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Car parking

停車場

Four wheel fever

四輪熱

Even with a mayor, Bristol may not get a coherenttransport policy

即便市長出馬，布里斯托爾也不見得能出臺一個合理的交通政策

Try and put a ticket on this

貼張罰單試試

CLIFTON, in Bristol, is an unlikely hotbed of political activism. Behind high streets filled withindependent cafés, posh delis and expensive flower shops sit grand Regency houses. Yetthree times this year residents and businessmen have marched through the streets of Bristol—first carrying a coffin 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 powerfulsense of entitlement felt by Britain's car owners. It also highlights the limits of devolvedgovernment.

布里斯托爾的克里夫頓不太像是政治激進主義的溫床。在滿大街獨立咖啡館的后面，精致的食品店、高檔的花店坐落在華麗的攝政風格房屋里。然而這已是今年第三次居民和商人們在布里斯托爾街上游行了——第一次帶了一個棺材，第二次帶了一輛坦克，他們反對George Ferguson市長推出更嚴格的停車規章計劃。他們的不滿暗示了英國車主們強烈的權利意識。這也顯示出了地方政府的不足。

Bristol is one of the most congested cities in Britain. Traffic during the evening rush hour movesmore slowly than anywhere except Belfast, Edinburgh and London. Fashion and officialprodding have put more bicycles on the roads: bike traffic has grown by 25% since 2003. Butcar use has not dropped. Getting around in the city can be unbearable, concedes Mr Ferguson: “If we're just one great bloody traffic jam we're not going to be an economically thriving city.”

布里斯托是英國最擁堵的城市之一。除了貝爾法斯特、愛丁堡和倫敦外，這里晚間高峰期的交通比任何地方都緩慢。時尚和官員督促使得道路上出現了更多的自行車：自2003年以來自行車交通上漲了25%。但汽車使用率卻沒有降下來。在城市間穿行可以說令人無法忍受，Ferguson承認說：“若我們是這樣擁堵的一個城市，那么要變身成經濟發達之城是不可能的了。“

Bristol was the only city to vote for a mayor in a series of plebiscites held in 2012; nine othersrejected 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 parkingcharges. But the mayor is also in the process of introducing tighter parking restrictions beyondthe city centre, often in places where parking is currently free, along with 15 resident parkingzones. Locals will pay 48 (81) for the first permit to park near their homes.

布里斯托爾是2012年舉行的一系列公民投票中唯一一個投票選舉市長的城市;其他的九個城市都反對。布里斯托爾居民選舉了一個承諾要解決交通問題的人。Ferguson的第一個保證是要“讓布里斯托爾動起來”。他廢除了星期天停車收費制度。但這位市長同時也計劃在市中心外的區域加強停車限制，這些區域通常目前是免費的，還包括15個居民停車場。市民將為獲得在家附近停車的第一許可而支付48英鎊(81美元)。

Under current plans, businesses will only be allocated a handful of parking permits. Employeeswho do not get them will have to find other ways of getting to work in a city with a less thanwonderful bus network. This irks business owners. “Potentially 45 minutes will be added to along commute,” complains Jonathan Marchant, who works at an accountancy firm in Clifton.Other companies are threatening to move out of the city.

在現有計劃下，商家們將僅分得少數停車許可。沒有停車許可的職員將只能在這個公交系統不盡完善的城市尋找其他通勤的辦法。這令公司老板們不勝心煩。在克里夫頓一家會計公司工作的Jonathan Marchant 抱怨道：“這將可能給通勤時間加上45分鐘。”其他的一些公司威脅要搬離城市。

Mr Ferguson has much less sway over public transport than the mayor of London does, whichmakes it harder to lubricate unpopular changes. When Ken Livingstone, the former boss ofLondon, introduced a controversial congestion charge to the city in 2003 he was also able topromise to lay on more buses and pump a successful transport system with cash. All MrFerguson can really do is negotiate with the privatised bus operator to bring down fares andextend routes slightly. For big projects he depends on largesse from Westminster even morethan London mayors do. And cash to spend on big projects is tight these days in any case.

相較于倫敦市長，Ferguson在公共交通的問題上顯得有心無力，這也使得這個政策很難緩和那些不得人心的變化。當倫敦前任市長Ken Livingstone于2003年開始收取飽受爭議的擁堵費時，他有能力許諾開通更多的公共巴士并投入資金構建一個成功的交通系統。而Ferguson能做的只是與私有巴士運營商協商降價并稍微延長路線。在大項目上，他仰仗于來自威斯敏斯特的慷慨，這一點甚至超過了倫敦市長。而近些時無論在任何方面大項目的資金都很緊張。

Worse, Mr Ferguson's reach does not extend far. Around two-thirds of metropolitan Bristol isunder his control; the other third is run by another council, South Gloucestershire. This makesco-ordinating transport policy tricky, and increases the likelihood that politicians will squabble.Even if the mayor succeeds, the metropolis might not benefit much. In Clifton, a suspensionbridge links Bristol with North Somerset. “Everybody and his daughter will park there and walkacross,” predicts one resident. Rather than solving a city's traffic problem, Mr Ferguson mightjust end up pushing it elsewhere.

雪上加霜的是，Ferguson的權力范圍并不廣。布里斯托爾約三分之二的轄區在他的控制之下，另外的三分之一由南格洛斯特郡議會管理。這使得共同協商交通政策變得棘手了，并增加了政客們發生爭吵的可能性。即便是市長成功了，這座城市也許也不會從中受益很多。在克里夫頓，一座吊橋連接了布里斯托爾和北薩默賽特郡。一位市民預測：“每個人，包括Ferguson本人的女兒都會將車停在那兒，然后走過來。”與其說解決了城市的交通問題，不如說Ferguson只是將這個問題推向了別處。

【重點解析】

1.fill with 充滿;使充滿

例句:I let my lungs fill with the scented air.

我呼吸著芬芳的空氣。

2.put on 穿上;上演

例句:She had hoped the couple would put on a showof unity.

她曾經希望那對夫婦會表現出和睦相處的樣子。

3.vote for 投票贊成;選舉

例句:Heck, if you don't like it, don't vote for him.

如果你不喜歡，不要投他的票不就得了。

4.promise to 承諾;保證

例句:I'm hoping you'll keep your promise to come for a long visit.

我希望你遵守諾言來這兒多呆幾天。