Good day my good friend.
I think yesterday was finally the day when it was confirmed that transport had entered the culture wars in the UK.
For those of you who don’t know what GB News is, I won’t do you the pleasure of linking to it. Needless to say that steam trains are very much alive and well on the UK rail network. Plus National Museum of Wales is simply highlighting the colonial and slavery past of some of its exhibits, including Trevithick’s locomotive. Considering that the rail network was essentially built by slave labour, its hardly inappropriate.
If you have any suggestions for interesting news items or bits of research to include in this newsletter, you can email me.
James
The post-pandemic future of travel is different to the narrative. Too many people are shocked.
If you listen to the common narrative about transport post-pandemic, its about public transport on its knees and everyone piling into cars. To be fair, the UK national data kind of points to it. But this frankly brilliant bit of research by CREDS is far more interesting, far more insightful, and far more shocking than this.
This summary paragraph should be at the heart of every transport strategy from now on. Take it in, then read the report.
…It shows that car traffic has reduced overall: congestion is not back to pre-pandemic levels and weekday car traffic is 10% lower than pre-pandemic levels, in large part due to homeworking. It also finds that car ownership has fallen. 14% of the households with two cars before the pandemic reduced to one car. Car sales are down on pre-pandemic levels and the anticipated dash to driving to reduce exposure to Covid-19 has not happened. The only mode of travel to see a sustained increase is walking. More people are walking more often than before the pandemic and not just for leisure. Walking is at the heart of the concept of 15 or 20 minute neighbourhoods and, the researchers argue, this means we should be spending more on improving our local areas for walking and wheeling.
Demand responsive transit took a hit during COVID, to the detriment of those who rely on it the most
One of the most under-reported stories of COVID-19 has been the impact on the (often voluntary) demand responsive sector. In the UK, the Community Transport Association has been doing some excellent work throughout the pandemic. But its only now that the research agenda is beginning to catch up to the impacts, as this study on paratransit in Seattle is showing.
What did it conclude? If you were on lower income or had a health condition, you are likely to be using paratransit less even now. And that transit agencies should be implementing safety improvements and service changes in future waves that help to serve the most vulnerable people in society.
An actual good transport playlist
If streaming music is your thing, you will no doubt be familiar with the playlist. And if you have ever seen a ‘drive’ playlist, its usually a bland mix of Dad rock and a bit of Motorhead. Well, finally, while looking through the streaming app Deezer, I have found a drive playlist that may actually be mainly transport-themed songs for the most part.
Fans of driverless cars will no doubt like This Car Drives All by Itself by The Wombats. Personally I like Planet Caravan by Black Sabbath, or Interstate Love Song by Stone Temple Pilots. But that speaks more about my taste in music than anything else.
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.
‘No-Code’ Brings the Power of A.I. to the Masses (New York Times)
The Superpower Of Admitting the Obvious (Ian Welsh)
How an Electric Truck Factory Became a Lightning Rod in Georgia (Yahoo News)
Something interesting
Having been to the USA a few times, I can definitely see this.
If you do nothing else today, then do this
If necessity is the mother of all invention, then the transport app for Kyiv must be the most innovative transport app of all time. The app that used to tell you what metro to catch, now tells users when air raids are to take place and where shelters are. Can your travel app do that? Brilliant stuff.
Mobility Matters 