Good day my good friend.

As I write this, I have the room light on at 2:30pm because the rain is so heavy I would be sitting in the dark otherwise. According to my own rain gauge (the classic inverted bottle), there has been 3 inches of rain this afternoon, and according to my neighbourhood WhatsApp most roads in the town have flooded. It is going to be a fun start to the week.

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. 📕

💬 Talking to kids

At Mobility Camp last week, I attended a session on engaging with kids on transport matters. A group notoriously difficult for us transport planners to talk to, as we seem to love our technical jargon and wordsmithing, which makes any kid’s eyes glaze over. Anyway.

We spoke as a group a lot about the different facets of the problem, like the fact that kids have a wide variety of needs and interests, they are often more practical, and we have to make it easy on teachers and parents as gatekeepers of access. This made me reflect on my own experience, and an especially bad occasion that I saw first hand last year.

Last year, my local town council and councillors from my unitary authority had a presentation from teenagers at our local Upper School (for those of you not familiar with a 3-tier education system, its the equivalent of later secondary school and sixth form / college) on a project they had done on tackling climate change. Namely what local people thought of tackling climate change through surveys and talking to people, and their own research. Including recommendations for what councils could do.

They were nervous about presenting, but they did amazingly well, and while I did not agree with everything they recommended they made their case well. Then the questions started.

Councillors pointed out to them how their ideas could not work. There was not enough funding, not enough staff, not enough interest in them. They were too tricky to deliver, and they should focus on smaller and more practical things. They questioned the survey methodology and said it was not representative of people (despite their efforts to do it). Only after about 10 minutes did someone say thank you for all of their effort and their recommendations should give us something to consider doing. And that person was me.

By that time, though, the damage had been done. All of the confidence of those kids, doing something they thought would benefit their community, had drained from them. They had physically shrunk on the stage, and were visibly hurt by it all. All in the name of “being realistic” and “telling people how things are.”

Not for one second am I saying we should give them false hope, or give them participation awards and say everyone wins. We need to remember that children are not stupid and we cannot mistake lack of interest for stupidity. They may not understand it all, but they pick up far more than you think they do. And so long as you take the time to explain things clearly to them, explain what is involved in making things happen, and telling them how they can be involved and helping them to do it, that is what matters.

So much of our engagement with young people is based on stereotype. Like “oh, they like their phones, we just need an app” or literally explaining things to teenagers like they are 5 years old. If you don’t know how to work with children, ask someone who does.

What you don’t do is humiliate them after they have put in a load of effort to make where they live better. You make them feel like they are equals, explain the challenges clearly, and say at the end “hey, these challenges are tough, and you may not get everything you want. But the end goal is worth it, and you can learn how to achieve it, so are you willing to work for it?”

We often think as professionals about tools and techniques when it comes to engagement. But in my experience – both bad and good – attitude matters far more. Make people feel welcome and valued, and they will be your greatest ally or at least respect you. Don’t humiliate them, don’t denigrate them, don’t make them feel that this is all too much bother for you. Then you will get both poor responses and ensure they won’t talk to you again.

Be better. And don’t be like some councillors in Bedfordshire.

👩‍🎓 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.

The changing politics of road death in Britain: from policy action to kicking the can down the road

TL:DR – In the minds of politicians: “Road safety? Completed it, mate.”

Can real estate booms hurt firms? Evidence on investment substitution

TL:DR – Yes.

Mobility of non-binary and gender nonconforming individuals: A systematic literature review

TL:DR – We need to do more research.

Parents’ perspectives on transporting their children in autonomous vehicles – A contextual interview study with parents in Germany

TL:DR – Parent’s REALLY don’t want to drive their kids to school.

✊ Awesome people doing awesome things

This lot (and many others) made Mobility Camp happen. Amber, Anna, Ejiro, Chenibuli, Kit, Cat, Stephen, Omar, Alistair, Diana, Georgia, Greg, Jo – you were all amazing. If that is not amazing people doing amazing things, I don’t know what is.

(Apart from that person carrying the yellow cuddly train in the middle – he’s an idiot 😂).

📺 On the (You)Tube

Electric trains now run from San Francisco to Silicon Valley. Which is a good thing.

📷 Out and About

Last Friday was the always-excellent Mobility Camp. And it was amazing to see so many of you there. Here are some of my favourite pictures from the day.

I also got the chance to have a little wander around York at night. I love the feeling of old cities at night, and hopefully the following pictures give a good sense of what the place feels like.

🧑 A small, personal thing

Some of you know I am a Town Councillor at my local Town Council. Well, I am not that any more, as I resigned on Saturday.

Before you think of it, there is no great scandal nor falling out. Its just I have changing priorities in my life, and I cannot dedicate my time to this any more.

📚 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.

• Governance watchdogs take fright as ‘zombies’ stalk US boardrooms (Financial Times)
• Cells Across the Body Talk to Each Other About Aging (Quanta)
• Immigrants are unsung heroes of global trade and value creation (The Conversation)
• A 485-million-year history of Earth’s surface temperature (Science) – This is an amazing paper that you should read. It puts our current situation in context.
• Carbon price uncertainty (VoxEU)

📰 The bottom of the news

Someone stole a New York Subway train. I wish I was joking.

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