Good day my good friend.

How are you all doing? I can safely say that I am doing pretty well, having spent some time relaxing on the Broads for the better part of a week. Speaking of which, this week’s newsletter contains a picture of me grinning like a Cheshire Cat. Which may be considered unsuitable for people fitted with pacemakers and small children. You have been warned.

🗓️ Mobility Camp is back, and this September we are going to Cardiff. It promises to be an amazing day. It would be amazing if you can be there, or maybe sponsor the day.

💼 I am also available for freelance transport planning consultancy, through my own company Mobility Lab. You can check out what I do here. 

📖 Something else you must read

I had planned to write something else this week. But sometimes you read something that is so frustrating yet inspiring that you have to share your thoughts on it. This week that happened, with a post from good friend and all-round awesome person Georgia Yexley on how can we think about the future when the current situation is so bad.

You should go and read it now, before continuing with the rest of this newsletter. In fact, I implore you to do it. Come back when you have.

You done it yet? No? Why on Earth not. I said go and read it. Please.

Done now? Thank you.

Now that is done, allow me to share my thoughts on this. Georgia has been extremely brave and highly principled in what she has written, and it needed saying. While my words don’t count for much compared to hers, if saying this nudges the dial to better things, that alone is worth it.

In my life, I can safely say that I have lived in a privileged position. I am a white man, who has lived his life in one of the most developed and advanced nations in the world, with all of my basic needs met. I also grew up in a time of great prosperity. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, it has very much been – for the most part – a global situation which has favoured western nations and peoples. Me and my family did well from the positivity of the 1990s and 2000s, and have avoided the worst of experiences since the 2008 Financial Crash.

This is not to say that I have not suffered adversity or even – for what of a better word – some degree of discrimination. But it is not even on the same scale as people who I have the privilege of calling friends and colleagues have had the experience of. Especially for those who, through being who they are, experience a number of prejudices.

Its partly from my own experience, and through the knowledge of experience of others, that when it comes to the future, I tend to be a stubborn optimist. This means that I believe that the future can be bright for all, and we can create a better world. But that means working through challenges and problems with the determination that, no matter how bad things become, they can be overcome. This is something that I try to apply to this newsletter, and I hope it comes across in my writing. The transport sector has a lot of problems, but it has potential to make the world a better place.

But that does not mean that eyes are not open to the world around us. And right now, things are extremely dark. Most of you will know about the state of the world – the horrors taking place in the Middle East, the authoritarian-in-chief heaping cruelty on vulnerable people in America, nothing meaningful being done on climate change. Cruelty and bullies are on the march everywhere, being give free reign to do those by people who only want control.

This is unforgivable on its own. But what makes the situation worse is seeing too many well-meaning people seeing this and doing nothing. Leaving it up to people who have faced this cruelty every day to fight against it. Why in god’s name should the likes of Georgia not be compensated for doing things that basic human beings should be doing as standard?

Just this week, I have heard several complaints from good people who I know about a recent transport event (which, for legal reasons only, I am choosing not to name). Where thoughts and perspectives on what the current challenges in transport are and what the future could hold were made by people like me. White, middle aged men.

It’s not to say that what they are saying is not important, and many of them arguably make good points. And I am certainly not stating that anyone involved is in any way discrimatory (I know several of those involved, and can assure you they don’t have a discriminatory bone in their bodies). But we are still doing this? NOW? Come on.

Over the years, I have tried to be a good ally to those who, quite rightly, get overwhelmed with how the world is, and the feeling they get of constantly battling the cruelty of the world alone. This is not an easy thing. But one thing I have learned over the years is this.

Every action, no matter how small, matters.

You don’t have to go out on pride marches. You don’t have to change your pronouns. You don’t have to donate money to the local women’s shelter. You don’t have to post on social media on every special day for each excluded group showing how much you support them. You don’t even have to remember these days by heart. You don’t have to worry about every single word you say, or about trying to be “woke.”

You just have to do something. Listen to the experience of those who have suffered cruelty. Show empathy towards them. When someone has done something brave, message them and speak from the heart about why what they were doing is the right thing. If someone’s voice is being side-lined, say “I’d really like to know your side of things” and listen to them.

Most of all, you must recognise that these issues exist and that others may experience them much more personally than you do. Give them time and space to process this, even if this frustrates you. That is all it takes to do something.

And if you have the power to do more than that, well, I will just quote Uncle Ben from Spiderman.

With great power, comes great responsibility.

You don’t have to change the world to make a difference. Just change your part of it.

📷 Holiday Snaps

Having a break away from the worries of the world is occasionally necessary and needed. Last week, I spent time on the Broads in Norfolk, a lovely system of lakes (called Broads, hence the name) connected by rivers. As well as chance of some boating, I got to spend some time by the sea, where we managed to spot some seals playing just offshore.