BAD NEWS for Aberdeen Cars in the Press and Journal

A Horrifying Report in our local newspaper, the Press and Journal.

Apparently, traffic on our major city routes is at its lowest for years and years. In some cases traffic levels have dropped to a paltry volume not seen since 1995. We find this news both distressing and confusing. And a not a little suspicious.

Firstly, as everyone knows, more cars on more roads is the only way to ensure future prosperity for Aberdeen "City and Shire". So, if the trend is for fewer cars on the roads, this suggests that all is lost in the battle for the future. All this despite our best efforts and those of our colleagues. It's just not fair!

The A956 Inner Ring Road.
It's quiet; too quiet.

But secondly, we're suspicious of the Press and Journal's motivations for initially seeking out this information and then reporting it in such sensational terms. We have to point out that the Press and Journal is owned by DC Thomson. Of Dundee. Can it be a coincidence that our artist-loving rival city is instrumental in providing this downbeat picture of Aberdeen? We know that, having missed out on the oil bonanza of the last 30 years they have an axe to grind and have a vested interest in seeing Aberdeen fail. That they should stoop so low as to bad-mouth our level of traffic is disgusting. Busy roads means that lots of aspirational people in nice cars are going about their nationally-important business with alacrity. When the envious Dundonians suggest that Aberdeen's traffic is in decline they are guilty of suggesting that Aberdeen is becoming less important. How dare they!

The report suggests that the eco-warrior cyclists and train-lovers are winning in the war on the motorist, despite Philip Hammond's declaration that the war on the motorist was over! What's going on? This cannot stand! We must resist!

Not that we believe the quoted figures anyway, but nevertheless we call on all drivers of Aberdeen Cars to get out and about and drive around as much as possible as badly as possible and cause as much congestion as possible. Only by reversing this (dubious) reported decline in Aberdeen's motoring figures can we be sure that the No 1 Hope for the Future - The AWPR Aberdeen Bypass - is delivered along with other big-ticket road-infrastructure projects for the city such as the Berryden Urban Dual Carriagway,  the 3rd Don Crossing and the Union Terrace Undgerground Car-Park. This is no time for complacency. So we say "Is your journey really necessary?" Whether the answer is yes or no, you MUST use the car!

So, a dubious article which very rudely talks down Aberdeen and talks down the drivers of Aberdeen Cars. All with an agenda behind it. We resist the implications of this article and we cannot believe it's premise and conclusions. And even if we did, we're with the readers who have posted comments to the article's web page. Busses cause congestion. FACT. Bus lanes must be scrapped. END OF.