Good day my good friend.

Firstly, an apology. A rogue advert made its way into yesterday’s newsletter without my knowledge. Words have been said. It won’t happen again. Anyway.

Sometimes you get a reminder that while the tides of history may be turning in your favour, occasionally you have to fight the current. This is from my local council, who are proceeding to remove a popular pedestrianisation scheme implemented during COVID.

Annoying.

If you have any suggestions for interesting news items or bits of research to include in this newsletter, you can email me.

James

The fun that can be found in road lengths

Because we seem to collect data on everything to do with transport (apart from bikes and walking), naturally the UK government collects data on how much public road there is. And there is a lot of it, around 248,000 miles of it to be precise. But outside of the headlines, there is devil in the detail.

Since 2001, the UK has added 4,900 miles of new public road to the network, or 245 miles a year. The majority through new developments, at a guess. The majority of the road network is ‘C’ roads or unclassified, and the trunk road network has actually shrunk since 2001. I say shrunk, more like the Highways Agency at the time declassified it as a way of shifting the maintenance responsibility onto local councils. But the story is still an interesting one.

The US issues new rules for autonomous vehicles

While the UK produces a nice report and proposals for new legislation relating to autonomous vehicles, the US just does it. The final rule document seems to be primarily clarification of terminology and changes to wording. But it essentially sets the template for the deployment of autonomous vehicles in the US. And by extension, the world…maybe.

What does this practically mean? This means that autonomous vehicles deployed in the US now need to be deployed to a common minimum safety standard. More specifically:

Vehicles with ADS (automated driving systems) technology must continue to provide the same high levels of occupant protection that current passenger vehicles provide.

It basically updates all existing rules so as well as applying to current vehicles, they also apply to future automated vehicles. Ensuring that they will be as safe as existing vehicles.

NATCO publishes lessons on how to use a pandemic to change streets

A short update this one, but this really interesting research by NATCO based on its Streets for Pandemic Response and Recovery grant programme is worthwhile reviewing, particularly the full report. These 3 lessons struck out at me the most:

Partnership Models: During the program, cities experimented with models that most effectively allowed for collaboration with community partners, ranging from cities taking full lead on project design, to community partners leading complete ideation and implementation with the city playing more of a supporting role.

Co-Working & Relationship Building: Cities also used the program to strengthen relationships with their community partners. For those that didn’t already have this strong relationship, this was an opportunity to step out of comfort zones in order to make amends for years of mistrust and misunderstanding.

Paying Community Members: Cities also recognized the value of community champions and groups – hardworking individuals who dedicate everything to the neighborhoods and people they love most.

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.

• Rush of lawsuits over plastic waste expected after ‘historic’ deal (The Guardian)

• The container logistics implications of war in Ukraine (Hellenic Shipping News)

• The Grown-Ups Are Losing It (The Atlantic)

• Meet ‘Super Mario’, the man who’s lived on cruise ships for two decades (Aeon)

• Portland launches new revenue strategy with passage of ‘climate and equitable mobility’ parking fee (Bike Portland)

Something interesting

My word. Crossrail (now the Elizabeth Line) is really nearly here.

If you do nothing else today, then do this

After announcing that this year’s Mobility Camp will be in Bristol, the Mobility Camp team now want you to vote on which day we hold it. So hop to it.