On track or off road, the political dilemma of the 20mph limit
Chris Carter
On paper, it seems like a policy masterstroke. Investing £1.5bn of public money into creaking and defunct Welsh rail infrastructure to achieve the dual goal of greater economic growth and reduced carbon emissions.
The government in Cardiff Bay has quietly become one of the most radical, not just within the isles of the United Kingdom but in all of Europe when it comes to transport policy. Especially when it comes to achieving the ecological ends laid out by the Labour-led administration in the Senedd.
The under-construction South Wales Metro area is the centrepiece of the Welsh government’s designs to connect communities and their workers to the economic opportunities of buoyant metropolitan areas such as – but not limited to – Cardiff.
So committed is the government, Deputy Climate Change Minister, Lee Waters recently announced the government will cut all new road building in favour of sustainable transport options, including bus services and the railways.
Buses Reform
Building on this commitment to sustainable travel, the government is also focusing on legislation to enhance bus services. This year the Senedd will likely pass the new “Buses Bill” that puts to use a new franchising arrangement to ensure Council areas have more transport network coverage once the South Wales Metro is completed.
The legislation also seeks to reform bus services which have not recovered from the drop in post-COVID-19 passengers while also facing rising fuel and staff costs/shortages.
The bill still needs to pass the legislative process and then face the further delay of being introduced by newly nationalised Transport for Wales before then finally being implemented by local councils.
The Big Problem
Despite the delay, to the green minded among you, it would appear to be a great pairing of policies, replacing investment in roads, getting us out of polluting cars to catch buses and trains to go about our business.
Yet, while these initiatives would ordinarily be celebrated, no one is talking about them. In fact, there is just one subject on everyone’s lips: the dreaded new 20-mph speed limit.
Due to be introduced in September this year, the new speed limit and the reasons for it are an entire Op-Ed in and of itself but it is undoubtedly and by all accounts a deeply unpopular policy. In a nation mostly made up of motorists, the Welsh government scores poorly on issue-based polling when it comes to transport.
This is of course frustrating for those that see the Welsh government as the most successful in all the UK in taking climate, transport and economic challenges so seriously as to invest precious taxpayer money in the new travel zone.
Why now?
It does beg the question that it would be surely better, and more palatable to the public, to introduce the new speed limit to coincide with the grand opening of the newly integrated Welsh transport network?
The fact remains public transport will not be in the state Welsh politicians envision for quite some time.
What is worse is this takes place in a toxic political climate. Welsh Conservative leader, Andrew RT Davies, has already been on the offensive and, sensing political danger, reversing his own previous support for the 20-mph limit.
Realistically the choice for the Labour administration in Cardiff now boils down to two options.
Firstly, stay the course on the introduction of the 20-mph limit in September and hope it is not as unpopular as polling or the nation’s dinner tables suggest?
The second, and this may seem late in the day but not impossible, pause the launch of the 20-mph limit to coincide with the other, likely popular, integrated transport network envisioned?
Presenting this as an integrated strategy to achieving economic growth, connectivity, fewer road deaths, while in the end achieving the sustainable goal of reducing the time spent sat in cars would unmuddle things, at least.
With battle lines being drawn ahead of the general election, the Welsh Government will come under more scrutiny than ever before as the Conservatives seek to hold onto power in Westminster.
Presentation will be everything going into the election, and the question that remains is just how long of a shadow will the 20-mph limit cast over Wales and its government? Most importantly how does it affect all of us?
Chris Carter is an infrastructure and transport research specialist. He writes in a personal capacity.
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If they were to drop or indefinitely delay the 20 mph limit policy at a late stage they’ll succeed in having annoyed both sides of the debate.
Whereas if it comes in and the sky doesn’t fall in and people get used to it and only a small minority is continually aggrevated by it they’ve at least only annoyed one side.
I remember all the crying and wailing about the five-pence bag charge and the indoor smoking ban….and its the same kind of people carping about the twenty miles per hour speed limit (FOR RESIDENTIAL AREAS) as it was back then: Smallminded, selfish, petty little twerps that can’t read past the first paragraph of anything without forming an opinion, shouting it across every social media platform and pub they can and then rigidly sticking to that opinion no matter how high the stack of evidence to the contrary gets.
Unfortunately it’s not only resisentual areas but a blanket change for areas with street lights 20 yards apart.
This is not true
Incorrect. My street is a main road and 20 mph due to houses and pollution levels, but further along where the houses end it still is 30 mph. Now if only the tin canners had kept to 30 previously, maybe not a need to drop the speed to reduce Nitrogen dioxide levels in my street. But no, lead foot is still in fashion and to hell with health then.
Lets see if Sadiq Khan will retain the London Mayor position after Ulez at the next election.
Whatever the outcome democracy will decide.
Probably Khan will win. Ulez once implemented, and the lies about it have fallen to dust, will not be so salient and only impacts on a small minority. Beware of believing the right-wing narrative of Londoners all up in arms over Ulez pushed by the Tory press.
There is a rumour that Jeremy Corbyn might stand as well, which could split the left wing vote
how delightfully classist you sound.
She didn’t mention class unless “Smallminded, selfish, petty little twerps…” constitute a social class I’ve not previously heard of.
Uh huh. All the upper crust down the “pub”, plotting our carbon-flooded demise? C’mon now. For once she didn’t blame it on the “Saesnegs”.
Like I said she made no mention of class. You are the one making the assumptions about class (by referring to the upper crust down the pub) not me (or Cathy Jones). How delightfully classist of you.
Is that how you play “stop the dog-whistling” on your dog whistle?
Oh dear, touched a raw nerve have I?
Try reading her comment again, she made no mention of social class at all (and neither did I). You are the one who brought it up.
As for the dog whistling, I’ll leave that to the rabid right-wing extremists such as yourself as you are clearly the experts in such things.
This is quite low-level trollery, but Sunday is fun day so… Read it again. Yup, seems classist. If the word ‘context’ isn’t something that whizzes past you, that is, like ‘sophistry’ and, with maximum irony, ‘dog whistle’. Reading between lines may be hard for some (as is reading more generally, it seems), and a literalist approach may be easy, but it’s always fun seeing the weird fringe of the Left getting angry at the pub-going working class when they once again reject being a vanguard. As for being a “rabid right-wing extremist” – very best of luck circling that square.… Read more »
Obviously hit a raw nerve, you are so completely wrong and you know it hence the personal insults. And can you please make up your mind as to who Cathy Jones is supposed to have a class bias against: In your first reply to me: “All the upper crust down the “pub”, plotting our carbon-flooded demise” – I assume by “upper crust” you are referring to the upper class. But then in your last comment: “the weird fringe of the Left getting angry at the pub-going working class when they once again reject being a vanguard.” So can you please… Read more »
Aaaah, now I see where you’ve gotten mixed up (and will remain so in order to save face perhaps, but let’s hope that’s not the case for a moment) – The “pub” reference is a clear indication, through various statements that Cathy has made on these boards, of a ‘type’ that she portrays that doesn’t like this policy. Indeed, polling and media interviews would also suggest that it is overwhelmingly people who one could regard as ‘working’ or ‘middle’ class that don’t like this new policy. So, even if she didn’t intend to directly, this glib reference to where such… Read more »
Sounds like a series of convoluted explanations to me.
Good to see you’ve finally mentioned the middle class though, I was a bit worried there. Cathy Jones is obviously an equal opportunity classist so it’s not all bad!
How quickly some can go from “read more, prole” to “TLDR – you probably read too much”. Your marker for quality seems to be yourself. Perhaps consider a new marker.
With regards to 20mph the Tories and their right-wing supporters on social media (including bots) and the press can come up with all manner of lies – enforcement road blocks, it’s a blanket limit, the fire brigade are going to diverted from their day job, etc. However, once the 20mph limit is in place there will be no blanket limit, no road blocks and most will notice little change. Then the Tories and their blowhard allies will have to campaign for the speed limit to rise across Wales against the wishes of those who live in thousands of quite family… Read more »
The implementation is poor – little publicity or education, little thought as to exempting roads where risk is limited compared to residential areas or dense urban enviroments eg business parks, industrial estates, or rewarding motorists by getting rid of road humps in 20 mph zones or up dating traffic signals so they do not cycle when there in no waiting traffic or the pedestrian who pushed the button has long ago crossed but the lights still change. Mind you the Highway code changes giving priority to pedestrians when turning into junctions and giving cyclists 1.5M on overtaking them also received… Read more »
Offering a non-driver perspective on this and as someone who grew up in a rural area. Firstly I am very glad that public transport will be upgraded in Wales especially the rail network. I know a lot of people whose primary reason for learning to drive in the first place was that they simply couldn’t get from one village to a nearby town without several interconnecting bus journeys. The total of which could be hours just to travel ten miles or less and if you happened to miss the last bus usually scheduled for five minutes passed standard clocking out… Read more »
The WG have no doubt learnt from other implementations (smoking ban, plastic bag charge) – implementing just at the start of the school term is good publicity. There’ll be little enforcement early on but the law-minded drivers will drive down speeds of others, and let it settle in. Let those loving the change (including the fact it’s a differentiator from across the border) push police and local authorities for enforcement. It’s not something people like to talk about post-Brexit but lots of the rest of the world is 30kph and their economy hasn’t crashed. I don’t know why any of… Read more »
Oooh, I wonder who deleted the comments between Jac y Gogledd and our Senator for Swansea East? Was it Jac for misunderstanding housing associations or Mike for his obfuscatory non-answer? Welsh politics, ladies and gents.
What point are you trying to make exactly, other than trying to prove that you are on the wrong side of history?
Wrong side of history???? On 20 mph speed limits on residential roads in Wales? Dear annwyl, talk about peak banality. On what I meant… I’m not sure how much clearer I could make it without resorting to being totally patronising.
Tories are always on the wrong side of history, just read some history and you can find this out for yourself. And I mean proper history not the Daily Mail pretending-that-they-never-supported-fascsim-and -the-Britush-Empire-was-good kind of history.
Ac yna fe gymerasant hwy flodau’r deri a blodau’r banadl, ac or rhai hynny creu y ddadl twpaf a welodd dyn erioed. A rhoi’r enw Barry iddo.
I look forward to your 4-volume piece on the great 20 MPH saga of Cymru. I hope it gets put on the newer new cwricwlwm i Gymru. Every pupil can then get an A-serennog in worn out idioms that get used incorrectly.
Like I said try reading some history. Race, gender, sexuality, the environment and even basic democratic freedoms – the Tories have opposed it all and still do, that is all they are really good for.
P.S. I didn’t know that Google Translate had a special insult generator, so thanks for the heads up on that one.
Ma’r twmlad ‘da fi bo’ fi ‘di darllen tam’ bach fwy o hanes nag i ti, ond ta’ beth, sai’n siwr pa lyfrau ‘hanes’ basai’n cadarnhau fod y ceidwadwyr “yn erbyn” y fath categoriau cyffredinol. Sa’ i’n siwr chwaith pwy yn union sy’n cefnogi’r toriaid yma, ond ma’ lot well ‘da fi ffeindio’r gwir. Yn ogystal, mae’n bwysig hela am y rhai yn ein plith sy’n wanach yn rhethregol oherwydd NHW yw’r rhai sy’n ein cadw ni rhag ein rhyddid. Pobl fel tithe. Pobl sy’n warae gemau dwl sy’n achosi’r Cymry i droi at ddifrawder a diweithredwch. Y rhai sy’n… Read more »
I haven’t deleted anything, sunshine
Oh I know – Realised that a while back, it’s on the other op-ed, but was having way too much fun banging my head against the brick wall of wilful ignorance being erected here.