) the carbon produced in the manufacture and ongoing use of these kinds of vehicles.
Birmingham City Council have committed to a reduction of 60% of the city’s carbon emissions by 2026.
When I was at the Masterplan event two weeks ago there was a very challenging presentation from an expert in the field who made the situation very clear about what that would mean:
To achieve the City’s own target of 60% reduction in emissions by 2026 there can be no cars within the ringroad at all from 2026.
Sorry - let me repeat that: No cars within the ringroad.
Obviously this was laid down to us as a provocative and challenging statement, representing a particular scenario.
But if we’re going to start anywhere I say we start by putting measures in place to remove these pointless, never-used-off-the-road, wasteful machines from the city centre and put a stake in the sand that Birmingham is the progressive and tough-decision-making place that it will need to be to make it happen.
18 Comments
I walked into town today, the traffic was so bad even the busses were blocked up. I think this is a fantastic idea, and as long as the council put proper resources into keeping roads outside the ringroad flowing I think this would be a brilliant idea.
I also would welcome these plans - have responded more in my personal blog with a little anecdote that summed up, for me, this kind of thoughtless driving.
Yes please! I love cycling to work but I do have to take my life into my own hands on city centre roads.
Pity modern thinking so many years ago ended up scrapping the trams from the streets of Birmingham.
I loathe driving and would love to use public transport for my daily commute instead of driving, but I found that journey times (bus and train combined) could vary from 45 mins (as fast as it takes me in the car) to over 2 hours at the same time of the day.
To get cars off the road drivers need a viable alternative. Purely pricing people out of their cars may create a new revenue stream but it is not an effective answer. It will just open up the roads for those that can afford a £60k 4X4 in the first place.
However, an integrated transport policy could make great swathes towards doing that. I’ve been to cities where buses from the suburbs turn up at local stations just before the trains pulls in and leaves a couple of minutes after and it’s all covered by the same ticket. It was a revelation! But that cannot be achieved with a mix of private companies all operating in false markets and driven by complicated and conflicting incentive and penalty schemes.
Im dubious about the whole offseting thing anyway. If fuel gets used, then fuel gets used - no amount of tree planting is going to bring it back.
And how do you know for sure the same amount of trees wouldnt have been planted anyway?
Sounds like a placebo or a pancea or something else odd beginning with “p”.
Rich
Xx
Hi Stef,
Totally with you on this one. If you are not already aware you should find the Alliance Against Urban 4×4s site interesting (http://www.stopurban4×4s.org.uk/).
For me, it’s not just about the environmental impact of these vehicles (although obviously that is vital), it’s also about their physical size. Urban roads and carparks were not constucted with these vehicles in mind. I have had many similar experiences to you. On one occasion, I was a passenger in a Fiat Punto and we were actually shunted out of the way by a 4×4. We were so incredulous at the time that we didn’t think to get the plate. And earlier this year, a Range Rover drove into the back of my car while I was waiting at a junction. Not a scratch on their vehicle but my car was in the garage for about 6 weeks and I needed about 10 sessions of physio for whiplash.
On a slightly related note, the same kind of misguided thinking that these vehicles are a good status symbol also leads people to muck about with their registration plates to make a vague approximation of their name or whatever, so that when vehicles are involved in an accident or crime, they are harder to identify. I have started a campaign site against this at http://www.stopillegalnumberplates.co.uk although I don’t have nearly as much time as I would like to spend on it.
For anyone who wants a brilliantly subversive lesson in why carbon offsetting is not the best solution to climate change and why it’s our attitudes that need to be altered, I recommend checking out-
http://www.cheatneutral.com
My old boss drives a great big Land Rover. Enough said.
SUV - Socially Unacceptable Vehicle
Birmingham needs Indians! -
http://www.carectomy.com/index.php/Action/Indians-of-the-Concrete-Jungle
This would be a great idea, but if Birmingham’s public transport is anything like Bristols, they’ll need to significantly improve it before going ahead with this.
Whenever I catch a bus I have to sit in the isle seat because I can’t actually get my legs in behind the seat in front, and I’m not even that tall!
>Philthers Says: I loathe driving and would love to use public transport for my daily commute instead of driving, but I found that journey times (bus and train combined) could vary from 45 mins (as fast as it takes me in the car) to over 2 hours at the same time of the day.
Have you considered bike and train? That can be a strong combination for journeys that are too far for bike alone.
On the general point: What a turnaround it would be to change Birmingham from the car city of the 20th century to the non-car city of the 21st. Bring it on!
I agree with Kerrie Re: turnaround- and thinking about it this is the most obvious big city plan for Bham. To be the first car free city in the world (are there any already?) would be fantastic PR, we could lead in this stuff, and all the innovation, science parks, new business ventures and opportunities that are likely to emerge from dealing with climate change might want to locate here. Not to mention it being fantastic on so many other levels - could deal with obesity while we’re at it by giving everyone a bike!
okay I’m getting a head of myself - just thinking through the business case for ‘Birmingham the worlds first car-free city’ - quick register the domain!
I saw a report on the local news about the council’s trialling of carpool lanes. Hopefully they will be launched across the city - I get the bus from the Pershore Road into work, quite a heavily congested route, and the number of cars I see with only one person in them is utterly depressing. A good idea to boost usage of carpool lanes would be a council-sponsored and widely advertised website where drivers can list their routes and availability.
I think the chances of making Birmingham car free are non-existent, at least until oil runs out when we will have much bigger problems. I reckon that lots of drivers would prefer to lose both legs than their cars (at least they could still drive everywhere). Charlotte - I think Venice already has the claim on worlds first car-free city! Check out Copenhagen where up to half a million people cycle regularly http://cycleliciousness.blogspot.com/ .
Tobe - have you tried cycling into town? either along the canal to the mailbox or Cycle Route 5 through Cannon Hill park to Hurst Street area should make your arrival at work a much happier one.
Hail! Nuff said.
What amuses me about 4×4s is their names. A neighbour of mine drives a Mitsubishi Warrior which he obviously believes bestows some sort of superiority upon him. In reality he should be driving a Mitsubishi FatW*nker. The tinted windows are intended to give the impression of a VIP inside when it’s just a family of obese simpletons.
We got a flyer through the letter box today advertising whizzgo cars which is a step in the right direction. Locations include the Custard Factory and Kings Heath. See http://www.whizzgo.co.uk/carlocations/Birmingham.htm for details. I might sign up for this myself if my next MOT goes badly.
I’ve been ranting about the general crap-ness of Birmingham for non car-drivers for years, although I try to limit my ranting as it tends to annoy my friends after a while. Glad to see I’m not the only one who’s underwhelmed.
Birmingham’s got huge potential for being a superb car-free city, if only it got the public transport sorted out. The fact that a city with 2 million inhabitants hobbles along without a metro, without any trams to speak of, or even a well-functioning bus network is really shameful.
Absolutely every European city I’ve visited has had a better public transport network, and I’ve visited a lot - and not just in Western Europe, either. Is it because of the British attitude that public transport is for those who can’t afford to drive, or are we just completely inept?
Latest rant is here, perhaps I should transfer it to my blog if anyone actually wants to read my ranting: http://www.flickr.com/photos/orangejon/2300531899/
I came across your piece on car-ectomy late via a random search. I see you know Nick Booth. I have divorced my car and campaign for carfree cities and ride a Brompton. In 2004 I made this film about traffic hazards near my campus:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReuE8ShXfiQ
I’m having another go at getting the message across. Hope we stay in touch. Regards Simon