Good day my good friend.

I know where you live. I don’t mean that to be creepy, but I’ve just delved into the Substack stats, and I have a good idea where you all live. Apparently, 57% of you live in the UK. Which I found to be amazingly low. Other popular countries were the USA (9%), New Zealand (8%), Australia (5%), and Spain (3%). But I always find it fun to look at the nations where just one or two of you subscribe. On that list include the likes of Ethiopia, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Uganda, Iran, Slovenia, and Columbia. To every one of you, you are most welcome!

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

James

Disabled access is not just about disabled parking

One of the great frustrations that I have as a transport planner is how simplified a view there is to disability. Not just among transport planners (its getting better but is still worryingly poor), but among the general public when it comes to transport schemes. The number of times I have heard disabled access been boiled down to disabled parking and step-free access is maddening.

So I got the feeling of deja-vu in reading about the current plans on restricting blue badge parking in York City Centre on counter-terrorism grounds. The background to this is long and detailed, and I don’t think I can do it all justice here. If you want to know more about both sides, I suggest you read the original decision papers at York City Council. and the recent publication by Reverse the Ban. I am simply using this example to make a broader point, as opposed to commenting on the merits of this particular debate.

One of the most important publications of the last few years, and I consider this to be essential reading for any transport planner, is Transport for All’s Pave the Way Report. It is a stinging rebuke of how people marginalise disabled persons from decision making and use (often incorrect) assumptions about their needs to further their own aims. Or as the report puts it “the answer involves engaging with and listening to the perspectives of disabled people who have been significantly erased from the conversation. Only then can we move forward with accessible and inclusive solutions which benefit everyone, and the environment.”

In my lifetime, attitudes towards disabled persons and a recognition of the variety of disabilities has come a long way. But still these historic views dominate how we talk about such issues. We really need to change this, and change this quickly.

Belt and Braces

One of the largest geopolitical projects of the last 20 years has been China’s ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative, sometimes referred to as the New Silk Road. In short, China invested a significant amount of finances and technical capability into developing connectivity and cooperation between continents. This is as much a political project as it is a connectivity project, though there has been a lot of significant investment in infrastructure. But what have its impacts been, and where is it going?

The impact has been varied on a practical level (I won’t discuss the politics). The impact on the environment has been a mixed bag. There is some emerging evidence that the impact of transport investment on regional economic growth has been positive. But this too is highly variable by region. But maybe, in this instance, the transport impact is not the point. Instead, maybe transport is being used as a means to achieve a wider aim.

No more Nomads

Its the Instagram version of work isn’t it? The Digital Nomad. With COVID-19 now passed (apparently), and internet connectivity becoming ubiquitous, people are travelling the world with laptop and Instagram account in tow, living in desirable places for a short time before heading off elsewhere. Apparently its on the rise – though I’ve yet to see any reliable evidence of it. And its apparently causing problems that our outside of heavily edited videos posted to TikTok and Insta.

Its causing a housing crisis wherever people talk about being a nomad, apparently. To me, this is not saying that this is not an issue – it might be – but it shows the limits of ethnographic work. Housing market dynamics cannot be explained through stories, and the presence of such nomads and more remote working does not mean correlation equals causation. This phenomenon needs proper investigation as it has a number of potential economic and social impacts, not more BS.

Graph of the Week

The UK is a sea-faring nation? My foot it is.

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 men who created Tetris reflect on their bromance (Polygon)

• The Glory of Trams (Los Angeles Review of Books)

• Training ChatGPT AI Required 185,000 Gallons of Water: Study (Gizmodo)

• Where We Meet the World’ Review: A Flood of Senses (Wall Street Journal)

• Ukraine’s tech warrior (Emerging Europe)

Something interesting

An interesting video on how ‘The Line’ In Saudi Arabia may or may not fail. Lots of food for thought.

If you don’t do anything else today, then do this

I completely missed this the other week. But here is a run down of some of the most influential women in mobility. And most of these on the list are AWESOME (as are a great number who aren’t). A special mention goes to good friends Annie Reddaway, Sandra Witzel, and Olga Anapryenka.