C elections

EU ist great! Although the Britons sometimes fight against this institution, I have now made use of my right to vote for the first time here.

As you don't have to register your residence in England and they have successfully refused the introduction of national ID cards, there are several parallel institutions. Thus, we got a letter sometime ago, asking us who is living in the house and their nationalities. Since then, I was in the electoral register that curiously has two versions here: an original and an edited one. The former is used in elections and as you can verify people's address with it, my credit rating has increased with a certain probability. The edited register is sold off to marketers, luckily you can elect to be removed with a tick in the right column.

Lately, a letter arrived and I can vote on the "Transport Innovation Fund Proposals".



In a nutshell, they want to introduce a congestion charge like in London, which is cheaper on the one hand, but the world's biggest on the other hand. It is about 200 sq. km (80 sq. miles for friends of imperial measurements), inside there is another small zone that comes at an extra price. Figuring out what medium-sized city known to my dear readers that corresponds to is left as an exercise.

If somebody intends to drive to see me (I will live in the inner ring), I can calm you down. The charge applies inbound only between 7am and 9.30am (Don't you dare to arrive at that time!) and outbound only between 4pm and 6.30pm (You don't want to leave that soon, do you?). Then, you only pay if you actually cross a ring, there are numerous exceptions and it will be in force 2013 the earliest and only if more than 80% of the innovations are in place.

The innovations sound reasonable, compared to these slightly suspicious charging rules. More buses, better buses, single ticketing (Yes, this counts as an innovation here!) and extension of the sparse tram network that will have more than three endpoints then. Extreme-GMPTE-ing would still not be particularly exciting.

Anyways, I'll cast my vote and send it, perhaps it works. After all, my last vote in an election made the ruling party in Bavaria lose their absolute majority. I had to keep voting for ten years though, but if I'm lucky, my opinion will be heard faster in here.