Good day my good friend.

Well, how was your break (assuming that you had one)? I would say that I have spent the last few days relaxing in the sun. But (a) I am moving house, and (b) the last time the sun and Easter met one another here in the UK I think was around the same time of the Battle of Waterloo. I may be wrong. Regardless, lets get on with this, shall we?

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

James

Social Network Cyniscism

One of the most frustrating things about being seemingly perpetually online is not just how wildy silly things and thinking can propogate (e.g ANY form of debate on Low Traffic Neighbourhoods on Twitter and TikTok), but how understanding the nature of how that comes about also becomes poorly understood. I have been pointed towards these articles about LTNs and social media more times than I care to imagine. But – however much this is a good analysis – this is an analysis of content. Not of meaning or understanding how ideas propogate.

Analysis from the world of political science gives some clues on this, especially in relation to conspiritoral thinking. To the shock of nobody, a predisposition to conspiratorial thinking results in more of it on social media (its how the algorithm works). But maintaining a healthy skeptiscism matters in moderating the effects. As well as keeping a diverse network of connections. This reminds us that however much us transport planners try and direct the misery of social media debates, there is only so much we can do.

Corporate Greed and the Railways

No doubt many of you will have been troubled by the recent derailments and crashes in East Palestine, Ohio and Greece. Such incidences have resulted in an article in DeSmog, since reposted on Naked Capitalism, about how corporate greed is causing rail accidents. I am loathed to speculate on this whilst accident investigations are ongoing. However, I feel that given the (somewhat) privatised nature of the UK railway, some reflections might be useful.

The early years of privatisation were beset by a series of fatal rail accidents. Southall, Ladbroke Grove, Hatfield, Great Heck, and Potters Bar are etched into the memories of many, and privatisation was often blamed. But the accident reports showed (the ones for Southall and Ladbroke Grove (Part 1 and Part 2) are especially noteworthy) that numerous factors are responsible for the majority of accidents. Importantly, organisational culture provides critical context. Where organisational culture favours rushing driver training so they can be out driving trains quickly (Ladbroke Grove), or results in a loss of knowledge of network condition and poor asset maintenance and knowledge (Hatfield), disaster is inevitable. And that can happen in any type of organisation.

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 last phone boxes: broken glass, cider cans and – amazingly – a dial tone (The Guardian)

• Are London’s foxes getting bolder? (TimeOut)

• How Can Cities Keep Water Clean Now and in the Future? (JSTOR)

• Black Boxes Are Key to Solving Plane Crashes. So Why Do We Still Have Unsolved Mysteries? (Afar)

• How governments are using science fiction to predict potential threats (The Conversation)

Something interesting

Someone really, really does not like Houston.

If you do nothing else today, then do this

Don’t just publish another paper? I can get on board with that. I must admit that whilst the written word is my skillset (I hope you agree), just writing reports and papers is a fancy means of doing blah, blah, blah. I hope to write fewer reports in the future, once the house move is done.