On track or off road, the political dilemma of the 20mph limit

If they were to drop or indefinitely delay the 20 mph limit policy at a late stage they'll succeed in having annoyed both sides of the debate. Whereas if it comes in and the sky doesn't fall in and people get used to it and only a small minority is continually aggrevated by it they've at least only annoyed one side.

With regards to 20mph the Tories and their right-wing supporters on social media (including bots) and the press can come up with all manner of lies - enforcement road blocks, it's a blanket limit, the fire brigade are going to diverted from their day job, etc. However, once the 20mph limit is in place there will be no blanket limit, no road blocks and most will notice little change. Then the Tories and their blowhard allies will have to campaign for the speed limit to rise across Wales against the wishes of those who live in thousands of quite family neighbourhoods across the country.

The implementation is poor - little publicity or education, little thought as to exempting roads where risk is limited compared to residential areas or dense urban enviroments eg business parks, industrial estates, or rewarding motorists by getting rid of road humps in 20 mph zones or up dating traffic signals so they do not cycle when there in no waiting traffic or the pedestrian who pushed the button has long ago crossed but the lights still change. Mind you the Highway code changes giving priority to pedestrians when turning into junctions and giving cyclists 1.5M on overtaking them also received no publicity, hence the majority ignoring the changes. But the aim to reduce death and injury on the road and making urban areas more pleasant to live in is worth pursuit but realistically this is a 20 yr journey.

Offering a non-driver perspective on this and as someone who grew up in a rural area. Firstly I am very glad that public transport will be upgraded in Wales especially the rail network. I know a lot of people whose primary reason for learning to drive in the first place was that they simply couldn't get from one village to a nearby town without several interconnecting bus journeys. The total of which could be hours just to travel ten miles or less and if you happened to miss the last bus usually scheduled for five minutes passed standard clocking out time you were stranded. Reliant on an acquaintance to rescue you or taxi charging extortionate prices. Unfeasible in this fast paced society where people don't work in the village they live in. Secondly, the 20mph rule. I can understand but again from a perspective of a non-driver familiar with the winding country roads of Wales, it wasn't uncommon for kids in my school to get into crashes speeding along those roads. A few died. I've witnessed people speeding into towns and villages like they're in formula one and I've been worried about crossing the road in some locations. I realise that these speed-racers aren't the majority of car owners but still I would rather have people doing 20mph driving into town than 80mph. Thirdly, we are in a time of great transition and everyone is going to experience changes that annoys them in order to go green, but they're going to happen anyway. It's less aggrevation to accept what needs to happen and be actively involved in deciding the alternatives and shaping the future, because that is where politicians could really leave us out in the cold. If they're spending your money, make sure you get a good deal. For example if more buses and trains are what to expect, the really should be an exclusive service for workers as they can't afford to miss their ride or not be enough space because public transport is suddenly the popular choice. They should think about distinctions in choice of travel. Business, recreation etc and cater to everyone.

The WG have no doubt learnt from other implementations (smoking ban, plastic bag charge) - implementing just at the start of the school term is good publicity. There’ll be little enforcement early on but the law-minded drivers will drive down speeds of others, and let it settle in. Let those loving the change (including the fact it’s a differentiator from across the border) push police and local authorities for enforcement. It’s not something people like to talk about post-Brexit but lots of the rest of the world is 30kph and their economy hasn’t crashed. I don’t know why any of this is a surprise though - Lee Waters has been upfront in saying he wants it to be more difficult to drive that public transport, and the cheapest way to do this is making driving less attractive whilst improving public transport when you can afford too.

Oooh, I wonder who deleted the comments between Jac y Gogledd and our Senator for Swansea East? Was it Jac for misunderstanding housing associations or Mike for his obfuscatory non-answer? Welsh politics, ladies and gents.