Mobility Matters Daily #154 - Electric vehicles and international travel
Plus find out how much of England is built on
Good day my good friend.
I’ll get straight to the point. I’m exhausted. I’ve got stuff to do, and you probably want to get reading. So here are your specially selected articles for today.
James
Is the race to electrify vehicles slowing down transport decarbonisation?
This is a question for which there isn’t really a right answer. As this article by the University of Oxford has shown, doing things like active travel is arguably better at decarbonising transport than electric vehicles are. But this question states to me that this is an either/or choice in terms of transport investment. I have yet to see good evidence that shows decision makers have chosen electric vehicles over walking and cycling. And by the way, research into opinions must be treated carefully.
Its a long road back to normal for international travel
This post on Naked Capitalism put this year’s tourist season in Europe starkly. COVID-19 travel restrictions have meant that even Spain’s tourist numbers are still 55% down on 2019. But domestic tourism has been roaring, with places like Italy seeing a record number of people holidaying at home. It’s still too early to tell whether this is a permanent shift in behaviour, but perhaps us transport planners will soon not be dealing with getting people to airports, but getting people to and from tourist areas?
Something interesting for today
This data comes from the UK Government’s report on Land Use in England. Apparently, 92% of land in England is undeveloped land. I urge you to have a play with the data
If you do nothing else today, do this…
Read about the much-hated British trains getting a new lease of life.
…And finally
Are there examples of forms of transport that are no longer used? In short, yes, but they are often repurposed as opposed to no longer used. The other evening while walking the dogs around the fields close to my home, me and my wife came across the perfect example of this. The humble horse.
In the US (the only country that has remotely reliable data), there were 3.75 million horses in 2002. In 1900, that figure was 21.5 million. Our equine friends no longer take us around the city, pull heavy machinery around farms, or help us on long distance treks across the country. Their role is much more sedate, and almost leisurely. The role of our original form of non-human transportation, and faithful servants for thousands of years, has changed. Why can’t other ways of getting around?