Comments on: Ely Parking Charge Decision Deferred

By: Burton

Burton — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 22:57:12 +0000

If they want to make people start using buses and trains as transport instead of taking their cars into the city, they really need to improve the public transport system. Fining people more is only going to make people angry.

By: Kevin Draper

Kevin Draper — Sun, 02 Oct 2005 16:44:25 +0000

The problem is getting people to go on the buses. There is a reasonable bus service at present (granted most buses don’t run every hour) but I honestly think Ely isn’t a big enough city to accommodate a fully integrated public transport system.
Look at Cambridge, it has an extensive public transport system but you can be sure that at peak times all the multi-story car parks will be full with a steady line of cars awaiting entry.

Personally I think ECDC’s proposal is ill advised. A park-and-ride system does make sense but charging for central parking is just wrong.

When I shop in Cambridge I now avoid the centre as much as possible – parking used to be as low in Cambridge as the ECDC propose for Ely but over the years it has now risen to £2.80 for 2 hours and park and ride just does not appeal to me. There is everything I need in Newmarket Road where all the major sheds are located and of course parking is free.

By: Ollie Cox

Ollie Cox — Sun, 02 Oct 2005 16:22:35 +0000

Surely the gridlock problem arises in part from a total lack of public transport within Ely.

The housing has spread out from the centre in recent years with no method other than private cars of getting to the centre. And people wonder why the city centre is dying.

Look at other parts of the world. Similar sized cities in Canada run free local buses – becuase it helps the city to work!

It’s not pie-in-the-sky it really works. The recent Danish study on how much people spend in shops should be an eye-opener for local traders: those people who travelled to the shops by public transport spent much more than those than came by car.

The cost of providing such buses would be more than covered by the savings to the community; the shops would get more money; there would be less polution; there would be no gridlock; children could get to and from school safely; older people (and we’ll all be old one day) can get around; mums with kids (and we were all kids once) can get around.

What’s the problem?