Good day my good friend.

Well that’s good news. The UK Government is planning to give hard-up rail commuters a break from inflation busting fare rises by having them under the rate of inflation. Which is running at over 11%. I mean, they could do what the Germans and the Spanish did, but that is not generous enough!! Ohhhh…..on with the newsletter.

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

You should also join a lot of like-minded people at Mobility Camp in Bristol in September. Get your tickets now. Sponsorship slots are also available.

James

What factors affect compliance on parking e-scooters

Westminster Council in London have caused a bit of a stir by making a big splash about how they are getting rid of the scourge of dockless bike and e-scooter parking. To be fair, their meme game is strong. And stupid parking does present issues for a variety of vulnerable groups, the most notable of who are those with sight issues. But what are the factors that determine whether someone parks an e-scooter stupidly?

A new study from Portland, Oregon, sheds some light on this. And the findings are simple. E-scooter riders WILL mess up their parking in at least one way, and the more e-scooter parking you provide, the higher the levels of compliance. Simply, if you provide more e-scooter parking on a city block, more people will park legally. Or they will have less chance to park illegally. Regardless, in a nutshell, infrastructure is a good thing for e-scooters.

Trees are awesome

Several years ago, I remember talking to the traffic manager of the local highway authority I worked for at the time about maintenance problems. I asked him what one thing he would do to make his life easier, and he said this: “cut down and rip out every single tree on our streets. They are a headache.” And its not without reason. They are lovely, but they are an absolute pain to maintain. But fortunately, such voices are increasingly in the minority, as trees are amazing!

If I were supreme ruler for a day, I would make it the law for every highway and transport authority to plant trees every year. They remove CO2 emitted from the vehicles on their streets. They reduce stormwater runoff by storing it and putting it in the ground. They help to cool cities. They can even provide food, as evidenced by the annual harvest of roadside blackberries near me each year! And they make you happy. Trees – plant more of them!!

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.

• Karnataka Govt launches 75 next-generation electric buses in Bengaluru (Urban Transport News)

• Carbon offsets alone won’t make flying climate-friendly (Grist)

• The year of the wasp: Coming to a city near you (City Monitor)

• How solar storms affect railway signals (The Watchers)

• ‘We are just hanging in there’ – the frustration of Uber and Bolt drivers in South Africa (The Daily Maverick)

Something interesting

Real Life Lore does a bit of futuring, and transport features a fair bit!

If you do nothing else today, then do this

Eltis has published a great best practice guide on how to create gender-equal shared mobility services. You should check it out. Its part of the Horizon 2020 Diamond Project, that you should also check out.