Mobility Matters Daily #424 - Real World Emissions and Workplace Parking Levies

Good day my good friend,

A bit short of time today, so sorry that the introduction is so short. Lets not dilly-dally and get straight to what’s happening. The only other thing is for my followers on the other side of the Atlantic - get out and vote, and take your dog with you!

If you have any suggestions for interesting news items or bits of research to include in this newsletter, you can email me.

James

Thank you Landor. Your sponsorship is helping to feed families in need!

Understanding real world emissions of vehicles is hard

If there is one thing we have learned from Dieselgate, it is that studying real world emissions is hard. This is because real-world driving has a huge impact. Great work from the Committee on Climate Change not only set out the gap between real world driving and test driving in terms of emissions is up to 35%, but also set out in great detail the impact of testing environments on measuring even test emissions.

Just to add to the complexity is this study of Euro 6 electric/petrol hybrid and natural gas vehicles and their real world driving emissions. An interesting finding is that for hybrid vehicles, the stop-start functionality can peak emissions from the vehicle. Also, a natural gas vehicle has lower emissions than hybrid vehicles. Lots of food for thought.

It was quite hard to find a good picture of a hybrid car (Source: Joshua Tree National Park)

Workplace Parking Levies are good

Its been 10 years since Nottingham introduced the Workplace Parking Levy. And the latest report indicates that it has been good. Its raised £90m for sustainable transport, expanded the tram network, and 67% of companies in the city have chosen to locate there for its good transport links. Now that is a good policy.

It’s a shame that Leicester are not going for it now, citing the cost of living crisis. I get the politics behind this, but given there is a climate crisis ongoing and that Workplace Parking Levies have been proven in helping tackle that through more public transport use, this is a shame. Though Oxford seems to be going full steam ahead, which is good.

Thank you Markides Associates. Your sponsorship is helping families in need!

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.

• Why Subscription Is Sweeping Micromobility (The Micromobility Newsletter)

• Reasons Are Adding Up for Optimism on Inflation (Bloomberg)

• Deepfakes are being used for good – here’s how (The Conversation)

• Yes, There's Hope to Be Found at COP27 (Common Dreams)

• How technology is revolutionising our understanding of ancient Egypt (New Scientist)

Something interesting

Electric ferries are not a new thing. But the technology behind it is more diverse than you think. For short trips, say across a river, instead of using batteries, why not just plug the ferry into the mains?

If you do nothing else today, then do this

Georgina Sturge has penned a cracking article in the Guardian about bad data and its role in policy making. Bad data is worse than no data, and the problem is that there is a lot of bad data. Take time to understand the data, and dig into it. Here is a perfect example. Go and have a dig and see for yourself.

Jo Maugham @JolyonMaugham

"The World Economic Forum now places the UK 29th in its global rankings for the quality of its railways, in between Kazakhstan and India."

theguardian.comWant to understand Britain’s decline? Try catching a train in the north of England | John HarrisThe recent history of our trains is a hare-brained plunge into underinvestment, privatisation and crony capitalism, says the Guardian columnist John Harris