Mobility Matters Daily #110 - Where's the plan?
Carbon emissions is going to be in the news a lot over the coming days
Good day friend.
I love local authorities. I really do, and they perform a vital public service role. But when you are the one person working on a project and there are 4 people that need to make a decision before you do anything, the urge to JFDI* is very strong.
Anyway, to what you want to read.
James
* Those of you who know me best will know what this means.
Transport Decarbonisation Plan - Big on talk, but no plan yet
As of the time of writing, the UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has told everybody how very good the government’s transport ‘greenprint’ is. Without actually publishing it. In the meantime, here are some good pointers as to what to look for to determine whether the government is actually serious about decarbonising transport:
Anything else is not so much green print as green wash.
The value of travel time savings is lower if you want to get fit
The value of travel time - the debate in transport planning that is always raging away in the background, and usually without getting anywhere. And a recent choice-based experiment will probably add further fuel to it.
Work by Stefan Flügel, Knut Veisten, Hanne Beate, Sundfør Guri, Natalie Jordbakke, NinaHulleberg and Askill Halse found that…
…cyclists/pedestrians motivated by health benefits have significantly lower valuation of travel time savings.
While also finding that (my change)…
…the valuation of travel time savings decreases as the levels of positive side effects of physical activity in the choice set increase. Taken together, [they] estimate the decreasing health-benefit effect on the value of travel time savings in active transport in the range of 20–65 percent.
Simply, if you want to get fit, the amount you value travel time decreases as you get fitter. I wonder what the implications are for the health economic benefits of active travel?
Stat of the Day
A simple one this one - how much CO2 transport emits in then UK. Just look at the impact of the first national lockdown in March last year. Its mind-blowing.
Source: ONS
If you do nothing else today, do this
Read the Decarbonisation Plan when it comes out. In the meantime, as the use of face masks on public transport is being hotly debated, read this article that summarises the science behind face masks and spread of diseases.