Mobility Matters Daily #168 - Noise laws, air passengers, and the Amazon
You should also sign up to a great event tomorrow
Good day my good friend,
For those of you coming tomorrow, I look forward to joining you at my good friend Jenny Milne’s (ok, its SRITC’s event, but I know the driving force behind it) Gathering focussing on rural mobility. If you haven’t done so already, you have one last chance to sign up.
Here are today’s links especially curated for you.
James
Mobility Matters is changing. The free newsletter will remain, but you will be able to get more through a paid subscription. Find out more about the plans here.
The laws governing transport noise are more interesting than they first seem
This interesting article by Simona et al tracks the history of noise legislation in the UK when it comes to transport. Very simply, road traffic, and to some degree transport noise more generally, is exempt from general noise nuisance enforcement action. In summary, it is a patchwork quilt of statutory instruments, Acts of Parliament, and judicial rulings. Or ‘the English legal system’ as its otherwise known.
Transport professionals typically deal with noise through infrastructure projects, particularly the big ones like Heathrow expansion, and some mitigation on major road schemes. As well as maps telling us how bad the problem is, such as on the London Underground. But if you are thinking about building a new scheme, the aforementioned article may be worth a quick glance at.
Air passenger confidence is taking some time to return
Much is being made of the confidence of people getting back onto public transport since COVID-19 hit. But what about aircraft? A study by Budd et al of Norwegian air passengers shows that many are still a bit jittery about getting back on board flights. Particularly the elderly who are concerned about COVID. Most people also want face coverings and social distancing to remain on flights.
Data from Eurocontrol shows that the number of flights is still down around a third compared to 2019, although passenger numbers are starting to recover. Interestingly, the WHO advice is still to allow it subject to detailed risk assessments of spread of COVID-19. The recovery of international aviation may be every bit as bumpy as that of public transport.
Is opening up through infrastructure a good thing?
This article on the impact of new transport infrastructure on the Amazon rainforest makes for some sobering reading. On the one hand, new roads and more efficient waterways improve access to services for extremely isolated communities. But on the other are issues I did not expect. Not just of the impact on farmers and the rainforest itself, but of issues around abuse by dominant infrastructure concessionairres and concentrating wealth gains in port cities. It is a great peice of writing.
Random things
Here are some random links you may find interesting:
Norfolk’s Local Transport Plan delayed over carbon concerns (Eastern Daily Press)
Why the German election results mean there could be night trains from London to Frankfurt and Berlin (MyLondon)
Geely aims to have 5000 battery swapping stations by 2025 (New Mobility)
Paris, World Capital of Expensive Regional Trains (Pedestrian Observations)
Something interesting
Steer have done some interesting research that has studied trends in bike sharing across 6 US cities since 2019. There is a lot of great data in the analysis, but for presenting here I have used the classic ‘the wiggliest line looks the coolest’ rule.
If you do nothing else today, do this…
View this video on how to use Minecraft to assist with your planning work.