car share systems

blue moon fever

if poeple living on the same street on the same housing estates in the same towns citys sheared there transport to and from work there would be less cars on the roads hence less polutoin better parking and in my view safer roads this would all so work for kids going to the same schoo

Typedef

Actually yes I think that you are quite correct in that the litany of mile long traffic jams spread throughout the country is a self replenishing animal.
Often as I drive past on my motorcycle I will notice queues of traffic that seem to be made up of single men and women in varying sizes of cars.
Of course the government then builds more roads to cope with the traffic jams and people buy more cars (ostensibly for their own private use) to drive on these new roads, thus negating all good effects provided vis-a-vis reduction of traffic congestion.

I firmly believe that there should be some kind of impetus as regards a tax break on fuel for people who 'car pool', as if reducing traffic jams was not impetus enough.

If public transport was a whole lot better than it is, was more frequent, more reliable and went to more places quicker than it currently does than people who could afford their own transport might be lured into using that provided by the government.

In any case a realtime(tm) way of reducing traffic congestion and getting more butts on the seats in car pooling would be some kind of financial incentive vis-a-vis perhaps a tax exemption or reduction on fuel and or car insurance for people who can demonstrably show active participation in such a scheme.

Typedef.

blue moon fever

i dont realy know about the public transport issue nationaly,i live in cork and from what i see, more frequent buses and more routs makes more traffic,along with day time deliveries to shops and a average of one adult and a child per car all adds to the morning maddness. i was back in manchester recentlyand saw what a great system park and ride can be, a padestrion city center with trams to get poeple from one end of the city to the other. im not saying that this system would work here, but a parking system with some thought and night deliveries to shops can only help.

Victor

Originally posted by blue moon fever
more frequent buses and more routs makes more traffic

:rolleyes:

bonkey

Originally posted by Typedef
In any case a realtime(tm) way of reducing traffic congestion and getting more butts on the seats in car pooling would be some kind of financial incentive vis-a-vis perhaps a tax exemption or reduction on fuel and or car insurance for people who can demonstrably show active participation in such a scheme.

Wouldnt make a toss of difference.

Lets say driving to and from work costs you a fiver a day.

You car-pool with three others. Immediate saving of an average of £3.75 a day. Allow for increased fuel usage from extra weight, people not always being there and so on, and you have still a daily saving in excess of £2.50 a day.

Thats 50%. Without any government incentive. Not to mention less cars on the road (okay - we need widespread adoption for this to be noticeable, but however).

People arent doing this.

Lets assume you can only find *one* person to share with. Allow for the same criteria, and you should still be netting a 30% saving on your travel costs.

People arent doing this.

People are not willing to go out and car-share to cut their transport costs by (at least) a third. If they're too blind to see this, do you seriously believe that funding will somehow make them realise there's money to be saved?

If we had decent multi-lane roads, then a car-sharing lane (like the Americans have done quite well in many places) would be a viable option because it gives an immediate time saving.

People who drive cars do not generally think much about the running cost, except to complain about the cost of insurance.

If you want to encourage car-sharing, do it the other way. Dont try and make it cheaper - make it more expensive and harder to *not* car-share. Tax corporate-provided car-parking spaces. Cut down on the number of parking spaces available. Offer the ability to split the tax-cost of a parking space if multiple drivers are sharing.

Personally, I find it disgusting that a company can supply you with a corporate car-parking space and its an invisible benefit. However, if they offer to pay for you to travel by public transport, you get it taxed as BIK.

jc

Victor

Originally posted by bonkey
If we had decent multi-lane roads, then a car-sharing lane (like the Americans have done quite well in many places) would be a viable option because it gives an immediate time saving.

System has been extended to the goverment providing subsidised Volvos (each seats circa 70 people) operating in dedicated lanes on many main roads. Typical cost per day is about ˆ2.10.

Originally posted by bonkey
However, if they offer to pay for you to travel by public transport, you get it taxed as BIK.

Employers can provide travel passes (of one month duration or greater) to staff free of all tax and PRSI.

bonkey

Originally posted by Victor
System has been extended to the goverment providing subsidised Volvos (each seats circa 70 people) operating in dedicated lanes on many main roads. Typical cost per day is about ˆ2.10.

Yeah - but the problem that I see is that there's a lot of car drivers out there who wouldnt mind having a second or even third or fourth person in a car, but anything larger than that smacks of "public transportation".

When I worked in Dublin, about two thirds of the people that I knew who drove did so because :

1) They had a car, it would be stupid not to use it
2) They thought public transport was "too common"
3) They claimed to hate crowds of strangers (public transport) despite never having problems going into crowded pubs.
4) Some comparably moronic excuse

Several of my friends even admitted they would have no problems letting others have a lift in their car, but would never take a lift off a neighbour. This mentality really defeats me.

In short - I'm not sure the 70-seater would even work well. People want to be in cars - and preferably their own cars. Not being a licensed driver, I cannot understand the mentality.

Employers can provide travel passes (of one month duration or greater) to staff free of all tax and PRSI.

Wasnt aware of that. Cool. When was it introduced?

jc

Victor

Originally posted by bonkey
Wasnt aware of that. Cool. When was it introduced?

Two or three years ago.

Saruman

Check out http://www.dublintraffic.ie/
This is a Carpool website launched by Minister of Public Enterprise, Mary O'Rourke.

Dont know how much use it gets but the idea is you get in contact with people in your area going to somewhere in the same work area.