Good day my good friend.

Let’s keep today’s introduction short and sweet, shall we? We are all busy, after all.

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

James

Guys, its time we helped the ladies

One of the benefits of being married to a wonderful woman, and growing up with three older sisters who were extremely strong willed is that at some point, some knowledge about the issues that women face – and usually only women – do sink in after a while. In my case, there was no option in many instances (not that I mind, I hasten to add). But anyway, this isn’t about me.

We have known the issues that women face when it comes to being harassed on public transport. This new research article builds upon previous research into just this matter. We know that these issues can manifest themselves in different ways (literally ask ANY woman who has used public transport) and its not just about the drunk guy in the corner making a pass at them. But the obvious next question is: what works? Apart from involving women in decision making, obviously.

This amazing report on integrating gender considerations into public transport provides some extremely useful insight. It seems reasonable to me. Change the law, have gender-sensitive transport planning, operationalise said practice, and monitor to see what the impact is. Sensible recommendations that should be started poste-haste!

To inject some realism, while I am on board with smashing existing structures (whether the patriarchy or otherwise), Rome wasn’t built in a day. The amazing work of the likes of Women in Transport and Women in Mobility are leading the charge (as well as some very progressive places). But they can’t do everything on their own. So chaps, its time we did what we do best – rolling our sleeves up and get stuff done. Let’s do it.

NaP(TAN) time

My UK subscribers will probably know all about NaPTAN, or the National Public Transport Access Nodes. In plain English: a dataset giving the location of every bus stop, tram stop, ferry terminal, and train station in the UK. Despite it being the backbone of public transport navigation data in the UK since…forever, the Department for Transport is considering its future. Here is where this Discovery report comes in.

Essentially, the report recommends that rather than scrapping NaPTAN – because its useful – it should be doing more. There should be more data on facilities, stop lengths, availability of staff, and even data on shared mobility. A specific focus should be on accessibility data, which is to be welcomed as there is no common standard for this. This is one for data geeks to watch with interest, that’s for sure.

Oldies on the Internet

You can imagine the scene now when I say “elderly” and “using the internet.” Some old lady sat in the corner trying to work out how to use the internet on their phone. Well, this is something that needs dispelling. They are rapidly adopting using the internet for all sorts of activities, even if the tech still needs to catch up with their needs. And now, that is coming true when it comes to the relationship between using the internet and travelling.

This study of elderly adults in the USA looked at just this. The conclusion could not be clearer: “the results show that ICT usage and daily travel for shopping, social and recreational, and healthcare purposes among older Americans are positively related.” Or simply: the more people use the internet the more they travel, and the less they use it the less they travel. And its only partly explained by incomes. Time to challenge some assumptions about growing old (dis)gracefully.

Graph of the Week

The motor car has become embedded as a part of everyday life. But as this analysis of different European regions shows, it is more embedded in some places than others.

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 37 Most Beautiful Train Stations in the World (AD)

• Why Cape Town is one of the world’s most beguiling cities (CNN)

• The return of silvopasture (Aeon)

• Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch Is Bursting With Life (Wall Street Journal)

• Should we study geoengineering a lot more? (Bangkok Post)

Something interesting

This video has everything for a joyous Friday. It has kids riding on bikes. What more do you need?

If you do nothing else today, then do this

This article is a decent summary of the current state of play on autonomous vehicles. Its…challenging.