Good day my good friend.
I have to shout out to the Transport Planning Bursarians in today’s introduction, as all of their papers on the theme of scenario planning were brilliant and have now been published. Go read them. I said go!! Again, Liani, Julia, and Lucy all did brilliant jobs with their research. So before you tuck into the news, go and read the work they did.
Oh, and if you have any suggestions for interesting news items or bits of research to include, email me.
James
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Nottingham seems to be leading the way again, but its a cautionary lesson in being sure how you measure success
One of the biggest failings of transport planning in the UK is that we are useless at measuring our impact. Few places do it well, and one of them is Nottingham. You may see success as having a workplace parking levy, or a lovely tram network. I know from working with them that behind that is a robust monitoring and evaluation process that seeks to measure and demonstrate success. You are what you measure.
Which makes this article on the success of the Nottingham e-scooters interesting, and somewhat disappointing. Yes, measuring utilisation and use of e-scooters is important. But “suggesting it is proving to be a model for how e-scooters could work in UK cities in the longer term” based on a couple bits of data is a worrying conclusion to come to. Define what success looks like first, identify appropriate indicators, measure, then assess impact. And don’t claim success based on a couple of metrics. Caution, please.
To re-open or not re-open RIS2
When developing the case for any transport scheme, the case for (or against) it is never settled. At least until the legal powers are given to build and the scheme is funded. It is a fundamental tenant of good business cases for schemes that you constantly reappraise your case. It’s the basis of sound strategy and planning for the future as well.
This is why I support the calls of the likes of Phil Goodwin that cast a critical eye over the RIS process. Particularly announcements that future road investment planned as part of RIS2 will not need reassessment for RIS3. Ignore the arguments around the climate impact of road investment. Failing to reassess your business case regularly is fundamentally unsound transport planning. And to give organisations a free pass on this is unforgivable policy making.
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.
4-story rogue wave that randomly appeared in the Pacific Ocean is the ‘most extreme’ ever detected (Live Science)
Global Cooperation on Digital Governance and the Geoeconomics of New Technologies in a Multi-polar World (Center for International Governance Innovation)
Will California Stick the Landing on Its Big Vision for Transportation and Climate? (Transit Center)
Unwanted anniversary marks year of National Highways planning delays (New Civil Engineer)
Something interesting
For those of you not up with the latest city simulation video games, on one of the most popular game titles it helps to build like the Brits. I’m strangely proud of this.
If you do nothing else today, then do this
I told you to read the TPS Bursary Papers. Do it!!
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