News from Elsewhere

Air pollution linked to higher risk of irreversible sight loss | The Guardian

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Large UK study found small pollution rise associated with more cases of age-related macular degeneration

Damian Carrington Enviroment editor
Small increases in air pollution are linked to an increased risk of irreversible sight loss from age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a large UK study has found.
Previous work had already found a link between dirty air and glaucoma and a link to cataracts is suspected. The scientists said the eyes have a particularly high flow of blood, potentially making them very vulnerable to the damage caused by tiny particles that are breathed in and then flow around the body.

News from Elsewhere

‘Give capital vehicle licensing powers’ – transportxtra

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24 January 2021
The mayor of London should be granted powers to implement a ‘London vehicle ownership duty’ that would replace Vehicle Excise Duty, says capital business group London First and consultant Arup. 
The proposal is one of four ideas suggested in a report looking at how TfL could reduce its long-term circa £2bn a year funding gap (LTT 08 Jan). 
“Replacing VED for all vehicles registered in London would allow the level of tax to be set by the mayor”

News from Elsewhere

Battersea Bridge – provide safe conditions for pedestrians and cyclists! – London Cycling Campaign

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We were saddened to hear of the death of 29 year old Jack Ryan, who was killed while out jogging at this junction recently and to see blame for the ongoing unsafe conditions here tossed back and forth between TfL and Kensington & Chelsea council (RBKC). The current junction design has all the worst aspects of motor traffic being prioritised at the expense of the safety of vulnerable road users – there have been a staggering 27 injuries in just the last two years.

The failings of the current design
There are no pedestrian phases on any arm of the junction – pedestrians must just make a dash for it and on some arms there is never a time when there is not potential for turning vehicles.

News from Elsewhere

Crashes cut by one third after 20mph limit introduced in Edinburgh | The Scotsman

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Vehicle collisions in the capital fell by one third two years after speed limits were lowered from 30mph on most city streets, research by the University of St Andrews revealed today.

Friday, 29th January 2021

City-wide 20mph limits on most Edinburgh streets were introduced between 2016 and 2018.

Research showed the average monthly number of road traffic collisions (RTCs) went down from just over 95 in 2016 when the 20mph limits were introduced to 64 in 2018.However, the rate had also more than halved over the two decades prior to that, from 165 in 1997.

News from Elsewhere

Car Lanes to Become Bike Lanes on 2 Major New York City Bridges – The New York Times

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Mayor Bill de Blasio wants to add bike lanes on the Brooklyn and the Queensboro Bridges to encourage cycling as the city recovers from the pandemic.

Jan. 28, 2021
New York City’s slow transformation away from a vehicle-oriented metropolis will soon get a visible and significant boost: Mayor Bill de Blasio plans to close a lane on both the Brooklyn and Queensboro Bridges and reserve them for bicyclists.
Mr. de Blasio will announce the new cycling plan, known as “Bridges for the People,” at his final State of the City speech on Thursday.
Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat in his second term, has built more than 100 miles of protected bike lanes while in office, but street safety advocates have repeatedly pushed him to go further. The Brooklyn Bridge has long been known as a particularly dangerous route for cyclists.
The city will ban cars from the inner lane of the Manhattan-bound side of the Brooklyn Bridge to build the lane and make the existing promenade area at the center of the bridge for pedestrians only, barring cyclists.

News from Elsewhere

Kent reviews 60mph speed limit – transportxtra

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24 January 2021
Kent County Council is to research the effects of reducing the 60mph national speed limit  on single carriageway rural roads. “To replace every sign to 40mph or 50mph would be both a huge cost and, in many circumstances, encourage faster traffic,” says Kent. “Therefore, should our research show a net-benefit, we would present the findings to central government, calling for a national change to the default national speed limit.”

News from Elsewhere

‘Give capital vehicle licensing powers’ – transportxtra

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24 January 2021 The mayor of London should be granted powers to implement a ‘London vehicle ownership duty’ that would replace Vehicle Excise Duty, says capital business group London First and consultant Arup. The proposal is one of four ideas suggested in a report looking at how TfL could reduce its long-term circa £2bn a year funding gap (LTT 08 Jan). “Replacing VED for all vehicles registered in London would allow the level of tax to be set by the mayor”

News from Elsewhere

Air pollution linked to higher risk of irreversible sight loss | The Guardian

•


Large UK study found small pollution rise associated with more cases of age-related macular degeneration

Damian Carrington Enviroment editor
Small increases in air pollution are linked to an increased risk of irreversible sight loss from age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a large UK study has found.
Previous work had already found a link between dirty air and glaucoma and a link to cataracts is suspected. The scientists said the eyes have a particularly high flow of blood, potentially making them very vulnerable to the damage caused by tiny particles that are breathed in and then flow around the body.

News from Elsewhere

Apr 2020) Cars to drive or a planet to live in? A numerical assessment. | Ideas from Brussels and York | Brussels Blog

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20th Apr 2020

The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee reported:
In the long-term, widespread personal vehicle ownership does not appear to be compatible with significant decarbonisation.
Was the committee correct?
A crude test is to compare personal remaining carbon budgets with the emissions from personal vehicles, aka cars.
1 The fair personal remaining carbon budget
The remaining carbon budget how much CO2 can be released into the atmosphere to limit global warming to a given temperature.
Tim Jackson has estimated the UK’s fair share of the remaining carbon budget. For a 1.5°C rise (with a 66%  chance of success) the UK’s share is 2.5 billion tonnes CO2. With a UK population of 66 million, this amounts to a “fair personal remaining carbon budget” of 38 tonnes CO2.
Rogelj et al. have estimated that to keep the Earth’s temperature rise to a maximum of 1.5°C (with a 66% chance of success) the remaining carbon budget is 320 billion tonnes of CO2. With a global population of 7.8 billion, that amounts to just over 40 tonnes CO2 each.
These estimates are for CO2 only: They do not include the effects of other greenhouse gases such as methane and nitrous oxide. 

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