Good day my good friend.

You cannot help but feel awful for the situation in Sudan right now. Clearly those in the midst of the fighting are in the worst situation, but I feel that it is worth giving a show of appreciation to the air crews flying in to the country to help with the evacuation. They are doing this willingly to help vulnerable people get out. That is brave.

If you want to help make a difference in this situation which is currently very tense, the British Red Cross is co-ordinating donations with the Sudanese Red Crescent to get emergency aid into Sudan. You can donate to the Emergency Fund to help them.

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

James

Acting fast and slow

In recent days, posts by two people I highly respect gave me food for thought. First, Glenn Lyons posted his presentation he have to the CIHT Emerging Professionals Conference and the feedback received. Second, Mark Frost posted a rather interesting article on putting climate penalties into debt issuances. Both of which looked at climate change, with the former really having a clear message of system change. The latter, however, is about changing the system from within. Both of which seek the same goal.

Its interesting to think about this in terms of transport planning. Do we do evolution or revolution to achieve our climate aims? Many want the latter. There are a lot of studies of the impacts of social revolutions (this analysis of France, Russia, and China from the 1970s is one of the best). But the challenge of these is the effort in realising them (they are rarely spontaneous things, regardless of what the analysis of the Arab Spring will say) and then sustaining them. Revolutions eat their own children not because of ideology, but because of the sheer effort needed to sustain them. And in a period where action on climate change is needed now and quickly, I ask this: do we have the time for the revolution?

Research on groovy little motorbikes

Motorcycles are not just about Little Honda’s. But they are one of the most misunderstood modes of transport out there. Here in the UK, we usually think of them in terms of their safety record. Motorcycle use has declined somewhat slowly, but remains strong amongst owners. Meanwhile, the Boda Bodas are one of the most popular forms of informal transport in many African countries, and there is one of my favourite transport facts of all: the best selling motor vehicle of all time is a motorcycle.

Now there is this great research article asking the question of what predicts motorcycle ownership. And it is far more complicated than a man with a receding hairline wanting to rediscover his youth. There are all sorts of factors at play – household car ownership, income, household composition to name a few. It is an area that needs more research, and this is a great start.

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.

• How childcare empowers women (VoxDev)

• Singapore tells its people: Go forth and block those ads (The Register)

• What Funding Arts and Culture Can Do for Rural Communities (The Daily Yonder)

• Building a Global ‘Bike Bus’ Community (CityFix)

• Local Elections 2023 – Key Urban Battlegrounds (Centre for Cities)

Something interesting

France is going in on trams. Big time. While I am not as enthusiastic about them as others are, they certainly make a statement about the sort of city you want your city to be – in a good way.

If you do nothing else today, then do this

In just a couple of weeks, SRITC (led by the amazing Jenny Milne) are holding The Gathering in Boat of Garten, Scotland. If you care about rural transport you must be there, but I would argue that if you care about transport at all then you should be there also. If that doesn’t convince you, there will be Lego! Book now, as there is just one week left to book your place.