Mobility Matters Daily #209 – Petrol prices, co-creation, and tourist transport

In short: the politics is hard, co-creation is learning, and we are rubbish at tourist transport

Good day my good friend.

Short. Sweet. Articles. Read.

James

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The politics of petrol prices continue to rumble on

We need to face a political reality. There are no votes to be won in increasing transport costs on any mode. I’m not saying we shouldn’t do it. But if you are expecting a political manifesto to say “double fuel duty” and expect that party to get into power, its not going to happen. Which is annoying, as the price disparity between cost increases for private cars and public transport has been known about for ages.

But cutting fuel duty is a popular political tactic. In the US, Florida is proposing a Gas Tax Relief, with the same being proposed by a candidate in South Carolina. A study by the University of Michigan noted a strong link between low gas taxes and the presence of the oil industry in a US state. Maybe its time to let market forces rip on fossil fuel powered cars, stop their subsidies, and maybe see their end?

Co-creation isn’t just fancy public consultation that gets us what we want. It’s about creating knowledge, and doing that is complicated.

This study by Bo Kyong Seo in Cities is one of the coolest I have seen this year. Studying the process of co-creation in social housing in Hong Kong, the paper comes to a very astute observation:

The study found that while the conversion between tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge in participatory planning takes place in a manner similar to that in organizational knowledge creation, collaborative knowledge creation in planning is largely influenced by the ‘ba’ that has been in place on the city and neighborhood scale for a long time and the availability of capable institutions as knowledge activists.

Translation: creating knowledge sharing capacity is critical to successful co-creation. A critical factor to the success of that is whether or not there is a culture and capability to develop and share knowledge. Example after example shows that giving people the environment and ability to self-learn is crucial to co-creation. So don’t just do it to get the solution you want.

I agree with the Daily Telegraph. We are rubbish at tackling tourist transport.

You can tell I grew up in a town known for traffic problems during the tourist season. But this article in the Daily Telegraph hits the nail on the head. Providing sustainable transport options for holidays is something we are really bad at. Data from the National Travel Survey shows that in 2020, 75% of leisure journeys were by car, and of those remaining walking was the most dominant mode.

But fear not, for there is good stuff being done. The Lake District is thinking about trial bans for cars in some areas. The same is also being thought of in the Peak District (although officials quickly rubbished the idea). Regular rail services have started up on the Dartmoor Line to Okehampton, while the success of the Borders Railway in Scotland is well-known. But these are too often isolated examples, and they are often focussed on the National Parks because that is where the funding and capacity is.

Random things

Yesterday’s Internet searches turned up the following. Enjoy.

Drivers and hand-held mobile phones: extending the ban won’t solve the problem – here’s why (The Conversation)
Northeast States Abandon Cap-and-Trade Plan for Cars (Scientific American)
How the World’s Foremost Maze-Maker Leads People Astray (New Yorker)
Plans for a ‘Bitcoin City’ Powered by a Volcano Have Arrived in Latin America (Architectural Digest)
After years of delays, Southern California’s new smog regulation promises to save lives (Grist)

Interesting things

over 90% of people know at least a little of electric vehicles and drones. at least 80% know at least a little about e-scooters, e-bikes, and autonomous vehicles. the majority of people know little or less about electric planes, hydrogen planes, and flying taxis

the biggest benefits to autonomous vehicles are seen as regulating speed, less driver fatigue, and better traffic flow. but 28% state they see no benefits

Much commentary has been made of the UK Government’s publication on attitudes on transport and technology. These two graphics are my favourite. People seem to know at least a little about electric vehicles, e-bikes, e-scooters, drones, and autonomous vehicles. And on the latter, 28% of the public don’t think there are any benefits to autonomous vehicles. Food for thought.

If you do nothing else today, then do this…

I’ll be speaking at Mobilityways’ Zero Carbon Commuting Conference on 9th December. Don’t sign up to listen to me speak, I’m boring. But all the other speakers are amazing. So sign up.