Car free day - What car free day?

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bazermc

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Seemingly today is car free day - What an absolute joke, there was more single occupant cars on the road this morning then most busy days.
 
Re: Car free day - What car free day????

A totally riduculous concept if you ask me, most people simply do not have an alternative to their car.
 
Re: Car free day - What car free day????

Bamhan said:
A totally riduculous concept if you ask me, most people simply do not have an alternative to their car.
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Err, I guess that's the point. A lot of people think they have no alternative but when pushed do find one, even if it's driving to a colleagues house and car pooling from there.

I pass 2 schools on the way in and noticed a lot more kids walking in today. In fact usually I don't see ANY walking.

I got the bus in, how did youse get in today? Most people see car free day in the same way as public transport: something for other people, if everyone else uses the bus then my commute in my 06 BMW will be so much nicer.
 
Re: Car free day - What car free day????

Not an option for most people I know who live outside public transport areas.
If you have children to drop to school and creche etc you need your own car and car seats.
I usually start my journey with four of us in the car, drop various people to creche, school and work and continue on my own for the remainder of the journey.
People who live in cities may have an alternative but for most rural areas, up to an including large towns there are no alternatives to using your own car.
Where I work people drive from five different counties to work, no option of car pooling there, most have kids, so need car seats, public transport is not an option.
Hence the need for car and often a car occupied by one person.
 
Re: Car free day - What car free day????

Howitzer said:
I pass 2 schools on the way in and noticed a lot more kids walking in today. In fact usually I don't see ANY walking.
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I'd say they wanted to go tree dodging after all that were blown down last night!
 
Re: Car free day - What car free day????

Here is a list of alternatives to a car
1.Motorbike
2.Scooter/moped
3.Cycle
4.Walk (If possible)
5.Luas
6.Dart
7.Commuter train
8.Dublin bus or regional bus

Thats 8 alternatives to a car all possible within Dublin so there is no valid excuse for taking your car and in some cases insisting on stopping on the roundabout to let your precious passenger get out!!!!
 
Re: Car free day - What car free day????

if you want to ride a bike move to china

i drive 20 miles to work, so options 3 & 4 are out there is no luas service dart or communter train near me and the bus doesnt serve where i work, i would have to get a bus to the city centre and then a bus out and then walk which would take 2 hours. I cant ride a motorbike or moped so my options are.....the car
 
Re: Car free day - What car free day????

I get the DART at the same time every morning. Every other morning, it has 8 carriages.

This morning, where people mighgt have been prompted to leave the car at home and use the DART, 'my' DART was 6 carriages, thus making it impossible for people at stations nearer town to board.

Joined-up thinking ? Nah, that would never catch-on here

My wife considered getting a bus this morning to drop the little girl off at Montessori, as opposed to a 10 minute drive. When she realised that it would involve 8 bus journeys (16 individual tickets and would probably need exact change for each fare), she used the motor instead.
 
Re: Car free day - What car free day????

Who comes up with this 'car free day' idea? The transport system in this country is a joke! Why in the name of God would anybody consider any of the options suggested above in this country, the weather does not lend itself to half of them.

It's all very well suggesting it in big cities like London and most of the other European cities, where they have excellent (non-monopoly run) bus services and a proper underground system which links up the whole city but this country is still in the dark ages when it comes to alternatives to driving. My boss is not going to listen to my hard luck story if I try to walk 15 minutes to my nearest bus stop, get on a very infrequently run bus, sit in traffic for at least 90 minutes and then another 20 minute walk and I'm late...

Lucky you if you can afford to live in town and walk to work, or are on a decent bus route as you can afford to live that near the city - but stop annoying me and everyone else with this 'car free day' nonsense.
 
Re: Car free day - What car free day????




Okay in an ideal world we would all leave the cars at home and save the environment and cut down on commute times etc etc etc but I think if you want to drive your car into work drive your car into work - god knows we pay enough to keep cars on the road so why should we just drive them at the weekend!. Fair play to those that get the bus, luas etc blue peter badge in the post but don't get on your high horse because we want to drive to work in comfort.
 
Re: Car free day - What car free day????

Ok to whoever composed the list of alternatives you clearly do not have kids!
 
Re: Car free day - What car free day????

Bamhan said:
Ok to whoever composed the list of alternatives you clearly do not have kids!
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I don't know about that. A bike might be good....one behind you on the saddle, one on the crossbar, one one your shoulders and the last one running behind!!
 
Re: Car free day - What car free day????

Bazermc, i'm all in favour of using public transport and do so daily myself (lets me catch up on my fiction reading). But, for many people within or without the Dublin city area, cars are the only realistic option. I'm lucky cos I happen to go directly to the city centre, if i worked on the outskirts or opposite side of the city i would have no alternative but to take the car. Our public transport is a shambles, in most cases to take public transport would take double the commute time. My wife for example currently drives, her journey is approx 45 mins, public transport would take a min of 1hr 45, presuming everything ran smoothly.
As for alternatives 1,2,3 - I would not dare venture out on the roads of Dublin in a bi-wheel vehicle of any sort, maybe if some people had licences i'd consider it
 
Re: Car free day - What car free day????

liteweight said:
I don't know about that. A bike might be good....one behind you on the saddle, one on the crossbar, one one your shoulders and the last one running behind!!
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Ok I'll have to adopt or borrow one more so
 
Re: Car free day - What car free day????

We seem to be living in two different countries here, Dublin and the rest of the country. There are no buses around here where I live and the buses we do have only stop in the towns. So, you have to first of all get to the town to get on the bus and after that you have a choice, get on and stay on until you reach the next town because that is where the next stop is, whether you want to go as far as the town or not. There is no such thing as getting off anywhere en route. So we can't have a no car day around here can we?
 
Re: Car free day - What car free day????

We can't have one in Dublin either, back to the original OP - What a joke!
 
Re: Car free day - What car free day????

Riding a bike in Dublin these days is seriously dicing with death
 
Re: Car free day - What car free day????

Marie M said:
Riding a bike in Dublin these days is seriously dicing with death
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Absolutely - there was a man killed this afternoon in town. God rest his sole.

Its high time car drivers opened there eyes and stop playing with their bloody CD player, air conditioning, mobile phone, make-up etc.......................
 
Re: Car free day - What car free day????

Bamhan said:
Ok to whoever composed the list of alternatives you clearly do not have kids!
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Rubbish - I see many parents doing the school/creche run on the Luas. I see one Dad taking his secondary school daughter on his moped regularly. I've see one father herding 2 kids on bikes through Dublin 6 recently. There are alternatives - don't use kids as an excuse.

And don't blame the location either - People need to take transport options into account when choosing work/home locations.
 
Re: Car free day - What car free day????

RainyDay said:
And don't blame the location either - People need to take transport options into account when choosing work/home locations.
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Unless you've been living in outer Mongolia for the last 10 years, you will know that the majority of people buying homes now can not afford to pick and choose where they want to live and 'take into account' the transport options - most people now have to move further away from where they would like to live (and where they work) so not everyone can pop onto the Luas with their children in the morning, what a luxury....
 
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