Below: worry not - I'm not photographing while driving along at speed. The car's safely at rest, handbrake on, engine off, waiting for some signs of movement.
My journey home - 150km - takes four hours. Average speed is 37.5kmh (or an utterly pathetic 23mph). It's faster than cycling the distance - just. Taking the car today was fully justified, given the amount of stuff that needed to be lugged down to Łódź; today public transport was not an option.With parliamentary elections coming up next week, and a mere one percentage point in the polls between PO and PiS, what can I say except that every single infrastructure minister Poland's had since 1990 has been as useless as the one before.
Left: between Stryków and Łówicz - a striking ad for a tyre, exhaust and oil-change garage. How will the business fare once the A2 motorway finally gets to run all the way to Warsaw?Today I could clearly see just how badly Poland's roads affect the nation's competitiveness. Until this is sorted, foreign investors looking to set up factories here will have a problem.
Vote wisely next Sunday.
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7 comments:
So what needs to change, in your opinion, for either road or rail? Is it a lack of technical expertise within the government - maybe something that the right consultant skills could help? Simple ineptitude? I'm curious if you see a place for privatization to improve the situation, especially given how many people complain about rail in the UK. Private highways must not be all bad considering how many other countries are doing it now.
@DC - it's the over-cautious approach of Poland's middle ranks of bureaucrats. It's easier not to take a decision than to take an unpopular or risky one. Idle and the incompetent bureaucrats do not get fired, they just act as a handbrake to the nation's economic development.
Privatisation of rail in the UK was not done correctly (Railtrack should have stayed in state hands)- people may complain about the railways, but more people are using the railways in the UK than at any time in the past half-century!
Private highways - happy to pay to use a high-quality, safe motorway.
This was surely the notorious national road number fourteen. This will not cease before the motorway from Stryków to Warsaw is built... No matter when you drive there, working day or weekend, morning or evening, there are always traffic jams. It can't be helped, but from what I see when getting about Poland, things are moving in the right direction, unfortunately as slowly as traffic on your way yesterday.
Today traffic on ul. Puławska was much worse than in the last week of September? More cars on the road or tampering with traffic lights...?
Vote wisely? Is it possible? We can only choose lesser evil...
Oh well there's only another few thousand kilometres of modernisation to go.
@ Bartek - October's just begun and with it the university year. Thousands of well-off students and their poor lecturers join the fray.
The City authorities must step up investment in public transport (at the cost of the private motorist). What do we want? A congestion charge for Warsaw! What do we want the money spent on? Bus lanes on Puławska, more tramways, trains every 15 minutes to and from Piaseczno!
As it turned out today, it was, fortunately, a one-off jam. Made it from Metro Wilanowska to NI in 28 minutes in late rush hour (around 6 p.m.)
When I was a well-off student I commuted by public transport. It's easy to be well-off with someone else's (in their case usually their parents') money.
I am against a bus lane on ul. Puławska. Bus lanes serve their purpose well in the cities, not on roads out of them. For the suburbs we need to improve rail transport (more services to Piaseczno and one day maybe a tram along ul. Puławska, though I doubt it is doable).
SGH... I disagree, a bus lane would be an excellent reminder to all those drivers that if they took public transport they'd be home in a quarter of the time. Sometimes, if a dog makes a mess, you need to rub their nose in it..
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