Use public money for really effective solutions to congestion, pollution and climate

Dear friends

During our excellent talk on scams from the police at Halesowen Pensioners' meeting yesterday, I woke up to how High Scam 2, and ongoing extensions of Metro and Sprint are all scams.  Let me explain:

High Scam 2 between London and Manchester goes so fast that it can only drop off and pick up passengers at two airports, with only some trains stopping at Brum and Crewe.  We have been sold the lie that it will increase capacity on the railway network and, therefore, more trains and services will be seen on the existing railway lines.  Over a hundred billions pounds in price and in weight of dangerous greenhouse gas emissions are being spent to give us a choice of either flying through the air on a plane or, on land in an HS2 train.  Why all that damage and destruction to benefit only the wealthy and plane flyers having the choice of train or plane?

As regards Metro trams costing at least £15 billion (2020 figure) for 150 miles and eight lines by 2040 this gives us:

1. flash, smart, smooth trams, certainly but, even the nationwide tram promotion group insist it is a "bus on rails".
2. The trams simply replace or duplicate buses that all need to be electric and which are already being phased in, anyway.
3. Why yet more expense, yet more climate breakdown to put buses on rails on roads when tyres on roads are perfectly adequate?
4. The idea is that you walk to the bus to take you to the train station.  You get off at your destination station for the bus to take you to your final destination.
5. On Hagley Road, Brum we will be seeing 1,000 trees and shrubs felled on the south, westbound side for the Metro extension to Bearwood.  Nature is desperately needed to slow deteriorating life support systems from the escalating climate emergency.

Sprint buses are the super duper buses that think they are trams, we are told.  BUT,

• Less than ten years ago, we were informed that, for £12 m, Sprint diesel buses were to be put down Hagley Road to Quinton on the border with Dudley borough.
• Therefore, you will still need the Platinum buses to take you on to Halesowen and Stourbridge.
• This means a change of transport mode and a delay in your  journey.
• Plus, Metro trams, along with Sprint and the regular buses all on the two lanes of Hagley Road.

INSTEAD

Use the money to give all non pensioners the free public transport that we have enjoyed for decades.

Plus, the bus priority measures on dual carriageways to speed the bus and inconvenience the selfish, thoughtless car commuters who clog up the roads for bus, lorry and other essential business users who must use their vehicles.

How can there be greater economic justice for the poor, who include pensioners, when hundreds of millions of pounds in both price and in weight of greenhouse gas emissions is being spent on these three major transport construction projects from the WMCA?

Our transport planners at 16 Summer Lane do so love their big, flash, fancy engineering projects to keep them in work.  But, they can all be redeployed into our

 Nine Action Points from W Mids Climate Coalitio...

Tim Weller - and could each of you please respond, this time?  THANKS!