Good day my good friend.
You know those days where, nothing disasterous goes wrong, but its full of little losses? And you get so frustrated by it all that you just want to scream? Yeah, its been one of those days. Sorry if I am short, and more blunt than normal.
If you have any suggestions for interesting news items or bits of research to include in this newsletter, you can email me.
James
Button fiddling is back
I hate modern cars. And a big reason I hate them is because you have to go through the touch-screen for everything. Change the radio? That’s at least 3 screen presses. And good luck finding the AC in the sub-menu when travelling at 70mph. I wasn’t the only one. As now the car manufacturers are bringing back buttons. It would seem that drivers think its unsafe to gaze at a screen to switch on the heating, rather than feeling for the button. But is this true?
Amazingly, there is only one study that I have found on this. Even more amazingly, the touch screen was better in terms of visual distraction as it ‘simplifies the interaction.’ This is not to say that this is good. Some emerging evidence from entertainment systems shows that people are still taking their eyes off the road for a worryingly long time. But maybe the issue is not the touch screen, but about the complexity? If a screen makes the selection simple, that may be a good thing. Sadly, having less stuff in cars is unlikely any time soon. If that’s the case, its a good thing that the buttons are back.
What to invest in?
Its not often a Green Paper from the Institution for Civil Engineers and port investment in Africa are compared. But there is a link here. And this is through the thorny challenge of comparing apples and pears. Or, different types of infrastructure investment and other policy interventions. Despite the best efforts of transport appraisal everywhere, its really hard to compare a high speed rail line to a road upgrade. As the latest paper by ICE on the need to develop a transport strategy for England shows.
But this example of comparing road investment to port investment takes an interesting approach. It applies the lens of enhancing access to markets to compare investment in road and ports, and concludes its better value to invest in ports. Because the appraisal is outcomes-led rather than trying to ensure consistency between options, it comes to more definitive conclusions. Whether those conclusions are good is another debate entirely.
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.
Why the world should celebrate Smallpox Eradication Day (Vox)
How Are These Trees Floating Over a Finnish Road? (Atlas Obscura)
Wittgenstein on wheels: Why the cycling counterculture embraced philosophy (Big Think)
Is Extinction Rebellion’s Structure Fit for Purpose? (Novara Media)
Something interesting
Bridges and other infrastructure are lined with sensors. This video shows why this is important.
If you do nothing else today, then do this
Read this article on the adoption of electric school buses in the USA. It’s grown. A lot.
Mobility Matters 