Mark Sutton 21 January, 2021
London’s taxi trade has won a High Court ruling challenging Mayor Sadiq Khan’s Streetspace plan which sought to manage the Covid-19 pandemic by making streets safer for pedestrians and cyclists.
The case United Trade Action Group Ltd & Anor, R (On the Application Of) v Transport for London & Anor saw Mrs Justice Lang rule that it was unlawful to close sections of London’s roads off to certain vehicles, including Taxis.
The ruling may now see some road space handed back on the grounds that Transport for London allegedly failed to distinguish taxis from general traffic. The Taxi organisation argued that the vehicles are a form of public transport. Interim Guidance offered to Boroughs has now been barred from further roll out, which will undoubtedly see a reduction in the number of pop-up cycle lanes and Low Traffic Neighbourhoods.
TfL firms up Streatham Hill walking and cycling measures – transportxtra
Transport for London (TfL) is making permanent measures designed to make roads in?Streatham, south London, safer for walking and cycling.
The scheme complements measures that TfL and Lambeth Council are implementing across the borough as part of the Mayor’s of London’s Streetspace programme, which enables safer walking and cycling during the coronavirus pandemic.
The results of a TfL consultation into the scheme show that 83% of respondents agreed that the proposals would make people feel safer cycling through the area, with 70% saying the same about walking.
Ensuring that people feel safe when walking and cycling is absolutely vital to enable more people to reduce their reliance on cars and switch journeys to more sustainable modes wherever possible.
Gilligan busy shaping capital’s active travel agenda again
Active Travel 11 January 2021 Gilligan: pressed for a bike lane on Kensington High Street The influence of the Prime Minister’s transport adviser on London’s active travel agenda is evident in minutes of the capital’s active travel oversight group. The group has met weekly since June, monitoring the progress of TfL’s London Streetspace Plan (LSP), the temporary active travel measures implemented during Covid-19. It includes representatives of TfL, the boroughs, and the DfT and also Andrew Gilligan, Boris Johnson’s transport adviser.
Dec 2019) Elon Musk Dismisses Induced Demand, A Phenomenon First Witnessed In 1866 – Forbes
Carlton Reid Dec 29, 2019
Elon Musk has once again used Twitter to air a controversial opinion. This time the SpaceX and Tesla billionaire has upset urbanists with his dismissal of a phenomenon that was first described in 1866.
On December 29, Musk tweeted that: “Induced demand is one of the most irrational theories I’ve ever heard.”
This was in response to critics who had pointed out that his earlier tweet—“Build super safe, Earthquake-proof tunnels under cities to solve traffic”—was merely describing a subway tunnel.
Musk later added: “If the transport system exceeds public travel needs, there will be very little traffic.”
There is very little empirical evidence for this claim, and copious evidence to the contrary, especially in Southern California, where Musk lives, and where the laying down of generous amounts of asphalt has always stimulated motor-vehicle use. (Electric cars get snarled in traffic just as easily as non-electric cars.)
Get bikes off the road, says motorist who also opposes cycle lanes – The Daily Mash
13th January 2021
A DRIVER who believes cyclists are a menace he should not share a road with is also dead against cycle lanes, he has confirmed.
Roy Hobbs, driver of a Mitsubishi Shogun, admits he does not like driving within 50 yards of a cyclist in case there is an accident and they damage his paintwork.
He said: “Roads are for cars. Simple as. Cycling on them risks their lives and my no-claims bonus.
How do the Muppets ride bicycles? – Twitter
What Is the True Cost of Car Ownership? – Tree Hugger
It’s way more than you think, and everyone is paying it whether they drive or not.
By Lloyd Alter Published January 15, 2021
After CNET’s Roadshow published an article titled “Average New Car Price Crosses $40,000 in 2020 and That’s Nuts,” Matthew Lewis of California YIMBY tweeted:
This is a lot of money. Used cars are expensive too, the average in 2020 being $27,689. But the cost of buying the car is just the start; there are so many other direct and indirect economic costs that one really has to question whether this whole system makes sense. And that’s not even considering the carbon costs. Let’s total them up; from CNET:
“On average, new car buyers left dealerships (or signed papers from home) having agreed to a car payment of $581 per month at a 4.6% APR over 70 months.” But that’s $6972 per year.
A Tiny Twist on Street Design: The One-Minute City – Bloomberg
While the “15-minute city” model promotes neighborhood-level urban planning, Sweden is pursuing a hyper-local twist: a scheme to redesign every street in the nation.
Feargus O’SullivanJanuary 5, 2021, 2:24
In 2020, as pandemic lockdowns forced billions of people around the world to become intimately familiar with their neighborhoods, one of the hottest ideas in urban planning was the “15-minute city.” A vision for a decentralized urban area that allows residents to meet their daily needs within a quarter-hour walk or bike from their homes, the concept has been pursued as a means of cutting greenhouse emissions and boosting livability in a host of global cities — especially Paris, where Mayor Anne Hidalgo has embraced the model as a blueprint for the French capital’s post-Covid recovery.
Now Sweden is pursuing a hyperlocal variation, on a national scale.
link to original article
Air pollution will lead to mass migration, say experts after landmark ruling The Guardian
Diane Taylor
Call for world leaders to act in wake of French extradition case that turned on environmental concerns
Fri 15 Jan 2021
Air pollution does not respect national boundaries and environmental degradation will lead to mass migration in the future, said a leading barrister in the wake of a landmark migration ruling, as experts warned that government action must be taken as a matter of urgency.
Sailesh Mehta, a barrister specialising in environmental cases, said: “The link between migration and environmental degradation is clear. As global warming makes parts of our planet uninhabitable, mass migration will become the norm. Air and water pollution do not respect national boundaries. We can stop a humanitarian and political crisis from becoming an existential one. But our leaders must act now.”
Cargocycles Can Tame Suburbia – The Ranty Highwayman
I have different ideas for blog posts listed – some I have even started. I’ve just done a tidy up and found a post I had started to write back in July 2017.
I had got as far as writing the following;
As I piloted our cargotrike around central London on the Ride London Freecycle a couple of weeks ago a chap drew next to be and asked about it.
It’s a Christiania and it caught the chap’s eye as he was Danish (Denmark being home of the Christiania trike) and he was surprised to see one in London. He asked if we had hired it for the day, but when I said it was ours, he further wondered if it was our second car which was very perceptive! He himself had recently got rid of his second car as his heavy lifting was done on his Bullitt, another Danish classic.