Good day my good friend.

I always find it funny how some people don’t want the authority to do things when others give it to them (like ports being asked to block ferry companies who don’t pay the minimum wage), while others take the authority when they seemingly don’t have it (you have no authority here, Jackie Weaver). Its funny how power dynamics work, isn’t it? And its extremely important for how we make decisions in the UK.

I’m in a bit of a rush to get a few things finished today, so the articles may be a bit shorter than normal today.

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

James

When measuring accessibility, be more nuanced than travel time

Often, our measures of accessibility are a bit simplistic. Usually involving travel time, physical accessibility, and a bit on income, with few often mixing. If at all. A new research article argues that while single measures are good methodologically, a mix of demand and supply side measures are needed.

…there is a need for a nuanced view on accessibility for improved urban planning practices. Such a view is presented by simultaneously considering various categories of supply (employment, housing, transportation, health, education, police), multiple modes of transport (walking, private vehicle, numerous transit modes), two cost thresholds (distance-based and monetary cost), level of access (percentage of facilities that can be reached), while distinguishing between the socio-economic profiles of regions in the city on the demand side.

This paper really plays on the whole “if we just had more data people would make better decisions” line, which I am very uncomfortable with. But its very good at making you think about the gaps in our understanding of accessibility.

The UK’s National Audit Office – possibly the best transport planners in central government

Ok, I am being enthusiastic in posting this. But in all seriousness, their report on a Framework to Review Models is incredibly good. And I mean incredibly good. Most of the reports recommendations are simply good practice that most adhere to already. But there is a load we can learn from this. And the below framework should be burned into the brain of all transport planners before doing anything that involves modelling.

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.

• Is the Salton Sea hiding enough lithium to power America? (Freethink)

• The hydrogen bombshell (Protocol)

• The Workaday Life of the World’s Most Dangerous Ransomware Gang (Wired)

• A half-a-trillion-dollar bet on revolutionising white-collar work (The Economist)

• The Cost of Next Day Delivery (Buzzfeed News)

Something interesting

Is there such a thing as too many trains?

If you do nothing else today, do this

Jo was at it again. 6 months after getting as far as he could on buses in the UK in 24 hours, he did the same for trains. It all started here: