With a map that shows us humans

Good day my good friend.

It’s another one of those days. I say day, i’m writing this in the evening after a very long day at work. So here are some links curated especially for you.

James

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Yeah, electric cars are here now

You know your vehicle is worth something when a major car rental firm orders 100,000 of them, just as Hertz has done for Tesla. Hertz itself is increasingly playing in the ‘becoming a mobility company’ space after nearly going out of business 6 months ago.

The fleet market is the canary in the coal mine for the automotive sector. They are seeing the clear advantages of electric vehicles as they become cheaper. Advantages in terms of service and maintenance are clear through there being less moving parts (although the long term battery costs are slightly uncertain) and these vehicles having a tax advantage over fossil fuel cars. Plus high-spending business owners like them.

What do the public of Old Blighty think of e-scooters?

The Department for Transport has just done one of its occasional research-dumps, and one of the best reports is some new research into public perceptions of e-scooters. The key conclusions from it are not shocking. People think that e-scooters should be legalised subject to restrictions on use, and safety is a major concern. But some of the more interesting findings include the following:

E-scooters were widely associated with manual ‘toy’ scooters for children, with this being an initial barrier to them being viewed as a credible and legitimate form of transportation for an adult.

Cyclists were a spontaneous point of comparison to e-scooters users, suggesting concerns about the way bikes are currently used may be informing attitudes to e-scooter use in the UK.

Current users described developing strategies to ensure their personal safety and the safety of other road users and pedestrians; e.g. wearing helmets, riding in cycle lanes, and giving pedestrians right of way.

E-scooters: the kids toy that is as easy as riding a bike. I’ll get a job in marketing at an e-scooter company soon with snappy taglines like that. I’ll take £50,000 plus share options.

Random things

Just a few bits and bobs that I picked up while surfing the internet.

• What America’s Supply-Chain Backlog Looks Like Up Close (Wall Street Journal)

• Transtura launches in Lagos set to redefine intracity mobility in Africa (Vanguard)

• Technology Pathways to Decarbonize China’s Heavy-Duty Trucks (The CityFix)

• Some Doubts about Access Analysis (Human Transit)

• Climate Change: The Greatest National Security Threat to the United States (Quincy Institute)

Interesting things

Back to the good fellows at Visual Capitalist for today’s visual, that shows the human impact on the Earth’s surface. That is us as a species right there.

If you don’t do anything else, do this

Read this great article on the maze that is Tokyo’s Shibuya’s station.