Nutter Free - MMD#374
Good day my good friend.
I’ve said it before, and I will say it again until I am blue in the face. If you don’t take climate change seriously, you will lose out on business. You have been warned, DAF and Iveco.
If you have any suggestions for interesting news items or bits of research to include in this newsletter, you can email me.
Mobility Camp is taking place on 29th September 2023 in Birmingham. It would be great to see you there. Get your tickets now.
James
No conspiracy here
Ask any transport professional whether or not there has been a rise in conspiracy thinking in recent years, the answer will be somewhere between “yes” and “yes, definitely.” With conspiracy theories surrounding 15 minute cities, and even the far right trying to get in on the game, you can understand why. But is this a case of them becoming more visible, or are people being consumed by the rubbish on their Facebook feed?
Good news. It turns out that most people are not nutters. It all depends on how you frame it, and when you account for that then belief in conspiracies is actually decreasing. Very often, people are managing communications exercises as though people are conspiratorial nutters. And you must be prepared for that thinking. But the truth is that fewer people believe them now than before. Which is just as well. Now, our woke liberal billionaire overload lizard people based out of Davos can rule our lives through Agenda 21 and low traffic neighbourhoods.
Save money on road widening: buy a Sat-Nav?
Sometimes, a study catches my eye. And this one of the impacts of a road widening scheme that is less than 5 miles away from where I live did this in two ways. One: it shows road widening schemes don’t work in terms of economic benefits. Second: it claims that SatNavs are to blame. On the second claim, I’m not sure the paper really backs it up. Recent data from the Department for Transport in the revisions to minor road traffic forecasts shows that the distribution effect can be overestimated. One to watch though. but what about the former?
The same author indicates that the economic benefits of road widening, when it comes to actually monitoring the impacts of schemes, may not come to fruition as traffic speeds and volumes do not meet forecasts. The thing is…we simply don’t know. Transport planners struggle to monitor the operations of their schemes, let alone the impacts. So we cannot really conclude what the impact of our schemes is. And when impacts like reducing emissions and economic value generated is what matters, thats a serious worry.
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.
The Next Crisis Will Start With Empty Office Buildings (The Atlantic)
Illinois now lets cops fly drones over events — but not with weapons or facial recognition (The Verge)
‘BMW since birth’: Chinese mother mocks ‘poor’ bike-riding teacher for making ‘study look useless’, demands he buy a car (South China Morning Post)
Rampant groundwater pumping has changed the tilt of Earth’s axis (Nature)
Effects of anthropogenic light on species and ecosystems (Science)
Something interesting
When he is not busy being the latest Reddit star, John Oliver explores many issues with great depth, empathy, and humour. This video on Environmental Racism is one of his best.
If you do nothing else today, then do this
Watch this video on how water reacts to soil under drought conditions and in normal conditions. Then ask your local council to stop mowing until there has been a period of somewhat wetter weather.