Well, if you will make conflicting statements...

Anyway, back on topic, this is a very good read: http://www.telegraph...by-diesels.html

 

Exactly the kind of driving you see peak time in motorway traffic. In fact more so than my short journeys because I get my car up to fairly consistent 30-50mph on those, I rarely get out of 2nd gear on the M60. People drive their cars like an accordion racing to close the gap and slamming their brakes with a compound effect the further back the traffic queue goes and no one willing to let people change lanes.

Cutting down the number of people even making commutes using telecommunications and better driver training would cut both congestion and emissions far more than me cycling to my parents. And I'd go one further, take the misery of a work commute out of my life and I might be more inclined to take the time to avoid using the car for such short journeys rather than feeling I have to ration what free time I have

 

Trouble is they used to have the lines built until some dipsh*t government department pulled them all up in the sixties. I know a LOTS of people who would be able to use the commuter lines around where I live to get to work... except they are gone now with just track beds left.

Now they all use diesels vehicles to commute 15 miles or so to the city
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They've built ACROSS Hertford's branch line beds, so they're FUBARepair. Except Cole Green way, which is a really lovely way to get to Welwyn Garden.

As Von Mises pointed out, the inability of a command economy to price anything correctly (as compared to a proper free-market) will invariably end up expensive & inefficient. So that was inevitable. If only someone had had the foresight to turn them into turnpike cycle/ EV Motorcycle tracks...

 

Funnily enough, I use the "Ebury Way" to get from Rickmansworth to Watford. It's the old railway line and is very lovely indeed. Made no sense as a 3.5 mile branch line, mind you.

 

If I get a train to London it's nearly empty when I get on but standing room only a few stops later. By the time you get to somewhere like Haywards Heath it's sardine time. In the summer it's really extremely unpleasant. Most people are royally fecked. It's either be crammed into a train and pay an expensive fare for the privilege or pay through the nose to sit in traffic jams and be screwed for parking at the end of your journey. If it comes down to a few quid, it's easy to understand why anyone would prefer the car. You are stuffed whatever you do - much like politics - there is no real alternative on offer.

 

Because of huge subsidies, which also result in the rest of the UK subsidising all those commuters in the South East to the tune of c. 50% for their rail travel.