Good day my good friend.
Yesterday saw snowfall across much of Southern England, which resulted in the inevitable. Cancelled trains, snowball fights while walking to school, snowmen, and British people acting British as cars skid and crash on the snow. Sometimes, this country makes me so proud that I was born here. But in all seriousness, stay safe out there folks!
If you have any suggestions for interesting news items or bits of research to include in this newsletter, you can email me.
James
Is the High Street dying?
This has been a policy question that has long plagued local authority staff in the UK. Is the High Street dead (for those of you not familiar with this very British term, its a collective expression for the main retail centre of towns and cities)? New analysis shows that while there is turnover, change and experimentation in the UK, the rising vacancy rate is threatening to swallow any changes up. Meanwhile, the Centre for Cities has long stated that the High Street is merely an indicator of the wider economy.
This is where, for me, the terminology becomes confusing. I mainly agree with the Centre for Cities, in that High Streets merely reflect wider economic conditions. And the role of city centres has significantly evolved across the centuries, as they play a variety of economic, civic, and social roles. Maybe expansive retail could give way to parks, such as at Broadmarsh in Nottingham. Just because traditional High Street retail may be declining, that does not mean that High Streets will not continue to be important.
Engaging the time poor
Jarrett Walker has produced another excellent post, and this time it is on one of my favourite subjects: the public meeting. Its easy to hate the public meeting. The criticism of them is well-worn and you have probably heard them before. Much of which I have little time for, as its as valid a means of engagement as any other. But when Jarrett points out that public engagement requires time of people, that has my sympathy.
To come to a reasoned judgement (or at least what we would consider as such) takes time. The experience of citizens assemblies shows us that. But the impact that this has on engaging with people who are time poor is relatively poorly understood. And you know who are more likely to be time poor? Some of the most vulnerable people in the world, that is who. Maybe we should start to understand this problem, and make our public engagement exercises more accessible to these people.
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 Supertanker Rates Are Suddenly Crashing (Oil Price)
Why the laws of physics don’t actually exist (New Scientist)
Texas’ rural hospitals are — once again — at grave risk of closing (Texas Tribune)
If today’s tech gets you down, remember supercomputers are still being used for scientific progress (The Register)
Something interesting
What do abandoned railways and HG Wells have in common? Turns out, it is a line hidden in plain sight at London Waterloo station. Though according to the comments, its technically not abandoned, though I’m not expecting any Class 450s trundling across the station concourse anytime soon.
If you do nothing else today, then do this
My good friend Lucy Yu pointed me towards the London Out of Station Interchanges (OSI) List (translation: station pairs between which you can interchange and not be charged an extra fare), and it is joyous. It is so useful for hacking your trip home. For example, if you interchange between Aldgate and Fenchurch Street, the OSI gives you 40 minutes to do it. With that time, you can pick up shopping at the Co-op on the route between the stations and not be charged extra for changing trains.
Mobility Matters 