Good day my good friend.
After the better part of a month cooped up at home, Ollie my new puppy can finally go out on walkies. For me this has numerous benefits. Not only is walking quite enjoyable, but it also results in a tired puppy that actually sleeps after having the best time walking around the roads. And so peace has finally descended on the house once again. Anyway, news.
Mobility Camp is back, and the number one transport unconference is heading to York on Friday 20th September. Book your tickets now! 📆
I have co-authored a book on Mobility-as-a-Service, which is a comprehensive guide on this important new transport service. It is available from the Institution of Engineering and Technology and now Amazon. 📕
👨🏫 What I’ve learned from 6 years at Mobility Camp
This time in 2018, I put out a call to some friends and the Transport Planning Society to ask for help with running a kind of event that was new to the transport sector in the UK. Namely an unconference. Even now, when talking to people I have to explain what an unconference is. And now is no exception, so here is a definition for you:
An unconference is a conference without an agenda. Attendees are given the freedom to create the event they want. There is no pre-planned agenda, instead being created by the attendees at the beginning of the meeting. Anyone who wants to initiate a discussion on any topic can choose a time and space
Still to many people, this idea is absurd. How on Earth does that work? Isn’t it anarchy? It’s especially hard for sponsors to get their heads around, as an event with good vibes is really hard to sell sponsorship for.
Regardless, me, Anna Rothnie, Pawel Bugajski, and Laura Putt took a punt on it, and held the first Transport Planning Camp at the ODI in Leeds in November 2018. And now, plans are in place for its successor Mobility Camp, taking place in September in York. We started off with 45 people in attendance. Last year, we had to close ticket sales at 100 people.
We have learned tonnes over the years we have been doing this. Many are familiar with those who have run events and have gone through the pain of doing so. But over that time, I have learned some things about the transport profession that I would never have got to see at a traditional event. And I think they can be distilled into two key lessons.
The first lesson was that if you simply give people the tools by which to respond to challenges or solve problems, they can be trusted to actually do that given the right environment. Civil engineering has a long history of attempting to control things. Having that certainty may work well when it comes to building things, but when answers are less certain its not so useful.
Throughout the course of Mobility Camp we have leaned heavily on Liberating Structures. These provide a somewhat structured mechanism that allows people to explore ideas and encourage creativity, while having an end goal in mind. Participants have taken to these with great enthusiasm.
The second lesson is that talking about creating inclusive environments where everyone is equal is much harder than actually doing it. At Mobility Camp, while we are by no means perfect, we come closer than many people to achieving that. And what we have found is that this is not done through big structural changes to the event (though its important), but through little things.
For example, we don’t put job titles or organisations on name badges – in fact we just get participants to write their name. Doing so establishes hierarchy, and we don’t really do that. When asking questions from the audience, we have a bus that we throw around, encouraging those who ‘catch the bus’ (get it?) to ask questions. This year, we are going to riff on the panel idea by doing a reverse panel, by having the audience be the panel. All intended to break down hierarchy and establish something close to equality at an event.
With each year we learn more about what does and doesn’t work. And each year, people come back for more. So clearly we are doing something right!
What you can do: Attend Mobility Camp, obviously. But if you want to get that vibe in your next organisational event, you should give Liberating Structures a try.
👩🎓 From academia
The clever clogs at our universities have published the following excellent research. Where you are unable to access the research, email the author – they may give you a copy of the research paper for free.
TL:DR – Eating, drinking, playing games, and sleeping are popular. So…like public transport then.
The dynamic role of subsidies in promoting global electric vehicle sales
TL:DR – Turns out, subsidies are very expensive but very effective, including after you end them.
TL:DR – People seem to be less interested in public transport, and more interested in micro mobility.
Urban transport system changes in the UK: In danger of populism?
TL:DR – People who hate ULEZ and charging tend to like populist policies according to social media posts. Colour me shocked.
📺 On the (You)Tube
Turns out that Vienna is quite ice. And the fact that its not car dominated helps.
📻 On the Wireless
Recently, the 99% Invisible Podcast explored the trend for more extreme hurricanes. So much so that meteorologists are calling for a new category of hurricane: Category 6.
📚 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.
- Paris Promised to Make the Olympics Accessible. What Do Disabled Fans Think? (Popsugar)
- The alarming possibilities of hypersonic flight (Big Think)
- Was Gareth Southgate great, or just lucky? (Financial Times)
- Are animals conscious? We’re finally realising that many species are (New Scientist)
- Can the UK deliver major infrastructure projects on time and on budget? (New Civil Engineer)
📰 The bottom of the news
Train food in the UK has a…reputation lets say that. But that is not stopping Transport for Wales from putting something new on the menu. Namely, seaweed.
👍 Your feedback is essential
I want to make the newsletter better. To do this, I need your feedback. Just fill in the 3 question survey form by clicking on the below button to provide me with quick feedback, that I can put into action. Thank you so much.
Mobility Matters 