Shock (NOT!) - a major poll reported on today has found that nearly half of all commuters to Bristol come by car!! Well that was something we didn't know already just by looking around us at the congestion, sniffing the excessive, unhealthy pollution in the air, and listening to the rumble of unwanted sound that can often drown out a conversation, wasn't it !!?
OK we need the data, apparently to be collected annually, to establish the current situation and then track changes over time (we should in fact have been doing this before now), but the basic transport situation in Bristol has been painfully obvious for many yrs.
The Big Commuters Count poll of 9000 people found that: about 47% travel by car (40.9% driving, 5.9% as passengers); 9.8% go by bus; 10.6% cycle; 20.4% walk; 5.1% travel by train; with less than 2% for park and ride, work from home, motorbike, moped/scooter, taxi/minicab and ferry.
One interesting aspect to this story is that the Bristol Evening Post angle on it is based on the idea that the figures show 'people were still firmly stuck to using their cars', whereas Bristol City Council's website says of the same results '...that many employees in Bristol are prepared to leave the car at home when they can, and use more sustainable ways of travel'. So, is the glass half empty or is it half full??
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Shock poll find - people are commuting into Bristol in their cars in very large numbers!! Is the glass half empty of half full?
Labels:
air pollution,
environment,
green city,
health,
noise,
public transport
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Ten years ago I found myself walking into the city centre along the Bath Road at 8:30 every morning, and to break the monotony I got into the habit of counting the number of people in the first 50 cars that passed me.
ReplyDeleteIn about fifty counts, it was never more than 70. One day it was 53.
I made a comment similar in sentiment to your opening paragraph on the Evening Post website. However, the site moderators never approved it; perhaps it was too scathing for the sensibilities (and commuting/transport habits) of your average Evening Post reader.!
ReplyDeleteTwo very interesting comments.
ReplyDeleteI've similar experiences to jonecc but on the Wells Rd, which I live near.
Woodsy - the Post often has its own agenda and does not always go in for fair and balanced reporting. See my blog posts on the Sustainable Development Commission report into the severn barrage. They have not printed my letter of complaint about the inaccurate and unbalanced story.