BUG member David Ellis is riding from Darwin to Adelaide to raise money for Camp Quality. We wish him all the best.
Keep tabs on his journey using the Darwin2Adelaide link.
You can also make a donation to this very worthy cause.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Parking fees coming to Waite
There would be a number of disgruntled car commuters on site, with the recent State of the Waite meeting revealing that paid parking is likely to be introduced in the not too distant future.
The silver lining should be an increase in the number of people walking, cycling, taking public transport and car pooling. Surely this is a good thing?
It has to be remembered that most campuses have parking fees, and one could have seen it coming to Waite for a long time now. It is a growing campus, and we have been spoiled for a long time.
I've made this argument before: on the back of an envelope, calculate how much space a car park takes, multiply that by the going rate for Urrbrae real estate, take a modest 5% pa return on investment and you soon realise that motorists on site are subsidised something like $10 per week. Now wouldn't it be nice if cyclists and pedestrians and car poolers saw an extra $10 per week in their pay packets? Parking is not a right, it has been a privilege, and it incurs expenses that will have to be recouped.
Perhaps motorists should be a bit more constructive and lobby for better public transport, bike facilities and dedicated spaces for car-poolers. Only then will the pressure on parking be reduced, and they themselves might even be liberated from car dependence. Perhaps some of the revenue raised from parking fees can be used to subsidise public transport tickets, set up an on-line car pooling service and provide secure parking for bicycles.
What are your thoughts?
At the end of the day, paid parking provides yet another reason to get on your bikes. It's a very good wake up call, and just a little taste of things to come as the realities of climate change, lifestyle diseases, oil depletion and so on start to rear their ugly heads.
Happy cycling.
The silver lining should be an increase in the number of people walking, cycling, taking public transport and car pooling. Surely this is a good thing?
It has to be remembered that most campuses have parking fees, and one could have seen it coming to Waite for a long time now. It is a growing campus, and we have been spoiled for a long time.
I've made this argument before: on the back of an envelope, calculate how much space a car park takes, multiply that by the going rate for Urrbrae real estate, take a modest 5% pa return on investment and you soon realise that motorists on site are subsidised something like $10 per week. Now wouldn't it be nice if cyclists and pedestrians and car poolers saw an extra $10 per week in their pay packets? Parking is not a right, it has been a privilege, and it incurs expenses that will have to be recouped.
Perhaps motorists should be a bit more constructive and lobby for better public transport, bike facilities and dedicated spaces for car-poolers. Only then will the pressure on parking be reduced, and they themselves might even be liberated from car dependence. Perhaps some of the revenue raised from parking fees can be used to subsidise public transport tickets, set up an on-line car pooling service and provide secure parking for bicycles.
What are your thoughts?
At the end of the day, paid parking provides yet another reason to get on your bikes. It's a very good wake up call, and just a little taste of things to come as the realities of climate change, lifestyle diseases, oil depletion and so on start to rear their ugly heads.
Happy cycling.
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