21 July 2022
TfL’s decision to halt funding is a “massive blow” to the capital’s cycling instructors, says the IWGB
Transport for London (TfL) has “paused” all funding support for cycling training as it continues ongoing talks with the Government for long-term capital funding. Since Covid-19, and a sharp fall in revenues, TfL has agreed four bailout settlements with the Government.
The Independent Workers’ union of Great Britain (IWGB) said TfL’s decision is a “massive blow” to the capital’s cycling instructors.
The Cycling Instructors branch of the IWGB…
Weather tracker: record-breaking heat continues to scorch western Europe | Extreme weather | The Guardian
Record-breaking heat continued to affect parts of western Europe during the past week, with UK temperatures exceeding 40C (104F) for the first time since records began.
On Tuesday, several weather stations across London, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire broke the 40C barrier, with a top temperature of 40.3C in Coningsby, Lincolnshire. A further 39 stations across central and southern England also broke the previous highest temperature of 38.7C, which was set in July 2019.
The central England temperature (CET), which is a daily temperature record dataset dating back to 1772, recorded the highest ever daily average temperature of 28.1C, an incredible 2.8C above the previous record.
We won in the High Court today. How do we get from here to safe sustainable travel on High St Ken? – Better Streets for RBKC
It was a long and hot day in court. On one level it seemed an easy question – our solicitor had made an admin error, it looked like the court had made some errors itself too which hadn’t helped, we’d said sorry, tried to fix it, no harm had been done, it only came to light because we (not RBKC) were trying to progress the case, wasn’t it just a quick, “no problem, but don’t do it again”?
Three hours of oral submissions and hundreds of pages of bundles and case precedent references submitted later we found our answer. The judge considered matters carefully, and then over the course of an hour outlined his reasoning to allow our application for relief from sanctions.
Active travel behaviour change programmes ‘should last five years – Transport Xtra
The group took evidence from many witnesses, including deputy climate change minister Lee Waters. Its report, published on 28 June, calls for a National Delivery Plan for Active Travel to be put in place by the end of this year. Among other things, the plan should clarify and codify the roles of various organisations and set out priorities for infrastructure development based on maximising modal shift.
Autoluw is a Dutch urban planning concept meaning “nearly car-free” – Dutch Cycling Embassy – Twitter
@Cycling_Embassy·
Autoluw is a Dutch urban planning concept meaning “nearly car-free”. It’s put into use in cities all across the country. This video explores the concept of autoluw, and how it is applied to Dutch streets, along with some examples from some foreign cities:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=GlXNVn
What do I mean by system change? Here are 4 pillars of a just, green society – George Monbiot – Twitter
@GeorgeMonbiot
What do I mean by system change? Here are 4 pillars of a just, green society: Private sufficiency, public luxury https://centerforneweconomics.org/publications/private-sufficiency-public-luxury-land-is-the-key-to-the-transformation-of-society/ Doughnut economics https://theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/apr/12/doughnut-growth-economics-book-economic-model Participatory democracy https://theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jul/13/take-back-control-governments An ecological civilisation
National Highways revises down carbon estimates for proposed Lower Thames Crossing _ Transport Xtra
The new forecast has been challenged by the Thames Crossing Action Group, which is opposed to the proposed road project.
Chair of the campaign group Laura Blake said: “The LTC Development Consent Order documentation of 2020 shows that LTC traffic carbon emissions were estimated to be 2.74 million tonnes, and in their latest press release National Highways admit that the latest forecast is 4.6 million tonnes.
“Far from a highly speculative 80% reduction in operational traffic emissions for the proposed LTC, there is actually evidence to show a whopping 67% increase in the estimated LTC operational traffic carbon emissions. Including construction and maintenance etc, this then results in a total of over 7 million tonnes of carbon emissions for the proposed LTC if it goes ahead. Yet another attempt by NH to try and put a spin on the realities of the proposed LTC with yet more greenwashing.”
“There is all the usual nonsense about improving journeys for those using the Dartford Crossing. Yet the design capacity for the current crossing is 135,000 vehicles per day, and it regularly sees 180,000 per day. That means we’d need to see a reduction of more than 25% in traffic, yet the proposed LTC would take as little as 4% of traffic away. National Highways are not considering or planning for how traffic would migrate between the two crossings when there are incidents, if the LTC goes ahead, and there would not be adequate connections.”
An amazing news story virtually ignored by state/corporate media – Ben See – Twitter
@ClimateBen 23/07/22
An amazing news story virtually ignored by state/corporate media: scientists are pointing to immediate system change actions because emissions must peak this year to avoid catastrophic 1.5°C/2°C of global warming but economic growth means emissions are surging apocalyptically.
Tower Hamlets Council set to re-open roads to traffic -Transport Xtra
Tower Hamlets Council is seeking to scrap road closures introduced as part of the borough’s Liveable Streets programme.
This was one of the pledges of Lutfur Rahman, who was elected new mayor in May. His Aspire party won a majority, replacing the Labour administration, which had introduced the “liveable streets” to tackle congestion and air pollution and to encourage more residents to cycle, walk and use public transport.
The new administration said it will review the restrictions where they have added to congestion on main roads, obstructed emergency vehicles and made it hard for vulnerable residents to access their streets.
The big idea: should cars be banned from cities? | Cities | The Guardian
Streets have been optimised for one thing: traffic. A kind of ‘urban rewilding’ could return them to the complex social ecosystems they once were
Like natural ecosystems, cities also used to be complex and diverse places that hosted a whole range of different activities. Our streets were public spaces, used for many purposes: work, trade, play, socialising and transportation.
Rebecca Solnit describes our relationship to our city streets perfectly in her book Wanderlust:
“The word citizen has to do with cities, and the ideal city is organised around citizenship – around participation in public life.” And that is how it once was.
Thalia Verkade and Marco te Brömmelstroet are the authors of Movement:
How to Take Back Our Streets and Transform Our Lives (Scribe), translated by Fiona Graham.
Further reading
Wanderlust by Rebecca Solnit (Granta, £9.99)
Fighting Traffic: The Dawn of the Motor Age in the American City by Peter D. Norton (MIT, £25)
Earthopolis: A Biography of Our Urban Planet by Carl H. Nightingale (CUP, £25)