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Your views: on “Driver’s Month” and a Queensland trip

Today, readers comment on a council push to attract more motorists to the city, and the Premier’s interstate break.

Aug 13, 2020, updated Aug 13, 2020
Photo: Tony Lewis / InDaily

Photo: Tony Lewis / InDaily

Commenting on the story: This might be the most stupid decision in the city council’s history

Having recently moved to Adelaide (just pre-Covid) and now living in the CBD, one of the more surprising aspects noticed about the city is the number of car parks.

Far from being the “City of Churches”, it would appear rather to be the “City of Car Parks”.

Every nook and cranny, every laneway and spare lot seems to be devoted to a grim and brutalist car parking block.

Featureless and expensive and with some truly spectacularly bad architecture on display, the parking station on North Terrace next to the Freemasons Lodge deserving of special mention.

Rather than promoting a “drivers’ month” how about removing the all-day Saturday peak fare on public transport, surely the single biggest deterrent to using public transport on what should be the biggest shopping day of the week. – Ross Duncan

I couldn’t agree more. I congratulate you on finding the words to comment; it left me speechless.

To quote that great philosopher John McEnroe, “YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS!” Russ Talbot

The adoption by those who ‘rule’ the city council of a ‘driver’s month’ might be a result of suffering from ‘driver’s mouth’, a condition in which drivers exclaim their cars to the exclusion of other modes of transport and movement.

Cars merely generate revs and exhaust, and too easily choke a city.

People, and the activity of people, generate revenue, which is what drives a city. People, most of whom do not drive into the city. People. By the day, by the week, by the month, by the year; everyday and every way.

By its resolution, Team Adelaide is instead intent on promoting and choking the city with cars; that puts the city in reverse from where it needs to be. Elbert Brooks

Thanks David Washington for calling out this stupid idea.

I suspect that Councillor Jessy Khera wasn’t paying too much attention in French classes at school. “Car-bon” doesn’t mean “Cars Good”.

The council-endorsed “Carbon Neutral Adelaide Action Plan” on the other hand promotes “zero emissions transport”. 

Am I over-thinking this looking for consistency here? – Mark Parnell

If we cannot drive in, we will not buy and carry home on a bus.

When it costs $4.20 an hour we aren’t coming in at all.

Save the shops with validated parking, otherwise ACC gets no income in parking or rates. – Tim Keeping

To be kind, it’s a thought bubble that slipped through the ‘rational filter.’

Sadly the city of Adelaide and environs, for all its beauty and flatness, is car dominated. 

Profound streetscape and cultural changes were achieved by the ‘Stop the Kinder Moord’ action in the Netherlands during the 70s. Leading international urban designers (including those who have been guest Thinkers in Residence’) decry the use of cars because of the congestion, pollution, health and death issues that surround this practice.

There are numerous studies that demonstrate the vast space gains achieved by substituting public transport and cycle commuting, whilst other data demonstrates cyclist are more inclined to stop and shop. 

Adelaide can be a healthier, place. Walking spaces, garden and tree planting spaces providing cooler greener environs can be the product of getting cars off roads. 

Hysterical? Maybe, but it’s sheer frustration caused by this mind-numbing, head buried in the sand motion. – David Ey

Surveys carried out years ago showed that there were more passengers in buses than in cars in King William and Grenfell Streets, despite the fact that the buses formed less than 10% of the traffic. 

The buses are therefore significantly more effective than the cars in moving people, and the council needs to do all it can to promote the use of public transport. 

Since the introduction of the exclusive bus lanes in Grenfell and Currie Streets, bus on-time running has improved significantly, making bus services more attractive. This has been one of the reasons for buses having to wait at timing points to avoid running early, and I understand that the bus companies have been able recently to adjust timetables  to make the service more reliable without increasing late running. 

Giving up bus lanes for cars will simply bring back bus unreliablity, making the buses less attractive.

New Transport Minister Mr Wingard needs to improve the image of the Liberal Government in terms of its public transport policies, following the debacle of his predecessor’s plan for the bus network. I hope he will come out strongly against the council’s decision. – Tom Wilson

It is about time drivers were given priority. 

Drivers are a major contributor to road infrastructure. Drivers pay, car registration, drivers licence, compulsory third party insurance, fuel excise. 

If a driver owns a boat, boat registration, trailer registration, fishing licence, ramp fees.

If a driver own a motor bike, motor bike registration, compulsory third party insurance, motor bike licence. 

If a driver owns a classic car, car registration compulsory third party insurance, discounted but with restrictions. 

If a driver owns a trailer, registration. If a driver owns a caravan, registration, insurance. 

Cyclists pay nothing. Multiple millions have been spent on bicycle infrastructure and as cyclists they contribute nothing. 

As road uses they are completely unaccountable for their actions. Riding three and four wide, slowing or in some case blocking traffic, creating congestion, particular in the Hills, ask Hills residents what they think. Riding through red lights, we have all seen that, unaccountable and dangerous. Riding on South Road and West Tce. apart from being very dangerous it is just plain stupid, totally unaccountable.

Cyclists have cyclist traffic lights. Which means, for example all of the traffic on South Road, Richmond is held up because of one cyclist wanting to cross onto James Condon Dve. Totally inequitable.  

Riding on the road when a bike track is less than 10 metres away. 

Drivers are obviously the largest group of road users, yet they are told to give way to pedestrians even when they not looking where they are going, and cyclists – both groups very, very small minority road users. 

The first politician that actively makes cyclists accountable will win.

Cyclists contribute nothing to road safety or road infrastructure.

So it is about time drivers were given some sort of priority. – Ray Barnes

Apart from the obvious inconvenience to people already in the CBD, they seem to have thrown their environmental conscience out the window, if indeed they ever had one.

Not content with having built more and more car parks over the last decade or so, at a time when climate change tells us we should be doing our utmost to make fewer car trips, they now want to encourage us to drive to the city, just to shop. At a time when we need to be encouraging use of public transport, they’re deciding to do the opposite. 

If corflutes are used to advertise this glorious festival of the car, the ACC should understand that they are recyclable only in Victoria, so that’s another environmentally hostile blot on their copy book.

To add insult to injury, anyone who is a regular cyclist has a very clear understanding that it’s already “Driver’s month” on our roads, every single day of the year. 

As if this wasn’t enough, we’re in Covid, albeit thankfully under control in SA for the moment, but we should all be minimising unnecessary trips as much as we can.

Is there no end to this madness? Joanna Wells

Ah, Twinkle Town is at it again! Stupefying proposal. Now what did Aurelio Vidmar say? – Stephen Nankervis

Commenting on the story: Marshall rejects ‘double standards’ accusation over Queensland holiday

I can’t believe that Premier Marshall has travelled to Queensland and back when we have all been told to stay within our state at least.

It’s no wonder why people feel that they can flout the regulations when our representatives have a different set of rules.

I would like to catch up with my young grandchildren in Brisbane, but I won’t even entertain the thought as the needs of the people in our state come ahead of my own wants and desires. – Jane Osborne

For goodness sake Labor people, give the guy a break. Get a life. Pick on something worth picking on.

This travel was so clearly not discretionary. Unlike, say, weddings which can be relocated / mutlilocated / rescheduled / whatever, uni-graduations happen (generally) only once and the life of one’s offspring. 

With so much to fix about our world, it’s very sad that this has been raised as an issue worth opposition and media attention. – Rob Dickinson

Premier Marshall said “I think the Police Commissioner put out some advice last month…”. He thinks? He should know! We all should know.

Deputy Prime Minister McCormack is urging Australians to let health authorities contain the virus first. What was he doing in Darwin on Tuesday night then? This was not a necessary event.

Seems to me do as I say, not as I do. Do they want the whole country to go back into lockdown? Niki Charalambous

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