Good day my good friend.
In all of the transport goodness of the last few days, I completely missed #TheBigOne for Earth day. Whilst many people I respect have gone to the main protest in London, I feel I need to remind you that we can make a difference in smaller ways. In fact, just this last week I changed my pension to invest in companies offering solutions that help achieve the goal of 1.5C warming (apparently it’s a ‘high risk’ investment), and changed my bank to one that invests profits in community climate initiatives. If money talks, I hope that mine will speak the language of sorting out the climate crisis. But its a reminder that every little you can do helps.
If you have any suggestions for interesting news items or bits of research to include in this newsletter, you can email me.
James
Bridges are great
Having worked a lot on bridges as part of projects recently, they are the one bit of infrastructure that is vastly underrated. People like to point out the obvious examples of the Millau Viaduct and the Humber Bridge, but even your basic single span crossing is amazing in an engineering sense. Not to mention utterly critical if it fails.
There is a lot of money in new bridges, with even the Italians finally, it seems, seeking to bridge Sicily to the mainland. But while potholes get the funding equivalent of a banquet, bridges get enough for two digestives and a pack of Quavers. See the example of the Garden Bridge for how this plays out. Which is insane to think about. A bridge closure due to a structure failure is far, far more disruptive than any pothole. This is an example in highways of how money saved on building new things could be reinvested in keeping maintained what we have.
Oh, Shipping
Global shipping has an emissions problem. Over 80% of the world’s traded goods travel by ship, and international shipping alone is responsible for 2% of global carbon emissions. Even if you believe the shipping industry’s own slightly rosier picture, its still a bad picture, as the type of fuel that shipping uses (bunker fuel) really drives climate change. But the big problem is this. Just saying ‘shut down the shipping industry’ will cripple economies and livelihoods globally.
But, is there light at the end of the tunnel? The UK and EU are looking to force shipping industries to cut emissions radically by 2050 (someone do something about the IMO, please). The industry is taking small steps like literally plugging ships into the mains when in port to stop engine idling. Soon, it might be forced to act otherwise it will really struggle to berth ships in any port of any major economy. But its a slow, slow process. Lets hope that this is not a false dawn.
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.
Bringing the lofty ideas of pure math down to earth (MIT Technology Review)
Cyber Thieves Are Getting More Creative (Harvard Business Review)
A mystery in the Pacific is complicating climate projections (Yale Climate Connections)
The empty basket (aeon)
Something interesting
Some visitors from across the pond try the LNER service on the East Coast Mainline from London to Newcastle. And they liked it. To be fair, it is the best intercity service in the country.
If you do nothing else today, then do this
My good friends at NUMO have produced a common standard for reporting the environmental performance of micromobility schemes. It should be used more widely. So do it.
Mobility Matters 