Good day my good friend.
This week has definitely been a writing week. Not just the newsletter of course, but at work, where I estimated yesterday that I had already written 7000 words that week. So my is now not working….so….good. I think. Maybe. Best wrap this up before it really goes badly wrong.
If you have any suggestions for interesting news items or bits of research to include in this newsletter, you can email me.
James
Congestion is its own random beast. And that’s not a bad thing.
An unwritten rule of traffic schemes is that any congestion will, usually and given time, sort itself out after a while. All sorts of explainers are given for this: people change modes, change the times when they travel, or they just give up altogether. It is why it is difficult to judge the impacts of schemes immediately after they open. But why does this happen really? Is it all inevitable, or does this happen purely by chance?
This new research paper posits a theoretical framework called self-organized criticality. Its a bit techie, but I will do my best to explain. Essentially, never-ending and constantly-changing patterns present in traffic flow, combined a sheer bloody-mindedness to get to where we need to go to, means that traffic eventually organises into a critical equlibrium that balances it all, but in a largely random way. This has heavy Chaos Theory vibes to it, and I’m all for it. We can generalise traffic well, but as a whole, it acts weirdly. Because we are weird.
Progressive cities? Look at the whole record. Not just what you like.
Anne Hidalgo. Let’s be honest, she is a darling or urbanists everywhere. And to be fair she has done a lot over the years to earn it. Removing cars from the right bank of the Seine. A massive expansion of bike lanes in the centre of Paris. Good stuff. She has also overseen a reduction of Paris’ population by 5.5% over 10 years. I bet you didn’t know that? Nor did I, and I find that strange for what is increasingly being seen as a progressive city.
I know that Paris, and the wider Ile de France region, is more complex and nuanced than a single observed fact, assuming you think depopulation is a bad thing too. But it shows that understanding the impact of what you do is important, even if monitoring for something may tell you a message you don’t want to hear. After all, a place could have an amazing public transport network and lots of bike lanes, but if its effectively a museum with a lot of social issues then what’s the point? Cities are for everyone. Remember that.
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.
Community groups are a lifeline in the cost-of-living crisis (British Politics and Policy)
Nature-Based Solutions in Cities are the Future of the Fight Against Climate Change. Here’s How to Fund Them. (The City Fix)
International spillover effects of air pollution: Evidence from mortality and health data (VoxDev)
Ukraine railways more punctual than BART (Systemic Failure)
Something interesting
America has a lot of railways. The problem is that the passenger trains are constantly stuck behind freight trains travelling at impossibly slow speeds (when not derailing). All thanks to one small law.
If you do nothing else today, then do this
Watch this video on why you should become a transport planner. I agree with a lot of this! See what you agree with. Personally, well done to all who mentioned climate change. And as for the project I am most proud of, definitely this one. No doubt at all. With this one running it a close second.
Mobility Matters 