Why don't you...

Had a rather busy morning on other blogs.

Mostly involving various folk (on various topics) rather vocally suggesting that I 'do my bit' by various green means.

Thing is, in most cases, I'd love to... if I could afford it, in time and/or money.

Of course I can visit a client by bike, but it will take several hours. And they don't cover travel time.

I'd love to visit chums in London with the family by train. But it's silly money.

Hence I identify more with those not in the eco-glitterati end of earning a crust, and have a few suggestions in return...

Addendum:

I have been accused of 'slagging off' British Rail in critiquing the reliability of the service to this neck 'o the woods, and not being about positive solutions. I have been moved to reply:

You are right of course, in most respects.

And I am one who does not like to find myself as anything but on the positive and encouraging side of things.

However, it is difficult to do a SWOT analysis of things or situations without looking at all sides. If you only see the SO and choose to ignore the WT, you might find some say 'so what'?

My personal interest is how things play out with the consumer, so that positive ways can be sought to encourage one and all to embrace more mutually 'helpful' environmental behaviours.

Things will not happen unless people vote with their wallets or feet, especially in commerce or politics/legislation, respectively.

I, for one, was not of the understanding that there was any more such a things as 'British Rail', as the country is now cross-crossed with diverse networks. The 'old' system was not very good as I recall, but this one seems little better, and that's with the benefit of a lot more money and experience.

Your lack of a driving licence, for whatever reason, has shaped your travelling ever since.

However, I would beg to suggest that this might not be the case with the majority of the population, be it for work or social reasons.

And so most have options, and with market forces will make them according to their needs and aspirations: cost, convenience, reliability, etc.

To which can also be added comprehensibility. In matters enviro, communications are a major factor.

But in most industries you can't often get away with telling a customer they are dumb for not getting to grips with the menu or price list. They will, forgive me, just walk away. The booking and paying aspects should be the easiest parts of the customer experience, not amongst the most confusing and/or onerous.

Then, having persuaded your audience to try out your product/service, if it falls short excuses can get you a fair way, but not for long.

It's a shame that things on the continent are apparently equally as bad (not sure they'll thank you for sharing), but really that does not help the case here very much to an already less than thrilled buying public.

I agree the media plays it up, but one has to have sympathy with the local lady to where I live who recently failed to win compensation for a vast % of her daily trips being late or cancelled.

There are some (is it helpful to infer a pejorative by suggesting something like 'Guardian journalists?) who may be able to afford the money a time of a slow sojourn as the wind blows them, but most are on a 9-5 deadline and tight budgets, with pretty unsympathetic bosses or clients keeping... um.. track.

Assuming getting more people on trains is what is required, and desirable (other stories for other times), denying what is wrong and hence avoiding ways to improve may prove an idealistic, optimistic notion in seducing new customers aboard.

In the case I cited before, if I can be reassured that a fair % of trips I make from London mid-evening out West will not leave me stranded, I might be tempted back. Others have much worse, and often more onerous crosses to bear. What solving these is worth to secure our patronage vs. the alternatives, I leave to the actuaries.

Brain strain

Fares fair?

I'm up for doing my bit for Queen and Planet, so this initially cheered me up as to positive influences on my potential options from Gloucester to London.

However, I don't get the impression I'm better off if I do get a last minute call, or seek to travel outside the now very restricted 9.30ish am to 3.30ish pm or post 7sih pm (fat chance of a connection - my missus has put on more miles driving to Swindon to pick me up to then get may car than if I'd driven round trip) off peak windows.

And as to a discount for a family of four...? Actually, why not a business group discount to get ;'em out the Mondeo?

This looking like you're being all in what you're doing,when in fact you're doing b-all.

It's almost as if money was really all anyone really cared about. Especially HMG.

The pain with trains is starting to show the strains

I usually quote articles. But often the letters in response to them are more revealing. And sensible.

Take these to an Indy piece on trains: Train blame

I was mainly attracted by the one about the 'Gee whizz' reporting on growth on usage.

As with waaaay too much these days, and it doesn't matter if it's making a case for good or bad, up or down, it seems oddly facile to me that too many journos and editors seem to have a slight blind spot to the fact that there are a lot more of us doing stuff year on year, and that will often explain a lot much more simply than some of the notions that they attempt to gush over or spin into a headline.

Star bucks

It's down to time. And money. And money is time.

I just watched a thing on the news about train travel. All I can say is great. If it takes roughly the same time and costs roughly the same amount... why wouldn't you?

Take my trip to Brussels next month.

I'm staying over at a London chum's again after a weekend event, and taking the Eurostar. Brillo. And £60 door to door. No plane to match it.

And even the timing is great, even factoring in the getting to's and fro's. Coming back not so great, but at £12.50 for London to Gloucester (please let it run!!) I can live with the 2hr bus trip back home.

No brainer for next to no money. And the time is on par. When it works, it works (now, please work.... pretty please:)

Pains, Trains and Automobiles

Just grabbing the opportunity to get a few more blogworthy bit and bobs off my chest from my trip before further addressing the Guardian climate change summit review again.

Thanks to a few coincidences and some nice friends, my trip was a very efficient one.

Combining another trip, my wife had dropped my off in London, so I was on public transport all the way, commuting around whilst there, and making my way back home.

I must say, probably thanks to more than clement weather, all trips around London were more than pleasant, with delightful scenery to enjoy.

Speaking of which, look at what was parked outside the station. Now, as readers of this blog will know, I find the whole 4x4 issue simplistic, trivial and a distraction, but I have to say the serried ranks of the monsters in the heart of urban London was enough to shake one's head and wonder why. I am prepared to bet that these were not en route to pulling out a stump, negotiating a rutted track or even ferrying 7 kids to school.

As noted in my conference review, Mayor Ken had a few views on the subject, most of which involved dissing those who drive them as penis extensions. I have to say that he might be missing a trick with the voters a tad here, as almost all those driving them that I saw didn't look like a penis was involved in their physical makeup.

I also include something on the back of one such behemoth that tickled me. Not so much the 'my cause is better than your cause' aspect, but simply the way I read it, which was across and not in two columns. It conveyed a slightly different message.

Thing is, I don't know what can really be done to make this 'right'. These things are patently not 'necessary' for the function but, as noted more than often before, if one gets on that kick then we end up on a slippy slope with the 'what's necessary' police telling us how to live. If these things are 'wrong', they should not be allowed to exist (+VAT), and throwing legislative pressures at the consumer at the output end on a spurious basis (M5 at dead stop parked all day: charged. Hybrid buzzing about emitting all day: free. This deals with congestion, emissions, etc, how?)) seems disingenuous. And if our farming industries and support services (plus a few private souls in my neck of the woods, literally) are to be allowed that a vehicle of some sort is necessary, then for purely commercial reasons enough must be allowed to exist to make them viable. I'm not sure we'd fancy our troops rushing round Iraq in a Prius.

The other picture is the railway station, with a lonely poster that serves to show the sheer amount of money being wasted on pointless eco-ads instead of actual doing anything (and, of course advertising that in Junkk.com. We'll take the pointless eco-ad too, mind).

The final, and significant part of the story was my trip back. London to Gloucester for £9. Amazing. It costs almost that to get from Wandsworth Common to Paddington, and a third of that for the interminable bus trip from Gloucester to Ross. Scenic, but not repeatable any time soon. The other thing was it all gobbled up most of the day, which shoots your time management to pieces.

But as value it couldn't be beaten. My only real issue was, having arrived an hour early, I could not take the earlier, almost empty train to get back sooner, as this required a new, full fare ticket. That lack of flexibility is a real turn-off.

All roads (and train lines) lead to London. Darn it.

Caption 1 - The carpark at Didcot Parkway. Rich in symbolism, I felt.


Caption 2 - The goodie bag from the do. I'd have to say a few trees were hurt in the making of this show. Ah well, all in a good cause. And I did get a few things I can now re:view.

For a London boy, I find myself oddly in dread of going there. Yet, inevitably, I find myself doing so, again and again. Big lights, big city. Centre of all things.

Yesterday was another long day, but a worthwhile one.

The trip itself was very pleasant, both ways, though at four hours in either direction totalled a working day alone. I have been further experimenting with my options, and this time decided to try Didcot Parkway in another car/train combo.

By way of nerd analysis, I break down the trip in several ways, pretty much in this order of importance:

1) Cost (miles, fare, parking, tube, etc)
2) Time (on the road, on the train, hanging about for connections)
3) Convenience (turn up and step on or sweat on a connection)
4) Reliability (will they shut the motorway... again. Will the cancel the train.. again)
5) Flexibility (can I turn up or do I need to book? And can I change my plans?)
6) Comfort (sitting in my case next to the loos. Sitting at Swindon waiting for the missus to get me)

The drive was lovely, but did take 2hrs. I'd say petrol was pretty fair, especially as I took the small car. What was nice was the ticket price (except the parking) - £20 - but it was pretty restrictive. It kicked in at a a fair (fare?) enough post-rush hour 9.30am, but had a rather inflexible, pre-4pm, post 'lord knows how late' return, which made for an undignified early duck out and some Cinderella style scampering to get there to avoid becoming a pumpkin (or end up being penalised). This added the additional 2hrs. Other than standing on the way back, it was all comfortable, but the time and convenience was pretty low. Not sure I'd do it again, as all I managed was a rushed few hours to do the biz.

And this was two-fold. First up was to meet a potential advisor on hooking up with venture capital/business advisers for RE:tie. This went very well and is looking promising. I'd not go so far as to say that RE:tie is a no-brainer, but in the current climate its business applications are pretty clear... IF handled well. I came away feeling this chap knew where I was coming from and, more importantly, what and who it would take to make the journey to where I want to go a decent one for all concerned.

The other bird that got duly well stoned was the annual Bray Leino (possibly the world's most soothing homepage) networking bash (oddly, though this was held in London, most there who I met were from anywhere but). This is a specialist eco-PR agency who I came across as a consequence of them and us being involved with ecover. Sadly no one from that company was there, but a lot of other more than interesting, and I hope mutually regarding folk were. Such as dyson (new product out, which I plan to review soon), ecotricity, green.tv... and innocent. And it's true what they say - you can be as virtually whizz-bang as you like, but it really only happens in person over an organic quiche and a glass of fresh OJ (I made that last bit up).

Bonds were forged, with luck, and opportunities will I hope soon be created.

Deterrence

I was watching the BBC Breakfast News when a piece came on about a train crash enquiry/case.

They had of course wheeled out a spokesperson/victim, to whom our sympathies must be extended.

He seemed to be of the view that a fine of £10M will be appropriate. I fear I must question the logic of all this as an effective deterrent. While money is a great motivator, just how it works in ways to the decision makers in corporations is in question. Look at the famous Pinto case.

As I wrote:

How is a fine, of any size, or a company apology, going to act as a deterrent when individuals must have been culpable? Have there been any individual, career-related penalties?

Until people take responsibility, and are held truly accountable, I rather fear that all that's happening is money getting shunted to where it is really not going to do much use from where it could be better applied to rectify faults.

Easy for me to agree

Commuter train or cattle truck?

This is the sort of environmental campaigning I like to see and fully endorse.

Identify the solutions, and where they are not working get them sorted first.

All it needs now is to get from a minor blog post to a mainstream voting issue.

(Sound of breath being held).

Train, train, go away.. come right back another day

Millions to pay more for train tickets

I have a possible jaunt to York, solo, this Saturday.

Even with 'gear', I decided the train was a worthy option.

Checked the timings. Not even. Checked the price. Not ever.

I am not sure bumping prices up is quite the way to convert me.

Telegrpah - How to keep the costs down - Ah, theory... don't you just love it.

Speaks for itself, unspeakably

Plane beats train on cost and speed as discount fares prove elusive

You know what we need... another 'initiative'. With a charge on it.

That'll help.

Telling it like it is

Rail chief's overcrowding solution - don't travel

Actually, he's dead right. At least in the terms above (it gets a bit fudgier in the piece)

Bit of a tough sell though.

Chuffed

"Are we being priced off the trains?"

Good one. But I shall answer, with an equally straight face: Yes; and have been for ages. This just makes things even worse.

No matter what one's environmental commitment, when you are faced with a service of limited flexibility and/or reliability, £25 for a spontaneously-committed tank of petrol - and the option of coming straight home rush hour, mid-late evening or early morning if needs be - looks pretty good vs. being forced to wait 'til 7.30pm to return and then risk being stranded at a mid-West connection point, all requiring paying a month in advance at £80. Plus £4 for a tube ride once there, I now gather!

But in the name of Green, why do I suspect that the option to use the train will not be made more attractive, but the alternatives will simply be penalised even more? Talk about a drag and drop menu for disaster.

Thank heavens I work from home, but sadly, and my heart goes out to those who have to do it daily, one will always need to travel.

Indy: Planes, trains, and the road to ruin