Got any money left after Christmas?

January is the best time to buy a car...unless you want a 4x4

By Lee Boyce

Last updated at 9:48 AM on 10th January 2012

The month offers a window of opportunity to snap up a bargain deal on a car, as a combination of fresh stock and a quiet period for car sales means dealers are more eager to sell.

This means there are bargains to be had, as slow sales means that car prices may be be slashed and there is more room for potential buyers to haggle with dealers for a price reduction.

 

January is traditionally a quiet period for car sales, as consumers feel the pinch of an expensive festive season and tend to spend more money on the High Street rather than the forecourt.

But the quest for a cheap set of wheels also depends on what type of car you are after. According to Glass’s Guide, January is the prime month to snap up a convertible model for the summer.

Savings at this time of year for flashy topless models are at their largest, as prices peak in the summer, and of course, demand is very low in the winter.

On the other hand, those looking to bag a used 4x4 bargain will struggle to get a good deal. After three consecutive white winters, snowproof vehicles are in higher demand at this time of year.

Glass's Guide also say that 2012 as a whole is set to be a great year for motorists to bag a good deal on cars.

With retail demand for new cars not expected to see any recovery this year, it is likely that pre-registration activity will continue to be an enduring feature of the market.

Many motors are pre-registered by dealers to boost overall sales figures meaning there could be some fantastic deals on ‘as-new’ cars which will technically be second hand, but are likely to have only a few hundred miles on the clock and no previous owners.

Glass's Guide recommend considering purchasing a pre-registered model, as you can save thousands on an ‘as new’ car. 

 

Glass’s also highlights that used car purchases are not just about the headline price, with buyers increasingly interested in fuel efficiency and running costs due to the economic climate.

This will hold true for a wide range of budgets, be it £5,000 or £25,000. So fuel efficient models are expected to become more popular in 2012.

Those considering buying a new car should look for vehicles with low running costs – they will be worth more than powerful, gas-guzzling models after a year or two.

Ron Rodney, co-founder of CarBidOff, says: 'Go to a showroom on a weekday and the salesperson is more likely to give you a better deal because there are fewer customers about.

'Most buyers don’t realise what a good position they’re in. Figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), the body that represents the motor industry, show that new car registrations to private sellers was down 15 per cent in November.

'Car dealers don’t like having cars sitting there on the forecourt as it’s costing them money. They like to turn around their stock within 90 days of getting it so with cars not selling in the current climate they’ll offer you a good deal to buy the car.

'Car dealers are under more pressure than they have been for a long time and right now buyers are in the best position to get a cracking deal on a car.'

Tips to walk away with a car bargain in January

Always offer around 10 per cent, or £1,000, less than the car is valued at. For example, if a car was up for sale at £6,000, offer £5,000, especially at this time of year. It gives room for negotiating manoeuvre. It can be daunting offering a lower price for a car, but don’t be ashamed or embarrassed – car dealers will be used to negotiating and you are only looking to get the best deal.

Remember, the person selling you the car is a salesman. They should be selling the car to you, so don’t act too interested from the offset.This way, the salesman will feel more inclined to offer you a discount to get you/keep you interested.

Do your research. Look at a reputable car valuation service, like Glass’s Guide, to see how much the car should be valued at and for a full-run down on the car’s rating and performance. You don't want to end up with an overpriced dud.

Ask for added extras. There's no harm in asking for additional items, such as a stereo upgrade, a warranty, an MOT or whatever else you can get thrown into the bargain

Make sure you’re fully decided on the car you want, and on your budget. Don’t be persuaded into spending more than you can afford – and if you don’t like the deal, walk away. Also, don't forget to budget in other outgoings such as what your car insurance is likely to be, as this will also impact how much you can afford to spend.

Petrol set to hit £1.40 a litre this summer...

but if it had matched inflation over the last 20 years it would be just 83p

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 4:32 AM on 7th January 2012
 

 Bad news: Experts have warned that petrol could cost £1.40 a litre by the end of summer
Petrol could cost £1.40 a litre by the end of summer, experts warned yesterday.

If prices at the pumps had merely matched inflation over the last 20 years, a litre of unleaded would cost an average of just 83.32p per litre, according to analysis from Auto Express magazine.

In reality, tax hikes, speculators and a poor exchange rate mean that today’s actual average price is 133.7p per litre.

More bad news for motorists lies ahead, with further duty increases and crude oil rises set to see the price soar to almost 140p per litre by the end of August.

That average price would translate to even higher prices at motorway service stations, which typically charge about 10p more per litre.

Without government intervention to reduce fuel duty, the average could hit 150p per litre by the end of the year.
Auto Express enlisted industry analyst The Energy Institute to examine petrol prices over the last 20 years.

In 1991, motorists paid just 46.55p for a litre of unleaded, of which 17.21p covered the cost of the petrol itself – including crude oil and transportation.

A further 22.41p was taken by the Government in duty, and another 6.93p in VAT.

 More...Sales of diesel cars outstrip petrol for the first time, as the motor industry suffers a ‘challenging’ 2011

By contrast, today’s motorists pay 133.7p a litre, of which 53.47p covers the petrol while a massive 57.95p is charged for fuel duty and another 22.28p for VAT.

Duty has risen steadily, helped along by the fuel price ‘escalator’ introduced by the Conservatives in 1993.

Enlarge    Interesting: If prices at the pumps had merely matched inflation over the last 20 years, a litre of unleaded would cost an average of just 83.32p per litre

 

Protests forced Labour to scrap it in 2000, but duty has continued to creep upwards.

Another rise is planned for August, adding 3p per litre.
VAT has also increased to 20  per cent.

However, the biggest swings are in crude oil prices, which make up the bulk of basic petrol costs according to broker EnergyQuote.

International speculators can swing crude oil prices by huge amounts – but while companies are quick to pass on increases, they are slow to act when prices drop.

EnergyQuote predicts a peak 2012 price of 139.26p per litre for unleaded by the end of August. Diesel is predicted to peak at 145.89p a litre in October.

 

Telegraph 10 Top Places to Live.

Hong Kong
New York City
North Island New Zealand
Turks and Caicos
Tasmania
Maui Hawaii
Buenos Aires
Barbados
Victoria British Colombia
Cape Town

Two thoughts :
 Do they have a Tesco ?
Do they offer a tax haven for evaders ? HMRC please note.....

Travel Maps & Transport

The Radical and his Rose have been on the road in Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and over the border into Norfolk visiting friends in Newmarket.

Lovely undulating countryside to see the changes at anytime of the year.

We stayed at Bury St Edmunds, visited the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge and Ancient House Museum of Thetford Life.

We recommend both to you.

Entrance is free and at Thetford the Museum is highly suitable for children but not the disabled.

Thetford is the home of Tom Paine, and the Museum does him proud.

The Town has a pleasant traffic free High Street and small market on a Saturday.-

We return to Lincoln on Sunday.

Experts oppose speed limit increase

Mind the sleigh! Airlines given permission

 to fly over North Pole for the first time

slashing the hours to exotic destinations

• Long-haul flight times reduced by up to 50%
• 
'Whole new world opened up,' says Branson

By Ray Massey, Transport Editor

Last updated at 1:02 PM on 24th December 2011

Air passengers will be able to cut the times of long-haul flights by as much as half and fly faster to exotic destinations under a new relaxation of aviation rules.

It could also mean cheaper and cleaner flights for British holidaymakers.

The new rules will allow carriers operating in the South Pacific, to take a 'short cut' over the North Pole for the first time.
 
Shorter flights: A British Airways Boeing 777 which will be able to take a 'short cut' over the North pole

While pilots from Australia taking passengers to South America will be able to steer more direct courses making big savings in time, fuel and emissions.

FLIGHTS FROM LONDON
Fiji (10,000 miles) - current time via Los Angles or Seoul: 24 hours.
New time: 18 hours non-stop using 'polar express' short cut.
Tahiti (9,600 miles) via Los Angeles: 23 hours.
New time: 17 hours.
Honolulu (7,300 miles) via Los Angeles: 18 hours.
New time: 13 hours.
Anchorage (4,500 miles) via Seattle: 16 hours.
New time: 8 hours

Until now, Boeing’s 777 and the new 787 ‘Dreamliner’ jets had for safety reasons to stay within a  three hour range (180 minutes) of the nearest diversion airport.

Under the new rules, that has been nearly doubled to five and a half hours, (330 minutes) taking account of improvements in aircraft and engine  technology.

It means, for example, that planes from the UK  will be able to take a non-stop flight - dubbed 'Santa's short cut' - over  the North Pole to destinations such as Hawaii, Alaska or French Polynesia.

It also means shorter journeys, cheaper flights, less fuel, and lower emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) - the so-called greenhouse gas’ blamed for global warming.

The ‘extended operations’ rules define the time that an aircraft is permitted to be from an emergency landing site in case of an engine failure and is applied to two-engine jets.

It follows a decision  by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to allow up  to 330-minutes ‘extended operations’ for Boeings'  777 fleet.
 
Frozen: An aerial view of the Arctic which passenger carriers will now be able to fly over to exotic destinations
It allows airlines operating Boeing  777-300ER (extended range), 777-200LR (longer range), 777 Freighter and 777-200ER models equipped with General Electric engines to fly up to 330 minutes from a potential ‘diversion’ airport.

Approval for the Boeing 777-200ER equipped with British Rolls-Royce and American Pratt & Whitney engines is expected to follow over the next few months.

The first airline to take advantage of the new longer ‘extended operations’ option is Air New Zealand which earlier this month flew from Los Angeles to Auckland.

Capt. David Morgan, chief pilot for Air New Zealand said: ‘What this means is that the aeroplane  is able to fly a straighter route between pairs of cities and that's good for the environment.

‘Less fuel is burned and less carbon dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere.

It's also good for customers because flights are potentially shorter and passengers could arrive sooner at their destinations.’
Virgin Atlantic airline president Sir Richard Branson said: 'This new development really does open up a whole new world.
'Our new fleet of 787s could well be flying to Honolulu or even Fiji one day.'

Last October The European Aviation Safety Agency granted a 207-minute rating after receiving an application from Air France to fly a 777-300ER from Los Angeles to Papeete, Tahiti.

The European agency is also  expected to adopt the 330-minute rule.

Planes once flew over the North Pole during the Cold War in the 1950s to avoid Communist Bloc airspace

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2078301/Mind-sleigh-Airlines-given-permission-fly-North-Pole-time-slashing-hours-exotic-destinations.html#ixzz1hYGLGXXp

 

LCC only sought funding for the Eastern bypass; the southern bypass is next.

Kind Regards,

Stephen Phillips QC MP

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Expect the Unexpected

Tips for Motorists

A short list of things to carry in your car

Tow rope

Spare bulbs

Shovel

Hazard warning triangle

Spare Wheel

High Visibility Jacket

Jump leads

Wellington boots or similar

De icer

First Aid kit

Working torch

Car blanket

Fully charged mobile

A Brief History Of The Electric Car

By Frances Romero Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2009  
 
It sometimes works for the fashion industry — bring back an old fashion, make it new and a fad is born.

This time, though, it's the automotive industry, hoping for the kind of lifestyle change that can bring car sales back from the dead.

All three major U.S. auto companies have been working on plans for electric cars, and debuted some prototypes at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this week.

Ford announced that it hopes to have an all-electric vehicle, which would be able run for 100 miles on a single charge, on sale by 2011.

Chastened by their collapsing sales and sustained by infusions of bailout cash, GM, Chrysler and Ford need to come up with ways to revolutionize car design, clean up the environment and wean the industry off foreign oil.

The concept of all-electric cars has faced some resistance, but the big three seem readier than ever for change — and the idea, it turns out, isn't as radical as one might think.

There was indeed a time when electric cars were useful and relatively popular.

Back when cars were used mostly for short jaunts around town or for deliveries between two nearby points, the charging of an electric car posed very little problem.

In the 1830s, when Dutch inventor Sibrandus Stratingh created an electromagnetic cart, the vehicles have always stood out as a cleaner, cost-effective option to the steam or internal combustion engine.

From Stratingh's invention evolved actual cars in the late 1800s that could move at low speeds using rechargeable batteries.

Quieter and less noxious than their gas-powered counterparts, these electric cars surpassed them in popularity in the early part of the 20th century.

One of the best-selling vehicles of that time was the Columbia Runabout, which could go 40 miles on a single charge and run at speeds up to 15 m.p.h.

Later incarnations of the electric car, such as the Detroit Electric, were more attractive than gas-powered versions because they didn't backfire.

Before her husband Henry's mass production of gas-powered cars crushed the electric industry, Clara Ford drove a 1914 Detroit Electric, which could last 80 miles without a charge.

The electric-car industry peetered out during the Roaring 20s when owning a car became more of a convenience and less of a luxury.

Rising fuel costs and the fear of exhausting fuel supplies gave rise to various electric vehicle prototypes in the 1960s and 1970s such as the Vanguard-Sebring CitiCar, which was a boxy, even more miniature version of its miniscule Indian predecessor, the REVA, one of the world's best-selling electric cars.

One of the most important changes those cars exhibited was a reliance on fuel cells, which produce electricity from some form of fuel (hydrogen, hydrocarbons and alcohol have all been used) as an alternative to batteries.

While this helped increase speeds, it didn't help sales take off and ultimately defeated the purpose of a more environmentally friendly, non-fuel reliant automobile.

Better versions of electric cars arrived over the next two decades. GM's EV1 made it to production but proved too expensive to make in mass quantities; Toyota's Rav4 EV, which debuted in 2001, required a separate wall mount for charging. The Tesla Roadster, which first hit the streets in 2006, boasted a sticker price starting at $90,000 each — well out of reach for most consumers.

The latest entry, the Chevy Volt, is expected to be released by 2011; however, the Volt is actually a plug-in hybrid with a gas-powered engine that kicks in as a generator to recharge the car's batteries.

The future of electric cars, it seems, relies not only on whether their purchase and use will catch on, but also on how good the car batteries can become: how much power they can hold, and for how long, has long been the technology's main stumbling point.

GM's plans to build a lithium-ion battery plant in Michigan to assemble battery packs could presage a new technology race among the big three and companies in nations like India and China to see who can first build the battery that will make affordable, long-driving electric cars a reality.

Cheapest stations within 5 miles of LN6  for Unleaded
 
 128.7p Asda Lincoln

Newark Road, North Hykeham, Lincoln, LN6 8JY

Asda, 0.42 miles away, last updated on 19 November
 
 
 128.9p Sainsburys Lincoln

Tritton Road, Lincoln, LN6 7QN

Sainsburys, 1.7 miles away, last updated on 20 November
 
 
 128.9p Birchwood Avenue Service Station

Skellingthorpe Road, Lincoln, LN6 0JB

BP, 2.69 miles away, last updated on 20 November
 
 
 129.9p Tcs Thorpe On The Hill

Middle Lane, Thorpe On The Hill, Lincoln, LN6 9AJ

Total, 2.46 miles away, last updated on 20 November
 
 
 129.9p Lindum Service Station

Newark Road, Lincoln, LN6 8RP

Esso, 2.67 miles away, last updated on 20 November
 

Cheapest stations within 5 miles of LS16 for Unleaded
 
 128.9p Morrisons Swinnow Road

Swinnow Road, Bramley, Leeds, LS13 4QX

Morrisons, 3.61 miles away, last updated on 20 November
 
 
 129.9p Park Moor Grange Service Station

West Park Ring Road, West Park, Leeds, LS16 6EB

Texaco, 0.52 miles away, last updated on 19 November
 
 
 129.9p Lawnswood Service Station

Otley Road, Leeds, LS16 7PH

Esso, 1 miles away, last updated on 20 November
 
 
 129.9p Broadway Service Station

Broadway Ring Road, Horsforth, Leeds, LS18 4DY

Esso, 3.1 miles away, last updated on 20 November
 
 
 129.9p Armley Service Station

Armley Road, Armley, Leeds, LS12 2QN

Esso, 3.89 miles away, last updated on 20 November
 

Cheapest stations within 5 miles of CA6 for Unleaded
 
 128.9p Morrisons Carlisle

Kingstown Road, Carlisle, CA3 0AD

Morrisons, 4.78 miles away, last updated on 20 November
 
 
 130.9p Bridge Street Garage

Bridge Street, Longtown, Carlisle, CA6 5UD

Esso, 4.87 miles away, last updated on 19 November
 
 
 131.9p Kingstown Filling Station

Kingstown Road, Kingstown, Carlisle, CA3 0BN

BP, 4.09 miles away, last updated on 20 November
 
 
 136.9p A74 Moss Connect Motorway Service Area Southbound

A74 Southbound, Todhills Blackford, Carlisle, CA6 4HA

BP, 1.51 miles away, last updated on 20 November
 
 
 136.9p Morton Self Serve

Wigton Road, Carlisle, CA2 6JS

BP, 4.81 miles away, last updated on 18 November
 

How to turn the air tax rise to your advantage

Simon Calder- "The man who pays his way"

Saturday 19 November 2011

Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer: so goes the first rule of politics.

And on Thursday, it also applied to the airline business.

Four chief executives whose airlines between them carry almost 200 million people each year lined up at a City press conference to berate the Chancellor for his plans to increase Air Passenger Duty next year.

In a first for the industry, the the quartet – Carolyn McCall of easyJet, Willie Walsh of British Airways, Steve Ridgway of Virgin Atlantic and Michael O'Leary of Ryanair – shared a platform to demand that George Osborne scrap APD, the tax of £12 to £170 that applies to every flight from or within the UK.

The Chancellor is about as likely to do that as he is to announce that the British currency will henceforth be the acorn.

His colleague, the Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, is the minister ultimately responsible for tourism.

 I asked him if the government would consider at least postponing the 2012 increase.

 He told me: "We're having to take some very tough measures to cut the deficit.

So this is not the time to be going to the Treasury and saying could they introduce measures that would cost the Exchequer money.

I'm afraid that's tough, but that's how it is."

The airline bosses know the Chancellor has done his sums ahead of the Autumn Statement on 29 November, and is counting on the £2.5bn APD will raise.

But they are playing a longer game.

By staging this remarkable production of "Much ado about aviation", they aim to stem further increases.

And next time an airline puts up fares or axes an unprofitable route, they hope the travelling public will join them in blaming Mr Osborne.

Within Europe and the Mediterranean, travellers should adopt the brace position for a rise from £12 to £15 or £16.

There could be simplification of the banding structure so that long-haul passengers pay a flat rate of around £75 – or twice that amount for business class.

(It's possible that premium-economy passengers may get a tax break; at present APD doubles as soon as you opt for extra legroom.)

And for the first time, executive jets will be taxed, at a rate of £150 to £200 per passenger.

Happily, it is easy to reduce your exposure to APD, by breaking your journey for at least 24 hours in a European city.

Should you be tempted into a New Year visit to Uruguay by our story on pages 8-9, Iberia will charge you just over £1,000 return in mid-January.

Add in a city break in Madrid and, on the days I checked, the fare falls by 12 per cent.

Or if 48 hours in Boston (pages 12-13) inspires you, get George Osborne to pay for 24 hours in Reykjavik by breaking your Glasgow-Boston journey in the Icelandic capital.

For the former USSR, the only way is Riga.

The tour leader, Neil Taylor, is planning a series of group excursions to Georgia next year.

 Flying on Air Baltic, he can offer his clients a day out in the Latvian capital entirely funded by the saving in APD.

The most galling aspect of the inevitable APD rise: even though it will take effect in April, the tax will effectively be backdated for everyone who has already booked.

It's as though you fill the petrol tank of your car before a Budget tax hike – and then get asked to pay extra for every mile you drive after the price rise.

The fine art of diplomacy, Ryanair style

An overbooking?

A confrontation?

 Or a grumble?

Surely one of those must be the collective noun for a quartet of gloomy airline bosses.

The uneasiness of the ceasefire became clear when Michael O'Leary declared of his fellow countryman, Willie Walsh, "I think BA's fares are too high, he thinks Ryanair's service is too low."

While the refined Carolyn McCall of easyJet and Steve Ridgway of Virgin Atlantic used measured language in their message to the Chancellor, Mr O'Leary said of Mr Osborne, "He lacks courage and he lacks balls".

At least the Ryanair chief was at the other end of the table from his bitter rival, Ms McCall.

Should you happen to invite the bosses of Europe's and Britain's largest airlines to dinner, you might also choose to seat them apart: the last time I heard him opine on her airline, he said

"For those of you who want to get to the arse end of nowhere, easyJet will now take you to Southend."

(Ignorant) Drivers enjoy drenching pedestrians

Motorists take pleasure in seeing a pedestrians splashed 

39% admit laughing when it happens

12% pulled over to apologise

16% admitted they had done it on purpose

The Radical  – This Government mentality too.

Who was there first – Pedestrians or Motorists ?

Then Pedestrians should have the right of way.

Why should the Motorist have advantage

Make pedestrians wait at traffic lights etc…

I am not advocating jay walking but so many roads have no pavements

or inadequate ones and often these are taken by parked cars, cyclists, disabled buggies etc..

I am in favour of a statuary 30 mph in town on all roads, 20 mph in built up areas and 10 mph in school zones. In the USA children have priority and no overtaking of loading school buses is allowed.

The actual fuel itself costs 47.8p per litre, while the retailer makes on average 5p.

This means that in theory, if there was no fuel duty on unleaded, the price at the pump would be around 75p per litre.

If there was no VAT on petrol on top of this, the price would be reduced to roughly 53p.

The ONS data found the average UK household spent £677 on fuel duties in 2009/10 - it found the richest 20 per cent of households spent £1,062 on petrol taxes, compared with £365 for the poorest 20 per cent.

This means the poorest 20 per cent of households are paying almost twice as much of their income in duties on fuel than the richest 20 per cent.

The poorest 20 per cent paid 3.5 per cent of their disposable income on duty, compared with only 1.8 per cent for the top 20 per cent.

Overall, the average UK household spent 2.3 per cent of its disposable income on duties on fuel.

However, in cash terms, the richest 20 per cent of households paid almost three times the amount paid by the bottom 20 per cent.

 More...Petrol bills calculator and the amount you pay in tax

Two petrol stations on the same street have a 14p a litre difference
£100 to fill the tank: Demand from Asia to trigger years of petrol rises

 George Osborne: The AA is urging the Chancellor to set fuel duty based 'current economic and social conditions'

Give motorists a break from the annual fuel duty increases

The AA is urging Chancellor George Osborne to revert to the old system of setting annual fuel duty, which takes into account current economic and social conditions – not the ‘automatic turning of the screw based on inflation.’

It said that lower-income and rural motorists are losing mobility faster than drivers that are wealthier, as motor taxes rise.

A May 2011 survey of AA members showed that those cutting back on car use, other spending or both rose dramatically with lower income.

Of the 28 per cent who say they spend a set amount on fuel, the impact of pump prices, which were 16p-18p a litre higher than a year before, showed it was the poorer motorists who were being hit the most.

In a letter to Mr Osborne, AA president Edmund King, said: 'The private car is, for most people, a necessity not a luxury. It is their means to a job, healthcare, doing the shopping, visiting relatives and friends, and also for improving the quality of their lives.

'We were disappointed that the January fuel duty rise went ahead at a time of rising oil prices and higher VAT.

The AA firmly believes that business and households should be given a break from the annual cycle of fuel duty increases.

'Motorists do not understand the logic of high fuel duty rises which further increase RPI and force demand down at a difficult time for family and business budgets which need mobility to stay afloat.

'Although we fully recognise the need to balance the books we also believe the time has come for activity to be stimulated through lower pump prices.'

Brian Madderson, chairman of petrol retailers group RMI Petrol has also urged the Government to act fast to ensure that prices do not increase to even higher levels next year.

He believes with just a small upward adjustment to global oil prices, the UK will be facing average prices of 150p for diesel and 145p for unleaded by next summer unless the Government reverses its plans to increase fuel duty.

The Government is currently sitting on plans, as revealed in the Budget last year, to increase fuel duty on 1 January and 1 August 2012.

This will increase retail prices by as much as 8p per litre and will cost consumer over £3.5billion a year, Madderson claims.

After some pressure, The House of Commons backbench business committee will be debating the spiralling cost of petrol in a meeting tomorrow, after an e-petition attracted over 100,000 signatures.

 MPs will spend up to three hours discussing pump costs.

Read more: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-2061337/Petrol-prices-Government-s-share-petrol-pump-price-DROPS-average-household-spends-677-fuel-duty.html#ixzz1e1Uj3Cyx

PetrolPrices.com is now also available as an iPhone app:

Cheapest stations within 5 miles of LN6  for Unleaded

	128.7p	Asda Lincoln Newark Road, North Hykeham, Lincoln, LN6 8JY Asda, 0.42 miles away, last updated on 6 November
	128.9p	Sainsburys Lincoln Tritton Road, Lincoln, LN6 7QN Sainsburys, 1.7 miles away, last updated on 6 November
	130.8p	Lindum Service Station Newark Road, Lincoln, LN6 8RP Esso, 2.67 miles away, last updated on 6 November
	130.9p	Morrisons Lincoln Tritton Road, Lincoln, LN6 7QL Morrisons, 3.82 miles away, last updated on 6 November
	130.9p	Tesco Lincoln 1 Canwick Road, Lincoln, LN5 8HS Tesco, 4.83 miles away, last updated on 6 November

Cheapest stations within 5 miles of LS16 for Unleaded

	128.9p	Morrisons Swinnow Road Swinnow Road, Bramley, Leeds, LS13 4QX Morrisons, 3.61 miles away, last updated on 6 November
	131.9p	Shell Horsforth Broadway Ring Road, Horsforth, Leeds, LS18 4DF Shell, 1.05 miles away, last updated on 5 November
	131.9p	Morrisons Kirkstall Savins Mill Way, Kirkstall, Leeds, LS5 3RP Morrisons, 2.16 miles away, last updated on 6 November
	131.9p	Broadway Service Station Broadway Ring Road, Horsforth, Leeds, LS18 4DY Esso, 3.1 miles away, last updated on 6 November
	131.9p	Lyceum Service Station Cardigan Road, Burley, Leeds, LS6 1QL BP, 3.42 miles away, last updated on 4 November

Cheapest stations within 5 miles of CA6 for Unleaded

	128.9p	Morrisons Carlisle Kingstown Road, Carlisle, CA3 0AD Morrisons, 4.78 miles away, last updated on 6 November
	133.9p	Bridge Street Garage Bridge Street, Longtown, Carlisle, CA6 5UD Esso, 4.87 miles away, last updated on 4 November
	134.9p	Kingstown Filling Station Kingstown Road, Kingstown, Carlisle, CA3 0BN BP, 4.09 miles away, last updated on 6 November
	136.9p	A74 Moss Connect Motorway Service Area Southbound A74 Southbound, Todhills Blackford, Carlisle, CA6 4HA BP, 1.51 miles away, last updated on 6 November
	136.9p	Morton Self Serve Wigton Road, Carlisle, CA2 6JS BP, 4.81 miles away, last updated on 4 November

Asda and Tesco cut costs to fuel supermarket petrol price war

Saturday, 05 November 2011 11:07

Another supermarket petrol price war is set to cut the cost of petrol by up to two pence a litre for millions of hard-pressed motorists due to a fall in the cost of wholesale fuel prices.
Wholesale fuel prices have dropped by up to four pence a litre affected by the fall in value of the euro over the summer.

Asda has now cut its prices by two pence a litre in all of its 192 petrol stations, down to 128.7p for a litre of petrol and 136.7p for a litre of diesel. This brings the cost of a litre of unleaded fuel down to the lowest level since February.

Asda operates an income tracker index, which it claims shows that transport costs are the biggest factor putting pressure on household finances making families £15 a week worse off than this time last year.

Tesco has also announced that it will reduce fuel prices by up to 2p a litre from Friday evening and will also introduce further promotions that it claims will allow customers to save a further 15p a litre on fuel.

Sainsbury’s will also cut the cost of fuel in many stores by 2p a litre from Saturday November 5th.

Luke Bosdet of the AA said: "Throughout the whole of the summer petrol prices have followed the fortunes of the euro: when the euro improved, petrol prices increased. Now things are coming to a head with the euro and we have the end of the Libyan crisis and the pound strengthening. That is worth about 3p-4p at the pump."

Mr Bodset added that Asda remains determined to establish and keep its reputation as the cheapest place to buy fuel and that motorists who live close to an Asda store generally benefit from cheaper prices, though Morrisons has on occasions beaten the Asda price for fuel.

It remains to be seen how long and deep the cuts will last as the previous "supermarket petrol price war" did not last long and dekivered limited benefits to motorists.

Use the Myfinances.co.uk comparison tables to keep your bills low this winter

 

   2 November 2011

Class war down under !

It’s full-on class war. Qantas is determined to deunionise its workforce and slash labour costs.

The airline’s sudden and arbitrary grounding of all flights was nothing short of a premeditated act of bastardry against its workforce and the travelling public.

The company’s actions and the struggle of its workforce to defend their jobs, wages and working conditions has brought to a head an insidious process that has been under way for decades.

The “globalisation” or equalisation of wages and working conditions in the name of competition is a race to the bottom. The cost of labour is not too high in Australia.

Working conditions are not unaffordable. Qantas workers insisting on their rights are not pricing themselves out of jobs.

It is the constant drive by the private sector to boost profits that is behind the attack on Qantas workers and other workers across the globe.

For decades, the private sector has been exporting jobs offshore, raking in ever larger profits through the super-exploitation of lower paid labour on unregulated and non-unionised labour markets.

The manufacturing sector in Australia was hit hard by trade liberalisation when tariffs and quotas were lifted.

 In more recent times, technological developments have seen offshoring extended to jobs that no one a few decades ago would have imagined could be exported.

Qantas has offloaded a large proportion of its potential domestic and international operations to Jetstar.

As reported previously in The Guardian, foreign crew employed by it subsidiary Jetstar have been working shifts as long as 20 hours on a base monthly wage of $258.

The media, Murdoch’s Australian newspaper in particular, have backed Qantas and other corporations in their offensive against Australian workers and trade unions.

Repeatedly, they accuse the trade union movement of “intransigence”, of threatening to wreck productivity and costing workers their jobs.

David Greig’s “Qantas unions in a time warp” (The Australian, 26-10-2011) was a classic piece of employer propaganda, trotting out the all too familiar myths about competition, deregulation, higher productivity (read profits) and flexibility benefiting workers.

“The only way to secure aviation jobs in Australia is to make it uneconomic to send them abroad,” Greig claims. How do you do that?

 One method is to pay them “third world” rates on a non-union deregulated labour market where there are no limits to the hours worked or protection of conditions.

Get rid of those “generous work roster and restrictive maintenance work practices” – that’s the way to go according to Greig.

“The unions need to change tack and work hard with management to find ways of increasing flexibility and producing more per employee,” Greig says.

What, fewer pilots in the cockpit? Passengers load their own luggage? Qantas already has passengers weighing and checking in their own luggage.

Cut back on maintenance checks by aircraft engineers – wait until something goes wrong?

Greig’s advice means one thing.

The same thing that Qantas, the banks, the manufacturers and other corporations are after: lower wages, longer hours, slave-like working conditions and short cuts with safety.

If the unions and workers won’t cop it in Australia then go offshore or bring in guest workers.

There is another option, one that Qantas and the likes of Greig are not prepared to consider.

 It involves public ownership and control of Qantas and re-regulation of the industry.

Australia’s national carrier should be in public hands, its workforce guaranteed a decent income that recognises their skills and experience with good working conditions and safety a priority.

All airlines flying in Australia should be obliged to meet minimum standards as negotiated with the relevant trade unions in an industry agreement.

That would soon secure the rights and jobs of Qantas staff. Qantas and Jetstar employees deserve the full support of all Australian workers and the wider community.

It is crunch time.

Time to take the employers and government on

130.7p Asda Lincoln

Newark Road, North Hykeham, Lincoln, LN6 8JY

Asda, 0.42 miles away, last updated on 30 October
 
 
 130.9p Sainsburys Lincoln

Tritton Road, Lincoln, LN6 7QN

Sainsburys, 1.7 miles away, last updated on 30 October
 
 
 130.9p Lindum Service Station

Newark Road, Lincoln, LN6 8RP

Esso, 2.67 miles away, last updated on 30 October
 
 
 130.9p Morrisons Lincoln

Tritton Road, Lincoln, LN6 7QL

Morrisons, 3.82 miles away, last updated on 30 October
 
 
 131.9p Tcs Thorpe On The Hill

Middle Lane, Thorpe On The Hill, Lincoln, LN6 9AJ

Total, 2.46 miles away, last updated on 28 October
 

Cheapest stations within 5 miles of LS16 for Unleaded
 
 130.9p Morrisons Swinnow Road

Swinnow Road, Bramley, Leeds, LS13 4QX

Morrisons, 3.61 miles away, last updated on 30 October
 
 
 131.9p Shell Horsforth

Broadway Ring Road, Horsforth, Leeds, LS18 4DF

Shell, 1.05 miles away, last updated on 29 October
 
 
 131.9p Morrisons Kirkstall

Savins Mill Way, Kirkstall, Leeds, LS5 3RP

Morrisons, 2.16 miles away, last updated on 29 October
 
 
 131.9p Broadway Service Station

Broadway Ring Road, Horsforth, Leeds, LS18 4DY

Esso, 3.1 miles away, last updated on 30 October
 
 
 131.9p Shell Kirkstall

Kirkstall Road, Leeds, LS4 2AH

Shell, 3.56 miles away, last updated on 29 October
 

Cheapest stations within 5 miles of CA6 for Unleaded
 
 131.9p Morrisons Carlisle

Kingstown Road, Carlisle, CA3 0AD

Morrisons, 4.78 miles away, last updated on 29 October
 
 
 134.9p Kingstown Filling Station

Kingstown Road, Kingstown, Carlisle, CA3 0BN

BP, 4.09 miles away, last updated on 30 October
 
 
 136.9p A74 Moss Connect Motorway Service Area Southbound

A74 Southbound, Todhills Blackford, Carlisle, CA6 4HA

BP, 1.51 miles away, last updated on 30 October
 
 
 136.9p Morton Self Serve

Wigton Road, Carlisle, CA2 6JS

BP, 4.81 miles away, last updated on 30 October
 

 

Cheapest stations within 5 miles of LN6  for Unleaded

	129.9p	Sainsburys Lincoln Tritton Road, Lincoln, LN6 7QN Sainsburys, 1.7 miles away, last updated on 23 October
	129.9p	Morrisons Lincoln Tritton Road, Lincoln, LN6 7QL Morrisons, 3.82 miles away, last updated on 23 October
	130.7p	Asda Lincoln Newark Road, North Hykeham, Lincoln, LN6 8JY Asda, 0.42 miles away, last updated on 23 October
	130.9p	Lindum Service Station Newark Road, Lincoln, LN6 8RP Esso, 2.67 miles away, last updated on 23 October
	130.9p	Sleaford Service Station Sleaford Road, Bracebridge Heath, Lincoln, LN4 2NA Total, 4.23 miles away, last updated on 23 October

Cheapest stations within 5 miles of LS16 for Unleaded

	130.9p	Morrisons Swinnow Road Swinnow Road, Bramley, Leeds, LS13 4QX Morrisons, 3.61 miles away, last updated on 22 October
	131.8p	Armley Service Station Armley Road, Armley, Leeds, LS12 2QN Esso, 3.89 miles away, last updated on 22 October
	131.9p	Shell Horsforth Broadway Ring Road, Horsforth, Leeds, LS18 4DF Shell, 1.05 miles away, last updated on 22 October
	131.9p	Morrisons Kirkstall Savins Mill Way, Kirkstall, Leeds, LS5 3RP Morrisons, 2.16 miles away, last updated on 22 October
	131.9p	Broadway Service Station Broadway Ring Road, Horsforth, Leeds, LS18 4DY Esso, 3.1 miles away, last updated on 23 October

Cheapest stations within 5 miles of CA6 for Unleaded

	130.9p	Morrisons Carlisle Kingstown Road, Carlisle, CA3 0AD Morrisons, 4.78 miles away, last updated on 23 October
	133.9p	Bridge Street Garage Bridge Street, Longtown, Carlisle, CA6 5UD Esso, 4.87 miles away, last updated on 21 October
	135.9p	Kingstown Filling Station Kingstown Road, Kingstown, Carlisle, CA3 0BN BP, 4.09 miles away, last updated on 23 October
	136.9p	A74 Moss Connect Motorway Service Area Southbound A74 Southbound, Todhills Blackford, Carlisle, CA6 4HA BP, 1.51 miles away, last updated on 23 October
	136.9p	Morton Self Serve Wigton Road, Carlisle, CA2 6JS BP, 4.81 miles away, last updated on 23 October

 

This is your petrol prices update from PetrolPrices.com.

PetrolPrices.com is now also available as an iPhone app:

 Cheapest stations within 5 miles of LN6 for Unleaded
 
 129.7p Asda Lincoln

Newark Road, North Hykeham, Lincoln, LN6 8JY

Asda, 0.42 miles away, last updated on 14 October
 
 
 129.9p Sainsburys Lincoln

Tritton Road, Lincoln, LN6 7QN

Sainsburys, 1.7 miles away, last updated on 16 October
 
 
 129.9p Morrisons Lincoln

Tritton Road, Lincoln, LN6 7QL

Morrisons, 3.82 miles away, last updated on 15 October
 
 
 130.9p Tcs Thorpe On The Hill

Middle Lane, Thorpe On The Hill, Lincoln, LN6 9AJ

Total, 2.46 miles away, last updated on 16 October
 
 
 130.9p Lindum Service Station

Newark Road, Lincoln, LN6 8RP

Esso, 2.67 miles away, last updated on 16 October
 

Cheapest stations within 5 miles of LS16 for Unleaded
 
 129.9p Morrisons Swinnow Road

Swinnow Road, Bramley, Leeds, LS13 4QX

Morrisons, 3.61 miles away, last updated on 16 October
 
 
 131.9p Shell Horsforth

Broadway Ring Road, Horsforth, Leeds, LS18 4DF

Shell, 1.05 miles away, last updated on 15 October
 
 
 131.9p Morrisons Kirkstall

Savins Mill Way, Kirkstall, Leeds, LS5 3RP

Morrisons, 2.16 miles away, last updated on 16 October
 
 
 131.9p Riverside Service Station

Kirkstall Road, Leeds, LS4 2QD

Total, 2.8 miles away, last updated on 14 October
 
 
 131.9p Broadway Service Station

Broadway Ring Road, Horsforth, Leeds, LS18 4DY

Esso, 3.1 miles away, last updated on 15 October
 

Cheapest stations within 5 miles of CA6 for Unleaded
 
 130.9p Morrisons Carlisle

Kingstown Road, Carlisle, CA3 0AD

Morrisons, 4.78 miles away, last updated on 16 October
 
 
 134.9p Kingstown Filling Station

Kingstown Road, Kingstown, Carlisle, CA3 0BN

BP, 4.09 miles away, last updated on 16 October
 
 
 134.9p Bridge Street Garage

Bridge Street, Longtown, Carlisle, CA6 5UD

Esso, 4.87 miles away, last updated on 16 October
 
 
 136.9p A74 Moss Connect Motorway Service Area Southbound

A74 Southbound, Todhills Blackford, Carlisle, CA6 4HA

BP, 1.51 miles away, last updated on 16 October
 
 
 136.9p Morton Self Serve

Wigton Road, Carlisle, CA2 6JS

BP, 4.81 miles away, last updated on 15 October
 

Top 10 company cars rated

 

Two million tourists to Cuba
• For the eighth year running and 32 days earlier than in 2010

ON September 17, Cuba welcomed its two millionth tourist of the year.

The total number of visitors has been in excess of this figure for eight consecutive years, and was achieved 32 days earlier than in 2010.

Despite this figure now being habitual, it is still worth celebrating, as its constancy confirms Cuba’s position as a destination for vacationers, something which is further borne out by an increasing number of repeat visitors, as noted in a communiqué from the Ministry of Tourism.

The occasion, as the note states, invites a more competitive and efficient tourism and a recognition of the cooperation given by friends from all over the world: clients, partners in joint ventures, tour operators, travel agents, airline companies and associated hotel chains, workers in the sector, officials, the press and communicators, among others, all of whom have made possible what has been achieved to date.

During 2011 there has been significant growth in the numbers of Canadian, Russian and South American tourists visiting Cuba.

There have also been advances in national tourism, one of the principal lines of work.

The Ministry of Tourism note states that Canada has consolidated itself as the principal source market, and the United Kingdom as the most important in Europe, followed by Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Mexico, Argentina and Russia.

Once again reaching this number of visitors before the 2011-2012 winter season, according to the country’s authorities in the sector, ratifies Cuba’s commitment to a peaceful, healthy and secure tourism for those who choose our country as a destination. (Taken from Juventud Rebelde)

Cheapest stations within 5 miles of LN6  for Unleaded

 

	129.7p	Asda Lincoln Newark Road, North Hykeham, Lincoln, LN6 8JY Asda, 0.42 miles away, last updated on 8 October
	129.9p	Sainsburys Lincoln Tritton Road, Lincoln, LN6 7QN Sainsburys, 1.7 miles away, last updated on 9 October
	129.9p	Morrisons Lincoln Tritton Road, Lincoln, LN6 7QL Morrisons, 3.82 miles away, last updated on 9 October
	130.9p	Lindum Service Station Newark Road, Lincoln, LN6 8RP Esso, 2.67 miles away, last updated on 9 October
	130.9p	Tesco Lincoln 1 Canwick Road, Lincoln, LN5 8HS Tesco, 4.83 miles away, last updated on 9 October

Cheapest stations within 5 miles of LS16 for Unleaded

	129.9p	Morrisons Swinnow Road Swinnow Road, Bramley, Leeds, LS13 4QX Morrisons, 3.61 miles away, last updated on 9 October
	131.9p	Morrisons Kirkstall Savins Mill Way, Kirkstall, Leeds, LS5 3RP Morrisons, 2.16 miles away, last updated on 9 October
	131.9p	Broadway Service Station Broadway Ring Road, Horsforth, Leeds, LS18 4DY Esso, 3.1 miles away, last updated on 9 October
	131.9p	Scott Hall Service Station Scott Hall Road, Leeds, LS7 2NA Esso, 4.42 miles away, last updated on 9 October
	131.9p	Murco Europa Town Street, Stanningley, Pudsey, LS28 6HQ Murco, 4.54 miles away, last updated on 8 October

 

Cheapest stations within 5 miles of CA6 for Unleaded

	129.9p	Morrisons Carlisle Kingstown Road, Carlisle, CA3 0AD Morrisons, 4.78 miles away, last updated on 9 October
	132.8p	Bridge Street Garage Bridge Street, Longtown, Carlisle, CA6 5UD Esso, 4.87 miles away, last updated on 7 October
	134.9p	Kingstown Filling Station Kingstown Road, Kingstown, Carlisle, CA3 0BN BP, 4.09 miles away, last updated on 9 October
	135.9p	A74 Moss Connect Motorway Service Area Southbound A74 Southbound, Todhills Blackford, Carlisle, CA6 4HA BP, 1.51 miles away, last updated on 9 October
	136.9p	Morton Self Serve Wigton Road, Carlisle, CA2 6JS BP, 4.81 miles away, last updated on 9 October

SKODA The Radical has an Octavia 1.4 TSI Elegance and loves it. Pay no VAT* and 0% APR† representative on selected ŠKODA models. This offer is valid until 31st December 2011.

//

 

Disabled Parking Spaces ?

How is it in your neck of the woods ?

In Lincoln?

 

- There isn’t any

South of the river ( which runs through the centre ) in the main shopping and market areas.

In fact they have areas for parking but don’t allow it.

So if you are disabled and want to shop in Lincoln-

Think Again !

County Councillors ? Sometimes they sits and thinks-and sometimes just sit !

Cycling for Health ?

Its getting more popular.

Its cheaper by bike !

Especially if you live in a flat place.

Like Hull ?

In spite of the lack of the provision of cycle tracks

Which we have to thank Heads of Highways in County Councils

 for the "accidents" caused as a result a lack of provision.

 

And the solution ?

Cut out car allowances for Councillors, MP,s and Senior Council officials

For seniors I want to see tricycles with secure saddlebags for shopping

and less motorised scooters racing round the pavements.

It reminds me :-

Daisy Daisy give me your answer do
I’m half crazy all for the love of you
It won’t be a stylish marriage
I can’t afford a carriage
But you’ll look sweet
upon the seat
of a bicycle made for two

Top Ten Driving Tips for Saving Fuel

» 2nd August 2011

Drive smart to save fuel and cut costs

Driving Tips from Vicki Butler Henderson and Neil Oliver

1. Slim down and watch your silhouette

– Every hundred pounds you carry cuts your fuel efficiency by one or two percent. The boot may be handy but you’ll save if you find another place to store your sports equipment, extra tins of paint, tool kits. Ditto roof racks. Ditch them when not in use. They distort your car’s best aerodynamic profile and can add 5 per cent to fuel consumption.

2. Don’t fill up

– It’s that weight thing again. Carrying a full tank reduces fuel efficiency because the extra fuel uses itself up just carrying its own weight. Drive smart and save by buying fuel as you need it – a bit like eating only when you’re hungry, really.

3. Slow down and keep it steady

– Speeding uses petrol. And racing along the motorway from one traffic hold up to the next is a sure way to waste petrol. The UK Department for Transport estimates that driving at 70mph uses 9 per cent more fuel than driving at 60. Add another 10mph and at 80mph you’re using 25 per cent more than at 70.

4. Get pumped up

– Most drivers check their tyre pressure before a long trip but overlook it for long periods of day-to-day driving. If you’ve ever tried to pedal a push bike with soft tyres, you know how foolish this is. Loss of as little as 1psi of pressure can reduce fuel efficiency by 3 per cent. Check tyre pressure weekly or whenever you buy petrol.

5. Be cool about chilling

– Air conditioning makes your engine work harder and uses extra fuel. If you must use it, do so sparingly. Fold up that suit jacket on the back seat and drive between business meetings in your shirtsleeves.

6. Get in the groove

– Avoid over revving your engine. Change up to a higher gear as soon and as often as you can safely do so. Higher gears use less fuel, plain and simple.

7. Multi-task

– It’s tempting to pop into the car whenever you have to run an errand but a bit of forward planning can save a lot of trips, a lot of fuel and a lot of money. Picking someone up at the station? Why not stop in at the dry cleaners, the greengrocers and the chemists at the same time.

8. Hang on to what you’ve got

- Check the seal on your fuel cap. Few people bother to do this yet fuel, which always evaporates a bit when the cap is open, can continue to evaporate if it isn’t properly sealed. Make sure it’s screwed on tight.

9. Don’t be an idler

– Idling in traffic uses fuel even though you aren’t going anywhere. If you’re in a queue turn the engine off. Consider turning it off if you are stopping often for more than 10 seconds.

10. Get an app

– There are all sorts of apps around that can help you save petrol, improve your driving habits or direct you to the cheapest fuel in your area. Petrol Prices.com or Drive Gain and Car Economy from Drive Gain for fuel efficient driving tips and pointers

Top MPV-IS......

A Seat Alhambra ?

which will set you back £ 21,000-£31,000 on the best deal

[PetrolPrices.com] Remember when petrol was 37p a litre?

 It still can be!

Monday, 3 October, 2011 8:16

"Brendan McLoughlin" <brendan@petrolprices.com>;

It's liftshare week this week, 3-7 October.

Did you know that sharing your daily car journey with someone else going your way could save you around ?800 per year?

We have partnered with LiftShare.

It's the free website with nearly half a million members who want to share their journeys from A to B.

You can do a quick search now and find trips to share in your area.

Let me know what you think.

Regards,Brendan McLoughlin
Founder
PetrolPrices.com

CUBA cars

News is that Cubans will be able to buy cars with honestly earned money.

The Vintage American beasts are collectables and disappearing.

What an opportunity for the car industry, but will to much choice lead to decadence?

The Radical suggests the Skoda – Fabia and Octavia – as they double up as taxis.

For a Pickup,a multicab,or small commercial the Chinese have a huge selection.

Good Luck Cuban’s- But Good Public transport - saves a Socialist society and money

 

Speed limits

Should we Increase the speed limit ?

As  it causes more accident and uses more fuel.

Try hitting something with your car at 10 mph. It sure makes a mess of the car !

Driving at 60 instead of 80 gets you there 10 mins later and saves a bucket load of fuel.

Restricting speed to 20 mph when there is no obvious hazard seems daft too.

It's OK when schools are out or pensioners are crossing but not at other times?

Reminds me of a story.

An Oak tree growing in the middle of a B road.

Demands were made to have it removed as a hazard.

Facts showed that no one had ever hit it.

We all know who would have come off worst

Presumably its still there?

Fuel price pressures

Dear

 

We need the bypass; I continue to work on this.

 

Kind Regards,

 

Stephen Phillips

 

 

Stephen Phillips QC MP

Member of Parliament for

Sleaford & North Hykeham

 

 

 

House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA

t. 020 7219 7146

e. stephen.phillips.mp@parliament.uk

w. www.stephenphillips.org.uk

 

 

 

 

Stephen Without the Bypass Lincoln will continue to become gridlocked as traffic has to pass through the city. Other cities in the area all have bypasses, even Motorway's. The scandal is that Lincolnshire  Council could not achieve this 20 years ago.It is also a scandal that we do not have a transport policy, including a road to rail scheme to get lorries off the inadequate roads. I travelled from the M61,M60,M67 to the bottleneck that is the Woodhead Pass  and then to the M1.We still only have the M62 across Pennines which takes another 24 miles on the same journey.Lincolnshire has more than its fair share of single lane slow roads, which is uneconomic as it is time wasting. Inward investment into the area will not be encouraged by a poor transport infrastructure. We are expecting this project to be fast tracked and by the incumbent Tory MP's. Failure is not an option.   Claim that Lincoln eastern bypass is 'a waste of money' is rejected Friday, September 16, 2011 Lincolnshire Echo Follow OFFICIALS have rejected a charity's claim that the eagerly-awaited Lincoln eastern bypass is a waste of public money. Campaign For Better Transport says the 4.88-mile route, costing £12,787 a metre, has one of the five highest council contributions of all new road schemes nationally. ​ CONGESTION: Traffic in Broadgate, Lincoln. Lincolnshire County Council's Government funding bid cites the total cost of the road as £95.8 million. The authority wants Department For Transport (DFT) funding to the tune of £50 million to make the project happen. Its own contribution is £13.5 million and it is now underwriting £32.3 million in developer contributions. The transport charity says this means the council's overall contribution is £45.9 million – more than three-and-half times the £13 million original estimate. Sian Berry, Campaign For Better Transport's sustainable transport campaigner, said: "The expense of this scheme is all the more hard to justify when there are proven solutions that are cheaper. "Local people should be outraged at just how much this road to nowhere is going to costing them." The bypass – from Wragby Road to the A15 south of Bracebridge Heath – is one of 45 transport projects nationally vying for Government cash. The county council will discover if it is successful by Christmas. The road could be ready by 2017. The county council's assistant director of highways and transportation, Paul Coathup, said: "We are making a contribution of £13.6 million and acting as guarantor for the £32.3 million third party element to put our bid to the DFT for a £50 million contribution in the strongest possible position. "Taxpayers won't be out of pocket." Lincoln MP Karl McCartney said he guessed the charity had not consulted city residents. He said: "Their headline-seeking sensationalist opinions are not representative of the view of local taxpayers and voters which is that the eastern bypass would be beneficial." Motorist John Marcon, 66, of Cherry Willingham, said: "We need this road now but it should be a dual carriageway. We need a full ring road. "It is not a huge amount of money and I think the Government should pay a lot more of it than the local council."

Towards a truly sustainable transport policy:

A discussion paper

 Bob Jeffery

12/07/09

The way people inhabit and move around the landscape has changed vastly over the last couple of hundred years. Over the course of the last century in particular, with the rise of the motor car as the preferred mode of transportation the landscape has been reshaped to accommodate this system of movement. In this report, I want to argue that these issues have important implications for how people organise their lives, their health, and their social wellbeing. This in turn affects most those in our society who already face challenges: the elderly, the disabled, our children, those with caring responsibilities, and those living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods.

            I want to start by outlining the case against the continued expansion of private car ownership in this country, touching on environmental and social sustainability.

I will then discuss how transport policy over the last century has favoured the continued expansion of car ownership.

This will be followed by a discussion on the decline of public transport in this country, before we examine the case for Free Public Transport, examining evidence from those places where it has been tried both in the past and presently.

            Firstly, as many authors have been arguing for a long time now, organising cities around the private automobile is unsustainable when trying to create vibrant, safe and equitable societies.

This is because the ‘car-system’ (Urry, 2007) requires so much space to be given over to roads and car parks.

As this happens cities become more spread-out, people are seen walking the streets less, and fear of crime increases due to less ‘eyes on the street’ (Jacobs, 1961).

At the same time, busy roads represent dangers to citizens and may in some cases form an effective barrier in terms of accessing facilities and services on the other side.

The impact of these issues can maker certain areas inhospitable places to live.

As an area becomes more inhospitable, so those with a choice are more likely to use their cars, and the cycle goes on.

            Secondly, in terms of the environmental issues, the government report entitled: ‘Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Transport’ shows that 62.8 million tonnes of CO2 were being produced by private household vehicles per year in 2002 (ONS, 2004).

There is also growing evidence on the impact of roads on health, even on a local level (see Rayfield et al, 1998 for the evidence on Greater Manchester).

Data from the Commission for Integrated Transport confirms that private transportation in the form of cars (excluding vans and lorries) makes up the vast majority of transport related CO2.

More than double the amount produced by international aviation (in the UK).

At the same time emissions from public transport make up only a fraction of those produced by HGVs, never mind cars (see Commission for Integrated Transport, 2007).

            There are other arguments to be made against organising a society’s transport around the private car, and we will touch on others as we progress.

For the moment I now want to move on to the recent history of transport policy in this country.

 To begin with, from as early as the 1920s, private car ownership has been subsidised in a way that public transportation has not (Glaister et al, 2006: 9).

As Reynolds points out: ‘in most instances the real cost of automobile travel is not borne by users and a transit subsidy is needed to “level the playing field” and encourage use’ (2008: 19).

This of course reached its peak during the peak of motorway construction in the mid to late twentieth century.

A key problem regarding the expansion of car ownership and road construction was the predominance of so-called ‘predict and provide’ models, whereby rising real incomes were believed to be the driving force behind increasing levels of vehicle ownership.

All the government did (whatever its persuasion) was to build roads to cater for the predicted demand.

The damage that would be done to towns and cities in the wake of rampant road and car-park growth was unforeseen, as were the environmental issues.

            Deregulation and privatisation in the 1980s worsened the already declining public transport situation in the United Kingdom, and can be seen as nothing short of a disaster. The main effects have been discussed by van Goeverden et al:

 

• First of all they note that the wages of bus drivers fell substantially. ‘In 1998 the wage fall amounted to 30% relative to the average wage rate’.
• Secondly they note that directly following deregulation fares rose by 20-25% and ‘in the years after they continued to increase at a higher rate than they did before 1985’.
• Thirdly, time-table co-ordination between bus companies stopped and bus integration with rail was converted into competition. So instead of different modes of transport working together, they now compete in a wasteful manner, while the cost of that waste is passed onto the passenger.
• Fourthly, the impact on public transport demand is negative, and this is where the Dutch study is most damming: ‘In the metropolitan areas the reduction in bus patronage was 16% three years after deregulation, 25% five years after, 38% ten years after and 45% 16 years after’. (2006: 23)

 

With public transport in a poor shape at the end of the Thatcher period, the ‘predict and provide’ model that had provide the basis for transport policy for much of the 20^th century also came into crisis in the early 1990s, when planners finally realised what many had been saying for years, ‘build more roads and more people will find it convenient to use a car’.

Arguably, the more roads you build the more someone has to use a car, because activities and facilities become more spread out.

With ever greater numbers of cars on the road (34 million currently, source: DVLA), this cycle could not continue indefinitely.

The Tories finally realised this after 1989, when it became clear that they would never be able to meet predicted ‘demand’ through their ‘Roads to Prosperity’ programme (see Goodwin, 1999).

The dead-end of car expansion was confirmed when ‘[…] the Standing Advisory Committee on Trunk Road Assessment (SACTRA, 1994) published evidence that new roads intended to alleviate congestion may themselves be responsible for generating significant volumes of extra traffic’. (Glaister et al, 2006: 30).

            So the realisation that something has to change in transport policy has been around for almost two decades, yet next to nothing has been achieved in that time. A key problem here is in managing the expectations of motor vehicle users.

 Clearly, people don’t perceive that the problems associated with the car-system are ‘their fault’, and they resent moves to restrict their car usage.

New Labour made the mistake of appearing that they were ‘anti-car’ during the 2000 fuel protests when for the first time since they were elected they fell behind the Tories in the polls.

This led Gordon Brown abandoning the automatic higher-than-inflation increases in fuel tax that had been around since Major’s time. These had been designed to stop further traffic growth and help Britain make its green targets.

As Glaister et al note: ‘The measure had done more than anything to restrict traffic growth, and its abandonment, contributing to increases in traffic, congestion and associated carbon dioxide emissions, raises serious questions about the depth of New Labour’s commitment to sustainable transport policies’ (2006: 34-35).

            Does this mean that the Conservative party has a strong record on transport? Not in the slightest, the disregard for public transport and its associated businesses reached its peak under the Tories during the 1980s.

They netted £500million in the years 1982-84, and another £4billion in the years 1987-88 through the privatisation of transport related companies including: National Freight, British Rail Hotels, Sealink, Associated British Ports, Jaguar, British Airways, Rolls-Royce aero engines, British Airports and the National Bus Company (Glaister et al, 2006: 21).

            Returning to peoples attitudes towards politicians who appear ‘anti-car’, it is abundantly clear that the people of Greater Manchester resented the attempt to impose a congestion charge on them, and people are right to reject these kind of flat road taxes that will end up punishing those who can least afford it, while those who are better off barely notice the extra cost.

I argue that instead of hitting the British motorist with charges and penalties, it would be much more effective to offer them a huge carrot in the form of a massively expanded public transport system (one that gets you where you want to go quickly and reliably) free at the point of use. In Greater Manchester, as part of the Transport Innovation Fund bid, people were told that public transport improvements would be in place before the charge came along. Anecdotal evidence, from my research in a community within the conurbation, suggests that they simply were not believed. In the next section I want to use current trends in bus services to highlight the stagnation of a sustainable public transport policy in the rest of the UK as compared to the only properly regulated market in the UK, London.

For buses, the high point in Britain was in about 1950, when thee were an estimated 16.7 billion bus journeys made per year, equivalent to an average of seven trips per week per head of population.’ (Goodwin, 1993: 22) In 2007 there were barely 5 billion bus trips per year (White, 2006: 4).

 As of 2007, there were almost 2 billion public transport journeys made in London, an increase from around 1.2 billion in 1996. At the same time bus use decreased in the six Passenger Transport Executive areas, from around 1.35 billion in 1996 to just over 1.1 billion in 2007. Also during this period, the number of bus-kilometres ran (this is used to estimate service levels in different areas) increased in London from 353 million to 465 million. The number of kilometres ran in the PTEs decreased from 695 million in 1996 to 584 million in 2007. While the ‘rest of England’, Scotland, and Wales all made increases in this period (White, 2008: 4-5), the change was very low, certainly not enough to encourage huge numbers to abandon their car.

            When we turn to ‘real fare levels’ , we can see that they increased by only 5% in London over the years 1996 - 2006, while Great Britain as whole saw increases of almost 20% (and in the major metropolitan areas covered by the Passenger Transport Executives this was well over 20%). If we look at revenue per trip, this actually decreased in London 48p per passenger in 1999/2000 to 43.7p in 2005/2006. Again, the rest if Great Britain compares poorly with this, from 55.9p per passenger in 1996/1997, increasing to 63.4p in 1999/2000, and finally ending up at 66.4p per passenger. Clearly, London is doing much better than the rest of the country, and this speaks of the importance of the much tighter regulation that democratic authorities have over transport in London, and the much higher levels of financial support that public transport receives (White, 2006: 6-7). While the Transport Act 2008 promised some move towards tighter regulation outside London, considering the damage being done to both our natural and social environments, and the social exclusion faced by those with poor access to transport, this is too little too late.

            Yet I would also argue that in many ways London transport does not go far enough. All politicians are talking about the need for a ‘step change’ in terms of transport, yet are unwilling to provide car users with necessary incentives. New Labour would rather impose congestion charges through conditional funding programmes like the Transport Innovation Fund. It is telling that of the growth in bus ridership in the capital, of the changes not explained by the traditional core factors of ‘service levels’ and ‘real fares’, only 5% of the increase can be explained by the introduction of the congestion charge, while another 5% is explained by the introduction of an all low-floor fleet, and 3% is down to population change (White, 2006: 8). Congestion charges penalise the poor and deliver very small improvements, certainly not enough to really help the UK reach its greenhouse gas emissions targets. Furthermore, there is always a divided interest when it comes to congestion-charging, if the scheme is too successful, then there will be less income from the levy than predicted (Reynolds, 2008: 10) and this is particularly pertinent when we consider that the government plans public transport expansion through billion pound loans (as with Greater Manchester’s TIF bid).

 There have been a few studies over the years of the interaction between the levels of service provided by bus companies and levels of car ownership (what economists call ‘elasticities’). While there have been very many studies of how much change can be expected, Goodwin has reviewed eleven previous studies to arrived at the following figures: an increase of 1 bus kilometre run per person per year was associated with an average reduction of 0.0021 cars per person; and an increases of 10 public transport trips per person per year was associated with a decrease of 0.0077 cars per person (1993: 23). What is self-evident from these figures is that people are not easily turned away from their cars. What this suggests is that positive changes in public transport will have to big, very big, in order to induce people away from their cars. This is confirmed by evidence available on the interaction in other countries, such as the United States of America (see Deka, 2002: 295).

Looking at the evidence from Sheffield, which had as close as the UK has ever had to a zero-fare policy in the late 1970s and early 80s, Goodwin concludes that there was a significant impact upon the levels of car ownership: ‘fares were held at their nominal level during a period of considerable inflation, using a steadily increasing subsidy in effect to cut fares and maintain service levels’ (1993: 25-26). What is interesting here is that bus ridership levels continued to decline among older age groups (35 and above), but increased hugely amongst younger age groups (by almost 100% amongst the 5-14 age group). This is can be explained by fact that the older age groups, while also having access to almost zero cost fares, grew up during a time when public transport was declining and had too great an experience of increasing fares and reducing services, much like the young people who are growing up in Britain today. This shows that transport attitudes are ingrained and it will need a big push to bring about big changes. On the other hand, the good news is that our young are the quickest to change, and if you provide them with zero or very low fare transport they will start to see a reasonable choice between car ownership and public transport use. Goodwin also tells us that during the last years of low fares in Sheffield the number of people living without a car actually increased (1993: 28), an almost unheard of occurrence.

Unfortunately, when the low fares in Sheffield came to an end, car ownership levels resumed their rapid increases. This chimes with experience from America. Salt Lake City trialled zero fares (during off-peak periods) for a month in a bid to boost ridership (see Train, 1981). Predictably, while levels increased during the promotion period, they decreased the moment real fares were reintroduced, and to below their pre-promotional levels (Reynolds, 2008: 9). Whatever changes we make to our public transport system have to be enduring if we are to see a move away from our over-reliance on cars. And, if the system is to be free, why should it be in private ownership, with executives and shareholders taking a slice of public subsidy?

As it stands, public transport in this country is still subsidised and public funding for urban bus routes is vitally important. A Dutch study by van Goeverden et al (2006) showed that the cost recovery (the percentage of costs recovered through fare-income) ratio of bus transport was 30%, implying a heavy reliance upon public subsidy. It is difficult to know by how much British buses are subsidised, as the number of different companies competing in an urban area such as Greater Manchester means that many accounts would have to be examined in detail. That said, the total expenditure for the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE) was predicted to be around £231 million in 2007/2008, with almost all of this going on propping up private companies (see GMPTA, 2007). This is only one PTE in one part of the United Kingdom. Clearly there is need to work out exactly what percentage of the cost of a bus trip is already paid for by national government. Older data, from 2001, displayed below in Table 1, shows that at the turn of the millennium Great Britain had the most poorly funded public transport in Western Europe, far below the levels enjoyed in France and Germany, countries we rightly associate with extensive transport networks at more affordable prices than those found in the UK.

Table 1. Level of Subsidy and Fares for European Urban Bus Services

Region Cost Recovery Ratio Mean Fare (ECU/Km)

 

Region	Cost-recovery ratio	Mean Fare (ECU/Km)
Benelux	0.28	0.05
France	0.25	0.15
Austria and Germany	0.33	0.08
Greece & Italy	0.30	0.04
Portugal	0.61	0.06
Nordic	0.67	0.15
Spain	0.83	0.04
British Isles	0.85	0.08
Average	0.51	0.08

Source: Bristow et al, 2002: 79

Nevertheless, the indicators are that the state already pays the lion’s share of the cost of public transport (when the railways and aviation subsidies are considered), why not increase the proportion to the full amount and reap the rewards? On top of all the other positives discussed above and below this would also eliminate wasteful competition that often brings gridlock to our streets, as happens frequently in Manchester city-centre.

Continuing, the authors of the Dutch study have pointed out the following other benefits to free public transport:

 The costs of the cashing and administration of payment disappears because no fare is required.

This also enhances the safety of drivers and conductors who will not be carrying cash.

Finally, it means that passengers can get on and off much more quickly - so improving journey times.

 The attractiveness of the city to tourists will massively increase and free public transport could provide a unique pitch not just to tourists but all sorts of investors

 Motorists will begin to switch to public transport use.

Even if these are few in number to begin with, less road-space will be required and so bus systems will run more efficiently, so further increasing their attractiveness to new users.

 

Further evidence of the positive effects of free public transport can be gleaned from the Belgian city of Hasselt. Not only did use of Hasselt’s bus system explode once zero fare were introduced (from 331,551 in the old situation to an astonishing 3.2 million - and this for a city of only 70,000 people), with all the obvious benefits this shift suggests, but also, some rather unexpected advantages were produced as well. For example, following the introduction of zero fares, the number of visits to patients in the city’s hospitals was reported to have “increased enormously” (van Goeverden, 2006: 7). This suggests that individuals and families will take more of a role in terms of caring responsibilities if they can actually access the people who need to be cared for, and this could represent incredible indirect savings for the state in terms of social and health care budgets. Indeed, Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam has demonstrated statistically that people who socialise and participate in social activities are on average happier and healthier (2000:326-335). Of course you can only do this if you can get around, an evidence from a wide range of sources indicate that many people cannot ‘get around’ (see Church et al, 2000; Graham and Marvin, 2001; Hine and Mitchell, 2003; Knolwes, 2006 New Economics Foundation, 2003; Pooley et al, 2005; Raje, 2007; Reisig and Hobbiss, 2000; Shaw, 2006; Social Exclusion Unit, 2002 and 2003; Urry, 2007).

            Taken together, the fact that we already heavily subsidise the public transport industry (money that ends up in the hands of private companies), the efficiency savings from not administering fares, the boost to leisure and tourism, the reduced costs of dealing with social problems that arise because people are isolated from their friends and family, and in the longer term, reductions in investment in the road network and road maintenance, reductions in health problems associated with harmful emissions, the cost of dealing with road traffic accidents, and the cost of dealing with climate change, combine to suggest a compelling argument for further analysis of the full implications of free public transport. In June of this year Zagreb, Croatia, an urban area of almost 1.3 million inhabitants brought in public transport that is free at the point of use. Given the lamentable record of the UK in terms of its urban public transport provision (when compared to other European cities - White, 2006: 15-16), this is the kind of bold step that is now required.

 

 

Ironically, there is actually free public transport already in Manchester; the ‘Metroshuttle’ buses that serve three circuits in the city-centre. But as Reynolds argues, these kind of ‘central-circuit buses’ can actually be bad thing by encouraging people who would have walked across town to use motor transport, increasing congestion (2008, p. 9). At the same time, this ‘socialist experiment’ is not available to the more disadvantaged who do not come into the city-centre. We need to be smart, encouraging walking and cycling where it is appropriate (and funding schemes to promote them), while making sure than any car journey of more than half a mile has a plausible public transport alternative, and that the needs of those with mobility-related impairments are taken care of. Some Green groups have said they do not want people to travel more, and are afraid that free public transport might encourage this. We would say to them that already many millions who used to use public transport no longer do so, and it is this that must be addressed.

We need to be clear, as a group, the Campaign for Free Public Transport are not simply ‘anti-car’ or ‘anti-personal-freedom’. We realise that the complexity of modern living often requires the flexibility provided by a car, especially when people have caring commitments, or need access to shops, health services, education, employment, and leisure activities. There may be some who because of mobility-related impairments may never be able to access public transport, whatever new developments are made in terms of design. Yet at the same time we recognise that a lot of the complexity of modern living is precisely down to the explosion of car ownership over the 20^th century, we also realise that the fossil-fuelled car is environmentally unsustainable in the long run, and that people would make the change to public transport were they given the necessary incentives to overcome the car-dependency that they have grown up with.

            On this note, as Reynolds is correct to point out (2008: 3), because car drivers spread many of the costs of their vehicle over long periods (tax, insurance, maintenance), once you own a car, you perceive the cost of using it for extra trips (what economists call ‘marginal costs’) to be almost zero. Deka has explained that the motor car is often the fastest mode of transport and that it ‘also provides a level of comfort and convenience unparalleled by other modes of urban transportation’ (2002: 288). These points are quite true, and this represents the scale of the problem to be addressed. Great challenges demand great solutions. At a time when untold billions have been expended creating a ‘consequence-free’ environment for the banks, money could be better spent investing in the future of our towns and cities, of our ability to participate fully in society, of our landscape and of the air we breathe. We believe that “an expanded public transport system that is fully integrated, publicly owned and free at the point of use” will deliver on a more equitable and more environmentally sustainable Britain. The evidence I have presented in this report suggests we have good grounds for believing this.

            To end this argument, research (White, 2006: 16) has shown that while the major metropolitan areas of England (the PTEs) have very low bus patronage, one of the highest rates is enjoyed by Lothian buses in Edinburgh under public ownership. From this we can see that public ownership can work, in the same way that we see that tighter regulation, expanded services and greater investment in London works. It is also in the same way that we can see from Hasselt, Salt-Lake City and Sheffield, that the only way to deliver great change is through the system being free at the point of use.

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Aug 13th 2011 | from the print edition

Land Rover and Range Rover bottom of the table for car reliability – where does your maker come?

By Lee Boyce

Last updated at 4:46 PM on 10th August 2011 

They may be among the most desirable vehicles on the road but British style icons Land Rover and Range Rover are the least reliable new cars, according to a new survey.

According to the WhatCar? and Warranty Direct survey, the best choice for a used car are Japanese and Korean makes, with Honda, Toyota and Suzuki topping the list for the most reliable car manufacturers.

In fact, the top ten manufacturers all come from either Japan or Korea.

The findings found that cars from European brands fail the most often, with Land Rover, Alfa Romeo and Renault bottom of the performance league.

However, based on Warranty Direct’s 50,000 live policies on cars between three to eight years of age, European cars are typically cheaper to fix.

  The annual car reliability study found Honda to be the best car make to own, the sixth year in a row it has taken the accolade recording an impressive 9 per cent failure rate.

British marque motor Land Rover is the least reliable brand, with 55 per cent of its upmarket vehicles suffering faults within a 12 month period.

The top European cars for reliability are Skoda and Smart, in 11th and 12th respectively. Only they break up the Far Eastern showing, nudging ahead of Daewoo.

MOST AND LEAST RELIABLE CAR MANUFACTURERS

	Most reliable	Chance of fault in 12 months		Least reliable	Chance of fault in 12 months
1	Honda	9%	35	Land Rover	55%
2	Toyota	14%	34	Alfa Romeo	46%
3	Suzuki	15%	33	Renault	45%
4	Lexus	15%	32	Saab	43%
5	Mitsubishi	15%	31	Jeep	42%
6	Mazda	16%	30	Chrysler	38%
7	Subaru	17%	29	MG	37%
8	Hyundai	20%	28	Mercedes	34%
9	Kia	21%	27	Vauxhall	34%
10	Nissan	22%	26	Audi	33%

The cars are rated by a ‘reliability index’ – a formula which takes into account repair costs, age, mileage and rate of failure. The annual survey studies manufacturers according to the number of faults in a 12 month period.

What Car? editor, Chas Hallett, said: ‘This year’s study is a stark reminder of the disparity in reliability between far Eastern brands, which dominate the top 10, and European brands, which contribute the bulk of the bottom 10.’

MANUFACTURERS BY AVERAGE REPAIR COST

	Cheapest repair cost	£		Most expensive repair cost	£
1	Fiat	241.63	35	Porsche	689.99
2	Renault	242.22	34	Mazda	462.58
3	Ford	253.92	33	Jeep	437.81
4	Suzuki	255.12	32	Mercedes	428.13
5	Peugeot	257.33	31	Mitsubishi	427.98

The most expensive brand to repair is sports car maker, Porsche, at an average cost of £690, followed by Mazda and Jeep, which cost £463 and £438 respectively.

In contrast, Fiat, Renault and Ford models cost the least to repair, at around £250 on average. European cars make up seven of the cheapest 10 brands to fix.

Further differences between European and Far Eastern manufacturers can be found in the problems they suffer the most.

A third of faults found on European cars are down to electrical malfunctions, while owners of Japanese Subaru, Lexus and Suzuki cars report the most axle and suspension issues – accounting for nearly two in five of all their breakdowns.

MANUFACTURER RELIABILITY STANDINGS:

1. Honda

2. Toyota

3. Suzuki

4. Lexus

5. Mitsubishi

6. Mazda

7. Subaru

8. Hyundai

9. Kia

10. Nissan

11. Skoda

12. Smart

13. Daewoo

14. Ford

15. Citroen

16. Porsche

17. Fiat

18. Mini

19. Peugeot

20. Volkswagen

21. Rover

22. Volvo

23. BMW

24. Seat

25. Jaguar

26. Audi

27. Vauxhall

28. Mercedes-Benz

29. MG

30. Chrysler

31. Jeep

32. Saab

33. Renault

34. Alfa Romeo

35. Land Rover

Read more: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-2024538/Land-Rover-Range-Rover-reliable-cars--reliable-manufacturer.html#ixzz1UiKrkhKw

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Distracting hands-free devices are 'as dangerous as a mobile'

By David Gardner

Last updated at 12:25 PM on 9th July 2011 

Hands-free mobile devices do not improve road safety, according to a study.

A transport watchdog found that they are just as dangerous as holding a phone while at the wheel.

The report by the U.S. Governors Highway Safety Association was based on analysis of more than 350 scientific papers on ‘distracted’ driving.

It also found texting at the wheel definitely raises the risk of crashing.

It suggested a complete ban on mobile phone use, hands-free or not, for inexperienced drivers and a blanket ban on texting.

‘Despite all that has been written about driver distraction, there is still a lot that we do not know,’ said the association’s executive director Barbara Harsha.

‘Clearly, more studies need to be done addressing both the scope of the problem and how to effectively address it.’ A ban on the use of hand-held phones in cars has been in force in Britain since 2003, but many drivers still flout the law.

Police caught 170,000 offenders last year alone.

According to the Department of Transport, using a mobile while at the wheel makes a driver four times more likely to crash.

The U.S. study found that regardless of the law, two thirds of American motorists report using a mobile while driving, about one third of them saying they do it every time they are in a car.

One in eight drivers admitted to texting at the wheel.

The American study also found that in dangerous driving situations, the average motorist paid less attention to their phone conversation and focused more on the road, bringing their level of concentration close to that of a driver not using a mobile. 

Driving distractions, primarily by mobiles and other electronic devices, were linked to a quarter of all car crashes in the United States, the report found.

It claimed drivers are distracted for as much as half their time at the wheel by activities that include eating, checking music on iPods, talking and changing radio stations.

‘When it comes to distracted driving, one thing is clear: any activities that take extended focus away from the primary task of driving are both unsafe and unwise,’ said association spokesman Lynda Tran.

In the U.S. in 2009, nearly 5,500 deaths and about half a million injuries resulted from crashes involving a distracted driver.

The report said laws banning hand-held cell phones while driving had initially reduced usage by roughly half before the level of offending crept up again.

Thirty-four U.S. states have imposed bans on texting while driving and nine prohibit talking without a hands-free device.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2012393/Distracting-hands-free-devices-dangerous-mobile.html#ixzz1Rl027ryX

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Cowboys will rob our trains if we let them

'Parked' vehicles now need insurance

Even vehicles kept in a garage must be insured – or owners face a fine or possible seizure

Miles Brignall

Morocco: Tangier - Gateway to Africa, Deccan Herald 16/1/11

by Colin Todhunter

By the time I reached Tangier, the day had turned angry.

As I walked toward the medina to find a hotel that was listed in my guide book, the storm clouds had gathered.

At the entrance to the medina a torn hand covered a woman’s sunken face.

Her child stared at an empty plate.

Crouching against a wall, with a blackened sky for a roof and a cobbled street for a bed, I guessed it would be another long day for them both.

Close by, the mist engulfed the ferry boats making their way to Spain.

Although Tangier might feel a long way from home to many visitors, Europe nestles in the mist across the bay, a mere 20 miles away.

Tangier sits on the Mediterranean Sea at the jaws of the Atlantic, near the Straits of Gibraltar. It is where Africa meets Europe, where modernity meets tradition.

Spanish and Portugeuse colonial architecture jostle for attention with new high rises, pavement cafes look out on to fruit and vegetable markets and French style patisseries compete with cafes selling tagines, cous cous, schwarma (hot slices of meat served in flatbread) and grilled fish, fresh from the markets.

The original walled centre is the heart and soul of the city.

It boasts endless narrow, winding streets lined with houses, hotels and cafes.

The medina has been around since medieval times and teems with shops specialising in handicrafts made from wood and silver, traditional clothing and shoes of Moroccan origin.

Although it is quite a sprawling affair, it is still easy to negotiate by foot, and occupies the perfect location on a hill overlooking the sea and the long beach-lined bay fringed with modern buildings.

The medina has a lot of charm, and the Petit Socco (Small Square) is great for a coffee.

My cheap (400 rupees per night), crumbling colonial style hotel was just off the Socco, and stumbling out of the hotel into the square each morning was always a delight.

It was all too easy to spend half the day in one of the pavement coffee houses just people watching.

I guess that’s what a good proportion of Moroccan men do, who seem to spend most of their time in coffee houses seeking respite from home life.

After coffee, it was usually time for me to wander around the maze of alleys.

I always managed to come across some or other gem.

If it wasn’t the old Sultan’s Palace overlooking the Med, it was the Grand Socco (Main Square) just outside the city walls, where traditional products are made and sold and coffee shops and cafes are packed with locals talking about the issues of the day.

Tangier is the gateway to Africa, or should that be the stepping stone to Europe?

 It depends on how you choose to look at it. Maybe because of its position, Tangier is, for me at least, Morocco’s most engaging city.

So much so that, after having visited all of the country’s major urban centres, if I had to live anywhere in Morocco then I suppose I would choose Tangier.

I am not alone in thinking this. Tangier has a somewhat legendary standing in modern popular culture.

The city acquired the reputation as a spying and smuggling centre during the 19th and 20th centuries and was a very pivotal location during the Second World War.

It also attracted writers like William S Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Orson Welles and Tennessee Williams. Along with the Rolling Stones, they all lived in or visited the city for extended periods. The artist Matisse also made the city home at various points. Tennessee Williams actually penned a draft of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof on Tangier beach.

For decades, between 1920 and the late 1950s, Tangier was a playground for the party crowd, adventure seekers and the rich and famous, attracting all those seeking a tax haven or an exotic destination.

The city played host to eccentric millionaires and was a meeting place for secret agents and crooks.

Speculators and gamblers were also to be seen. When Spain finally handed Tangier back to Morocco, its international duty-free status went with it, and the city lost a great deal of its flair.

But, even now, Tangier remains a popular tourist destination for cruise ships and day visitors from Spain.

Although the writers, spies, artists and shady characters may have all but deserted the city, these days the city is far from drab.

Tourists are rediscovering its palpable charm, and the new part of the city has undergone rapid modernisation. Five star hotels are now found along the bay, and a modern business district is springing up.

The attractive broad boulevards of the newer part of the city, with their art deco buildings provide a touch of European chic so much so that for a moment or two you could be forgiven that you are in Marseille or some other southern European city.

The European link is to be expected though. Les Grottes d'Hercules (Caves of Hercules) are ten kilomtres east of the city and are located where mythology claims Hercules split Africa and Europe, blasting the two land masses apart with his mace while completing one of his 12 labours.

But it’s not just the proximity.

The Portuguese and Spanish colonised Morocco for centuries, and Morocco only took back Tangier from Spain in 1956.

In parts, the city exudes an atmosphere of decayed grandeur, which is indeed part of the attraction. Despite its fall from glory, a stylish café society still exists along many of Tangier's boulevards, and merchants in the medina are doing good trade.

If you require character, Tangier has it in abundance.

Who knows, when there you may be tempted to take the ferry leaving from the port just below the medina to Spain and overland through Europe.

I was certainly tempted.

 I eventually decided to head south back to Marrakesh to leave the easy way – by plane.

Pothole problem sinks to new depths amid £13bn repair bill

Councils are changing their definitions of pot holes in a money saving move, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal.

 

When is a pothole not a pothole? When it is less than one and a half inches deep 

 

By Patrick Hennessy, Political Editor 9:00PM BST 21 May 2011

When is a pothole not a pothole?

When it is less than one and a half inches deep, according to a new definition aimed at saving money on road maintenance.

Under the guidelines, holes that are less than 1.57 inches (40mm) in depth will no longer be repaired. Previously, holes as shallow as 0.98in (25mm) were filled in.

The cost-cutting move, by Lambeth council in south London, is set to be followed across the country with nearly three-quarters of local authorities preparing to cut their roads maintenance budgets.

It comes as parliamentary research shows that the total cost of repairing every pothole on England’s roads has soared to more than £13 billion, following a run of bad winters which damaged road surfaces across the country.

In Lambeth, the council has also cut road inspections from every four months to every six months in a further bid to cut costs.

Councillor Lorna Campbell, cabinet member for environment and sustainability at the Labour-run council, said holes would be checked less frequently and only deeper ones filled in.

She added: “Because of the unprecedented budget pressures we have had to increase intervention limits and response times and decrease inspection frequencies to achieve a saving.”

Every council has its own definition of how deep a pothole must be before repairs are required. In some areas the threshold varies depending on whether the damage is on a major or a minor road.

The latest nationwide figures for the cost of repairing potholes come from a survey of all English local authorities with highway maintenance responsibility. Responses were received from 111 councils, responsible for around three-quarters of roads.

Detailed figures were provided by some 40 per cent of councils, which together reported a repairs backlog totalling £5.36 billion. If roads in other areas were in a similar state of disrepair, the backlog would hit £13.4 billion.

Previous estimates of the amount it would cost to repair all potholes in England were around £9 billion.

Currently there are estimated to be 10 potholes for every mile of road – a total of around 1.6 million across England.

The overwhelming majority of councils, 102 out of 111, reported having a backlog of repairs which they did not currently have the budget to make good in the current climate of across-the-board cuts to public spending.

Last year the Coalition announced a £432 million cut in road maintenance budgets across the country – first revealed in The Sunday Telegraph.

While ministers later announced an extra £100 million for councils to fix potholes, such a figure is a drop in the ocean compared to the latest £13.4 billion estimate.

John Woodcock, the shadow roads minister who carried out the survey, said: “Potholes frustrate road users more than anything and it’s clear that the Government has no serious long term plan to get our roads back into shape.

“Instead of continually patching up knackered road surfaces with a bucket of tar we need a proper strategic plan for local roads which could save taxpayers money a fortune in the long term.

“What is needed is a radical look at new funding models, councils working together and better engagement with the private sector to tackle this problem.”

Potholes are caused at times of sub-zero temperatures when water seeps into cracks in the road surface then freezes and expands, breaking up the tarmac.

Earlier this year a survey by Kwik Fit found that nearly four in 10 motorists had to take evasive action to avoid hitting a pothole in the previous 12 months.

Some 7.6 million motorists suffered pothole damage to their vehicle in the same period, amassing more than £473 million in bills for repairs to tyre and wheels, nearly £10 million more than in 2009.

Mr Woodcock’s survey showed that 17 local authorities reported individual backlogs of £100 million or more, with three county councils having backlogs in excess of £400 million – North Yorkshire, Kent and Devon.

Philip Hammond, the transport secretary, said: "This Government understands what a problem potholes on our roads can be, that's why we are making available £3.2 billion over the next four years for road maintenance and we found an extra £200 million for councils to tackle the consequences of the extreme cold weather last winter."

Among more detailed findings:

• In Merton, South London, at the end of 2010/11, finances were so constrained that only emergency repairs were being undertaken.

• Dorset county council admitted that prioritisation of repairs is “disadvantaging the lowest priority of roads”, such as residential roads.

• Bolton Council said it was cutting inspection frequencies and intervention levels.

• Kirklees noted that it was shifting to cheaper treatments which “will naturally increase the backlog of repairs in future years.”

• Sunderland Council said it was changing its priority from resurfacing full roads to targeted pothole repairs.