Good day my good friend.

I start with an apology for the lack of a newsletter yesterday. The reason being I was extremely unwell and was essentially asleep for most of the day recovering.

Thankfully, today I am much better, so it is back to the usual content. Though I’m still feeling a little tender, so I may be brief in some places.

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

James

Parking as a demand management tool

I agree with Donald Shoup. We don’t do nearly enough with parking, and its one of the few demand management tools that we have for which there is at least some degree of public acceptance of. But is it an effective tool? Simply put, according to a new study it is yes, unless you drive a zero emission vehicle. Perhaps we should now start to charge EVs the market rate for parking.

The results indicate that these measures encouraged citizens to switch to more sustainable modes. However, citizens with cleaner vehicles are reluctant to shift to public transport or active modes due to the benefits stemming from the ownership of those vehicles, such as the possibility of enjoying free parking.

Cycle loan schemes should be supported, as they make a real impact

A lot of academic research is aimed at commercial bike hire schemes, but almost none on very simple cycle loan schemes. Where bikes are loaned out, often at little or no cost, to help people get started with cycling, get to work, or lots of other things. This analysis of two schemes in Norfolk (England) aimed at the general population and asylum seekers fills that research gap. And boy do they have an impact.

[Cycle Loan Scheme] participants (n = 413) reported cycling a median of 5.5 h a week (15 reported zero hours), an increase of 3.5 h from baseline. Non-cyclists were less likely to engage than cyclists. [Welcome Wheels – aimed at asylum seekers] participants (n = 65) cycled a median five days per week at follow-up (all reported some cycling), an increase for 92%.

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.

• Why Don’t We Forget How to Ride a Bike? (Scientific American)

• Could Google’s Carbon Emissions Have Effectively Doubled Overnight? (The New Yorker)

• The eternal dream of automatic money (Financial Times)

• Supply chains are never returning to ‘normal’ (Freight Waves)

• ‘Dangerous Levels’ of Imminent Civil Unrest in Western Homelands (Byline Times)

Something interesting

The always-excellent Jay Foreman on why London looks like Pac-Man.

If you do nothing else today, then do this

Buy an e-bike. I did this at the weekend, and before being smashed sideways by exhaustion yesterday I have loved every second of it. It’s like riding a bike as a kid again.