16/05/2003 00:00
TW
0

Dear Sir, I note in your Viewpoint on page 2 of the Bulletin on May 8 that you suggest Palma should follow London and introduce a Congestion Charge (CC).
That should be the last thing they might do. There are now less cars than before but also less people, property is worth less for selling and renting, however there are more For Sale/To Let signs than ever. People want to live, work, or own property in an area free from restriction and the CC does not allow that.

One has to go through the trouble of notifying Transport for London (TfL) by phone, letter or email when visiting Central London for clearance, or being fined up to £80.

If one should book in advance, but could not make it, there is no refund.
To pay for a year at £5 per day per 5 day's working week would amount to an extra tax of £1'300, three times what some of us have already paid for car insurance for the year.

The alternative when going to work is standing on the Tube and getting in tired or waiting for a bus and gettng in wet, if raining.
Businesses have reported of losses of between 15-30% in takings through the CC.
I am sure locals, tourists and business would never be happy with CC in Palma.
The transport in Palma is not a patch on London with its Tube, mailine trains, and buses.
Palma City Council should see that the buses run more regularly, not in bunches, and the Council itself should not do anything stupid as when they made EMT No 3 bus route stop at Cas Catala instead of Illetas Playa, with its 10 minute interval, and replaced it with Transbus L108 route which gives an irregular service of 40 minutes to the hour.

A 10 minute service must be restored to save me having to use rental cars or taxis.
The Council should also designate more roads with double red lines making parking forbidden on them and instead of spending millions on new car parks, give private car park operators planning consent to use any empty sites for public car parking at appropriate fees.

A Palmer, Calvia