People aren't going to like this one bit. Also, I noticed the article used the phrase, "The initial site identification was done without visiting them". If anyone from the Evening Post is reading this I'm more than happy to help you out, using my ability to read and write basic English. - Mike
I will never understand people's aversions to wind farms. They are stunning pieces of machinery to look at. On the drive to Joshua Tree from San Diego, there is this massive wind farm - serious hundred acreage going on (couldn't get photos because there wasn't anywhere immediately available to pull over on the freeway), and it's like something from Doctor Who/the original series of Star Trek. Almost rendered me speechless. And they're 10x better for the environment. Gotta go somewhere. - Natali Fisher
I think they're attractive too. Better than chimney stacks. The big one near Reading on the drive into London is quite spectacular as it kind of towers over the motorway. - Mike
Yeah, windmills are lovely, especially that one by Reading – it’s a work of art! I don't get the problems people have with them... - Laurence Ketteringham
The mention of Avonmouth in the comments of your photo Zoe reminds me- I'm of the opinion that the three windmills in Avonmouth are the most attractive feature of that particular part of town. - Mike
They are nice but given the whole industrial wasteland look of the area is never going to win any beauty contests - Zoe
The difference between the stories is subtle, but noticeable! The Evening Post does seem to enjoy inciting anger over issues that don't really matter to most people. - Laurence Ketteringham
Anyone else find it interesting that the Evening Post's screaming headline appeared above a picture of two semi-naked women (who turn out to be St Paul's Carnival participants and nothing to do with the Downs story)? - Mike
The Evening Post are owned by the same people as the Daily Mail, so it should be no surprise they go for the moral outrage headline - Zoe
Aye, the bottom line for them is - does it sell papers? - Pete Gilbert
You're a brave man taking that down. I'll feel sad, even to pass on the baton to another person for the new site, let alone when it comes to the end of its life :( - Laurence Ketteringham
This article is ridiculous. The spokesperson says they are, "on track, on time and on budget". Why did the writer feel the need to allude to "various problems during construction"? Not exciting enough without this vague piece of non-information? Bit tabloidy, no? - Mike
Do you think they are getting worried that no one will have any money to spent in all those new expensive shops? - Zoe
Now it becomes clear why they scrapped the X84 - scum sucking Firstbus want to run the buses on a more lucrative route down the M32. Why transfer students or UWE staff when you can make more money bussing punters from North Bristol who might otherwise shop out at the mall. - Pete Gilbert
“How about a nice picture for the Bristol group? Anyone want to knock something up in Photoshop that incorporates the FF smily face? That would be cool. Otherwise maybe something CC licensed from the Flickr group?”
Too many Bristols? Got to be careful where you say that! - Pete Gilbert
That's annoying, no matter what version you try and put in there - JPG, PNG, GIF, or what size it seems to turn it into a poor quality JPG with the words surrounded by horrible compression artefacts... :( - Laurence Ketteringham
I could try it with a white background - that might make it less full of noise... Putting the text at a jaunty 30 degrees makes it slightly bigger and easier to see, too, but I'm not sure what people would feel about that - any ideas? I'll put images up in flickr again. Just JPgs as it seems to turn the images into JPGs anyway. So they're here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/l... and http://www.flickr.com/photos/l... - Laurence Ketteringham
Laurence- not sure if you've changed it since the comment before the one above, but it looks better (in fact, it looks good) on Firefox 3 at home than it did on IE7 at work. - Mike
Other cities must be dead jealous of our new icon... - Pete Gilbert
So this is some actual news- what do we all think? I think the bike hire system sounds great, though it relies on the council being organised and the bikes not being vandalised. I'm not going to hold my breath over both of those things. - Mike
Yep, sound good, still would like to see a mass transit system, but like you say its all about what ends up getting delivered - Zoe
Also hoping it's not limited to the city centre- it would be great for me to pick up a bike, say, on North Street and then cycle to somewhere like Temple Meads without having to first walk or bus into the centre. - Mike
The best quote in there is
"The first step in persuading people to leave their cars at home is to offer them a real choice."
That's the most important issue that needs to be dealt with, whether it's to do with bikes or any other kind of transport that provides an alternative to cars.
The main problem at the moment is that there are no alternatives to most journeys that don’t cost a whole lot more, and/or mean that you take far longer to get to your destination, in significantly less comfort.
Though I’d like it to change, you can see why people stick to their cars. - Laurence Ketteringham
Maybe we also need to incorporate some outdoor escalators like they have in Barcelona or Hong Kong for the ridiculously hills bits! :D - Laurence Ketteringham
So I can get an escalator to go to work? Cool. Can mine have a roof? (Never satisfied...) - Pete Gilbert
I was thinking this this morning funnily enough, when my gf left 20 mins early to catch the earlier bus, but it ended up not arriving and she just stood outside until her normal bus came- what if she'd given the driver of the bus that did arrive an earful of abuse when she got on/ off, instead of just being grateful a bus had come? Would the drivers start feeding back to First that the situation was unacceptable? - Mike
What I reckon is just withdraw the good will. No more "thank you" when you get off the bus. Certainly no "Cheers Drive" as some people do. Just ask for ticket etc. then that's it. - Pete Gilbert
I thought employing most of eastern europe would have solved their timetable / staff problems .. i really dont know what they are going to do when the new shopping centre opens :/ - [mRg]
It seems mean to me to be unpleasant, deliberately, to the drivers who (apart from the few grumpy bastards) are mostly good people just trying to do their job. The only people that would affect would be the drivers. If someone didn’t thank you for doing your job, would you go to your employer and tell them that it was their fault? - Laurence Ketteringham
I agree with Laurence in some ways, as there are some really nice drivers (a couple who are often on my route are great). On the other hand we're usually so thankful that a bus has turned up, and so used to the high prices, that I don't think drivers really realise what people are feeling. - Mike
I think the drivers on the X84 and 70 routes are a breed apart, being culled from a group of the most miserable, most dishonest bunch. They never show up when the timetable says they should - regardless of weight of traffic. They are consistently rude to our students, most of whom are visitors to our city. They get to see a very poor representation of what Bristol has to offer. - Pete Gilbert
Yeah, there's some miserable ones out there, but they do have a pretty hard job, plus students can be some of the most self absorbed idiots around. - Laurence Ketteringham
I think part of the problem is definitely that the drivers have crap pay and conditions, plus they're on their own really if drunk/ drugged/ threatening passengers get on. On the other hand, cheaper and better transport would mean more people on the buses, rather than just people who are 'forced' onto public transport, so a safer, happier experience for all. - Mike
Yes, that would definitely help, but that would have to come from the top of the company. I think it’s clear that they aren’t listening or they don’t care, though, otherwise improvements would have been made already. - Laurence Ketteringham
I wrote to my councillors after talking about this on twitter a while back, and its turns out one of them was the head of transport. The Council can only ask First to make changes, First only answer to their own shareholders. Most of the real power and money to change this is in Westminster. Another thing was that Councils in the greater Bristol area don't really get on and have very different ideas on how changes should be made - Zoe
It all sounds pretty clunky and unworkable. I can’t fathom why the council can’t run a bus service on a not-for-profit basis, making it either better or cheaper, rather than bus users having to fill the pockets of investors just to get around... - Laurence Ketteringham
After reading both sides of the debate I have decided to buy a car ;) - Pete Gilbert
Sadly, it's the only way to get to some places cheaply, comfortably and in a short time. Desperate, really. - Laurence Ketteringham
