Last night the council approved bringing in this zone starting in November. I thought the idea was to get people onto public transport but private cars are not included . Older buses coaches trucks and vans are. It is £100 a day so you can go into Bath several times the same day. Bradford on Avon is a no go as an alternative so it will most likely have to be M4 Chippenham, Melksham to go south. More trade for Chippenham truck stop.
This is something that really gets my goat. Its done in the guise of pollution reduction but is really a way of making the council rich. tax the people that have to drive into and around the city to deliver and pick up goods (yes people are goods for coaches) But leave the people that go in to add to the council coffers alone. Its also a form of ethnic cleansing as it pushes the lower income family’s out of the area as they cant afford to buy food etc because of the increased prices. Which of course means more taxes as the house prices rise.
If I had a couple of parcels for shops in Bath I would stop at the edge of the zone and ring them up to come and fetch them in their cars. The lost time would be less than the £100 charge.
Surely you’d just add it onto the cost?
But then a Stobbies or Wincanton or whatever comes along and will absorb it, and once one does the rest will feel the need to etc etc
Birmingham have put fowrad plans to stop all traffic entering town via Aston express way. All traffic will have to find alternate routes.
My view is something needs to be done.
I think they should just ban everything non of this pay and.you can enter.just a total ban.
No traffic from 6am to 6 pm and cars trucks will have to work around it.
This will backfire badly.
The A36 trunkroute is going through the zone, as is the A4. This means that the only way to get from the M4 down to the South coast is via M4j17, down the A350 to Warminster. To be honest, since the bottle necks on that have been improved, that is in many ways a beter option, but it’s a long way around if you want to get from SouthIsh Bristol to the A36/A350.
The real bummer, and I’m surprised that the good burghers of Bathampton and Batheaston haven’t burned down Bath town hall, is that the Batheaston Toll bridge, and all approaches from/to the A46/A36 are unaffected. That route, and consequently both villages, will be gridlocked most of the day, with stationary traffic. Idling engines, spewing out pollutants…
If you read the documentation, this scheme is aimed solely at getting rid of through traffic, dressed up as a town wide anti pollution scheme. Bath relies 100% on tourists and shoppers for its survival, as it has about no industry or business estates. It needs shoppers, tourists, and some office workers to come into the centre. Shoppers wont come if they cant park near the shops.
York city council have just awarded £1.6 million to local bus companies to retrofit older buses ahead of their CAZ. airqualitynews.com/2020/01/17/y … -air-zone/
I really cant get my head around charging buses if they want to reduce/ban private cars usage !!!
lancpudn:
York city council have just awarded £1.6 million to local bus companies to retrofit older buses ahead of their CAZ. airqualitynews.com/2020/01/17/y … -air-zone/
I really cant get my head around charging buses if they want to reduce/ban private cars usage !!!
Simple explanation, Cars drivers generally have one vote per car, bus company operators probably only have one vote for many buses and most likely don’t vote for councillors in Bath. 
If there really want cut pollution cars /i n city centres.
Build lots of park and ride stops on the outskirts. And make it all free to use.
muckles:
lancpudn:
York city council have just awarded £1.6 million to local bus companies to retrofit older buses ahead of their CAZ. airqualitynews.com/2020/01/17/y … -air-zone/
I really cant get my head around charging buses if they want to reduce/ban private cars usage !!!Simple explanation, Cars drivers generally have one vote per car, bus company operators probably only have one vote for many buses and most likely don’t vote for councillors in Bath.
I remember seeing these ‘Look at life’ films in the pictures back in the 1960’s, Seems like traffic in Bath has been a major problem since then 
Around 13 minutes in is about the traffic problem in Bath, Lovely to see all the old makes of cars & lorries of that time.
