You Can't Handle The Truth - MMD#576
Good day my good friend.
Just a brief introduction today. Very brief. So brief I’m just going to get straight into it.
Mobility Camp is taking place on 26th September 2023 in Birmingham. It would be great to see you there. Get your tickets now.
If you like this newsletter, please share it with someone else who you think will love it. I will love you forever if you do. ☺️
James
The Truth Is Not Enough ✊
Those of you reading from the UK will by now know the results of yesterday’s by-elections. The constituency formerly held by the ex-Prime Minister Boris Johnson has (narrowly) remained as Conservative due in part to a high-profile anti-Ultra Low Emission Zone campaign by the Conservative candidate. Good friend Mark Frost has already provided comment on this, much of which I agree with. So I want to reflect on something else, which is somewhat related to this news about the world missing the 1.5C warming target.
For too long, people have focussed on telling the ‘truth’ when it comes to climate change or many other things. If we only tell people the truth, they will act. No they won’t. Telling them the truth doesn’t result in action. You have to be honest with them, and then inspire them to do better. Give them the motivation and inspiration to make the changes necessary. Support them when things get hard (and they will).
We have many inspiring stories when it comes to climate action and on what can be achieved when something meaningful is done. The Netherlands is a great example. So is Barcelona, and even New York. The vision needs to be made meaningful and actionable. Not just a “trust me bro.” Even then, people will fight you every step of the way. Telling the truth is important. But inspiring action is what is needed. Inaction is not an option.
Comfortable with COVID 🦠
COVID. Remember that? Remember how uncomfortable it was to be around people for a while? That especially hit users of public transport. And this research by Bogdan Kapatsila, Francisco J. Bahamonde-Birke, Dea van Lierop, and Emily Grisé looked at just this. This is what they said:
It employed a classification of transit riders based on their attitudes towards personal safety and flexibility both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and investigated the effect of crowding on their decision to board and the comfort of boarding a bus at various crowding levels. The findings of this study are expected to guide the development of relevant policy interventions that can engage diverse groups of riders to continue using transit in a way that is convenient, comfortable, and safe for them.
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.
An Abandoned Arctic Military Base Just Spilled a Scientific Secret (Wired) 🪖
Hollywood movie aside, just how good a physicist was Oppenheimer? (Science) 🧪
How much trouble is China’s economy in? (The Economist) 🇨🇳
Google Tests A.I. Tool That Is Able to Write News Articles (New York Times) 🤖
Feds Thinking About Maybe Regulating Autonomous Vehicles (Jalopnik) 🚗
Something interesting 📼
Yay for hybrid vehicles! In this case, trains.
If you do nothing else today, then do this 👇
You want to do something about excess heat? Plant trees. Plant lots of trees. Lobby your council to get trees planted. Plant them on your own property. Plant trees like you have never planted them before!