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G4EBT > CARS 29.01.09 22:22l 79 Lines 3082 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 260141G4EBT
Read: GUEST
Subj: UK Car Ownership
Path: ON0AR<F4BWT<ON0BEL<DB0RES<DK0WUE<GB7FCR
Sent: 090129/2040Z @:GB7FCR.#16.GBR.EU #:23520 [Blackpool] FBB-7.03a $:260141G4
From: G4EBT@GB7FCR.#16.GBR.EU
To : CARS@WW
Car ownership and use in the UK depends not just on whether one can afford
to buy and run a car but on such factors such as the availability of
public transport, hassles getting into and out of large cities when
commuting
to work or shopping etc, and the difficulty and expense of parking.
There's a tipping point at which a car becomes more hassle than its worth.
The more rural the area, the more essential does a car become, and the
greater the likelihood of multiple car ownership. The differences are
quite marked, as the UK National Transport Survey for 2006 shows:
no car one car two cars three or more cars
London Boroughs 39 43 15 3
Other Met areas 32 41 23 4
Large Urban 23 45 27 5
Medium Urban 25 43 26 5
Small Urban 22 46 27 6
Rural 11 37 40 12
The figures are percentages for each category and are cars per household.
As can be seen, for London Boroughs almost 4 in 10 households have no car.
London is a hell hole.
Even houses costing a million or more often don't have off-street parking.
Finding a space close to your home is a daily chore and you must have a
paid for annual permit to park in the zone where you live. Visitors must
have a paid for residents daily permit, or pay a fortune on meters and
move the car every four hours.
Driving into and out of London is a gladiatorial and time consuming
exercise which few wish to engage in. And there is a congestion charge of
£8.00 GBP a day in central London for those inclined to fight their way
in. (There are discounts for dual fuel/electric cars and vehicles carrying
nine or more).
Then when you get there parking is severely limited and very costly, with
traffic wardens prowling around. It can be especially bugging to get a
parking ticket for parking in the street outside your own home.
Most people who live there use the underground/overground for commuting.
Buses take longer, but for over 60s, whichever town you live in you get a
free bus pass which can be used in all other towns, sometimes with peak
hour restrictions.
The National Transport Survey looked at how close to a bus service people
live. The minimum criterion for bus availability in the survey was that a
household should be within 13 minutes of a bus stop with at least an
hourly service.
Between the 1998 - 2006 survey the proportion in rural areas which met
this yardstick increased from 45% to 54%. In small urban areas it
increased from 74% to 89% over the same period. (In large urban areas it's
90% or better).
Full National Travel Survey 2006 here:
http://www.dft.gov.uk/162259/162469/221412/221531/223955/322743/NTS2006V3.p
df
Best wishes
David, G4EBT @ GB7FCR
British Vintage Wireless Society Member
G-QRP Club Member, No: 1339
Cottingham, East Yorkshire.
Message timed: 20:26 on 2009-Jan-29
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