Good day my good friend.

The IPCC reports have led to a lot of reaction on what we, as transport professionals, should be doing. Some talk a lot about the problems and how tough they are to overcome. But as I have often done, I take solace in the words of Gandalf the Grey…

“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.
“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

It is easy to lose faith when government actions are not enough. But don’t. Because if you don’t fight for a better future, who will?

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

James

What if MaaS became a monopoly, and how would regulate it?

Much of the debate on Mobility as a Service is based upon a principle of either municiple ownership of the MaaS solution, or that where there is competition for the public benefit. This goes against the experience of transport, which tends to lend itself towards regional or national monopolies. So, we must ask a question: how do we regulate it?

Some recent research lends itself to this idea. Simply, there is significan potential for economies of scale, and therefore natural monopolies should arise. The research explores a variety of regulatory scenarios, and ultimately concludes that there are many positive and negative externalities to different scenarios. Not useful in terms of solutions, but at least this paper gives some theoretical basis to regulating MaaS where monopolies do occur.

The political challenge of supporting bus services

This week’s announcement of allocations from the Department for Transport as part of local authority Bus Service Improvement Plans has caused somewhat of a stir. When a Mayor uses some somewhat colourful language to describe missing out on funding, you know it is serious. But is it really that much of a serious political issue?

There is evidence that buses can help define the economic geography of an area, and they can certainly help reduce carbon emissions. Plus, as we can see, funding buses is cannon fodder for local political leaders. But they do not rank highly in terms of political priorities more generally. They occupy a funny space – losing political capital by losing services, but not gaining anything by improving them. Which makes them politically a tough call to support.

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 that you enjoy them.

• Smith or Malthus? A Sea-Change in the Concept of a Population (Population and Development Review)

• The value of the homeland: Land in Duhok, Kurdistan-Iraq, as territory, resource, and landscape (Economic Anthropology)

• Human trafficking in the metaverse? How to make virtual reality a safe space (South China Morning Post)

• Can an Old Highway Bring New Business? Route 66’s Canute, OK, Hopes So (The Daily Yonder)

• European Right to Repair resolution headed for vote (The Register)

Something interesting

If you do nothing else today, then do this

Read this analysis by the Centre for Cities on Two Years of Covid: How has the pandemic changed the labour market in our cities?