Good day my good friend.

Currently, I am in the process of moving home. Stressful enough at the best of times. More-so during a cost of living crisis and on the brink of a recession. But I have been reading about people increasingly going off-grid, and I must say I am very tempted. Reduce consumption, install solar panels, get a lot of batteries as backup. It has its merits you know. And could be the future.

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

James

Mapping charging deserts for equality purposes

This article in Grist raises a good point. How you start when delivering infrastructure changes determines who benefits from these changes. And now electric charging infrastructure is being rolled out, ensuring that deprived areas get their fair share is important. There are already significant variations by local authority in the UK, and the more affluent generally tend to be the earlier adopters of electric vehicles. Again, there is a risk of the socially disadvantaged being left behind.

Academic research indicates that charging deserts are particularly an issue for the faster charging points. And maybe the lack of charging infrastructure on the Interstates is a reason why the US government is rolling out charging points on them. But apart from this, the issue of charging deserts is not well understood. Perhaps someone with time, skills in GIS, and access to government records on charging points and socio-economic data could do an analysis?

Bus Rapid Transit is great

To be honest, I’m writing this because someone who I know well and respect a lot went on a rant about how the Luton to Dunstable Busway should have been a rail link. And its rubbish because its not a train or a tram. Which is rubbish talk. Evidence from across the world shows that Bus Rapid Transit, when designed well, can positively impact an entire city. And much of the criticisms of them stem from nothing more than ‘but its not a railway.’

They have a number of key characteristics that make them great. High capacity systems are extremely cost-effective compared to other choices. They have significant – if imperfect – benefits to those in lower incomes in terms of improved accessibility and journey times. They can even stimulate governance reform. And from personal experience, they are pretty good to ride on as well. They may not be trams or trains, but that doesn’t mean they are bad.

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 Pandemic’s Legacy Is Already Clear (The Atlantic)

• Why Is Europe More Equal than the United States? (American Economic Association)

• Has the Fed pivoted too far? (Econbrowser)

• How to make investment zones work for levelling up (Centre for Cities)

• On Portugal’s ‘Bitcoin Beach,’ Crypto Optimism Still Reigns (New York Times)

Something interesting

Lots of places shout about doing things. But quietly doing something to make our streets better is just as effective.

If you do nothing else today, then do this

Its important to recognise that different people think and interpret things differently. That is especially the case in relation to public consultation and engagement, where rehashing the public exhibition can be really bad. Good friend Jenny Milne shared this post on LinkedIn about different learning styles and methods from her own experience. Learn from it, then apply it to your public consultation.