Good day my good friend.
I am truly humbled by you all, I really am. The reaction to yesterday’s newsletter has been amazing, and thank you all so much for the offers of support by way of sponsorship (remember you can also support by becoming a paid subscriber if you are not already). I believe we can achieve the £400 target for the Trussell Trust by April. You are all amazing. Thank you so much!!
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
Noise is bad for our animal friends
We know that the evidence of noise pollution and is impact on human health is overwhelming. The physical impacts include damage to hearing, increased risk of heart issues, increased risk of diabetes, and impacts on pregnancy to name but a few. As for the mental impacts, it can be best summarised in one word: stress. And we all know that traffic, airports, and industrialisation more generally are the major sources of noise pollution that are having major impacts that we are doing very little about.
But now we know it is seriously stressing animals. And it can cause irreparable physical and emotional damage, despite us knowing relatively little about how it impacts them overall. Over the long term, experiments on lab mice have shown the impacts on mental health are remarkably similar to the impacts on humans. So those loud engines and the constant drum of traffic are not just stressing us out, but they are stressing out our wonderful animals too. We should do something about it.
Airport slot allocations is very interesting. No, it really is.
You know by know that I like a bit of economic theory being applied. And one of the areas of transport where the theory of demand and supply is applied is in allocating slot pairs at airports. Or simply the slots available for aircraft to land and take off at airports, for which airlines are charged a fee. And in some of the highest demand airports in the world, landing slots can go for a significant amount of money.
One of the big issues, and a legacy from the days of single national carriers, is that of grandfather rights. Or simply, when an airline removes a flight from its schedule, it is offered the same slot at the same price for another flight on another route. This does not generate the most economically efficient returns overall. But new research and mathematical models are making economically-efficient slot allocation that balances grandfather rights with real time operations much more feasible. Subject to IATA rules, anyway. I can see a world where airlines effectively barter for landing slots while flight are en route. That will be…interesting.
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.
The plunge in dry bulk shipping: Ominous signal on China’s economy? (American Shipper)
Against expectations, global food prices have tumbled (The Economist)
150,000 homes can be built in future town at Paya Lebar Air Base, says PM Lee (The Straits Times)
The importance of sitting less and moving more (The British Medical Journal)
Something interesting
Richard Florida’s work can be a bit hit and miss. But this excellent thread highlights a really important point. Innovation needs human connections to happen, but you don’t just need offices to make it happen. Streets facilitate human connections too! What matters is geographical proximity.
If you do nothing else today, then do this
Thank you to Molly Hoggard for sharing with me this excellent visualisation by Nelson Schafer. It shows the changes in fuel prices across Germany, and it is very compelling to watch, and all it took was some data and a few simple tools. You should check it out.
Mobility Matters 