Stumble It!Time to stop talking and start 'doing'
03/10/07 12:04 Filed in: Forum
A trip to Switzerland shows how it
should be done.
In Switzerland petrol and diesel cost about 70% of the price here. If you believe the simplistic logic of those who justify punitive fuel taxes the roads of Switzerland should be positively over-run by cars.
They're not.
There are thousands of bikes in every city. And at the centre of every town and city is the train station.
Everywhere you go you find that the trains connect efficiently and on time, wth local rail services and buses. Most passengers have passes of some sort so they can just walk onto the most convenient train, bus, tram, light railway or ferry. No puzzling out fares, queuing for tickets, no inflexible travel plans. You just hop aboard the nearest bus, train or boat - whichever is convenient - and show your pass to the inspector.
To encourage cyclists, the trains have sections for you to push your bike on board, commute into town and take your bike for the last part of the journey.
Double decker trains have space for bikes and even carriages with children's play areas
Many inter city trains have double decker carriages, giving a measure of style and choice in seating areas. There are carriages which are designated for no music and no mobiles, for those who like peace and quiet. And there are carriages especially designed for families with younger kids. They have play areas in the middle, with climbing frames and suchlike. That, of course, is a bonus for other passengers in other carriages who don't have to contend with yelling, screaming children.
Everywhere you go you see new investment in transport infrastructure New tunnels designed to take thousands of tonnes of freight off the roads. New stations, urban railways, new relief roads.
You get the impression that it is all planned to provide the most efficient transport network and it is so attractive you are happy to shun the car keys and take to public transport instead.
As one of our party put it. "In Britain you wonder if the railway station is far from the airport. In Switzerland you would be shocked if the railway station wasn't inside the airport and if it didn't connect directly to the bus and tram station in the city centre."
This sort of integration can only come with a high-level of leadership from our government (local and national) and a determination by our politicians to get things done. We need to shake off the talking-shop mentality and assemble teams of people who will actually get things done.
If heads in various rail and bus companies need to be banged together, someone needs to be empowered to do it. Sure, since Margaret Thatcher sold off our transport providers to the highest bidder it is more difficult than when the public sector owned the airports, the railways and the buses. But they have to be shown how it is in everyone's interests to work together, to accept a share of the revenue from integrated transport passes. To accept the dictated transport interchange hubs and co-ordinated timetables.
The result in Switzerland is there for all to see. It may be much cheaper than here to use the car but the Swiss, and visitors like ourselves, find the public transport network such an attractive alternative.
In green terms, of course, Switzerland has a big benefit. So much of their electricity is produced by hydro electric schemes that electric trains and trams are genuinely more environmentally friendly than taking the car (unlike in the UK where the greenest solution can, paradoxically, be to avoid public transport and take the potentially lower-pollution option of the car!).
But the biggest difference seems to be the 'can do' attitude of the authorities. Need a new transport infrastructure development? They just get on with it.
Perhaps this is a chance for the new Scottish Government to shake off the 'talk big, do little' culture of the past and actually implement a vision of a genuinely integrated transport system that serves the people and meets their needs?
Our politicians love to talk about integrated transport. It's time for our leaders to stop talking about it and actually implement it - a system that works for the people - like they do in Switzerland.
In Switzerland petrol and diesel cost about 70% of the price here. If you believe the simplistic logic of those who justify punitive fuel taxes the roads of Switzerland should be positively over-run by cars.
They're not.
There are thousands of bikes in every city. And at the centre of every town and city is the train station.
Everywhere you go you find that the trains connect efficiently and on time, wth local rail services and buses. Most passengers have passes of some sort so they can just walk onto the most convenient train, bus, tram, light railway or ferry. No puzzling out fares, queuing for tickets, no inflexible travel plans. You just hop aboard the nearest bus, train or boat - whichever is convenient - and show your pass to the inspector.
To encourage cyclists, the trains have sections for you to push your bike on board, commute into town and take your bike for the last part of the journey.
Double decker trains have space for bikes and even carriages with children's play areas
Many inter city trains have double decker carriages, giving a measure of style and choice in seating areas. There are carriages which are designated for no music and no mobiles, for those who like peace and quiet. And there are carriages especially designed for families with younger kids. They have play areas in the middle, with climbing frames and suchlike. That, of course, is a bonus for other passengers in other carriages who don't have to contend with yelling, screaming children.
Everywhere you go you see new investment in transport infrastructure New tunnels designed to take thousands of tonnes of freight off the roads. New stations, urban railways, new relief roads.
You get the impression that it is all planned to provide the most efficient transport network and it is so attractive you are happy to shun the car keys and take to public transport instead.
As one of our party put it. "In Britain you wonder if the railway station is far from the airport. In Switzerland you would be shocked if the railway station wasn't inside the airport and if it didn't connect directly to the bus and tram station in the city centre."
This sort of integration can only come with a high-level of leadership from our government (local and national) and a determination by our politicians to get things done. We need to shake off the talking-shop mentality and assemble teams of people who will actually get things done.
If heads in various rail and bus companies need to be banged together, someone needs to be empowered to do it. Sure, since Margaret Thatcher sold off our transport providers to the highest bidder it is more difficult than when the public sector owned the airports, the railways and the buses. But they have to be shown how it is in everyone's interests to work together, to accept a share of the revenue from integrated transport passes. To accept the dictated transport interchange hubs and co-ordinated timetables.
The result in Switzerland is there for all to see. It may be much cheaper than here to use the car but the Swiss, and visitors like ourselves, find the public transport network such an attractive alternative.
In green terms, of course, Switzerland has a big benefit. So much of their electricity is produced by hydro electric schemes that electric trains and trams are genuinely more environmentally friendly than taking the car (unlike in the UK where the greenest solution can, paradoxically, be to avoid public transport and take the potentially lower-pollution option of the car!).
But the biggest difference seems to be the 'can do' attitude of the authorities. Need a new transport infrastructure development? They just get on with it.
- In Britain we don't think in an integrated way and we don't look to the future. Imagine if Aberdeen Airport's terminal had been developed on the original site on the east side, beside the railway - instead of moving it away from the public transport links to its present location on the west side (where there are poor transport links)?
- How long have we been talking about re-opening rail stations. Kintore, for example, has been on the cards for years. It is Aberdeenshire's fastest-growing town (possibly even Scotland's), yet we are still talking about "possibly" having the station re-opened in two years. Why does it take two years? It should have been open five years ago!
- Imagine if we had used the site at Guild Street to develop a genuine transport interchange with train station, bus staton, linked under Union Bridge to a revitalised Union Terrace Gardens with lifts up to Union Street. Instead we get a retail park on this strategically-valuable site.
- Imagine if we had built an Aberdeen by-pass when it was first mooted in the 1950s, instead of prevaricating for 50 years?
Perhaps this is a chance for the new Scottish Government to shake off the 'talk big, do little' culture of the past and actually implement a vision of a genuinely integrated transport system that serves the people and meets their needs?
Our politicians love to talk about integrated transport. It's time for our leaders to stop talking about it and actually implement it - a system that works for the people - like they do in Switzerland.
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