teuchter
je suis teuchter
Car owners looking out the window and seeing delivery vans come and go: I wonder if it occurs to them that whether or not it means a net increase in vehicles, it means that their monopoly on easy access to goods has ended.
Without widespread home delivery, if you had a car and wanted something you would drive, possibly to an out of town shopping complex with everything set up for your convenience, and get what you want. You'd have an area with a radius measured in miles that would be in easy reach, so lots of choice where to go. And as much as you want - no need to worry about how much you can carry. But without a car, you'd have to limit yourself to places that you could walk to or which were served by public transport. And that tends to mean smaller branches of shops in high streets where the choice is less and the price might be higher. And you'd have to think about how much things weigh and how big they are and whether you can walk with them or get them on the bus. In the past, home delivery was always available to some extent but often would mean you'd have to wait a week or two for the thing to arrive while the car owner could get it the same day.
While home delivery vans may well be replacing some journeys that previously would have been made on foot or by public transport, they also replace journeys made by car where one person drives X miles to get one item. Delivery vans combine multiple delivery trips into one circuit. So I don't see an increase in home deliveries as a bad thing per se; it equalises access to goods. Of course, the more efficient it can be made, the less duplication of service and the less polluting the vehicles can be made, the better.
Without widespread home delivery, if you had a car and wanted something you would drive, possibly to an out of town shopping complex with everything set up for your convenience, and get what you want. You'd have an area with a radius measured in miles that would be in easy reach, so lots of choice where to go. And as much as you want - no need to worry about how much you can carry. But without a car, you'd have to limit yourself to places that you could walk to or which were served by public transport. And that tends to mean smaller branches of shops in high streets where the choice is less and the price might be higher. And you'd have to think about how much things weigh and how big they are and whether you can walk with them or get them on the bus. In the past, home delivery was always available to some extent but often would mean you'd have to wait a week or two for the thing to arrive while the car owner could get it the same day.
While home delivery vans may well be replacing some journeys that previously would have been made on foot or by public transport, they also replace journeys made by car where one person drives X miles to get one item. Delivery vans combine multiple delivery trips into one circuit. So I don't see an increase in home deliveries as a bad thing per se; it equalises access to goods. Of course, the more efficient it can be made, the less duplication of service and the less polluting the vehicles can be made, the better.
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