Author name: Steven Edwards

News from Elsewhere

Cars take up way too much space in cities. New technology could change that. | The new new economy – vox.com


Timothy B. Lee
When we talk about the problems associated with cars and transportation, we often focus on fatal accidents, or air pollution, or traffic jams.
We less frequently consider how much sheer space cars take up in America’s cities. But let’s pause to give this some thought.
There’s the space the cars themselves occupy. The average car, two hulking tons of steel, is 80 percent empty when it’s being driven by a single person. And most of the day, cars are totally empty, sitting unused. That, of course, requires space for parking: There are a billion parking spots across the United States, four for every car in existence. Plus, there are all the paved roads crissc

News from Elsewhere

‘Game changing’ smartphone app gathers evidence of speeding – transportxtra.com


Deniz Huseyin – 28 March 2022
A new app has been developed to allow pedestrians to use their smartphones to gather evidence of speeding vehicles. Speedcam Anywhere generates a ‘video snip’, which is uploaded to the cloud and analysed using Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms. This then creates an analysis sheet, and a link to download their video evidence, which is automatically emailed to the user for uploading to police dashcam web sites.
Trials of the app have resulted in a “favourable reaction” from the police and members of the public, though it has not yet been Type Approved by the Home Office, so cannot issue speeding tickets, say the app developers. In the meantime, it is proposed that evidence from the app can be presented to police forces so they can issue Anti-Social Driving Orders for Section 59 offences, where inconsiderate driving causes alarm and distress.

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Travel less, do more (or do what’s necessary, anyway) – transportxtra.com

Society’s capacity to innovate suggests we can use learning from the pandemic to plan for less traffic…
22 March 2022
Percentage reduction in trips and miles saved per mode (over and above pre-Covid-19 levels) if 50% of June 2021 working from home (WFH) levels are maintained, for those that can (N=1724).5
A timely new report, Less is more: Changing travel in a post-pandemic society, finds that people have been able to adapt significant elements of their daily travel to do what they want by travelling less. 
The researchers call on policy makers to:
• Actively manage the return to the office to kickstart more sustainable commuting
• Stimulate a return to public transport
• Prioritise improving pedestrian environments with the funding and attention it deserves
• Encourage leisure cyclists to broaden their cycle use
• Tackle the rise in light goods vehicle traffic
• Support a shift to lower car ownership

News from Elsewhere

Transport Appraisal and Carbon – eventbrite.co.uk – Wed, April 27, 2022 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM BST


Wed, April 27, 2022
12:00 PM – 1:30 PM BST This event is free to attend.
The current system of transport appraisal has been described as not fit for purpose, with many weak, incorrect or outdated assumptions. The climate crisis has brought the failings of the current approach to carbon in particular into sharp focus. The tension between the government’s transport decarbonisation strategy on the one hand and their continued funding of expensive and controversial road schemes on the other, suggests the need for an urgent rethink of the appraisal approach. This webinar will discuss the issues with the current system and how best to reform it. 
This is the first in a new series of webinars showcasing the work funded by the Foundation for Integrated Transport (FIT). This webinar includes presentations from FIT’s senior Fellows, Professor Phil Goodwin and Professor John Whitelegg, and a panel discussion, including Professor Jillian Anable, chaired by FIT Trustee Mark Frost.

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The Baby Carriage Blockades – Vision Zero Cities Journal – Medium


Oct 10, 2019 Peter Norton
Stop de Kindermoord in the Netherlands: demonstrators block a dangerous intersection in Amsterdam, October 31, 1972.
Among advocates of safe, sustainable, and bike-friendly mobility, the Netherlands has long been the success story to point to. But in English-speaking countries, and especially in the car-dominated United States, how useful is the Netherlands as an example to emulate? The question has been divisive.

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Major New Roads In England May Have Funding Pulled If They Increase Carbon Emissions Or Don’t Boost Active Travel – forbes.com


Carlton Reid
An official from the U.K.’s Department for Transport has written to local authorities warning them that budget cut-backs will mean major road schemes, previously considered dialled-in, won’t be funded from central government if they are likely to increase carbon emissions. The schemes may also be cancelled if they do not cater for active travel, such as cycling and walking, or public transit.
Philip Andrews, Head of Road Investment, Policy and Pipeline Development at the Department for Transport, wrote that the government that “will not have sufficient funding to continue to fund all the [major road] schemes currently in the programme to the current scale or timing.”

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Review £24 billion roads programme say Lower Thames Crossing campaigners – yourthurrock.com


Staff Reporter March 16, 2022
National Highways have announced another round of Lower Thames Crossing consultation just days after Thames Crossing Action Group, who represent those who are opposed to the proposed £8.2bn Lower Thames Crossing project (LTC), have called for the £24bn RIS2 road programme to be re-opened.  
RIS2 is the Government’s second road investment strategy, and includes the highly controversial LTC.  A section of National Highways Licence, which Government uses to set out the Secretary of State’s statutory directions and guidance to National Highways states that if there are “Major variations, which would affect the Licence holder’s overall funding, have a material effect on the integrity of the RIS or otherwise compromise the Licence holder’s ability to comply with the RIS, would require the RIS to be re-opened.”
The group wrote to Secretary of State for Transport, Grant Shapps MP, on Mon 14th March calling for him to re-open RIS2 based on a variety of major variations.

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