| Topic: | Reply | |
| Posted by: | Richard Carter | |
| Date/Time: | 05/02/26 11:09:00 |
“ even if the [PHS/Putney Bridge) junction were redesigned, the congestion along Putney High Street would be reduced still further if Hammersmith Bridge were reopened.”
Not only is there no evidence that the Hammersmith Bridge partial closure has actually caused the congestion in PHS, but there is a category error here. You appear to be assuming that the amount of traffic is fixed, and that it has to go somewhere: neither of those is true. Demand for road space is not immutably fixed, but is elastic: if space is restricted, people at the margins decide it’s not worth driving (traffic evaporation) If it road space is increased, people at the margins decide to join the traffic, so that it is soon congested again. This quote from the urbanist Lewis Mumford is relevant here: “Adding highway lanes to deal with traffic congestion is like loosening your belt to cure obesity.”
At present, we are using congestion to regulate the level of traffic, which is a particularly stupid way of doing it, costing as it does as much as £30 billion annually. I much cleverer way would ro introduce variable road pricing, so that it would cot the driver much more in peak hours than at times when there was very little demand. It’s an idea that’s been around for a long time – the Smeed Report in 1964 proposed it here, but it’s never been tried, although the technology now exists to do so. It has double advantages: reducing congestion and pollution, and freeing the roads so that public transport, specifically buses, would be much more effective (carrot and stick). But the power of the motor lobby is such that, sadly, governments have run scared and done nothing apart from crude measures like London’s congestion charge. |
| Topic | Date Posted | Posted By |
| Hammersmith Bridge - A Fundamental Point | 25/01/26 22:49:00 | Miles Thompson |
| Re:Hammersmith Bridge - A Fundamental Point | 26/01/26 08:45:00 | Barbara Stevens |
| Re:Re:Hammersmith Bridge - A Fundamental Point | 27/01/26 13:45:00 | Philippa Bond |
| Re:Re:Re:Hammersmith Bridge - A Fundamental Point | 27/01/26 13:51:00 | Barbara Stevens |
| Re:Re:Re:Re:Hammersmith Bridge - A Fundamental Point | 28/01/26 13:46:00 | Miles Thompson |
| Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Hammersmith Bridge - A Fundamental Point | 29/01/26 11:06:00 | Philippa Bond |
| Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Hammersmith Bridge - A Fundamental Point | 04/02/26 10:06:00 | Peter Higgins |
| Reply | 04/02/26 14:01:00 | Richard Carter |
| Re:Reply | 04/02/26 14:25:00 | Barbara Stevens |
| Re:Reply | 04/02/26 14:28:00 | Barbara Stevens |
| Re:Re:Reply | 04/02/26 18:03:00 | Steven Rose |
| Reply | 04/02/26 19:08:00 | Richard Carter |
| Re:Reply | 04/02/26 19:23:00 | Barbara Stevens |
| Reply | 05/02/26 08:06:00 | Richard Carter |
| Reply | 04/02/26 19:10:00 | Michael Ixer |
| Re:Reply | 04/02/26 19:25:00 | Barbara Stevens |
| Re:Re:Reply | 04/02/26 20:17:00 | Steven Rose |
| Reply | 05/02/26 11:09:00 | Richard Carter |
| Reply | 05/02/26 11:22:00 | Martine Guy |
| Re:Reply | 05/02/26 15:09:00 | Ivonne Holliday |
| Reply | 05/02/26 15:52:00 | Michael Ixer |
| Re:Reply | 05/02/26 16:37:00 | David Ainsworth |
| Re:Re:Reply | 05/02/26 16:58:00 | Peter Higgins |
| Re:Re:Re:Reply | 05/02/26 19:57:00 | Philippa Bond |
| Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply | 05/02/26 20:31:00 | Barbara Stevens |
| Reply | 06/02/26 12:38:00 | Richard Carter |
| Reply | 06/02/26 13:03:00 | Martine Guy |
| Re:Reply | 06/02/26 14:29:00 | Barbara Stevens |
| Reply | 06/02/26 19:32:00 | Richard Carter |
| Reply | 06/02/26 19:47:00 | Martine Guy |
| Re:Reply | 06/02/26 19:54:00 | Barbara Stevens |
| Re:Reply | 06/02/26 20:17:00 | Steven Rose |
| Re:Reply | 06/02/26 20:10:00 | Ivonne Holliday |