• MatthewToad43
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    211 months ago

    @oo1 @mondoman712 @CouldntCareBear Yes but the stuff about ULEZ is largely fear-mongering. It will be completely irrelevant in a year’s time. Most of the people worried about it won’t actually be affected by it. And across London as a whole it’s pretty popular.

    There is plenty of historical experience across many countries on this. They’re initially seen as possibly a good idea, then as it gets closer, people panic, then they get enacted, then people get used to them and *mostly* support them.

    • MatthewToad43
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      211 months ago

      @oo1 @mondoman712 @CouldntCareBear As regards the wider picture, I agree that some demographics / constituencies have *way* more influence than others because of first past the post, and our politics diverges dramatically from what people actually think. People are much less cruel and bigoted, on the whole, than our current politics suggests. Politicians know this but only care about the marginal constituencies, or more often their own leadership ambitions in a soon to be smaller and out of office party.

      Practically speaking, plenty of people drive because public transport isn’t available or is expensive. A small investment in buses, combined with modest deterrents such as ULEZ, could shift a significant number of drivers. But to get to where we need to be - 70%+ fewer miles driven - we’ll have to solve a lot of other problems e.g. housing, trains, etc.