On parking....

Some really great comments on the facebook wall today regarding illegal parking and the creation of new parking spaces, courtesy of Tara:

"Cars already enjoy a ridiculous monopoly in our cities, a monopoly that negatively impacts on safety, noise pollution, air polluion, and our urban spaces.
In a time when we should be encouraging cycling and the use of public transport for all the above reasons, removing public green space in order to facilitate on-street parking is just baffling.
The answer to illegal car parking is not rewarding such behaviour with more car spaces but increasing car ticketing efforts. Simple."

and

"Basic transport theory teaches that when suitable alternatives are provided, private car traffic is more like a gas than a liquid. I.e. the more space you make for it, the more it will expand to fill that space. Conversely, if you minimise the amount of space allocated to it, traffic will also be minimised - within reason, of course.
Adding more car parking would just encourage latent demand for parking in that spot and no doubt in a few years, the Council would be back for a few more square metres, pointing out how more cars are illegally parked than ever.
How interesting that DLRCOCO is part of the local Agenda 21 Environmental Partnership and how ironic that they promote environmental awareness at the DL Festival of World Cultures that uses this very green!"

Amen Tara, thanks again for the insightful comments. :-)