No witty remark today
Good day my good friend.
It’s the end of the week, and its the end of a month that has been a long, hard slog. Time to switch off the brain. You can coast through one day of work, right? (Of course you can’t) Well, hopefully this newsletter will keep you occupied for 10 minutes or so.
James
Literally restricting driving is a policy idea that is fine in theory, but the practice has mixed success
Evidence from Mexico City shows that, when the city introduced a policy of restricting the use of cars based on a vehicle’s licenced plate. People reacted to these restrictions in a lot of ways. The biggest being…buying a new car. The result being that 80% of vehicles are now exempt from the restrictions, with only a tiny proportion of people actually shifting modes.
The most critical finding, reflecting other analyses, is that variations in local implementation matter a great deal when it comes to effectiveness. Done badly, it can actually be a regressive policy for cities. So if you are thinking about doing this in your city, then think very, very carefully about it.
Investors can be a needy bunch. And maybe too needy
You know the journalist saying of ‘follow the money?’ Turns out that this sort of thing applies to transport too. Certainly any of us who have had to produce a transport business case for a major transport scheme know that. Turns out it applies to anyone else who throws money at you.
Research from ports in China has shown that when your investor landscape is complex, then you become less competitive. For reasons that may be related to the things that are good for competitiveness: being state owned, having a shipping fleet, and great ownership of projects. If you are dealing with shareholders, you aren’t doing the operational things that keep you competitive.
Random things
These links are meant to make you think about the things that affect our world in transport, and not just think about transport itself. I hope they do just that.
Apple AirTags Are Being Used to Track People and Cars (Schneier on Security)
The “right to repair” movement grows, but the devil’s in the details (Stacey on IOT)
Beyond Belief — The Comforts of a Country Church (The Daily Yonder)
Something interesting
Is this the future of payment becoming real in El Salvador? Or just evidence that the local population is under-banked more generally? Either way, when it comes to paying for transport, this is useful to know.
If you do nothing else today, then do this
Check out the latest data on Travel behaviour, attitudes and social impact of COVID-19.
Mobility Matters 