Deniz Huseyin 11 August 2022
Cycling levels rose 47% on weekdays according to DfT stats
Weekday cycling levels in the UK at the end of July were 139% of pre-Covid levels, latest DfT travel statistics have revealed. This is a large jump compared with the same week in July 2021, when weekday cycling levels were 81.1% of pre-Covid levels.
The charity Cycling UK believes the rise in cycling is linked to the hike in fuel prices.
ts own analysis, based on DfT figures, found that cycling levels in England rose by 47% on weekdays and 27% on weekends in the five months to the…
What are Super Blocks ? — The Design Response
November 26, 2018 Urban Planning, Street design
A superblock or super-block is an area of urban land bounded by arterial roads that is the size of multiple typically-sized city blocks. Within the superblock, the local road network, if any, is designed to serve local needs only. From Wikipedia
The superblock concept has been applied retroactively in Barcelona’s La Ribera and Gràcia districts, which both have a medieval street network with narrow and irregular streets, since 1993. In these two cases it resulted in an increase of journeys on foot (over 10%) and by bicycle (>15%) and in a higher level of commercial and service activity.[12] From Wikipedia
Modern cities are designed for cars. But the city of Barcelona is testing out an urban design trick that can give cities back to pedestrians.
Active Travel England will focus on political will and technical capability for awarding funding, says CEO Danny Williams – transportxtra.com
Juliana O’Rourke – 10 August 2022
During a packed session at Cycle City Active City in July, ATE’s leadership team outlined the way they hope to work – and stressed that they plan to hit the ground running
Active Travel England (ATE) has one key objective: ensuring that 50% of trips in our towns and cities are walked, wheeled or by cycled by 2030.
ATE will act as a statutory consultee in the planning system, and review active travel provision in major planning applications. It will be led by Danny Williams, CEO, Active Travel England, who will be the agency’s accounting officer and report to Parliament as needed. Active Travel England will also have its own board which will be chaired by the National Active Travel Commissioner, Chris Boardman.
Transport can make suburbs sustainable, says UTG report – transportxtra
Post-war suburban transport provision has been dominated by cars
Peter Stonham11 August 2022
Transport has a key role to play in shaping a new and sustainable era for the suburbs, but their situation has been often overlooked and
a new era for suburbs should be supported by green, sustainable transport choices for all journeys and all people to reflect diversity of suburban life, a new report from the Urban Transport Group says.
The report highlights how around 80% of Britons live in suburbs, yet these areas are often neglected when it comes to transport planning, drowned out on either…
Trees cool the land surface temperature of cities by up to 12°C – newscientist.com
Chen Ly
An analysis of satellite data from 293 cities in Europe has found that trees have a big cooling effect while other green spaces don’t
23 November 2021
The cooling effect of trees reduces the surface temperature of European cities in the summer by up to 12°C in some regions. In contrast, green spaces without trees have a negligible effect, according to a study that strengthens the case for tree planting to help cities adapt to global warming.
Jonas Schwaab at ETH Zurich in Switzerland and his colleagues used land surface temperature data collected by satellites to compare the temperature differences between areas covered by trees, treeless urban green spaces, such as parks, and urban fabric such as roads and buildings. They analysed 293 cities from across Europe.
The land surface temperature measured by satellites isn’t the same as the air temperature, which is more closely linked to what humans would feel, says Schwaab. “Usually, the air temperature difference between tree-covered areas and built-up areas would be much smaller than the land surface temperature differences,” he says.
Goodwin concern over change of road space use- Transport Xtra
Peter Stonham11 August 2022
Fifty years since the size of a standard parking space was established, there are plans to make them bigger to match the growing size of cars.
The Times has reported that ministers are supporting the change. But LTT columnist Professor Phil Goodwin has raised his own concerns at the increasing size of cars, alongside other pressures on the use of road space affecting a much wider community of interest and transport implications.
The new size specification would apply to all bays created in new…
House to be demolished for new active travel path – transportxtra
Property developers United Welsh and Edenstone Homes will build 45 new affordable homes on a greenfield site in the suburb of Pontprennau. The unlit road to the site has narrowings and sharp bends and is regarded as not being a “quality route” for pedestrians and cyclists.
Consent for the development is conditional on 43 Clos Nant Glaswgow.
Europe drought could be ‘worst’ in 500 years – independent.co.uk
Europe could be experiencing its worst drought in 500 years, a leading scientist has warned.
Andrea Toreti, a senior researcher at the European Drought Observatory, said this year’s dry conditions will worsen and will most likely eclipse the unprecedented drought of 2018.
There is “very high risk” that the current lack of rainfall in western and central Europe will continue for the next three months, he said.
The warning came as the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre predicted that the drought could end up affecting 47 per cent of the continent.
As a result of scorching temperatures, water levels have plummeted across Europe, leading some authorities to impose restrictions on water use.
In France’s Burgundy region, white dust and dead fish now line what used to be the River Tille’s watercourse.
London councils remove almost 50,000 trees in five years: ‘Our canopy is vanishing’ – eandt.theiet.org
Josh Loeb
As London’s felling upsurge is revealed, one entrepreneur calls for vigilance and says technology can help map London’s green giants amid hopes that smartphones will help urbanites better appreciate nature.
Trees are being chopped down at an alarming rate in Britain‘s green and pleasant capital city, with over 10,000 specimens removed by council chainsaw crews last year alone.
Figures obtained by E&T suggest there has been a spike in tree felling in London in recent years, with at least 20 per cent more trees cut down by the city’s 33 councils in the last five years compared with the period 2003-2007.
40C heatwaves are now reality. It’s time to transform our cities – Jon Burke – bigissue.com
Jon Burke
What can we do to reduce the frequency, intensity, and duration of extreme heatwaves? Quite a lot actually, writes climate expert Jon Burke.
In describing the Rumble in the Jungle world heavyweight title contest between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, celebrated journalist Norman Mailer once said of the ruthless early punishment Ali suffered: “The nightmare he had been awaiting…had finally come to visit him.” If Mailer had pulled up a ringside seat as I watched in horror the UK experience its first ever 40C day, smashing the 2018 record by a full 1.6C, he might well have drawn some parallels.
Yes, there have been other warning signals that the global warming is accelerating – in the past four years alone, the UK has experienced its first winter day above 20C, largest number of ‘tropical nights’ above 20C, and the hottest day on record has been broken three times – but somehow broaching 40C was a real ‘crossing the Rubicon’ moment. Even the usually unflappable climate scientists looked on in horror as one of an unprecedented number of simultaneously active wildfires destroyed 40 families’ homes and the London Fire Brigade announced it had experienced its busiest day since the Second World War.
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