tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6259450140022648201.post4876211620453873073..comments2023-12-09T20:20:20.187+10:00Comments on BrizCommuter: Un-fair? Short vs Long Distance Journey CostsBrizCommuterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06579844974945172195noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6259450140022648201.post-70154596850297160232016-09-14T17:03:56.008+10:002016-09-14T17:03:56.008+10:00With so many people that are mobile and transiting...With so many people that are mobile and transiting every day, and such an incompetent transport system, it's no wonder people desperately want to own a car of their own in order to get around. It seems unfair to have to wrap your head around all this public transport confusion at the end of the day don't you think?ChristopherJameshttp://supercheapselfstorage.com.au/facilities/brisbane/north-brisbane/north-east/storage-fortitude-valley/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6259450140022648201.post-29458887520712764092016-08-10T18:06:04.610+10:002016-08-10T18:06:04.610+10:00I'm not sure about all of Brisbane but the low...I'm not sure about all of Brisbane but the lower socioeconomic outer suburbs I know of are high density small blocks and frequently townhouses or units. On the Gold Coast they have the nickname "ice blocks" as there are serious social problems. In short I agree that people wanting a large house and land should pay for the transport impact that decision causes, but most outer suburbs that are cheap are undesirable locations and the residents are further charged high transport fees for their inability to afford city locations. Philip Leitchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10575105615763301952noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6259450140022648201.post-37238480626091410402016-07-18T20:54:07.147+10:002016-07-18T20:54:07.147+10:00Luke and Philip - thanks for your comments. The pr...Luke and Philip - thanks for your comments. The problem with people living in outer suburbs for more affordable housing, is that Aussies still want their large block of land and live the "Australian dream" in low density suburbs. The reality is that is environmentally unsustainable as population grows, and just cannot go on and on. BrizCommuterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06579844974945172195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6259450140022648201.post-78235297855306957472016-07-18T15:58:59.727+10:002016-07-18T15:58:59.727+10:00As you would expect, I’m going to raise issues abo...As you would expect, I’m going to raise issues about your post, but NOT because I live on the Gold Coast and commute to Brisbane. In fact, on principle I agree that anyone living a greater distance away should pay for the economic cost of "externalises" (carbon footprint just being one of them). I would only disagree with implementing it on the basis of unexpected consequences of otherwise logical strategies.<br /><br />I previously disagreed that it was nether categorically "good" or "bad" to live close or far from work as there can be complex reasons for living where you do. Mine is a “1st world problem”, but many people living in the outer suburbs live there because that what they can afford. Inner city living (especially within 15km) is only financially available to a very small percentage of a very large number of people. Living in outer suburbs is financially available to almost everyone.<br /><br />Take your London example, one unintended impact is that poor HAVE to live further away from London, then have to pay very high prices to either drive (due to CBD congestion tolls) or use expensive public transport (as you listed above), meaning that they are essentially "the working poor". I've spoken to several people from London in this situation who say "things can't get worse." This is a well-documented problem throughout the western world. These aren't people living in lovely seaside or "tree-changers" towns, these are quite poor people living in cheep commuter housing estates. Are they "doing the wrong thing" by being too poor to live close to the city? Clearly not, so why are they being penalised by such a high price for not being able to afford to live closer to the city? That's just unethical.<br /><br />So I agree that the best case is that a true price is put on ALL the externalities (carbon foot print, heat-sink contribution, maintenance cost, health care costs, impact on amenity, impact on biodiversity, impact on our health system, and so on and so on). But I don’t think increasing the fare price on longer distance trips should be done unless it is either means tested (and studies repeatedly find that means testing costs more than it saves or achieves), or we restructure our society so that lower socio-economic people have equal access to live close to the city.<br /><br />This is NOT how our society, economy and financial system is geared and therefore we have to evaluate what is best given that we aren't living in a best case scenario. Therefore, imposing – on the face of it - common sense higher fees on one particular service (public transport) is incongruous with every other aspect of our society. In other words, any single, unbalanced change in a complex socio-economic system will have unexpected/unintended consequences.<br /><br />This feeds into what you are touching on with the "urban sprawl" and "urban planning". But it goes beyond this and would mean re-planning our entire economic system and society aspirations, expectations, and society configuration.<br /><br />I'll leave my ideology there... I don't think these are simple problems and I don't think they have simple answers.Philip Leitchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10575105615763301952noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6259450140022648201.post-78360278047505370782016-07-17T23:46:08.156+10:002016-07-17T23:46:08.156+10:00People who live in the outer suburbs often do so b...People who live in the outer suburbs often do so because they can't afford to purchase in the inner city...Lukehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03720233912822324765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6259450140022648201.post-8277596473049331392016-07-17T14:35:25.775+10:002016-07-17T14:35:25.775+10:00In the case of Melbourne, the free tram zone in th...In the case of Melbourne, the free tram zone in the inner city only helps people who commute by car - anyone using public transport to and from the Melbourne CBD have area paid a daily fare, and so don't save any money through a 'free' fare.Marcus Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07203807904924186406noreply@blogger.com