Good day my good friend.

You remember the days when transport wasn’t the subject of lunatic conspiracy theories? When fundamentally harmless ideas about sustainability weren’t subject to wild acusations in the darkest corners of the web, nor require an MP to complain how socialist they are. I mean, Jeez. I have been on the Internet a long time, and I have seen some wild things. But the ability of some corners to take the mundane and make it part of a wider conspiracy about the woke wizard Illuminati lizard people’s (or whatever they are now) grand plan to enslave humanity by (*checks notes*) reducing carbon emissions never ceases to amaze me.

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

James

Funny stuff happens when you dig

This article in The Observer about bubbling foam appearing during the construction of HS2 amused me somewhat. Not because people may be affected and the health hazard of it all. That’s not a good thing. But because how quickly campaigners have used it as a reason to stop HS2. There are many valid reasons to object to the scheme, but something happening during construction isn’t one of them. For a simple reason: we have no clue what is buried there until we dig it up.

As part of schemes, we do all sorts of assessments for things like biodiversity, stats (translation: location of utilities), archaeology and geology. But you don’t know what happens until you build it. You could happen upon a plague pit. Or maybe historic mines. A favourite of mine when we built schemes in my first job in Bedfordshire was constantly coming across the Great Crested Newt, probably the most common endangered species I have ever come across. Its the joy of building infrastructure – its an experience building it and using it.

Resilient deliveries require resilient strategies

If the last 3 years of constant supply chain disruptions have taught us anything, its that resilience is really, really important. Turns out that when you squeeze the maximum efficiency from a system, when disruption does happen then your options for dealing with it either or limited or become tactical (read: expensive, or sticking plasters become permanent solutions). This is not a technical issue, but an issue of strategy and process, plus a bit of investment in the knowledge that most of the time that investment will be wasted, but when it all goes wrong it will be priceless.

This applies as much to last mile logistics as it does to shipping and long distance freight. Some thought (outside of how to deal with traffic) is being put into the business strategies needed by last mile logistics companies. While the research is good in terms of framing thinking, the alternative strategies proposed are equally as valuable, and useful for policy makers to think about how investing in this resilience could be supported.

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.

• Data Free Disney (Public Books)

• How will AI change mathematics? Rise of chatbots highlights discussion (Nature)

• Yes, the Ohio train wreck is an environmental disaster. No, it’s not Chernobyl. (Vox)

• The US Is Becoming More Multiracial. Here’s What That Means For Our Language. (Buzzfeed News)

• What is the potential impact of the NIC’s infrastructure planning review? (New Civil Engineer)

Something interesting

What better reason to shut down a street than to have a cycling rave? Well, to have a cycling heavy metal concert would be great, but that’s my taste in music for you. Oh, and this video features a parrot, because why not?

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