Good day my good friend.

Yesterday (well, today as I am writing this), my wife proudly announced that my birthday present had finally arrived. It would be ‘perfect for your desk’ and she knew I would love it. And you know what. She was right, as you can see from the below image of my very own live departure screen from my local station. If you want one of your own, you can get them right here.

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

James

Creating a right din is more complicated than we think

Noise pollution is one of the most under-appreciated issues that transport has. In the EU alone, 40% of the population are exposed to road noise exceeding 55 decibels, where 40 decibels is enough to have long term impacts on your health. The issue of noise at airports has long been researched and debated, and considered to be a very important issue indeed by policy makers. But as with all issues, and a well-known relationship status, its complicated.

A new analysis of the noise impacts of our old friend Heathrow Airport shows how complicated this is. Whereas traditional noise exposure is assessed through static maps, by adding in more dynamic factors such as travel to work and changes in flight paths, the actual number of people exposed to air pollution increased markedly. No shock really, as the airport employs around 100,000 people on site, who seem to be largely missing from traditional noise contour maps. This nuaunce is useful in more accurately defining the problem. We just need to take action on it.

Is there a value in the Boring Company?

Over the weekend, a video from CES of someone riding, and enjoying, the Vegas Loop went slightly viral. Now, I could spend the next paragraph or two explaining why the work of the Boring Company doesn’t solve the problem that it states it will. But others have done that already. But even the video made me open my mouth in amazement at how utterly wasteful the idea is. Unless your goal is to transport rich people around.

But lets be reasonable for a moment. Is there a use case for this type of infrastructure? Essentially, what the Boring Company are doing is producing smaller tunnels. This has a variety of potential use cases. Deliveries and freight could be transported via smaller tunnels, and even London has a history of this. Not to mention utilities that always need tunnels, and for whom the lack of escape routes may be less of an issue. Not as sexy as a 150mph Tesla in a tunnel, but if the tech can be perfected, there is potential here.

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 world’s torrid future is etched in the crippled kidneys of Nepali workers (Washington Post)

• We need boredom to live better lives. But social media is destroying it (Big Think)

• The Case Against Hopewashing (Wired)

• ‘It’s Not Either/Or’ — Population and Consumption in the Climate Solutions Debate (God’s Spies)

• BlackRock says we’re all doomed. It’s being optimistic (Open Democracy)

Something interesting

In the newsletter for paid subscribers on Friday, I discussed the implications of the latest report on the e-scooter trials from the Department for Transport. But this video is a reminder that many of the issues faced are not to do with e-scooters at all, but on how we design and manage our streets.

If you do nothing else today, then do this

Read Lambeth’s Kerbside Strategy. Ignore the fact that its aims and objectives are something to be supported. This is how you write a strategy. Make your aim and objectives clear, state what you will do, and make progress against this quantifiable. If you are writing a strategy right now, read this document.