Also, why IKEA’s dimensions save it millions in supply chain costs

Good day my good friend.

I’ve made a commitment to writing fewer words this year. After failing spectacularly yesterday, today’s is going to be a bit more to the point. So without further ado, links (and some commentary)!

James

Reducing the commute could improve subjective well-being, but this is with a catch

Recent research on Dutch commuters, focussing specifically on long distance commuters, has revealed that the reduction in the need to commute has improved the subjective well-being of women. This is logical, given what we know about the impact of commutes on mental health. But as always, this depends.

Whilst the stress of the commute is reduced, this depends upon the ability for people to transfer to other activities (read: trips) that are good for their wellbeing. There was some evidence that this took place in the pandemic, but the picture varies by regions and the ability of people to easily change their schedules.

No more entertainment in cars, please

Some news just fills me with dread, and makes me wonder whether people literally want people to die in cars. With Amazon Fire TV coming to more cars, although taking care to say that this will be for passengers only, its time we stopped this gradual roll out of more active forms of entertainment.

There is some limited evidence that technology as a factor in road traffic collisions is under-reported. The influence of distractions in terms of increasing the risk of road traffic collisions is well-established, and there is also evidence emerging around the acceptance of these new technologies and their actual usefulness. This uncertainty makes me uneasy, so can we not just apply the precautionary principle for a while?

Random things

These links are meant to make you think about the things that affect our world in transport. I hope they do just that.

• AI’s 6 Worst-Case Scenarios (IEEE Spectrum)

• Stellantis to transform Chrysler into an all-electric brand by 2028 (TechCrunch)

• Building a Digital Marketplace for Agriculture in Uganda (ATAI)

• Car shortage could change buying behavior forever (Axios)

• John Deere’s self-driving tractor lets farmers leave the cab — and the field (The Verge)

Something interesting

Standardisation and containerisation saves millions in supply chain costs each year. IKEA know this.

If you do nothing else today, then do this

Nominate a worthwhile project for the International Transport Forum’s Decarbonising Transport Award.