Good day my good friend.
Yesterday, I receieved a reminder about what is important to many people when it comes to transport. And its not the big schemes. I am sure I have said before that I am a Town Councillor, and recently my email inbox has blown up. Not because of crime, the state of the doctors surgery or anything like that. But because a new pedestrian crossing outside the station is constantly cycling (or stopping traffic like the button is being pressed). It’s the talk of the town! Its crazy, but I wouldn’t change it for anything.
If you have any suggestions for interesting news items or bits of research to include in this newsletter, you can email me.
James
15 minute cities – easy to commit to, hard to deliver
If you haven’t heard of 15 minute cities before, clearly you have been asleep for the last 5 years (nothing of note happened, honest). It’s been called a lot of things, from the next urban revolution to marketing gimmick. But as is often the case with new ideas, little in the way of analysis and judging of progress. That is where our good friend Big Data is coming in. As we get more and more detailed data on our cities, we can assess how accessible they are.
Researchers from Universitat Oberta de Catalunya took same data from Barcelona and did a simple analysis: how walkable are the pavements in the city? It turns out, many of them have at least moderate barriers on them, and so the city is not as walkable as it might otherwise seem to be. But where this work is good is that it also assesses pedestrian behaviour as part of the analysis. It seems we are finally getting the data by which we can judge success of an idea that has been an idea for too long.
The best video games for wannabe transport planners
Right, as a bit of a video games lover, I could not let this article in Bloomberg about the best games for planners pass by without comment. As a lover of the Final Fantasy series (especially the failed city feel of Midgar in Final Fantasy VII Remake), the mention of the amazing Final Fantasy XIV is welcome. And City Bus Manager is a lot of fun as well. But otherwise, I think I can come up with a few more.
First, the classics I was brought up on. Sim City 2000 because what planner didn’t play this game? Same with Railroad Tycoon, and Civilization II (Sid Meier is great). Cities: Skylines is basically Sim City in the modern world. Traffic Giant is for the problem solvers among you. And the slightly left-field choice is Animal Crossing: New Horizons, where you not only have to create the place but keep everyone happy too. Oh, and Minecraft, obviously. So go on, go play!
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 politics of pain (aeon)
Falling French inflation sparks hope of end to Europe’s price surge (Financial Times)
Activists will be no-holds-barred in 2023 (The Exchange)
Can we map every tree in the world? This novel tech could help get us there (Inverse)
Something interesting
Can you ride from London to Paris on an e-scooter? No, obviously. Riding an e-scooter on public roads in the UK is illegal. But this is still a very fun video, and shows just what this tech could achieve.
If you do nothing else today, then do this
Using satellite images and a bit of machine learning to monitor road conditions is…a bit challenging. But this latest paper about a proof of concept undertaken in the Philippines is interesting, as it seems that the tech is finally getting to a point where this may be possible.
Mobility Matters 