Transport PoliticsAlthough in broad terms Labour are slightly more pro-rail, and the Liberals more pro-road, in practice there is little difference in the transport policies of the two parties. There is a backlog of over 300 miles of approved Expressway schemes that are awaiting funding. Labour introduced the breathalyser and compulsory motorcycle helmets in the 1970s, but it is doubtful whether a Liberal government at the time would have rejected these measures. Arransia, however, has a number of powerful and well-funded transport lobby groups. Largest of all is the Arransian Motorists' Association, which has over two million members. For many, its primary function is providing a breakdown service, but it also lobbies strongly for increased road-building, road improvements and pro-motorist legislation. It is very critical of the national traffic police, accusing them of capricious and inconsistent enforcement policies. The AMA campaigns strongly for clearly-defined thresholds below which motorists would not be charged with negligent driving purely or mainly on the grounds of speed, which in their view should be at least 80 mph on all-purpose roads and 100 mph on Expressways. In 2003, the President of the AMA, Mark Balfour, was observed by members of the Road Safety League travelling at 140 mph on the A4 Wrangle bypass in his turbocharged V6 car. "And your point is?" he responded. The AMA administers an advanced driving qualification, which in 2005 is held by over 200,000 drivers and attracts significant insurance discounts. Motorcyclists are represented by the Arransian Motorcycle Guild, which was initially formed in response to proposals for helmet legislation in the 1970s, but has gone on to be a general motorcycle lobby group. With its twisty, unrestricted roads, Arransia is excellent biking country and has a much higher level of motorcycle licences than Brunswick. Especially at weekends, helmetless riding is still fairly common in Arransia. All traffic police officers need to hold a motorcycle licence, even if patrolling in cars, and the traffic police are generally fairly motorcycle-friendly, although in recent years they have mounted some crackdowns on motorcyclists speeding through villages. Although it might seem they have much in common, there is little love lost between the AMA and AMG, with the bikers very critical of poor driving standards which they claim lead to many SMIDSY accidents. These bodies are countered by the mainly urban-based Road Safety League, which campaigns for rural speed limits, lower speed limits in general, speed cameras, a lower drink-drive limit and tougher penalties for offenders. Their credibility was dented in 2001 when their Chairperson, Steve Humphries, was convicted of driving at 48 mph in a 30 mph limit outside a school. They have less than 10,000 members, and the AMA accuse them, with some justification, of being more interested in making life difficult for drivers than in improving road safety, as Arransia already has some of the safest roads in the world. Uniquely in the world, in Arransia the railways have legal recognition as the primary land transport mode. They have strong champions in the Railway Development Society, which boasts over 300,000 members, although the discounts they offer on rail tickets may contribute to that figure. The RDS campaign for more electrification, the construction of new bypasses and cut-offs, and for higher speeds on existing lines. They are not in any sense an anti-car organisation, and indeed over 60% of their adult members are also members of the AMA. In the 1980s, there was a schism in the RDS, as the leadership at the time wanted to support a policy of eliminating steam traction, which the rank-and-file membership opposed. A coup ensued, and the dissident members broke off to form a new pressure group called Rail2000, which has attracted many headlines, but has relatively little grass-roots support. The official policy of the RDS is now one of reducing dependence on imported oil by supporting the use of steam power on non-electrified lines, something that in view of current high oil prices seems far more sensible than it once did. To most Arransians, the term "road protest" would mean "when are they going to build our bleeding bypass?" However, in recent years there have been some protests against new road projects, mainly carried out by foreign activists from Brunswick and Mayenne. One of the most notable was in 2000, when a protest camp against the construction of the A3 Marchwood Expressway was summarily broken up by the police using some robust tactics. This road was a vital and long-overdue link between Danby and the Tri-Cities in Brunswick, but did cut through some of Arransia's lushest farmland and some areas of ancient woodland. The road opened on time in 2003. Some of Arransia's declining northern industrial towns have become popular with hippyish settlers from Brunswick interested in pursuing "alternative" lifestyles. While in some respects Arransia is a conservative and conformist country, at a local level society is very tolerant and the authorities tend to leave people alone to live their lives as they see fit so long as they cause no trouble. There is a particularly strong settlement in the southwest Edirn town of Golcar, which is noted for its enormous stone-built railway viaduct and its precipitous hills on the A6 road. However, in Spring 2005 when work started on the Golcar Bypass section of the A6 Expressway - which involves a 900-foot span cable-stayed bridge over the valley - there were a number of disturbances, as the hippies did not appreciate Arransia's somewhat ruthless attitude to capital projects once the precious funding had been squeezed out of the government. The Sheriff of Edirn told the settlers bluntly that while they were very welcome in Arransia, they had to accept the way the country worked and that 21st century prosperity needed 21st century roads. These protests were somewhat ironic as the peace of Golcar is shattered at least ten times a day by double-headed steam-hauled goods trains between Stainton, Aldminster and Marske.
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