Phineas Harper
Last month, police officers descended on public green spaces in Stanhope, a 1960s residential estate in Ashford, Kent, to fight crime. Rather than arresting any suspected criminals, officers took away five benches and uprooted low-lying shrubs from small parks. In a since deleted tweet, Ashford Police explained that the benches had provided “places to gather” and their removal would help “design out crime”.
Grant Shapps under fire for bizarre videos and ‘zero interest’ in railways | Rail industry | The Guardian
Gwyn Topham
He’s the unflappable frontman and loyal defender of the errant “big dog” in Downing Street. Through the lens of Conservative politics, the transport secretary Grant Shapps is on a winning streak.
But as crisis looms in a key part of his day job – running the railways – a series of bizarre interventions have raised eyebrows and hackles. Just what, the industry is wondering, is going on with Shapps and the Department for Transport?
While the pace of promised reform and investment has been slow, Shapps has promoted personal wheezes that parts of the railway industry believe are, at best, misguided, and smack of YouTubing while Rome burns.
“early start of 2022 wildfire season in Russia” – The Siberian Times
@siberian_times
A very early start of 2022 wildfire season in Russia, with massive fires raging across vast spaces of Western, Central, Southern and Eastern Siberia. Video below is from Omsk region, Western Siberia #wildfires2022Russia
Frequent drivers: who is driving down London’s streets? — Possible wearepossible.org
kai saunders
It’s no secret that London has a car problem.* But research shows that most Londoners make most, if not all, their trips in the city without a car.** So who’s driving the cars that clog up the city’s streets?
(alt-text: data visualisation showing two stats. That ten per cent of people take half of all car trips in London.)
According to a recent survey, conducted by YouGov and released under an FOI request, in the last year, half of the adults in London haven’t driven at all, and of the half that have gotten behind the wheel of a car, it’s not a frequent occurrence. In fact, it’s just 13% of adults in London drive five or more days a week. This suggests that a relatively small proportion of Londoners are responsible for most of the car trips.
From ancient oaks to walking yews: the story of Britain’s great trees, forests and avenues | Trees and forests | The Guardian
I am not exactly sure where my fascination and love of trees came from, but I do remember from a very young age seeing fallen acorns under a huge oak tree and being told that this tree had produced all of these acorns and that each one, like the one I had picked up and was holding in my hand, could grow into an oak tree and be hundreds of years old.
After spending a lifetime working with trees, they continue to amaze me with their ability to grow and adapt through decades, and in many cases centuries, of seasonal change.
Recently we’ve discovered their mechanism for communicating with each other below ground, which has become known as the wood wide web. The web is most active and thrives in areas of unworked woodlands (1) and forests, such as ancient woods, where the soil has been left undisturbed for centuries. This has led to an extensive underground network, linking trees in a forest together, young and old, helping them flourish as one giant superorganism. They share nutrients and even warn each other of attacks from pests.
Americans spend $3 trillion per year on their cars – Matthew Lewis – Twitter
(((Matthew Lewis))) progressive federalism SOS
@mateosfo
Reclaim the kerb: The future of parking and kerbside management – centreforlondon
18 March 2020 | Silviya Barrett, Joe Wills, Mario Washington-Ihieme
Parking spaces serve the needs of a wide range of users, including residents, workers, shoppers, visitors, delivery drivers, taxis, and private hire passengers. However, they also reduce space for pavements, cycle lanes, and other social and environmental features such as benches or microparks. Car owners may pay for the privilege of parking – in the form of short-stay parking spaces and residential parking permits – but are they paying a fair price?
Dirty air affects 97% of UK homes, data shows | Air pollution | The Guardian
Damian Carrington
Virtually every home in the UK is subjected to air pollution above World Health Organization guidelines, according to the most detailed map of dirty air to date.
More than 97% of addresses exceed WHO limits for at least one of three key pollutants, while 70% of addresses breach WHO limits for all three.
The map, produced by the non-profit group the Central Office of Public Interest (Copi) and Imperial College London, combined 20,000 measurements with computer modelling to produce pollution estimates every 20 metres across the country. People can check their address at the website addresspollution.org for free.
Mobility hubs can remove car from journey planning – transportxtra
Rachael Murphy, CoMoUK’s Scotland director, says mobility hubs seek never to undermine public transport but always to extend its appeal – 27 April 2022
Mobility Hubs are highly visible, safe and accessible spaces where public, shared and active travel modes are co-located alongside improvements to public realm and, where relevant, enhanced community facilities.
They are about the removal of the private car from journey planning.
What you might find at one are bus and train connectivity, bike and lift share, a car club, electric vehicle charging, digital demand responsive transport, cycle parking and storage, lockers for parcels collection and other facilities to make the place special, including toilets, a cafe, vendors or vending machines, wayfinding and shared office-space.
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