iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Cargo Bike Ben @cargobikeben.bsky.social · 38m

That said, the real issue is that council tax desperately needs reforming. Ideally combining elements of LVT to encourage intensification to match local demand (or collect the right amount if someone is willing to pay), while also considering the impact each household has (perhaps a per-car charge).

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Cargo Bike Ben @cargobikeben.bsky.social · 38m

I assume this is about Hammersmith and Fulham, and Wandsworth? If so, they can – politely – get fucked. I pay £3,056.28 a year for my Band E council tax. Meanwhile, someone in H&F pays £1,857.18 a year, and someone in Wandsworth pays £1,247.10 a year for Band Es. That's absurd.

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Cargo Bike Ben @cargobikeben.bsky.social · 23h

Liverpool BID's own information suggests it's had little to no impact, or potentially even a positive one. Apparently footfall is up by quite a bit (~5%) other than on Friday and Saturday where it's down. But both of those days are more likely to be impacted by customer confidence & macro-economics.

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Cargo Bike Ben @cargobikeben.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Absolutely, and of course, as with any local consultation, those who are most motivated are most likely to respond. In this case, the most motivated will be those who were benefiting from the subsidised parking, so they didn't have to pay to store their own property via paying for a permit or space.

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Cargo Bike Ben @cargobikeben.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Evidence has shown time and time again, when you have subsided parking and no time limits (as was the case with Liverpool after 6pm) it is overwhelmingly used by staff in local businesses and by residents avoiding paying for parking in their apartments; not by customers.

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Cargo Bike Ben @cargobikeben.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Also, it’s worth bearing in mind that the org behind the FOI request is ran by and for business owners; many of whom are now in the uncomfortable position of no longer being able to pay staff less because they could freeload off subsidised on street parking.

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Cargo Bike Ben @cargobikeben.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

If it's difficult to detect, they need to be banned for safety reasons.

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Cargo Bike Ben @cargobikeben.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

What the actual fuck? These need banning immediately before someone is killed or seriously injured by someone fucking around with these while driving.

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Cargo Bike Ben @cargobikeben.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

The real cost of living crisis is caused by housing supply issues and high transport costs; both of which have car dependency as a root structural cause.

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Cargo Bike Ben @cargobikeben.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Repeat after me… The post-2021 inflation shock did not create Britain’s cost-of-living crisis. It exposed how little financial resilience households had left after decades of rising housing costs and compulsory transport expenditure due to car dependency and car-focused development patterns.

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Bill Tubbs @billtubbs.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Copenhagen during rush hour. If they were in cars it would be grid lock.

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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

It’s remarkable how many people can move on a street when those people don’t feel the need to always take a massive car with them. Mobility in cities is about space.

Busy European street with buses filled with people in a long line of people on bikes, waiting for the light to change in a separated, protected bike lane. Imagine if all those people or each in a separate car.

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Cargo Bike Ben @cargobikeben.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Born in, and may have only lived there a short time. Nicola Roberts, for example, was I think around 3 when she left Lincolnshire to live in Runcorn (Cheshire).

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Fietser @americanfietser.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

"Running errands by bike is not practical when you have children, especially with a baby." What's possible in life is limited by the city you live in. When the infrastructure enables you, the options give you freedom.

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Cargo Bike Ben @cargobikeben.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

They’re not angry. You just nearly killed them. It’s a perfectly reasonable response.

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Fietser @americanfietser.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

It's amazing how some people dehumanize others simply for choosing a transportation method that doesn't involve a car. They also hate traffic and other drivers, while simultaneously seething with rage at anyone walking, cycling, or proposing we fund better public transit.

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Cargo Bike Ben @cargobikeben.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

“I’m a poor trans woman” confidently posts the bot.

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Cargo Bike Ben @cargobikeben.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Not really. Especially Sur-rons etc are far more powerful than any moped that ever existed. These are definitely firmly within motorbike territory; more specifically they accelerate like 250cc to 400cc motorbikes. Even the cheapest ones are closer to 125ccs than any moped that's ever existed.

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Cargo Bike Ben @cargobikeben.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Oh absolutely. I’m in no doubt some ebikes are used in the undertaking of crime. It’s not that I have an issue with. It’s the singling out as if somehow they are a problem in a way cars/other motor vehicles aren’t significantly worse for. I wouldn’t be surprised if 99% of county lines uses cars.

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Cargo Bike Ben @cargobikeben.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Actually, I take it back because I’ve left this line in. “E-bikes and e-motorcycles have become controversial because some think they are linked to crime and anti-social behaviour.” And cars aren’t used for crime in antisocial behaviour? 🤦🙄

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Cargo Bike Ben @cargobikeben.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Actually, I take it back because they’ve left this line in. “E-bikes and e-motorcycles have become controversial because some think they are linked to crime and anti-social behaviour.” And cars aren’t used for crime and anti-social behaviour? 🤦🙄

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Cargo Bike Ben @cargobikeben.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Looks like someone copy edited it, and they should be applauded for acknowledging the mistake. The bigger issue though is that they made the mistake in the first place again after having it pointed out to them countless times. There are far too many people who will have read the original article.

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Cargo Bike Ben @cargobikeben.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

While they should absolutely be applauded for correcting the article, the bigger issue is that they are still making the fundamental mistake in the first place. The problem with news is that once it’s been read once, that person is unlikely to reread the corrected version.

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Cargo Bike Ben @cargobikeben.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Also, he’s ignoring the fact that almost everyone who lives in such areas has land to store their vehicles on, instead of dumping it on the public highway and expecting the public to subsidise their failure to buy what they can store on their own land.

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Cargo Bike Ben @cargobikeben.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

These are not ebikes, for fucks sake. They’re electric motorbikes and if the police are selling on motor vehicles with no type approval, that’s the real fucking story @bbcnewsnight.bsky.social. They should be crushed; not put back onto the streets to be seized again.

bbc.co.uk

E-bikes seized by police sold on at auction, BBC finds

Thousands are confiscated annually because they are suspected of being driven illegally or used in a crime - most are destroyed, but last year police sold at least 161.

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Cargo Bike Ben @cargobikeben.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Either way, the solution is not to double down and make things worse. It’s to accept that we have to make a change and that change starts with removing the entitlement far too many have in thinking that they can store their private possessions on public land without paying an appropriate amount.

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Cargo Bike Ben @cargobikeben.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

If you need a car to get somewhere, that is a geographical fuck up. That might be because the place you are is too low density to viably support public transport (and I am talking about suburbs, not villages). It may be because common destinations are geographically dispersed (workplaces etc).

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Cargo Bike Ben @cargobikeben.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

It is to fix the car dependency issue that is largely down to spatial use. New homes should not be allowed to be built too far away from shops. And yes, in order to build the number of houses we need, that means detached and semi-detached homes will not work.

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Cargo Bike Ben @cargobikeben.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Yes, but that’s not the only factor. It’s that Japan didn’t make the mistake of turning over huge tracks of its land to storing vehicles and making things further apart than they need to be. The fix for the UK is not continuing to make the same mistake in turning over land to store cars.

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Cargo Bike Ben @cargobikeben.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Also, it’s worth noting this isn’t some abstract fantasy. This is literally how Japan operates. Show you have somewhere to store the vehicle that is either owned by you or you pay for, or there’s no car for you.

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Cargo Bike Ben @cargobikeben.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

If that means you cannot afford it, that means you cannot afford a car. It’s no different than buying a car and not being able to afford the fuel, or the insurance, or the maintenance. It’s simply a cost of owning a large piece of property you do not have the room to store on your own property.

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Cargo Bike Ben @cargobikeben.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I didn’t say they should be banned. I said they should pay for a space. And those spaces should be charged at market rate, not the pitiful £10/yr charges many councils ask for. Our roads are for moving vehicles, not storing them. The space we turn over to storage should be charged for appropriately.

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Cargo Bike Ben @cargobikeben.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I think you’ll find the vast majority of the country doesn’t have that problem. And also, what we’re calling for is that the nearest store shouldn’t be 9 miles away.

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Cargo Bike Ben @cargobikeben.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

So using the same off peak figure, an ebike is about 16 times cheaper than an EV, 144 times cheaper than petrol, and 150 times cheaper than diesel to power per mile. It’s a pity that Carbon Brief failed to highlight that fact.

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Cargo Bike Ben @cargobikeben.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

On the same cheap off-peak electricity rate used in the EV comparison, an ebike costs roughly 0.14 pence per mile in energy. That compares with about 2.3 pence per mile for an EV, 20.1 pence for petrol, and 21 pence for diesel. Even on a standard rate, an ebike costs around ~0.43p per mile.

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Cargo Bike Ben @cargobikeben.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Carbon Brief’s current figures are about 20.1p/mile for petrol, 21p/mile for diesel, 7p/mile for an EV charged at the household price cap, and 2.3p/mile for an EV on a cheap off-peak tariff. The “9x times cheaper” headline is specifically the comparison between ~21p and the 2.3p off-peak EV figure.

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Cargo Bike Ben @cargobikeben.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Having a driveway or a on-street reserved space should be a requirement for owning a car anyway.

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Cargo Bike Ben @cargobikeben.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

And motorist too. Every person commuting by bike is one fewer car in front of them.

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The War on Cars @thewaroncars.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

"what he calls 'the war on cars'" as if it's not a thing Canadian politicians have been saying for over 15 years any time you want to make things even slightly better for cyclists and transit users.

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Fietser @americanfietser.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Real protected infrastructure gives the consequences to reckless motorist, not the person outside of their car. Protect lives, not paint jobs.

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Cargo Bike Ben @cargobikeben.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

The same as the rest of the road network. If only idiots like this dad realised that, he might not drive the short distance to the school every morning.

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Iain Roberts @slowbikeiain.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

One thing this misses is that the residents have to pay to maintain the road, which isn't cheap. So when this gentleman and others drive on the road, they're doing damage and expecting others to pick up the bill, or to suffer the consequences of it being covered in potholes.

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