More than three quarters of UK teachers noticed that poor air quality caused concentration problems in students, while over half said performance or grades suffered, reveals a new report. 

72% of classrooms suffer from ait quality that is ‘below standard’, according to the survey which asked teachers across the UK about their school’s working conditions.

Nearly three in five teachers deemed a classroom with poor air quality to be ‘not fit for purpose’ – for either teachers or pupils.
The Air Quality in UK Classrooms Report – conducted by ventilation experts Airflow – asked teachers at 133 schools across the UK for their insights.

The report found that conditions impacted student health, with three in five (61%) teachers believing classroom air quality is aggravating asthma and other lung conditions in pupils.
Ill-effects on health were 55% more likely in cities, where both industrial and road pollution are more prevalent.

Whitehall review is also said to suggest cycling speed limits, along with licence penalty points and fines

Tom Ambrose
Bikes could be made to have registration plates and insurance as ministers weigh up bringing speed limits for cyclists into line with those for drivers.
The government is also considering the possibility of cyclists receiving licence penalty points and fines if they break speed limits or run red lights, the Daily Mail reported.
It comes as the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, proposed a Whitehall review of how cyclists who flout the law can be tracked down by police.
“Somewhere where cyclists are actually not breaking the law is when they speed, and that cannot be right, so I absolutely propose extending speed limit restrictions to cyclists,” he said. 

Mark Sutton 11 August 2022

Wondering what the organisations supporting cycling uptake have been up to since the world began trying to get back to normal, if such a thing exists? The London Cycling Campaign, Sustrans and Bikeability fill CI.N columnist Duncan Moore in on work that has been ticking along in the background to grow cycling rates and safety…
As people took to cycling during Covid lockdowns, to get their fitness fix as gyms and other facilities were closed, was the wider cycling industry able to engage with these people? And have those organisations that were successful in engaging with new cyclists been able to maintain the momentum?

The CEO of sustainable transport charity Sustrans, Xavier Brice, has penned an open letter to the next Prime Minister calling for an increase to the five-year, £2 billion walking and cycling budget.
With an air of uncertainty surrounding active travel policy lingering since Boris Johnson announced he would leave office, many commentators, including Brice, are concerned that cycling has lost an ally in Number 10. Notably, Andrew Gilligan, Johnson’s right-hand man on cycling and a special advisor, is likely to be removed in the switchover.
As reported this week, anti-cycling sentiment is beginning to emerge in the transition of leadership, with both leadership candidates turning down the dial on climate policy, among other areas that could lend to increased active travel.

The lanes would connect to other new routes such as the Princes Avenue cycleway in Toxteth and complement schemes such as Lime Street in the city centre.
The proposals are key to the new £3m phase of the city’s Active Travel programme, which  will also feature new footpaths and pedestrian crossing facilities. It also includes improving 30 access points along the Liverpool Loop Line, which runs 16km through the city from Halewood to Aintree.

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.

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…