ft.com Gill Plimmer
The opening of the world’s first metro system in London in 1863 was a chaotic event: steam in the tunnels obscured signals and choked drivers, the gas lighting frightened travellers — and “there were so many anxious passengers trying to get on board, that there were fights for seats”, according to the Penny Gazette.
Nearly 160 years later, the British capital is hoping for a smoother launch this week of the newest 100km addition to its transport network: the £19bn Crossrail train line, designed to carry tens of millions of passengers between the west and east of London.

Simon Pirani 
Three months into the Kremlin’s war against Ukraine, European politicians and officials are working out plans to reduce fossil fuel imports from Russia to zero.
This week, the European Commission published a plan to end Russian gas imports by 2027. Climate campaign groups say it can be done much sooner.This is a historic turning point. Gas imports from Russia started in the 1960s and came to symbolise not only a flourishing trading relationship with Europe, but also a geopolitical partnership that survived the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991.
How strong is the case for Europe’s labour movement and civil society to support sanctions against the Russian economy, and specifically against Russian fossil fuels? Which sanctions could be effective? And could an embargo on Russian oil and gas imports give a push to decarbonisation and the fight to prevent dangerous global warming?

‘Park the Car’ is a new initiative from Ford that launches today. It is probably the last thing many people would expect from an auto maker. However, driving responsibly is no longer just about safety. It’s also about caring for our environment and our health – and walking or cycling once a day, active travel, can bring about significant change.
According to the World Health Organization, half of European car journeys are less than 5 km and – especially in cities – these are often the kind of trips that could easily be made by bike or on foot1.
Walking or cycling instead of driving just once a day could reduce personal daily carbon footprints by up to 84 per cent2. This in turn could support an 8 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by cars – and help point towards a greener future for everyone3.

Gary Fuller

Mayer Hillman in conversation with Extinction Rebellion activists Clare Farrell, La Pethick, Becky Plenderleith and Jill Lewis.

Climate charity Possible demonstrated the impact of noise pollution during an event in Shoreditch, London. Members of the public sat on the pavement at a cinema-style ‘auditorium’ while musicians performed across the road. During today’s event – called London’s Hidden Soundtrack – the audience wore headphones so they could listen to the performers over the sound of constant passing traffic.

Kea Wilson – May 13, 2022
A wildly inaccurate comment from Elon Musk about the traffic impacts of deleting lanes for drivers is prompting a conversation about the little-known phenomenon of “reduced demand” — and how advocates can better debunk common congestion myths that powerful, but often ill-informed, people continue to promulgate
In a much-tweeted-about comment at the Financial Times “Future of the Car” conference on Tuesday, the Tesla and Boring Company founder dismissed the phenomenon of “induced demand” as “one of the single dumbest notions I have ever heard in my entire life,” despite more than a century of research that confirms that increasing lane capacity for drivers only temporarily relieves gridlock before beefed-up roads attract new motorists and development, miring even more travellers in traffic jams along the new and “improved” corridors.

Some 96% of drivers in Scotland accept that a ‘close pass’ must be frightening for people cycling while 90% said there should be more protection for cyclists, new research shows. However, the survey also showed that 89% of drivers admitted to sometimes being frustrated when passing someone on a bike.