Author name: Steven Edwards

News from Elsewhere

Low-traffic schemes benefit everyone, not just better-off, finds study | The Guardian

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Exclusive: authors find ‘no clear social equity problem related to low-traffic neighbourhoods’ after studying slew of projects sparked by Covid restrictions

Peter WalkerMon 16 Nov 2020

There is no evidence schemes that try to limit “rat-running” traffic along residential streets disproportionately benefit better-off households, research has concluded, contradicting a common view cited by objectors.
A study of low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs), which have mushroomed as part of efforts to boost walking and cycling amid coronavirus, found that the vast majority of people lived on streets that could be part of such schemes.

News from Elsewhere

Road pricing could offset loss of fuel duty from electric cars | The Guardian

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Rishi Sunak looking at how to recoup lost revenues after ban on new petrol and diesel cars potentially from 2030

Richard Partington Tue 17 Nov 2020

The government is exploring options for dealing with a £40bn black hole in the public finances, which would result from a proposed ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars within a decade.
Boris Johnson is expected to announce this week the cut-off date for the ban will be brought forward by five years to 2030, in a step designed to underscore the government’s commitment to a green economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
However, the Treasury is understood to be concerned that a faster transition to net zero will require fundamental changes to the tax system to ensure it keeps pace with the economy of the future.
Taxes on motoring raise about £40bn a year for the exchequer from people buying cars and paying fuel duties, accounting for about 5% of total government revenue, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

News from Elsewhere

The urgent case for more walking and cycling in the UK: evidence to support LTNs – Transport Xtra

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The Walking and Cycling Alliance, comprising Bicycle Association, British Cycling, Cycling UK, Living Streets, Sustrans and the Ramblers, has published a paper setting out the urgent case for Low Traffic Neighbourhoods. It uses evidence and case studies from across the country to tackle the urban myths that have emerged around them

The Walking and Cycling Alliance, comprising Bicycle Association, British Cycling, Cycling UK, Living Streets, Sustrans and the Ramblers, has published a paper setting out the urgent case for Low Traffic Neighbourhoods.

The alliance also uses evidence and case studies from across the country to tackle the urban myths that have emerged around them.

News from Elsewhere

Car use will grow as public confidence in buses and trains hits a low – Transport Xtra

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A majority of drivers still expect to drive to offices or other places of work in the future, says RAC Report on Motoring 2020

More than half (57%) of drivers say having access to a car is more important than it was before the coronavirus pandemic, according to the RAC. Two-thirds of young drivers, those with fewer than 10 years’ driving experience and drivers living in London, are all significantly more likely to say they need a car more now than they did before March. Research for the RAC’s annual Report on Motoring also found that, for the first time since 2002, fewer than half of drivers (43%) say they would use their cars less, even if public transport was improved.The RAC Report on Motoring is an in-depth view of driver opinion and behaviour and has been running every year since 1989. It is conducted among a sample of the driving public who are representative of UK motorists. The 2020 survey was completed by 3,068 drivers.

News from Elsewhere

PM and Shapps take on critics of active travel with £175m pot – Transport Xtra

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Local Transport Today is the authoritative, independent journal for transport decision makers. Analysis, Comment & News on Transport Policy, Planning, Finance and Delivery since 1989.

Traffic Management

The Prime Minister and transport secretary Grant Shapps this week took on the critics of the Government’s active travel programme as £175m was announced for more measures such as segregated cycle lanes and residential street closures.
The grant represents the heavily delayed second tranche of the DfT’s Emergency Active Travel Fund (EATF), launched as a response to Covid-19. The EATF name has been dropped, however, with a DfT spokeswoman telling LTT: “The world has moved…

News from Elsewhere

Traffic + Parking 2020: A virtual space for real debate

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Online conference and exhibtion takes place on 2 December

The response to the COVID-19 pandemic has seen towns and cities across the UK implement an impressive range of emergency traffic and street-scene measures, including pop-up cycleways and wider pavements to make cycling and walking safer. Traffic + Parking 2020 will explore the design of road space reallocation schemes, and discuss how to: promote active travel; measure success; and react to an emotive, and sometimes destructive, backlash against measures such as Low Traffic Neighbourhoods.
Lockdown has offered the public a glimpse of what it would be like to experience lower traffic levels and the resultant improved air quality. Traffic + Parking will feature sessions offering insights to policy measures that local authorities can take to combat vehicle-based pollution, including: Clean Air Zones; Low Emissions Neighbourhoods; School Streets; anti-idling schemes; Road User Charging; and Workplace Parking Levy schemes.

News from Elsewhere

A Guide To Low Traffic Neighbourhoods – LCC & Living Streets

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The big picture for decision-makers is “Low Traffic Neighbourhoods: An Introduction For Policy Makers”
Read that document first, then for more nitty-gritty detail
read on…
This guide is from London Cycling Campaign and Living Streets and draws on expertise from those who’ve designed, implemented and campaigned for award-winning low traf c neighbourhoods. It is a companion document to “Low Traffic Neighbourhoods: An Introduction For Policy Makers”, 
designed to help of officers, designers and others begin to understand some of the complexities, nuances and capabilities of these schemes in more detail. 

News from Elsewhere

The green plan looks good, but the government must live up to its promises | The Guardian

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Rebecca NewsomWed 18 Nov 2020
The green plan looks good, but the government must live up to its promises
Elsewhere, Johnson’s plan leaves much to be desired – especially when it comes to funding. Of the £12bn announced, just £4bn is new government money – meaning two-thirds of it is simply recycled from previous promises, or being assumed to be delivered by the private sector. To put this into context, France has already pledged £27bn for environmental stimulus measures and Germany has committed £36bn.
Joint analysis in September by The Climate Coalition, including Greenpeace, WWF, the Women’s Institute, National Trust and the RSPB concluded that at least £95bn of government investment is needed over the rest of this parliament to build back better and deliver a sustainable, inclusive, and resilient society. That includes increasing the provision of public transport, walking and cycling infrastructure, boosting nature restoration and guaranteeing funding to make every home more energy efficient.

News from Elsewhere

Why cycling is good for everything from retail sales to property prices – Cycle Industry News

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Mark Sutton16 November, 2020

The portrayal of cycling in the press has emerged as something that 48% of bike shops surveyed in CI.N’s annual retail study deem a significant barrier to growing cycling numbers. Then there’s social networks that amplify myths and misunderstandings further; but isn’t it time to put those knee-jerk reactions to bed and talk seriously about cycling as transport form of the future? Here CI.N catalogues and debunks the common complaints with data, research and expertise for those taking an evidence-based approach to future transport discussions

Before we begin, some context of where we are as a nation.

News from Elsewhere

Pressure grows on Boris Johnson over UK carbon emissions plan I The Guardian

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Climate experts say UK should aim to cut emissions by more than 70% as crucial summit looms

Last modified on Fri 20 Nov 2020

Boris Johnson is facing a fresh test of his green commitments as the UK prepares to submit its national plan on future carbon emissions, before crucial UN climate negotiations.

Pressure is growing on the prime minister to come up with an ambitious national target – known as a nationally determined contribution (NDC) – on cutting emissions substantially by 2030, because the UK will host the postponed Cop26 summit next year.

The UN secretary-general, António Guterres, spoke out on Thursday on the need for developed countries to step up their ambition. In a speech to the European council on foreign relations, he said: “By early 2021, countries representing more than 65% of global carbon dioxide emissions and more than 70% of the world economy will have made ambitious commitments to carbon neutrality.

“But we are still running behind in the race against time. Every country, city, financial institution and company should adopt plans for transitioning to net – zero emissions by 2050. We need to see these plans well in advance of Cop26 – in particular the NDCs required under the Paris agreement.”

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