Great Balls Of Ire
I don’t know New Addington, but this article makes me want to go.
From the picture in the article, I feel I ought to go and get my camera out.
Cyclehoops By Selfridges
I found these two cyclehoops by Selfridges today.
One seemed to have had a bicycle part-nicked from it, bt the other was ready to do its job.
Cyclehoops
I hadn’t heard of Cyclehoop until I saw a piece about how they have got a large export order from Vancouver, on the strength of their presence at the Olympics.
I like them, as hopefully, they’ll tidy up bikes on the streets and we’ll get less clutter that I’ll walk into. Admittedly, I do it less now, as my eyesight may not be perfect, but I’ve learned how to use it properly.
One thing I like about the design is that they are compact and can be very bright, so they aren’t among that large class of street furniture you trip over.
I’ll be looking out for some in use.
On another matter, their web site is very professional.
They also fulfil my theory, that there are many ways to redesign what we already have.
Looking at the gallery on the web site, you see too that it’s not a one-product company. They’re more a solutions company, that you go to when you want to park any number of bikes, from one to several thousands.
Parking Sensors And Phone Apps
The BBC is reporting that Westminster Council is installing sensors in the road, so that drivers can use a smartphone app to go to the nearest free space.
How do you use the smartphone, whilst you are driving?
The Scandal of the Empty Seats
The BBC and most of the newspapers are complaining about the empty seats at some of the Olympic venues. Here‘s the BBC on the subject.
No-one is sure of the reason, but it would appear to be mostly expensive tickets, many of which went to corporate sponsors.
Could it be that when those with the tickets, found out they’d have to slum it on public transport as there is no reserved parking space for the Bentley, they have decided to forgo the privilege of seeing some of the best sport in the world?
I’ve just checked one of the world’s luxury hotel group and there are still rooms available at an affordable price for those who could afford it, like a corporate sponsor. C and I used sometimes to stay in the world’s best hotels and then use the local public transport and I know quite a few Americans, Europeans and Aussies, who have or still do that regularly. But if you’re on expenses paid by a corporate sponsor, you can’t even use a taxi in London to get to Stratford.
I also wonder if the organisers got their ticket allocation wrong, with too many expensive tickets. And given the current state of the economy, even the rich are feeling the pinch.
I live in London N1, which is an affluent area, close to the City, and I’ve never seen the buses and the streets so empty. Lots of people have gone on holiday. A friend, who works at a high level in one of the sponsors, who I thought could expect tickets, has gone away.
It’s a real conundrum, but it’s not as simple as some have said.
Donna Air Head
Apparently according to this case n Isleworth Crown Court, reported in the Telegraph, it’s alright to commit an offence if you’re stupid. Donna Air’s lawyer said of her “not a great deal in her head but hot air.” And the jury let her off.
I hope that the CPS appeals.
Parking in Disabled Spaces
I took this picture today by the O2.
Parking in Disabled Spaces
It shows a row of cars parked in disabled spaces. I did look but couldn’t see one disabled badge. Perhaps my eyes aren’t very good.
Next time I go, I’ll have another look and show number plates next time.
Jams In The West End
There has been a lot of controversy lately about the City of Westminster, bringing in parking charges in the evenings and on Sundays. Here ‘s a report from the Telegraph.
It seems to me that most of the opposition is led by celebrities such as Peter Stringfellow, who claim they are worried about jobs and of course where to park their own limos and excessive people carriers.
As I said the 38 bus was delayed getting to Shaftesbury Avenue and it took half an hour to travel the last bit from Bloomsbury. My progress after alighting from the bus, wasn’t helped by the fact that a coach was parked on the pavement, making both walking and driving difficult.
After the play it was worse and getting back up Shaftesbury Avenue was not easy, as drivers were blocking pavement and trying to go at speed into and out of the side roads. It wasn’t helped by the fact, that a large number of police cars and ambulances were trying to get through.
I finally got to the stop for the 38 bus and after checking by text, I found I had seven minutes to wait.
Whilst waiting you realised that what was holding up the traffic was the vast number of cycle rickshaws, which were illegally touting at the bus stops. A guy in the queue near me, who had the aura of a taxi-driver, said that mos of the rickshaws aren’t insured and he wouldn’t go near them. He was actually a van driver, who’d had a nght out with his family and was also waiting for a 38. There’s more on illegal rickshaws here.
It was also a night, when I wished I’d had my camera with me, as I would ave got a picture of a 19 bus, seemingly pushing a rickshaw slowly along the road.
Finally, I got my 38 back to the local stop.
So what would I do to improve matters?
It would appear that the 38 bus, might be one of the first routes to get the new Routemaster in 2012. Certainly, as they are quicker to board and exit, they should help a bit. Banning the rickshaws from bus lanes would also help.
I’ve always been in favour of pedestrianising Oxford Street or perhaps building a raised walkway above the middle of the street to speed people from Tottenham Court Road to Marble Arch and perhaps relieve the Central line. Although a bit to the north of theatreland, it would make it easier to get to Soho and then come south to Shaftesbury Avenue. My thoughts on the walkway are in this post.
I think I would make a large area of Soho a pedestrian only zone, as this would increase the capacity of the area dramatically. And the more visitors it gets, the more money gets spent. Perhaps, small electric buses could be used on the north-south routes to move people about.
But perhaps what will help most is already being built; CrossRail. Although it only goes to Tottenham Court Road and Bond Street stations, the high-capacity trains will probably run later than the Underground and they will at least get a lot of West End traffic away after the theatres and shows finish. I would run a shuttle service through from say Stratford to Heathrow to aid those, like essential workers, who had to travel in the middle of the night.
It has always puzzled me why there is no Underground station at Cambridge Circus. Perhaps the walking routes to Leicester Square and Tottenham Court Road stations need to be improved.
Out-of-Country Parking Fines
There is a story today that says that councils are losing a lot of money because of the non-payment of parking fines by foreign drivers. Although, the story is a UK one, I suspect it’s a problem all across Europe.
This problem used to exist in the United States, but there it wasn’t out-of-country, but out-of-state parking fines that were the problem. They also had data-protection problems in that citizens wouldn’t trust Texas to say look up vehicles in New York.
In the end, a company came up with a solution that was acceptable to all parties.
They bought the tickets at a discount from the individual states, collated them and then sent them to their collection department in the state where the vehicle was registered. Obviously, they picked the juicy ones first, but the business model worked so well and profitably, that Lockheed felt it was worth buying the company.
Such a system would work well on an EU wide basis, with perhaps Switzerland added. But then the Swiss don’t get parking fines do they?
Parking and Clamping
This was discussed on Radio 5 Live yesterday morning, after reports that the government were to ban clamping on private land. It is probably right to ban the aggressive aspects of this, but what do you do if say you have a private car park on your offices that is always being blocked by illegal parkers. They also interviewed the man who refused to get out of his clamped car, so it could be towed away. Most had sympathy with the man, but I don’t, as he shouldn’t have parked where he did in the first place.
When I could drive, I never parked illegally and I think that in over forty years of driving, I’ve only had a handful of tickets. most of which were because I misread a sign or put the wrong amount of money in a meter.
Now that I use buses a lot, I realise how illegal parkers are a complete menace and slow the traffic a lot more. My post about chaos in Trafalgar Square was partly about illegal parking, but mainly about stupid idiots, who were trying to drive where they shouldn’t.
The irony about the BBC phone-in was that the stand-in presenter, Stephen Nolan admits that he gets lots of parking tickets outside the BBC in Belfast, because he claims there is nowhere to park. Surely, he should use the bus. But then he is almost proud of his very obese state, so I suppose the extra walk would be just too much for him.
I hope the BBC don’t pay his parking tickets.
The Anonymous Widower 