Your Minority Report - MMD#564
Good day my good friend,
I have a feeling that I will push this until I am blue in the face. But if your organisation is not signed up to the Women in Transport Equity Index, you really should do. It takes about 5 minutes to sign up, and it will make a huge difference. So go and do it!
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 26th September 2023 in Birmingham. It would be great to see you there. Get your tickets now.
James
Transport is Mental
This will come as no shock to you, but men and women experience the world very differently. Both experience different transport modes very differently. Both also have very different experiences of mental health issues. And as there is an established link between mental health and transport, surely it makes logical sense that these combine in ways that are radically different between the genders, right?
Well, this study proves it, somewhat anyway. Some headlines include that men could benefit from better land use planning as it reduces journey times (they typically have longer journeys), while making public transport and street infrastructure safe - especially at night - is great for women. What I find interesting is that it highlights gender difference in a positive way, and doesn’t pose solutions as an either or. If you want to improve the mental health of men and women, you need to do it all.
Nice Face
Alongside the inevitable discussion on AI, there has been much discussion about appropriate regulations. The EU is doing some work in this space, but one of the most controversial applications is alongside facial recognition technology. There has been some discussion about how to make this technology safer or whether we should apply it at all. It is applied on transport networks and streets everywhere. So what do we as professionals do about this technology?
This is where it gets messy. The ethics of facial recognition and its practice is highly variable in the transport field. We are some way from Minority Report-level use, and there is limited evidence of its effectiveness in terms of improving public safety. So, this is a question of ethics. Do you favour liberty, safety, or a balance? And where does facial recognition lie in that?
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.
Will War-Torn, Power-Starved Ukraine Be World’s First Cashless Economy? (Serious Question) (Naked Capitalism)
The world needs hundreds of thousands more offshore wind turbines – where will they all go? (The Conversation)
Office landlords struggling for tenants are facing an even scarier predicament — zombie properties (Business Insider)
Airport of the future: a seamless, high-tech urban oasis (Axios)
Something interesting
A group of friends decided to cycle from the UK to Australia. This video is a full-length documentary of their trip. Its as crazy as you imagine it would be.
If you do nothing else today, then do this
This article on buying a used EV is good advice. Other articles doing the rounds this week in the Daily Mail are not. You can Google those yourself.