2015年经济学人 布里斯托面临城市停车难题

Car parking

Four wheel fever

Even with a mayor, Bristol may not get a coherent transport policy

Try and put a ticket on this CLIFTON, in Bristol, is an unlikely hotbed of political activism.

Behind high streets filled with independent cafés, posh delis and expensive flower shops sit grand Regency houses.

Yet three times this year residents and businessmen have marched through the streets of Bristol-first carrying a coffin¹ and then,

twice, with a tank-to protest against plans by the mayor, George Ferguson, to roll out stricter parking regulations.

Their discontent hints at the powerful sense of entitlement felt by Britain's car owners. It also highlights the limits of devolved government.

Bristol is one of the most congested cities in Britain.

Traffic during the evening rush hour moves more slowly than anywhere except Belfast, Edinburgh and London.

Fashion and official prodding² have put more bicycles on the roads: bike traffic has grown by 25% since 2003.

But car use has not dropped. Getting around in the city can be unbearable³, concedes Mr Ferguson:

“If we're just one great bloody⁴ traffic jam we're not going to be an economically thriving city.”

Bristol was the only city to vote for a mayor in a series of plebiscites held in 2012; nine others rejected them.

And Bristolians plumped for a man who promised to do something about traffic.

Mr Ferguson's first pledge was “getting Bristol moving”. He has abolished Sunday parking charges.

But the mayor is also in the process of introducing tighter parking restrictions⁵ beyond the city centre,

often in places where parking is currently free, along with 15 resident parking zones.

Locals will pay 48 (81) for the first permit to park near their homes.

Under current plans, businesses will only be allocated⁶ a handful of parking permits.

Employees who do not get them will have to find other ways of getting to work in a city with a less than wonderful bus network.

This irks business owners. “Potentially 45 minutes will be added to a long commute,”

complains Jonathan Marchant, who works at an accountancy firm in Clifton.

Other companies are threatening to move out of the city.

Mr Ferguson has much less sway over public transport than the mayor of London does,

which makes it harder to lubricate unpopular changes.

When Ken⁷ Livingstone, the former boss of London, introduced a controversial congestion⁸ charge to the city

in 2003 he was also able to promise to lay on more buses and pump a successful transport system with cash.

All Mr Ferguson can really do is negotiate with the privatised bus operator to bring down fares and extend routes slightly.

For big projects he depends on largesse⁹ from Westminster even more than London mayors do.

And cash to spend on big projects is tight these days in any case.

Worse, Mr Ferguson's reach does not extend far. Around two-thirds of metropolitan¹⁰ Bristol is under his control;

the other third is run by another council, South Gloucestershire.

This makes co-ordinating transport policy tricky¹¹, and increases the likelihood that politicians will squabble.

Even if the mayor succeeds, the metropolis¹² might not benefit much.

In Clifton, a suspension bridge links Bristol with North Somerset.

“Everybody and his daughter will park there and walk across,” predicts one resident.

Rather than solving a city's traffic problem, Mr Ferguson might just end up pushing it elsewhere.

1 coffin   

n.棺材，灵柩

参考例句：

• When one's coffin is covered,all discussion about him can be settled.盖棺论定。
• The coffin was placed in the grave.那口棺材已安放到坟墓里去了。

2 prodding   

v.刺，戳( prod的现在分词 )；刺激；促使；（用手指或尖物）戳

参考例句：

• He needed no prodding. 他不用督促。
• The boy is prodding the animal with a needle. 那男孩正用一根针刺那动物。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 unbearable   

adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的

参考例句：

• It is unbearable to be always on thorns.老是处于焦虑不安的情况中是受不了的。
• The more he thought of it the more unbearable it became.他越想越觉得无法忍受。

4 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

5 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

6 allocated   

adj. 分配的 动词allocate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The Ford Foundation allocated millions of dollars for cancer research. 福特基金会拨款数百万美元用于癌症研究。
• More funds will now be allocated to charitable organizations. 现在会拨更多的资金给慈善组织。

7 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

8 congestion   

n.阻塞，消化不良

参考例句：

• The congestion in the city gets even worse during the summer.夏天城市交通阻塞尤为严重。
• Parking near the school causes severe traffic congestion.在学校附近泊车会引起严重的交通堵塞。

9 largesse   

n.慷慨援助，施舍

参考例句：

• She is not noted for her largesse.没人听说过她出手大方。
• Our people are in no need of richer nations' largesse.我国人民不需要富国的施舍。

10 metropolitan   

adj.大城市的，大都会的

参考例句：

• Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
• Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。

11 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

12 metropolis   

n.首府；大城市

参考例句：

• Shanghai is a metropolis in China.上海是中国的大都市。
• He was dazzled by the gaiety and splendour of the metropolis.大都市的花花世界使他感到眼花缭乱。