andrew Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 A lot of the traffic going up and down the prom is looking for a parking space. As someone said above, stick the tracks on the walkway and then there can be reverse parking down the whole length of the prom. Loads of parking - 2 hour spaces. There shouldn't be a problem with finding a space then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Tatlock Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 A lot of the traffic going up and down the prom is looking for a parking space. As someone said above, stick the tracks on the walkway and then there can be reverse parking down the whole length of the prom. Loads of parking - 2 hour spaces. There shouldn't be a problem with finding a space then. I think we need the walkway. Make the trams run on a single track in the centre of the prom, keep the walkway, and you can have parking like we currently have on the seaward side on both sides of the prom. The track could be relaid when they repair the promenade road surface, which is a disgrace. A single track will cut the annual horse tram running costs too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartT Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 A lot of the traffic going up and down the prom is looking for a parking space. As someone said above, stick the tracks on the walkway and then there can be reverse parking down the whole length of the prom. Loads of parking - 2 hour spaces. There shouldn't be a problem with finding a space then. I think we need the walkway. Make the trams run on a single track in the centre of the prom, keep the walkway, and you can have parking like we currently have on the seaward side on both sides of the prom. The track could be relaid when they repair the promenade road surface, which is a disgrace. A single track will cut the annual horse tram running costs too. What some people are still failing to realise is... 1)ripping up the tram tracks isn't going to give any more road space. There's not going to be any extra room for parking gained. It will actually cost a lot more money because you will have to rip out the tracks and replace the road surface. As far as I have observed the tracks have not had any major maintainance in at least 20 years, therefore they would cost far less to maintain as a double track route than as a single one. Added onto this is the fact that double track routes will require far less manpower to run than a single track one, because you need extra manpower to safely run a single track railway as point's for the loops need to be controlled, there would need to be some sort of signalling/token system for entry onto specific part of the lines. 2)The only way to solve the problem of congestion is to eliminate private motor transport as much as possible. Therefore we need a better public transport infrastructure and as many disincentives for car use as possible. Sadly car bound individuals are reluctant to acknowledge this as they look for as many excuses as possible to stay in their comfort zone. 3)Private car use and road traffic is totally unsustainable with ever diminishing stocks of oil. People who think cars powered by alternative fuels are an option are pretty much missing the point - it still takes substantial amounts of fossil fuels to generate the electricity necessary for alternative fuels, it's far faster + more efficient to run trams powered by overhead lines than cars powered by hydrogen or battery electric. Even Eco fuels such as vegetable oils still produce CO2 emissions which are far less controllable coming from the exhausts of motor cars than from a central power station. Also as road surfacing is currently made using the by products of the oil industry, the reduction in the supplies of oil will mean that road infrastructure cannot be maintained to the same standard. Whereas rails can at least be melted down and remilled to have further use one they are life expired. Railway tracks are generally more able to take the sustained hammering of heavy useage than road sufaces. Also buses, trams and trains carry far more passengers per power unit than any car (which generally only has one person riding in it at any time) making them far more efficient. 4)Our 'convenience culture' lifestyle is going to be pretty much unsustainable for a number of reasons, and it can only benefit a population to get off their arses and learn how to walk and cycle a distance every day. It may make them more healthy, thereby placing less of a burden on other sectors. Any extra expenditure necessary for the improvement of public transport infrastructures could easily be recouperated from other areas - such as less spending on road maintainence, etc. So are we going to start planning for a short term future which is based on the denial of pressing issues, or are we going to start thinking ahead and working for a better long term one? Sadly in the always the behind the times Isle of Man it seems the obsession with the motorcar still ignores the modern worlds realisation that the motor car should not be the main form of transportation for a modern society. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monasqueen Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 The more parking you provide for people, the more they expect. Adding spaces along the Prom will not mean there will be more spaces available for casual shoppers, etc - they will still all be filled by shop and office workers who wander out for a "fag break" every 2 hours to change the time on their parking disk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guardone Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 Thank you all for the funniest thread of the year ....... so far. QUOTE (Stavros @ Jan 21 2009, 01:57 PM) * It's one thing to worry about bird shit hitting your car windscreen nevermind bloody big lumps of horse shit raining down every time your mono-fucking-horse-tram-rail passed overhead! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Tatlock Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 A lot of the traffic going up and down the prom is looking for a parking space. As someone said above, stick the tracks on the walkway and then there can be reverse parking down the whole length of the prom. Loads of parking - 2 hour spaces. There shouldn't be a problem with finding a space then. I think we need the walkway. Make the trams run on a single track in the centre of the prom, keep the walkway, and you can have parking like we currently have on the seaward side on both sides of the prom. The track could be relaid when they repair the promenade road surface, which is a disgrace. A single track will cut the annual horse tram running costs too. What some people are still failing to realise is... 1)ripping up the tram tracks isn't going to give any more road space. There's not going to be any extra room for parking gained. It will actually cost a lot more money because you will have to rip out the tracks and replace the road surface. Have you driven along the prom recently? The whole thing needs resurfacing - it's literally full of hundreds of potholes and trenches (bumpy and sunken) to properties etc. it is a disgrace. If a single tram track was in the 'centre' that would create and additional 1 Metre on both sides at least IMO. Plenty of room for parking, and far less problems undertaking trams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartT Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 A lot of the traffic going up and down the prom is looking for a parking space. As someone said above, stick the tracks on the walkway and then there can be reverse parking down the whole length of the prom. Loads of parking - 2 hour spaces. There shouldn't be a problem with finding a space then. I think we need the walkway. Make the trams run on a single track in the centre of the prom, keep the walkway, and you can have parking like we currently have on the seaward side on both sides of the prom. The track could be relaid when they repair the promenade road surface, which is a disgrace. A single track will cut the annual horse tram running costs too. What some people are still failing to realise is... 1)ripping up the tram tracks isn't going to give any more road space. There's not going to be any extra room for parking gained. It will actually cost a lot more money because you will have to rip out the tracks and replace the road surface. Have you driven along the prom recently? The whole thing needs resurfacing - it's literally full of hundreds of potholes and trenches (bumpy and sunken) to properties etc. it is a disgrace. If a single tram track was in the 'centre' that would create and additional 1 Metre on both sides at least IMO. Plenty of room for parking, and far less problems undertaking trams. You miss the point though that in all places along the prom the tram track already is a right of way which is used by vehicles already. Removing one track isn't going to make any more space for vehicles at all. If somehow closing or singling the trams would make any more space for cars to park then the revised parking arrangement would be used during winter when the trams are not running if they were necessary. That they are not used would suggest that there is no need for additional parking, or that there is no extra road space actually gained. Anyway why on earth make more provision to encourage more people to use private cars which really need eliminating from our roads altogether & which are the very real main cause of the problems most people like to acredit to other forms of transport, and furthermore are not a sustainable or energy efficient form of transport? Far superior public transport systems along with as many provisions to make car use as difficult as possible (ie more disabled only parking spaces, less able bodied parking spaces, congestion charged, pedestrianised streets, tram + bus or cycle only reservations, less road space for cars) are what is needed - giving both the carrot and the stick which is needed to get people to kick the extremely problematic habit of private car usage. Do you not agree we need to be planning for a future with sustainable, environmentally friendly egalitarian forms of transport as opposed to a short term means of transport which relies on a fuel fast reaching it's expiry rate? As for the surfacing I don't think it is that bad at all on both sides, and I ride there on a bicycle with no suspension so am in far more of a position to feel the effects of uneven roads than any motorist who has plenty of suspension and a soft seat to cushion them from bumps in the road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keyboarder Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 They should turn the summerland site into a big park and ride for town shopping, and utilise the prom tram line for shuttling the consumers hither and thither. Of course, they'd have to electrify it. And buy some trams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hboy Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 They should turn the summerland site into a big park and ride for town shopping .......... of course, they'd have to electrify it. And buy some trams. I think smouldering dead horses would not improve services. Maybe electrify after they take the horses off? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triskelion Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 They should turn the summerland site into a big park and ride for town shopping .......... of course, they'd have to electrify it. And buy some trams. I think smouldering dead horses would not improve services. Maybe electrify after they take the horses off? Or... use robot horses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbms Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 They should turn the summerland site into a big park and ride for town shopping .......... of course, they'd have to electrify it. And buy some trams. I think smouldering dead horses would not improve services. Maybe electrify after they take the horses off? Or... use robot horses. http://www.gkko.com/videos/17350/Robot_hor...picnic_2007.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triskelion Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Problem solved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartT Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Problem solved. That would really put the IOM on the map if they used robotic horses. Would anyone be able to call the horse trams old fashioned then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heathen Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Problem solved. That would really put the IOM on the map if they used robotic horses. Would anyone be able to call the horse trams old fashioned then? There'd still be plenty of neigh-sayers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 The biggest problem with the horse trams is getting on & off. Firstly a lot of old peeps struggle with the height of the steps, then you have to walk into the traffic to get on and then when you fall get off you do do so into traffic and, as numerous threads on the forums testify, this will normally put you directly in front of a noob head. Thinking about it this probably explains our declining visitor numbers, we are killing them on the horse trams and the road sweepers that clean the horse shit up are also sucking up all the bodies!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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