Yesterday the Big Wheel team was delighted to welcome their newest (and youngest!) member – Kay´s gorgeous baby boy Arthur. As some of you may know Kay´s off on maternity leave and she came in with Arthur to say hello. At just six months old he seemed eager to get working away, reaching out for our keyboards as if he just couldn´t wait to tell the world how great the Big Wheel is. Well, if you start them early they´ll grow up with good habits!
And in other (more transport focused) news…
I was interested to see a report about congestion charging in Manchester on the BBC Breakfast news this morning. Not least because I hadn´t realised how many cities currently use this system and how many other are considering it! London has had a lot of press about their congestion charge so it surprised me that places like Durham just quietly got on and got the job done – and that they were actually the first in the country to do so. Over the next week people in Manchester will be asked to vote for or against a proposed congestion charge for the city.
As I don´t own a car, live in the city centre and work for a sustainable marketing group I can see all the benefits a congestion charge would bring. Who doesn´t want less cars in city centres and better public transport with more investment to make it a genuine alternative to car use?
On the other hand I do remember growing up in a rural area on the Isle of Man, where it wasn´t economically viable to run more than one bus an hour. I was constantly choosing between being somewhere too long or not quite long enough – or bothering my parents to come and collect me. That was a pretty extreme case (the Isle of Man isn´t known for being the most up to date or efficient of places!) but not everyone lives within easy reach of public transport so what do these people do when congestion charges hit?
It´s a tricky issue and one that isn´t easy to solve – but I´ll be intrigued to hear what the people of Manchester decide.