The fourth Cycling and Walking Innovations event will highlight why boosting cycling and walking is a win-win, because it is politically more supported than ever and the benefits are visible in quality of life, the environment and local economies. The 2017 DfT Innovation Challenge Fund was the catalyst for the first Cycling and Walking Innovations event in 2018, which was launched to celebrate the innovators – from the private and public sectors – who are driving the active travel s

Is the energy transition moving fast enough to meet climate change targets and limit the damage caused by fossil fuels? Two recent reports from global consultants appear to take rather different views...and, as usual, the devil is in the detail... According to consultant Wood Mackenzie, the energy mix is changing only gradually and the world risks relying on fossil fuels for decades to come. Despite great efforts to reduce costs in renewables, electricity, zero-carbon technologies and advanced

Public bodies and transport operators must do more to enable people with mental health conditions to make journeys, states a new report. An online survey by the UCL’s Centre for Transport Studies revealed the main barriers for people mental health issues. Of the 385 respondents, 90% have anxiety issues, 71% suffer from panic attacks, 68% have depression while 51% have difficulty communicating and 45% have memory loss. The survey was supported by a range of organisations including Sustrans

In creating safer street design for cycling and walking, junctions consistently prove to be the greatest challenge for many designers and engineers. Dutch transport consultancy Mobycon

The Mini-Holland programme was the turning point for Waltham Forest, giving the council the means to challenge the dominance of the car, believes Clyde Loakes. The £29.6m grant from TfL changed everything. Up until then, the council had tried to encourage active travel through a range of small-scale measures, says Loakes, the council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Transport and the Environment.  “Yes, we had the traditional traffic calming engineering solutions, b

The Landor LINKS Annual Survey of Mobility as a Service is now in its third year. Whatever sector of transport you work in, MaaS is now having an impact either as a planner, providing public transport, bike share, car hire, leasing, payments, operational support, TRANStech. We'd like to hear from you, so please complete the survey to gauge how MaaS – and our hopes and fears for it – are developing. Take part in the survey today Last year we had more interest from the automotive se

A tech firm that deploys cameras and machine learning software to analyse the movement of people and traffic has received £25,000 from the North East Small Loan Fund, supported by the European Regional Development Fund. Newcastle-based Streets Systems says the funding will enable it to acquire more equipment as well as increasing its workforce and extending its client base. The firm, set up by Tom Bailey and Tom Komar, uses sensors to gather in-depth data on pedestrian and cycle movement

The Government has tabled legislation committing the UK to achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.  The draft Statutory Instrument to amend the Climate Change Act 2008 was laid in Parliament last week. It toughens the Act’s target from an 80 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 against 1990 levels to a 100 per cent reduction. The UK’s share of international aviation and shipping emissions are excluded. Announcing the secondary legislation, outgoi

Sophie Howe, the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales, has organised a meeting with the Welsh Government to discuss fundamental differences that the M4 Relief Road scheme has exposed in their respective interpretations of legislation. The Welsh Government appointed Howe as “guardian of the ability of future generations to meet their needs” after it passed the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. The Act defines four pillars of well-being – economic, social,

The public in Bristol will be asked next month to choose between a class C charging clean air zone (CAZ) or a diesel car ban to ensure the city complies with legal limits of nitrogen dioxide. The class C CAZ would see charges imposed on non-compliant taxis, private hire vehicles, vans, buses, coaches and lorries. It would be complemented by a local scrappage scheme for older vehicles, actions to reduce bus and taxi emissions, a bus lane on the M32, and a diesel vehicle ban on Upper Maudlin Stre

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea anticipates earning £100,000 a year by allowing floating car clubs to operate in the borough. Kensington and Chelsea is in talks with two floating car club operators, Zipcar Flex and DriveNow, and expects both to launch schemes this summer.  Johnny Thalassites, the council’s lead member for planning and transport, said each operator was expected to have about 50 vehicles in the borough at any given time.  Floating car clubs ope

On 18 June Green MP Caroline Lucas was strongly critical of the Heathrow Airport expansion plan published earlier that day in an article in The Guardian. “The bosses at Heathrow must have been visiting another planet last week, or else they missed the government memo about legislating for net zero emissions by 2050,” she began. “The plans unveiled today for a 50% expansion in the airport by 2050, including a third runway, all to be done in ‘a sustainable way’, take

A new guide packed with useful information about the Mini-Hollands and Liveable Neighbourhoods programmes has been published. The 64-page guide, published by Landor LINKS in partnership with Transport for London, includes a round-up of all the Liveable Neighbourhoods projects being developed across the capital. Building on the success of Mini-Hollands, the Liveable Neighbourhoods Programme will use the Healthy Streets Approach to deliver attractive, healthy, accessible and safe neighbourhoods.

Hilary Gander has witnessed a few political twists and turns since the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames secured Mini-Holland funding five years ago. The LibDem council won the £32.7m grant in 2014, but the following year control of the council switched to the Conservatives. Then, at last year’s local elections, the LibDems returned to power. Which means that Gander, as Portfolio Holder for Environment & Sustainable Transport, has been handed the opportunity of shaping the

The Annual Survey of Mobility as a Service is now in its third year. Whatever your work in transport, either as a planner, providing public transport, bike share, car hire, leasing, payments, operational support, TRANStech please complete the survey to gauge how MaaS – and our hopes and fears for it – are developing. Take part in the survey today Last year we had more interest from the automotive sector than public transport – but there are developments coming through now whi

Free bike hire is being offered to patients in Cardiff to help improve their health and wellbeing. The pilot scheme, led by Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, is aimed at people with Type 2 diabetes, and those who are overweight or suffering from low mood, anxiety and depression. Cardiff and Vale UHB say the pilot is the first of its kind in the UK. Initially, the pilot will run at two GP practices, Lansdowne Surgery and Fairwater Health Centre, offering a free six-month membership to th

Our contributors to Data & Modelling 2019, and this year’s cohort of speakers at Modelling World, all agree that as technological advances and evolving social trends intersect to drive a period of unprecedented change, data and modelling professionals must raise their game in order to take advantage of new opportunities.  Modellers and data professionals will play a key role in ‘Deciding and Providing’ for our mobility futures. As predatory tech an

Former Oxfordshire  County Council transport and planning officers have urged councils in the county to rethink  plans for tens of thousands of new homes, saying the county risks becoming covered by car-based suburban sprawl. They also want the Government to abandon the proposed expressway road between Oxford and Cambridge.  The recommendations feature in reports published by a group called POETS (Planning Oxfordshire’s Environment and Transport Sustainably). The report aut

Air quality barriers more than nine metres high are to be installed along parts of Highways England’s road network in an effort to ensure surrounding areas comply with EU limit values for nitrogen dioxide.  Highways England revealed the plan to LTT this week as environmental lawyers ClientEarth raised the prospect of taking the Government to court again over air quality unless HE comes up with a clear plan to end illegal levels of air pollution on the Strategic Road Network (SRN).&nb

Heathrow Airport plans to introduce an ultra-low emission zone by 2022 in advance of introducing a wider vehicle access charge for all cars, taxis and private hire vehicles entering the airport when the proposed new third runway opens. The Heathrow ULEZ will introduce minimum vehicle emissions standards identical to the London mayor’s ULEZ for passenger cars and private hire vehicles entering car parks or drop-off areas at any of Heathrow’s terminals, 24 hours a day, seven days a we

The DfT has “gone rogue” on climate change, sidelining the issue in its plans, policies and guidance to local authorities and bodies such as Highways England, according to environmental transport consultants. Lisa Hopkinson and Lynn Sloman of consultant Transport for Quality of Life make the comments in a report for campaign group Friends of the Earth.   The authors say economic development and reducing congestion currently take priority over climate change in transport policy

Bradford’s new £3.1m Canal Road Cycleway has opened. Providing a missing link in cycling infrastructure between Shipley and Bradford, the cycleway is part of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s £60m CityConnect programme aimed at encouraging more people to travel by bike or on foot.  The 2.3km route runs along Hillam Road, Bolton Lane and Valley Road, ending at Lower Kirkgate, near Bradford Forster Square.  To the north the cycleway links to the existi

The Government should take a lead from Scotland and Wales and adopt road safety targets across England to push down the number of deaths and casualties, according to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA). In 2017, 1,544 people were killed on England’s roads – the most since 2011 – and the number of people killed and seriously injured stood at 23,825, which is way above the 2010-2014 average of 21,283. Yet in Scotland the figures are falling, and while in W

The government has launched a competition for 7 to 19 year olds to design the electric vehicle chargepoints of the future, inspiring the next generation of engineers — a key aim of the modern Industrial Strategy. The ‘Eco Innovators’ competition aims to inspire young people to use their creative and engineering skills. Winners will have their designs made into real-life prototypes supported by industry experts. The ‘Eco Innovators’ competition — announced by

Modelling World 2019, 4 & 5 June, Birmingham: Supported delegate places for students Our event partner Jacobs is kindly sponsoring 10 full delegate places for students who are interested in sharing ideas about the key issues to be discussed at Modelling World. Please apply, by 28 May, with a CV and top two preferences for morning and afternoon sessions to: juliana.orourke@landor.co.uk Jacobs will ask all student ambassadors to gather at lunchtime at the event reception desk for a group ph

Right from the moment Enfield became one of TfL’s Mini-Holland boroughs back in 2014, the rumbles of dissent began. Cllr Daniel Anderson, who until recently was the council’s deputy leader, recalls being verbally abused at public meetings: “It’s fair to say we faced considerable opposition. People referred to me - and still do - as the idiot who built the cycle lanes. But I can live with that. If I didn’t believe that it was the right thing to do I wouldn’t ha

The Government’s decision to instruct Coventry City Council to implement a class D charging clean air zone (CAZ) has been described as “heavy-handed” and “completely unacceptable” by a senior city councillor.  Labour-controlled Coventry  told the Government in February that a charging CAZ was not necessary for ensuring the city complied with the EU annual mean limit value for nitrogen dioxide in the shortest possible time (LTT 01 Mar). The council said a

Plans for a twin boundary low emission zone (LEZ) in Edinburgh have been published for consultation. The Scottish Government has ordered Scotland’s four biggest cities – Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee – to implement low emission zones by 2020. Glasgow became the first to do so last December with a zone initially targeted at buses.   Edinburgh is proposing a city centre LEZ and a city-wide LEZ that would either take the A720 Edinburgh city bypass as its boundary,

Councils in Tyne and Wear have been inundated with responses to their consultation on introducing road charges to help meet EU legal limits for nitrogen dioxide.   Newcastle, Gateshead and North Tyneside councils have received more than 19,000 submissions about the proposals.  The consultation (LTT 01 Mar), presented two options.  One approach would see a Class D charging clean air zone (CAZ) introduced covering central Newcastle, part of Gateshead, and the A1058 Coast Road in

Britain’s car industry has questioned the realism of the Government’s plan for a massive increase in ultra-low and zero emission car sales.  The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders voiced its concerns to the Committee on Climate Change in December. The CCC had invited views on setting a net zero emission target for greenhouse gases. It published its recommendations this month, along with the evidence it received (LTT 10 May and see page 24).   The SMMT said it had

CoMoUK, the charity that promotes the social, environmental and economic benefits of shared transport, or collaborative mobility, has been on a journey. The organisation started life as Carplus, promoting the benefits of the UK’s car club and car sharing sectors. In 2016 Carplus launched Bikeplus to cater for the growing popularity of public bike share schemes. Last year, the two activities were united under the CoMo name. The organisation performs its charitable mission through education

Transport inevitably forms a key focus for the Committee on Climate Change’s (CCC) analysis into how the UK economy can achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Putting aviation and shipping to one side, surface transport accounted for 23 per cent of emissions in 2017, of which cars accounted for 14 per cent, HGVs 4 per cent, vans 4 per cent, and buses, rail, and other transport (including mopeds and motorcycles) 1 per cent.  The Committee’s 304-page technical report

“If Britain is serious about improving the quality of its air then the single most important step is to accelerate the switch from petrol and diesel-fuelled vehicles to electric cars,” an editorial in The Times said on 13 May. “Yet not only is the Government dragging its feet on initiatives to tackle this crisis, some of its actions have undermined progress. “We report today that sales of electric cars in Britain are far below levels in other European countries,” t

Aimsun has a long working history with TfL, and its software is already licensed to TfL through the city’s Strategic Modelling Framework and the Operational Modelling Frameworks, which were put in place back in 2015 and recently extended to 2020. The idea behind this current project is not only to consolidate existing models into an integrated, multi-level platform for modelling the city’s transport — with all the efficiency, consistency and cost reduction that this implies &m

With Scotland having set itself a target of net zero carbon emissions by 2045, both Glasgow and Edinburgh will start work on a range of programmes to ensure they reach this target, with both cities unveiling ambitious plans to cut greenhouse emissions to a neutral level. Glasgow wants to reach the target "well before" 2045, while Edinburgh has set its target to 2030. Glasgow has already established the first Low Emission Zone outside of London, while the UK’s biggest onshore wind far

Immense Simulations, the intelligent mobility software provider, today announced that it has secured $4.6m in Series A funding. The investment will aid the continued growth and development of its AI-driven ‘Simulation as a Service’ platform, which is disrupting traditional transportation modelling. The Series A funding was co-led by global technology investor, Amadeus Capital Partners, one of Europe’s most active AI investors according to Pitchbook, and Global Brain Corporatio

Climate change is starting to dominate the UK transport policy debate, as fear about the planet’s future shoots up the political agenda.      The Committee on Climate Change has recommended that the Government enshrine in law the delivery of net zero greenhouse gas emissions for the UK by 2050. For Scotland it recommends 2045. The UK Climate Change Act currently requires an 80 per cent reduction by 2050 against 1990 levels.  The Committee wants the Government to bring

The UK’s green revolution moved from the protestors on the streets of London to the corridors of Whitehall last week as the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) issued a report recommending that the Government sets a target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The Climate Change Act currently sets an 80 per cent reduction target by 2050 against 1990 levels.  The advice represents a U-turn by the Committee. Just three years ago, in the aftermath of the Paris Agreement on climate

The London Borough of Croydon is to consult on introducing traffic restrictions to streets outside eight more primary schools at the start and end of the school day, under its ‘school streets’ initiative.  Shifa Mustafa, Croydon’s executive director for place, said the three pilot school street schemes implemented in 2017 had “significantly reduced car use” for school run trips, in the range 15-25 per cent.  “Parents become educated and socially in

Transport for London should introduce a distance-based road charging scheme, initially for inner and central London but potentially eventually covering the whole of the capital, a think tank has said.   TfL has already said that it is exploring a “next generation road user charging” system as a way of managing road traffic demand and raising funding. Its current business plan describes charging as a “key proposal” in the mayor’s transport strategy to achieving

There have been plenty of transport project delivery disasters in recent years. Most of the really big ones have affected rail schemes, for instance: the delay and cost overruns to Crossrail; last year’s new timetable meltdowns on Northern and Thameslink; the mushrooming cost and delays to Great Western railway electrification; the unravelling of Network Rail’s enhancement programme; and, going back a little further to 2012, the collapse of the DfT’s West Coast Main Line franch

In the aftermath of the Extinction Rebellion climate change protests in London, towards the end of April, there was a significant backlash in the media from those who claim to see no inherent contradiction between the two aims of reducing carbon emissions and supporting economic growth, in particular when it comes to the aviation industry. “It’s time to stop arguing about expanding Heathrow and get on building,” said Jasmine Whitbread, the chief executive of the London First bu

When did your connection with buses begin? RD: I was a bus enthusiast from as far back as I remember but the defining moment was in 1971 when I was attached to City of Cardiff Transport as part of my degree course. They were great and let me do lots of things, including a service revision. On start day, I watched a full bus leave and thought “I did that”. The spotter’s ‘anorak’ came away to reveal the bus chief’s suit beneath and I knew where my career lay fr

A cycle path between two RSPB nature reserves in West Sussex is now open. The county council’s Public Rights of Way team worked with The Manhood Peninsula Partnership on the scheme.  The route – which connects the Pagham Harbour and Medmerry nature reserves – includes 1.2km of shared pedestrian/cycling pathway and 1.7km of improvements to flood defences at Selsey.  The £400,000 scheme was chiefly paid for by West Sussex County Council, with £58,000 of Se

Direct action climate group Extinction Rebellion was this week continuing to stage protests in London in an effort to force the Government to take more action to cut carbon dioxide emissions.  More than 1,100 protestors have so far been arrested for taking part in demonstrations that have blocked key parts of central London’s road network including Oxford Circus, Waterloo Bridge and Parliament Square. Elsewhere, protestors smashed up the glass entrance of Shell’s offices, climb

A personal rapid transit (PRT) shuttle between Paisley Gilmour Street railway station and Glasgow Airport could deliver a journey time between Glasgow city centre and the  airport comparable with building a rail link to the airport, according to councils. Renfrewshire and Glasgow City councils are exploring the  idea of a PRT shuttle between Gilmour Street and the airport following the collapse of plans for  an airport rail branch that would have been served by tram-train vehicle

The DfT’s new document, Appraisal and modelling strategy: informing future decisions, outlines the Department’s priority areas of work to improve the quality of transport analysis for decision-making. The work is grouped under five themes as follows: People and place  Quick wins: Locational attractiveness and urban realm: a scoping study will explore options for new guidance on incorporating locational attractiveness and urban realm into appraisal. The DfT says the consultati

This year more major road schemes will be considered by the national infrastructure consenting process than ever before. They will be judged against the not-so-snappily-titled National Policy Statement (NPS) for national networks, which supports a major road-building programme to tackle congestion. With transport innovations making the news almost every week, how up-to-date is this? Let’s hope more so than the 2011 Energy NPS that still gives outline policy approval, immune from direct leg

Regarding the letters from Paul Biggs and Malcolm Heymer (Letters LTT 12 Apr), it is a fact that the concentration of carbon dioxide in the global atmosphere has been rising since the Industrial Revolution, and is doing so exponentially. Moreover, it has been growing in parallel with the rise in the global temperature. That cannot be ignored – nor indeed can its implications for the future as we emit more gases. As for the criticism that their concentration was probably much higher a mill

Businesses in the North East are being invited to apply for funding totalling £80,000 for projects boosting take-up of electric vehicles. The Electric Vehicle Innovation Accelerator is a new programme led by the Innovation SuperNetwork, which brings together more than 50 partners and 5,000 businesses in the North East, and the utility firm ENGIE. As part of the Go Ultra Low North East campaign, the Electric Vehicle Innovation Accelerator is seeking ideas that reduce the costs and complex

An ambitious programme to transform the National Cycle Network (NCN) has been launched with the opening of a traffic-free section on the Caledonia Way between North Connel and Benderloch in Argyll and Bute. The new link at Ledaig - funded by Transport Scotland and delivered by the charity Sustrans – has opened after a decade of community and landowner engagement.   It forms part of a £2m investment by Transport Scotland in NCN Route 78 throughout Argyll and Bute and the Highla

Transport for London is  to pilot green man authority on ten pedestrian crossings in the capital.  The signal strategy already operates on two bus-only streets, in Hounslow and Morden. The signals show a green signal for pedestrians continuously until a bus is detected, at which time people walking are stopped on a red signal, and vehicles are given a green light to proceed. TfL now plans to pilot the approach at a further ten crossings. A spokesman told LTT: “The signal contro

Transport for London’s ultra-low emission zone (ULEZ) came into force in the central London congestion charge zone this week, introducing additional charges for non-compliant vehicles. The ULEZ operates 24-hours a day, seven days a week. Non-compliant cars, vans and motorcycles must pay a daily charge of £12.50. Non-compliant lorries (over 3.5 tonnes), buses and coaches must pay £100.  The minimum ULEZ standards are: • Euro 3 for motorcycles, mopeds, motorised tric

Transport for London has  made a new pitch for the ‘metroisation’ of commuter services in south and south-east London, with turn up and go frequencies and higher capacity trains. TfL already manages much of the capital’s rail services through the London Overground concession held by Arriva, and the Crossrail concession held by MTR. But most rail services in south London remain part of rail franchises managed by the DfT.  TfL’s strategic case for metroisation s

On 2 April London mayor Sadiq Khan used a column in The Times to justify the introduction of an Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) in the capital the following week. “The air in London is a killer,” he began, clearly intending to pull no punches. “Breathing it increases the chance of cancers, strokes, heart disease, diabetes, dementia and asthma. “We know that one of the primary causes of air pollution is filthy fumes from diesel cars, buses, vans motorbikes, lorries and tax

ClientEarth has successfully challenged the UK Government in court three times over its failure to get to grips with illegal and harmful levels of air pollution across the country. We have done this to enforce what we know is the Government’s legal, and moral, duty to protect people’s health from toxic air. The UK Government’s response has been to pass the buck to local authorities and we have long argued against this approach. But this is where we are now. Our main concern is

Nottingham City Council says its fleet of electric buses will largely remain deployed, despite cutbacks to the Link bus network on which they are used. Nottingham City Council owns 58 electric buses, the £15.1m cost of the fleet having been funded by the DfT’s Green Bus Fund and the council’s workplace parking levy. The fleet comprises 13 BYD saloon single deckers and 45 Optare Solo and Versa midibuses. The vehicles are deployed on the council’s Link network of supporte

On 24 March The Manchester Evening News published a lengthy analysis of the allegedly parlous state of the bus network in the Greater Manchester conurbation, describing it in the article’s headline as “patchy, expensive and nonsensical”. “The choice between walking a long or risky route in the dark, getting a taxi, being late or not going out at all will ring true for thousands of Greater Manchester bus passengers,” the paper said after detailing the travails suffe

The Scotsman’s transport correspondent, Alastair Dalton, was scathing in the extreme about the poor state of cycling provision north of the border in a column on 15 March. “Bike lanes in some Scottish cities are now in such bad condition they look like archeological evidence of a past civilisation that once encouraged cycling,” he began. “Fading paint and semi-obscured markings shout utter disdain at those choosing to ride rather than add to congestion and pollution by dr

Our lifestyles are motivated by self-interest combined with a determination to improve ever-rising standards of living that are nearly all dependent on fossil fuels. However, as we are learning to our cost, any use of these fuels adds to the concentration of greenhouse gases, notably carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. They remain in the atmosphere for hundreds of years. It is their concentration, not the emissions themselves, which cause temperatures to rise. This is a fact that seems to be overl

A couple of weeks ago, a fellow called George Monbiot (a writer fairly well-known for his environmental and political activism) wrote an article for The Guardian in which he said that, “The car is still useful – for a few people it’s essential. It would make a good servant. But it has become our master.” These words caught my eye, not just because I think George is on to something, but because I wrote about that same something in these pages around 18 months ago. Entitle

Tributes have been paid to the architect and street designer Ben Hamilton-Baillie who has died from cancer at the age of 63. After studying architecture, Hamilton-Baillie spent the early part of his career in the social housing sector before joining Sustrans in 1995 to work on designing parts of the National Cycle Network. Subsequently, while travelling on a Churchill fellowship, he came to know the Dutch traffic engineer Hans Monderman. Monderman, who died in 2008, was critical of traditional t

Roads have been closed to traffic outside 40 schools across England, Scotland and Wales for a two-week trial period as part of the Big Pedal event. This is the Big Pedal’s tenth year, but it is the first time schools have closed streets, working in partnership with walking and cycling charity Sustrans, the campaign group Playing Out and local authorities. More than 2,200 schools are taking part in this year’s event, which runs until 5 April. Sustrans is helping schools and local au

We’re seeing these developments on the ground now, changing the way people travel. Sometimes it’s trial on a small scale with local introductions of new services across a limited area. The flexible on demand driven bus service in launched by Arriva started in an area of Sittingbourne just 4 miles wide and 6 miles long. A single bus route converted by TransDev to ‘pay for how far you travel’ measured by Bluetooth beacons. One Royal Mail depot trialling electric cargo trike

New mobility solutions such as self-driving vehicles could exacerbate congestion and result in fewer people walking and cycling, warns a new report from the DfT. Rising automation must be complemented by more efficient use of limited road space, for example through shared rides, increased occupancy and consolidating freight, states Future of Mobility: Urban Strategy. Analysis carried out for the DfT suggests that traffic could grow 55%

Leicester City Council has signed a partnership agreement with Santander for a bike hire scheme. An invitation for bike hire operators to submit bids will be published next month, with the scheme due to start at the end of this year. The scheme – comprising 500 bikes at 50 docking stations – will cover the city centre and surrounding neighbourhoods, including railway and bus stations, Leicester Royal Infirmary, university and college campuses, major workplaces and sports facilities.

Plans for a ‘Beelines Network’ of cycling and walking routes across Greater Manchester will take another step forward if 18 schemes gain approval next week. This will take the number of endorsed schemes to 42, delivering 319 new and upgraded crossings and junctions and 70 miles of new cycling and walking routes. If the latest schemes are approved by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), the total value of cycling and walking related-projects across Greater Manchester wil

Five new garden towns have been unveiled, unlocking potential for up to 64,000 new homes across England, the Minister of State for Housing announced. The locally-led new communities, from Hertfordshire to Gloucestershire, will receive a share of £3.7 million of funding to fast-track specialist survey work and planning works necessary for each new town’s development. The funds will be spent by councils to help to deliver the homes and infrastructure needed for both neighbouring

The Big Bike Revival – a project that aims to help people get their unused bikes back on the road – is to take place for the fifth consecutive year. The DfT is giving the charity Cycling UK £1m, double last year’s amount, to stage events across England.  The project offers free cycle checks, maintenance advice and tips on how to get cycling, along with training events to get people cycling again or for the first time. Cycling UK targets people on low incomes, those

The DfT has announced funding of £21m to kick-start a major upgrade of the National Cycle Network (NCN). Plans to improve the quality of the tracks will be managed by the charity Sustrans, which has earmarked an initial 50 ‘Activation Projects’ for completion by 2023. This forms the first stage of Sustran's long-term strategy to improve the network launched last year. The Activation Projects include: • Refurbishing and upgrading Cinder Track North in Whitby, North Yor

Transport for New Homes is asking transport and housing practitioners to help it develop a checklist for avoiding car-dependency in new housing developments. It aims to outline the the various elements that make up a good housing development. Some are obvious: the development should have easy access to direct and frequent bus routes, for instance. Others are often forgotten: cycle routes should not end at the site boundary but should join up with a wider network. Homes should have secure, e

Communities Secretary Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP has announced millions of pounds in extra housing funding, along with new planning measures to build thousands of homes, rejuvenate high streets, create jobs and deliver economic growth. The measures are part of a wider strategy to deliver 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s. The package will unlock large housing sites with targeted £717 million infrastructure funding, reform parts of the planning system and ensure new-builds are more e

The biggest review into transport in a generation will pave the way for transforming the way people and goods move around our cities, the government has announced in its Future of mobility: urban strategy. Also, in a boost for sustainable transport, the government has announced the first winners of the Transforming Cities Fund and awarded £60 million to 10 city regions for schemes supporting low-carbon vehicles, cycling and walking projects, and smart traffic controls. The Transforming Cit

Bath and North East Somerset Council has dropped a plan to include cars in a charging clean air zone for Bath, saying new analysis shows nitrogen dioxide concentrations can be reduced to legal levels with less drastic action.  Councillors have approved a Class C charging CAZ covering the centre of the city. This will see daily charges for the lorries, buses, coaches, vans, taxis and private hire vehicles that fail to meet the zone’s minimum emission standards.  Bath and North E

The government should hold auctions for electric vehicle charging concessions just like the auctions used to allocate bandwidth between mobile phone networks, according to a new report.    The idea features in a discussion paper written by consultant Peter Brett Associates (part of Stantec) and architects Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. They see a need for a national network of rapid chargers, but say the current approach to delivering such charging points is flawed.  “Th

The removal of a large roundabout in Waltham Forest, north-east London, marks the final phase of the borough’s Mini Holland programme. Waltham Forest was one of three outer London boroughs – along with Kingston upon Thames and Enfield – to receive funding from the then Mayor of London Boris Johnson in 2014 to create cyclist and pedestrian friendly routes. A new T-junction, with signalled crossings for pedestrians and cyclists, and bus interchange (pictured above) has replaced

On 5 March the chairs of two House of Commons select committees, Lilian Greenwood (the Labour chair of the transport committee) and Neil Parish (the Conservative chair of the environment, food and rural affairs committee), co-authored a ‘Red Box’ column in The Times which asserted that it is: “Time we taxed cars in proportion to how polluting they are. “The current vehicle tax system should be made much fairer through reflecting each vehicle’s individual contributi

I promise this isn’t a column about Brexit, though I can’t help it if you feel there’s a resonance. It’s about a new philosophy I learned of last month when I joined Twitter (after a nearly unbroken record of turning my back on social media, which I found intrusive and distracting, apart from Second Life, in the early days, which was sweet).  It was a short tweet from a young American academic, with a heavy load of grading, i.e. marking, student scripts. She wrote &

Eleven London councils have secured funding for projects to make their streets more people-friendly. The Mayor of London and Transport for London (TfL) is providing a total of £53m in the second phase of its Liveable Neighbourhoods programme. Seven boroughs were awarded a total of £33m towards phase one projects in 2017.  TfL received 22 bids for phase two funding. The winning bids comprise a range of projects designed to cut rat running, make junctions safer, implement new wal

The different strategies local authorities are taking to comply with legal limits on nitrogen dioxide concentrations  became clear this week as more council plans were published.  LTT’s analysis of proposals shows:  • Coventry City Council’s Labour administration has ruled out imposing a charging clean air zone (CAZ) on the city. It says an alternative package of measures can achieve compliance just as quickly but that this will require £80m of Government

Coventry City Council has ruled out introducing a charging clean air zone (CAZ)  even if the Government rejects the council’s bid for £80m to deliver an alternative package of measures to bring nitrogen dioxide concentrations down to legal levels.  In 2017 the Government ordered Coventry to draw up an action plan to comply in the shortest possible time with the EU NO2 annual mean limit value of 40μg/m3 . The direction was issued because modelling suggested that, without

Motor traffic dominates road-based travel and the bicycle, invented in 1817, remains an under-valued mode. Machines resembling modern bicycles with chains driving the rear wheel were developed in the 1880s. By the mid-1890s there were a million cyclists in the UK. Cycling’s heyday was in the 1930s, but the growth of motoring led to what Cycling magazine described as “carnage on the road”.  Thinking in relation to cycle traffic and pedestrian provision generally assumes th

Local authorities in Greater Manchester plan to introduce a charging clean air zone covering the whole conurbation but want the Government to provide at least £116m of grant  to minimise the negative impact on residents and businesses.  The councils’ preferred option for achieving compliance with illegal concentrations of nitrogen dioxide includes a Greater Manchester-wide charging clean air zone (CAZ) implemented in two phases. From 2021 it would cover  buses, taxis

Road charges may be necessary in Newcastle city centre for some types of vehicle under proposals to improve air quality being published for consultation next week.   The consultation is expected to feature a Class D charging clean air zone (CAZ), which would impose charges on cars, buses, coaches, taxis private hire vehicles, light goods vehicles (LGVs) and HGVs. It will also suggest  tolls on city centre bridges connecting Newcastle and Gateshead over the Tyne.  Views will

Almost 1,800 air quality monitoring sites across the UK  breach the EU annual mean limit value for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) of 40 μg/m3, according to analysis by environmental campaign group Friends of the Earth. FoE found 1,758 breaches in the most recent local authority annual air quality status reports submitted to Government.    The ten worst locations were:  1. Earls Court Station, Kensington & Chelsea, London – 129.5 μg/m3 2. Junction North Circul

Bristol City Council has gone back to the drawing board in its efforts to comply with legal limits of nitrogen dioxide, after concluding that a clean air zone (CAZ) covering vans and possibly cars would have an unacceptable impact on the city’s residents and businesses. News of the rethink comes in a letter sent by the city’s Labour mayor Marvin Rees to environment minister Thérèse Coffey, explaining why the council has missed a second deadline to submit an outline bus

The Office for Low Emission Vehicles has awarded more than £6m to 17 local authorities across England to help fund the installation of almost 300 rapid chargepoints and 46 fast chargepoints for use by taxis and private hire vehicles.  The biggest award goes to Transport for Greater Manchester, which will receive £1.8m for 160 rapids. Other awards are: • Bath and North East Somerset Council: £412,500 for ten rapids  • Brighton and Hove City Council:  

There will be no big increase in 20mph speed limit enforcement if the lower speed becomes the default limit on Scotland’s restricted roads, the police have said.  Police Scotland has told the Scottish Parliament’s rural economy and connectivity committee that cutting the speed limit from 60mph to 50mph on single carriageway roads would be a better road safety policy than a default 20mph limit in urban areas. Reflecting on Green MSP Mark Ruskell’s Restricted Roads (20mph

The most effective way to combat the threat of gridlock as self-driving cars become more common is through congestion pricing, states new research. The ability of autonomous vehicles (AVs) to cruise will blur the boundary between parking and travel, says the study by transportation planner Adam Millard-Ball, an associate professor of environmental studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Parking charges will no longer be an effective congestion management tool, warns Millard-Ball. &

A six-week consultation to discuss possible developments around Crewe railway station has been launched by Cheshire East Council.  An action plan is being drawn up to manage development and support the regeneration of the site around the station ahead of HS2’s arrival, scheduled for 2027. This will help identify the most immediate opportunities around the railway station, and ensure that related growth and development is ‘plan-led’, says the council.  The action pl

Phase two of plans to transform Newcastle Central Station and the surrounding land will be considered by the city council next week. The programme would free up more space in concourses within the station, provide additional pedestrian entrances into the station, improve short and long stay parking and move the taxi rank into the existing short stay car park at the front of the station. The works would also pave the way for a new station multi-storey car park, commercial and residential housing

A look at viability, funding and investment in railway stations and station-led development. By Michael Bray, Senior Associate in the real estate team, Burges Salmon There is an increasing trend to refurbish and redevelop our railway stations, ranging from the restoration of historical stations such as Wakefield Kirkgate, to landmark regional hubs and international gateways such as Birmingham New Street and King’s Cross St Pancras. Railway stations can be destinations in their o

It’s clear that the auto industry has its sights on shared mobility, but in a model that is much closer to Uber and Lyft’s taxi-alternative than true co-mobility or shared modes such as Uber Pool or Lyft Line, which connect potential clients with other passengers with the same route or location. BMW and Daimler have launched a combined car-sharing venture called  ‘Jurbey’ and, under the terms of their deal, reports Automotive News, which includes Daimler's Car2Go and

Local authorities can radically improve their transport system by increasing the use of shared modes, especially active ones, but need operational and regulatory guidance. CoMoUK is supporting local authorities by bringing together stakeholders, including the DfT, to help deliver shared mobility goals, a process that will kick off at the Shared Transport Masterclass in Leicester on 22 February Cities in the UK are on the precipice of an upcoming revolution in the way we provide transport. The p

Plans for a ‘super hub’ are being drawn up on the site of the Old Oak Common railway depot in north-west London. The high-speed rail station, due to open in 2026, would offer services to the Midlands, Scotland and the North and access to central London and Heathrow via Crossrail. The long-term planning and development of the wider site is being led by the Mayor of London’s Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation, which is planning a mixed-use development, with commercia

Advances in technology may provide new opportunities in metropolitan railway finance, says Joseph Potvin, Executive Director, Xalgorithms Foundation It is common knowledge that commercial and residential properties within an easy walk of metropolitan train stations are in relatively greater demand, which tends to be reflected in their significantly higher lease and sale values. This mobility premium has long been the basis for so-called Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) initiatives.&nbs

Campaign for Better Transport has called on the Government to invest £4.8 billion in expanding the railway network to reach the most disconnected and disadvantaged communities. In a new report, The case for expanding the rail network, it outlines how a national reopening programme would initially create 33 new rail lines with 72 new stations, allowing an additional 20 million rail passenger journeys a year by bringing over 500,000 people within walking distance of a train station. It

Zipcar, a company that helped define the sharing economy, has released the findings of its 2018 Impact Report. For the first time, the report comprehensively captures key findings gathered over Zipcar’s eighteen years of mobility leadership. The findings, combined with objective third-party research, offer tangible evidence that car sharing continues to provide both members, and the cities they live in, with significant and distinct social and environmental benefits, at a time when new mob

The government has awarded more than £6 million to support ultra-low emission taxis right across the country, furthering its ambition for a zero emission future. The funding will see almost 300 rapid chargepoints and 46 fast chargepoints installed for ultra-low emission taxis in 17 local authorities, including in Greater Manchester, Brighton and Hove, Leicester and the north east. This announcement marks another milestone in the delivery of the government’s Road to Zero strateg

Shared mobility modes have great potential to address congestion and poor air quality challenges, but the practical delivery of an integrated shared mobility strategy is complex. The Shared Transport Masterclass on February 22 will bring together operators, local authorities and potential mobility users to take the first steps in creating a practical framework, based on 'mobility pledges', that can guide the set-up for successful shared mobility. The mobility pledges are rooted in work tha

UNICEF UK has launched a report into air pollution, including a national call to action and recommended measures for government, in order to urgently reduce levels of air pollutants in areas populated by children. Notes the UK Health Alliance on Climate Change, responding to the report: 'Around a third of UK children are growing up in areas with unsafe levels of air pollution and without urgent intervention, toxic levels of air pollution are expected to persist fo

As Unicef published its latest briefing on air pollution, stating that across 86% of the UK, children are breathing in harmful levels of toxic air that can harm their lungs, damage the development of their brains and stunt their growth, new figures from Close Brothers Asset Finance’s quarterly survey of businesses in the UK and Ireland suggest that traffic congestion is reaching crisis point across the UK, affecting both productivi

Between 31 May 2018 and 31 July 2018, the Department for Transport held a 'Call for ideas' in respect of rail market-led proposals (MLPs); essentially a call for proposals that were 'financially credible without government support'. There was a strong response to this call for ideas, with the department receiving 30 submissions, although DfT has not yet commented on the relative merits of these. An MLP is defined as 'a project promoted by the private sector which addresses an opportunity not ne

Waltham Forest council has launched a £20,000 fund to help local community projects encourage more active travel.   Organisations can bid for up to £2,500 from the Community Walking and Cycling Fund to deliver projects with residents in the London borough over this spring and summer.  The council hopes the fund will lead to more community led guided walks or rides as well as bike maintenance classes for community groups.  Funding will come from the £27m Mini H

A project is underway to explore the possibility of re-opening a rail station at Soham in East Cambridgeshire. The new station would help to reconnect the town with the Ipswich to Peterborough line, as well as help improve prospects for economic growth, jobs and investment in the area. The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority has commissioned Network Rail to assess the viability of re-opening the station.  The early design work factors in the potential for a second platform

Transport Scotland’s programme to bring buses up to Euro VI emission standards by installing retrofit emission systems is being hampered by the low grant rate available to operators.  The cost to retrofit a bus with emissions abatement technology, such as a selective catalytic reduction trap (SCRT), is about £15,000-£20,000. Bus companies say the Government should  pay the full cost because operators gain no commercial benefit from the investment.    Trans

Story updated at 16.30 Tuesday 12 February after the council confirmed to LTT that it is still the intention that operators will not have to fund any of the anticipated £1.64m cost of retrofit work. Councillors in York have approved the introduction of a bus-based clean air zone (CAZ) in January 2020.  The CAZ, covering the city centre and inner ring road, will require buses to be Euro VI or better, except those on low frequency routes (LTT 02 Feb 18).  The council will grant

Transport for the North has ruled out trying to spread road investment funding “fairly” across the region, saying funding will instead be directed where it is most needed. Responding to feedback to the proposed Major Road Network (MRN) in its draft strategic transport plan, TfN says: “Some respondents wished to be assured that investment will be fair and shared evenly across the North. “TfN does not believe that the allocation of resources should start from the viewpoin

The end of 2018 and beginning of 2019 have seen a host of consultations, reports and inquiries into why it’s so necessary to boost walking and cycling levels; both through securing long-term investment and fully integrating quality cycling and walking infrastructure with public transport, homes and work. First, the Department of Health and Social Care launched its ‘Prevention is better than cure' vision, which specifically mentions the need to 'coordinate transport, housing, educat

EU partners will continue to work over the next three years to raise the profile of shared transport solutions as part of the SHARE-North project. Speakers from project members CoMoUK and SHARE-North will be speaking at the Shared Transport Masterclass on February 22 in Leicester. The aim of the SHARE-North project is to develop, implement, promote and assess shared transport options such as car clubs, bike share, ride sharing and other shared transport options. CoMoUK will focus on engagi

The NHS will save £319m if cycling doubles in seven UK cities every eight years by 2040, according a new report from Sustrans. The charity calculates that 34,000 life-threatening illnesses - including Type 2 diabetes, stroke, breast cancer and depression - would be prevented, along with 628 early deaths. Transforming Cities: The potential of everyday cycling uses data from Sustrans’ 2017 Bike Life studies of B

A few years ago, Future Systems Catapult and Grimshaw Architects ran a competition to ask ‘What new civic function might a rail transportation hub play in the next 10-25 years?’ Participants were asked how station operators could dynamically re-direct travellers around disruption, how neighbouring businesses could be increasingly integrated with station environments, and what the service function around urban, suburban and community rail stations would be. Such is the time lag betwe

Construction work has started on a new transport hub in Derry which will serve as a “gateway” to Northern Ireland’s north-west. The plans involve the restoration and refurbishment of the listed station at Waterside.  Funding of around £27m has been secured from the EU’s INTERREG VA Programme with support from the Department for Infrastructure and the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport in Ireland.  Northern Ireland’s public transport body Tr

Dundee’s new look railway station will help to attract investment in the regenerated Central Waterfront area, says the city council. The £38m station features a new passenger concourse and ticketing facilities as well as a café/restaurant and retail space. The station, designed by Jacobs and local architects Nicoll Russell Studios and built by Balfour Beatty, was the first large-scale building completed in the area. Outside the station building a number of standard hoop styl

Since Bolloré’s pioneering Autolib car share service pulled out of Paris last year, Daimler’s Car2Go has delivered on its plan to offer 400 electric cars for free-floating sharing across the French capital. The service is simple: all you need is the app to grab a car2go anywhere in the home area of Paris. Parking is free in the designated zone.  More cars are to follow over the course of this year, says Car2Go's CEO Olivier Reppert, who considers Paris an ideal ground fo

HERE Mobility, the mobility unit of HERE Technologies, has announced the launch of their new all-in-one mobility app. Just as platforms like LinkedIn, Airbnb, and Facebook have leveraged social connectivity,?SoMo (based on Social Mobility),?taps into the power of social networks to reimagine the future of transportation. SoMo?merges mobility and sociability and enables users to plan, share, and ride in a way that’s simple, hassle-free, and?good for the planet. SoMo is a first-of-its-kind m

A new national planning framework is urgently needed to place public transport, rather than car-based “low density sprawl”, at the heart of policy for new developments, says a new report by the Urban Transport Group. This would enable the “agglomeration” of economies – where firms benefit from close proximity to each other – and meet housing demand without making congestion and air quality worse, according to The Place To

Birmingham City Council’s decision to delay the likely date for achieving compliance with EU nitrogen dioxide limit values could be illegal, the lawyers who dragged the Government through the courts on air quality said this week.  Birmingham is planning to introduce a Class D charging Clean Air Zone (CAZ) in January 2020 covering roads within the ring road, and applying to cars, taxis, vans, buses and lorries (LTT 04 Jan). Cars, taxis, private hire vehicles and vans that fail to mee

The Government has promised more action to reduce concentrations of the smallest particulates – PM2.5 –  in a new Clean air strategy for England. Transport systems are one source of the pollutant.  The strategy, published by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), shows the huge improvements in the country’s air quality since 1970. Nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions are down 70 per cent and PM2.5 down 78 per cent.  Particulates present a

Southampton City Council has dropped plans to introduce a charging clean air zone (CAZ), saying the council’s roads can comply with the EU limit values for nitrogen dioxide by 2020 without one. But it says motorways in the city are likely to remain non-compliant in 2020, though they are the responsibility of Highways England.  Southampton was one of five cities that the Government  ordered in 2015 to introduce a charging CAZ in order to achieve compliance with EU limit values on

Transport for London is to procure a data as a service (DaaS) contract to improve real-time understanding of how the capital’s road network is being used.  “Real-time (less than 60 seconds latency) journey time and speed data will enable TfL to generate information relating to delay/congestion and journey time reliability,” says a prior information notice (PIN) issued to  alert the market to an upcoming  tender exercise, due to start in the spring. “Data

Sheffield City Region has today announced plans to appoint its first Active Travel Commissioner. The post will cover all aspects of active travel schemes to be delivered across the region, as part of Sheffield City Region’s bid for a share of the government's Transforming Cities Fund. Earlier this month, Sheffield City Region submitted six active travel and public transport schemes to the government for co

THE DfT should not lead on active travel policy but should instead be the delivery arm for other client departments, MPs have been told. The Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) makes the comments in evidence to the House of Commons transport committee’s new active travel inquiry.  PACTS believes the DfT will struggle to orchestrate cross-departmental active travel initiatives. “The DfT is not a powerful department in Whitehall. PACTS has seen how diffic

New roads, bus rapid transit corridors, tram-trains, and light rail extensions all feature in the list of projects to be developed over the next five years to support Greater Manchester’s growth.   Transport for Greater Manchester’s draft delivery plan for 2020-2025 says business cases will be prepared for projects including:  • extending the Atherton branch of the Leigh-Salford-Manchester busway westwards to Wigan • a new road linking the M61 to the new A49 li

Ad Hominem abuse of transport secretary Chris Grayling has become a commonplace feature of late when the media is discussing transport policy (Media Monitor passim) but on 15 January Alistair Osborne, business commentator for The Times, decided to launch a personal attack against environment secretary Michael Gove instead. “No government minister ever got anywhere without being able to think two contradictory ideas at once, so why should Michael Gove be different?” he asked rhetorica

“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.”  H L Mencken Imaginary might be a little harsh, but exaggerated certainly isn’t. The latest hobgoblin is the air quality ‘crisis’, which is being used to justify more taxes on some drivers in the guise of clean air zones (CAZ). If the much-delayed carbon dioxide hobgoblin doe

Rail stations are changing, as any traveller who uses Birmingham, Sheffield, London St Pancras or London Bridge stations, will clearly see. They don't feel like stations. They feel like upmarket retail malls and grand food courts with trains (and buses, bikes and taxis) added, imposing city gateways, art exhibits, pianos and, increasingly, the centrepieces of new communities and developments. Stations' evolving role as new 'city centres' is driving development activity, growth and revenue. Gl

Plans to re-open Goldsborough railway station in North Yorkshire are being spearheaded by the developers of a new village community. Flaxby Park Ltd has acquired Goldsborough’s former station house, and plans to reopen it as a new park & ride station, called Flaxby Parkway Station. Train operator Northern is backing the proposals while Network Rail has stated there are “no significant technical obstacles to the delivery of a new station” at Flaxby. The developer plans to t

Stagecoach has introduced electric buses on the park-and-ride route in Guildford, Surrey. The nine vehicles have a 150-mile range and will be powered by an innovative energy storage system installed at the operator’s Peasmarsh depot, which avoids the need for a time-consuming and costly upgrade to the electricity grid. Batteries at the depot are charged during the day, which then charge the buses overnight. The system was developed by Zenobé Energy Ltd. The Government has helped fun

All new cycle routes in London will have to satisfy six new quality criteria in order to receive funding from Transport for London. The criteria are set out in a new cycling action plan that also confirms plans to drop the ‘cycle superhighway’ and ‘quietway’ brandings for cycle routes in favour of a new unified brand. TfL says Londoners find the current superhighway and quietway brands “misleading and confusing”. It will reveal the new brand in the coming wee

Local authorities and healthcare commissioning groups should designate physical activity champions at a senior level, who would work across the transport, leisure and health sectors, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has said. The recommendation features in NICE’s new draft quality standard for physical activity. NICE wants transport planners and public health practitioners to work together to ensure the needs of pedestrians, cyclists and public transport users

Many taxi and private hire drivers in Birmingham may retire rather than invest in vehicles that comply with new licensing conditions associated with the city’s charging clean air zone (CAZ), the council believes.  New taxi licensing conditions to be introduced in 2020 will result in 1,140 of the city’s hackney carriages (taxis) no longer being eligible for a licence. The council says this represents 90 per cent of the fleet.  Birmingham wants the Government to provide a &

Birmingham City Council hopes a complex system of exemptions and mitigation measures will placate opponents of its proposed charging clean air zone (CAZ).   Councillors last month approved the submission to Government of the full business case for the CAZ, which is being targeted for implementation in January 2020. The Class D CAZ, applying to cars, taxis, buses, lorries and vans, would cover the area within the A4540 ring road.  Vehicles that meet the CAZ standards (diesels at least

Scotland’s first Low Emission Zone has been introduced in central Glasgow, initially applying only to local service buses.  The scheme, introduced on 31 December, requires operators to ensure that 20 per cent of their daily bus trips into the area are made by Euro VI vehicles (or equivalent via retrofit).  The city’s main bus station (Buchanan Bus Station), and designated/specific access roads to it, will be exempt to allow low frequency services operated by non-compliant

The Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC’s) call for “rapid and far-reaching changes” to transport to reduce carbon dioxide emissions is based on questionable climate science, says a new report. The United Nations’ IPCC published a report last October on limiting the global mean surface temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels (LTT 12 Oct 18). This was in the context of the global ‘Paris Agreement’ of 2015, which set out a

Transport for London has reformed the incentives for taxi drivers to acquire low or zero emission vehicles, after the original system failed to attract significant interest.   TfL is inviting applications to: • an enhanced delicensing fund for drivers to trade-in older vehicles, providing £10,000 for the first 250 applications and then tiered payment levels at significantly higher levels than the current scheme; and • a £2.5m fund to help drivers of newer Euro 5 tax

Councils should develop and maintain routes that give priority to pedestrians, cyclists and those using public transport over motorised vehicles, NICE [the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence] has stated in a draft quality standard published today. The body calls on planners to develop policies and initiatives to ensure “safe, convenient, inclusive access” for pedestrians, cyclists, and public transport passengers with priority over motorised vehicles such as cars, mot

The DfT has announced regulatory reviews to smooth the way for “micromobility vehicles” on Britain’s streets, Mobility as a Service products, and new forms of flexible bus service.  The work programme is outlined in the DfT’s new future of mobility strategy for urban areas.  On micromobility, it says: “We are seeing the rapid development of vehicles such as electric scooters and skateboards, low-powered last mile delivery solutions and a blurring of prev

Councillors in Leeds have approved the Charging Order for the proposed clean air zone (CAZ), which is due to be introduced on 6 January 2020.  The Class B CAZ will cover a wide area of the city, imposing charges on buses, coaches, heavy goods vehicles, taxis and private hire vehicles (PHVs) that fail to comply with the scheme’s emission standards.  Non-compliant buses, coaches and HGVs will be charged £50 a day. Taxis and private hire vehicles will be charged 12.50 a day,

How will road transport be powered in the future? That’s a question occupying a great many minds as the Government’s attention turns to decarbonising the transport sector to honour its Climate Change Act commitments.   Most of the early effort has been spent trying to encourage  consumers to switch from petrol and diesel cars to hybrids or pure battery electric versions. Success has so far been limited, and perhaps not helped by advocates of hydrogen technology who say that

The news that the small but rich European state of Luxembourg is planning to make all public transport free to use in 2019 generated a brief media debate concerning whether this is a good idea and whether we in the UK could or should follow suit. Particularly enthusiastic about the concept was Guardian leader writer Susanna Rustin. “Hooray for free buses – this is how we create a greener, cleaner world,” she said on 7 December. “What’s not to like about Luxembourg&r

Waltham Forest council is offering its employees free hire of electric bikes to use for work-related trips. Ten e-bikes, supplied by Freebike, will be made available to staff during a one-month trial. Staff can activate the dockless system by using the Freebike App/Staff card. A council spokeswoman says: “Freebike will provide the council with usage data and we’ll undertake staff travel surveys with registered users to monitor journey modes.” Councillor Clyde Loakes, deputy

A project exploring ways of developing zero emission heavy goods vehicles is being carried out by TRL. This project – due for completion by February 2019 - will underpin one of the main freight goals within the Government’s Road to Zero report, to significantly reduce carbon and air quality emissions from long-haul HGV movements by 2040. TRL, the centre for innovation in transport and mobility, is aiming to identify and appraise the potential zero emission HGV technologies along wit

More than 300 Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) warning signs are being installed across central London to warn drivers at entry points to the zone. The signs are in the same locations as Congestion Charge signs, and on a number of key approach routes. TfL said it has sent more than 2.5 million emails and contacted registered Congestion Charge users whose vehicles do not meet the ULEZ standards, to remind them the new zone begins on 8 April 2019. TfL is also contacting other drivers it identifies

Sheffield City Council has announced plans to introduce a charging clean air zone (CAZ) within and including the city’s inner ring road.  Sheffield says modelling suggests that the scheme is necessary to bring nitrogen dioxide concentrations down to the EU legal limit value in the shortest possible time, as ordered by the High Court.   The scheme would introduce a daily charge for all non-compliant buses, taxis, heavy goods vehicles, and light goods vehicles.  Sheffield s

Local authorities risk being wrong-footed if they invest heavily in electric vehicle charging facilities, three separate bodies have suggested. In evidence to a National Assembly for Wales committee inquiry, the Welsh Local Government Association said councils were interested in supporting electric vehicle (EV) use and many had installed charging equipment. But Tim Peppin, the WLGA’s director of regeneration and sustainable development, continued: “There are risks for any individual

On 13 November London’s Evening Standard newspaper published an eight-page supplement in association with Uber dedicated to improving the capital’s air quality by reducing the amount of pollution generated by transport. “London is gearing up for an electric future and The Evening Standard is fully behind the drive to get our city charged up,” the supplement’s introductory article began. “We believe that the answer [to air pollution] lies partly in accelerating

For over 30 years Adrian Davis has been at the forefront of the drive to connect and carry forward the disciplines of public health and transport planning. As he observes, for much of this time he has been paving a way into new territory: “In terms of my own journey, there has not been a route map, because the job had previously not been invented.”  His work has recently taken a new turn with his appointment to the part-time post of professor of transport and health in the Tran

Councils will get new powers allowing the use of CCTV and ANPR cameras to enforce parking restrictions in cycle lanes as part of a government ‘action plan’ to improve road safety for pedestrians and cyclists. The two-year plan, published today, will end the requirement for civil enforcement officers to issue penalty charge notices to vehicles parked in cycle lanes. Among a raft of

Belfast’s Queen’s University has become the first organisation to achieve a Gold Standard in a new international Cycle Friendly Employer accreditation (CFE-UK). The scheme has been launched by EU project ‘Bike2Work’, with the charity Cycling UK the recognised provider for the UK.  CFE-UK is the only international standard for workplace cycling, working in partnership with countries across Europe. Site auditing and advisory work is also provided by charity Sustrans

Improving cycling and walking infrastructure can increase spending in shops by up to 30%, according to a report published today by Transport for London (TfL). The research found that people walking, cycling and using public transport spend 40% more each month than car drivers. Some 45% of high street visits are for “social and community reasons” while improving streets for cycling and walking led to a 216% increase in “people stopping, sitting and socialising”, said the

People-friendly spaces a dedicated cycleway and plazas are among proposals for Edinburgh’s George Street and New Town public realm design project. A draft concept design for the area, which has been produced after extensive consultation with a range of stakeholders including community and specialist interest groups, went on show at Edinburgh’s City Art Centre for the first time on 8 November. As part of the wider City Centre Transformation project, the George Street and New Town (G

Calls for the city to declare a climate emergency and take urgent action to tackle the pressing threat of “abrupt and irreversible changes that will wreck livelihoods” gained unanimous cross-party support at a full council meeting on 12 November. Bristol is now committed to the most ambitious climate change target of all UK Core Cities, thanks to the motion put forward by Carla Denyer, Green councillor for Clifton Down, reports Bristol247.com. Admitting that she did not expect to g

Tower Hamlets Council is making over £120,000 available to community groups, schools, local businesses and housing associations who want to in reducing air pollution in the east London borough. To be eligible for funding, projects must be related to either reducing air pollution emissions, reducing air exposure to pollution or increasing awareness of air pollution; be directly relevant to actions in the council’s Air Quality Action Plan (AQAP); have a measurable impact; and have wid

US electric scooter manufacturer Bird is launching a pilot scheme at London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The company, which operates in around 40 American cities, believes that its pilot scheme will demonstrate the usefulness of this hop-on, hop-off form of transport. The scooters are unlocked using an app. They are time-managed, being only available between the hours of 07.00 and 21.00. The scooters are collected and charged overnight. Bird believes this will overcome problems t

Plans to make 10,000 miles of the National Cycle Network (NCN) traffic-free have been announced by Sustrans. Since the network was launched 23 years ago, the active travel charity has installed more than 5,000 traffic-free miles and aims to double this by 2040. This is among the pledges in a major review of the network, publis

One or more charging clean air zones (CAZs) may be implemented in Greater Manchester after modelling suggested the area’s air quality problem is worse than first thought. Eight of the conurbation’s ten districts were directed by the Government in 2017 and 2018 to conduct feasibility studies into bringing nitrogen dioxide down to below the EU legal limit in the shortest possible time.   Alex Ganotis, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s portfolio lead for gree

Combined authorities with strategic planning powers will be given the power to implement a strategic infrastructure tariff (SIT) to help fund transport and other infrastructure, the Government has announced. A SIT would be similar to the mayoral CIL in London, which has been used to part-fund Crossrail, will be additional to the community infrastructure levies (CIL) that individual councils operate to fund infrastructure.   The SIT idea featured in a consultation held earlier this yea

Leeds City Council is proposing short-term exemptions from its charging Clean Air Zone (CAZ) for some types of vehicle, to soften the blow of the scheme. The council plans to introduce the CAZ on 6 January 2020 but says there is “high potential” for legal challenges from those who think the plan is either too draconian or not strict enough. Both Client Earth and Friends of the Earth want the scheme to cover cars, something the council has refused to countenance.  Leeds will in

Bath and North East Somerset Council (B&NES) is consulting on a clean air zone (CAZ) for Bath city centre that would see charges imposed on almost all non-compliant vehicles, including cars.  The Class D charging zone would be implemented at the end of 2020 and operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The charge for non-compliant vehicles would be £9 a day for cars, taxis and vans, and £100 for buses, coaches and HGVs.  Charges would not apply to: Euro 4+ petrol veh

People born more recently display lower rates of driver licence holding, car access and mileage compared to earlier generations, according to a new DfT report.  Car travel econometrics draws on data from the National Travel Survey to study factors affecting licence holding, car ownership and use.  “Being born more recently is associated with lower rates of licence holding, car access and mileage relative to those born earlier than 1955,” says the DfT. “This could in

Oxford Street in central London will remain an important corridor for motorised vehicles under new plans for the street and the surrounding area published  for consultation by Westminster City Council.  The proposals come four months after the collapse of a plan for the partial pedestrianisation of the street (LTT 22 Jun). It was drawn up by a partnership including Westminster and London mayor Sadiq Khan, but Westminster withdrew support amid pressure from local residents who feared t

An innovative physical activity programme which uses the technology found in high street reward cards to turn cities and towns into giant, mass participation games, is rolling out across the country, thanks to a new £3.32 million National Lottery grant from Sport England. The unique family game, called Beat the Street, rewards players who cycle, run or walk with points and prizes, encouraging families to get out and about and increase their physical activity.  Fifty-nine towns and ci

Prevention is a vital health topic for government and the health sector – and it’s also the focus of a new public health vision document, launched this week by Health Secretary Matt Hancock. The 'Prevention is better than cure' vision, which sets out how we can use policy, new technology, workplace strategies and the power of local communities to prevent worsening health, will also be a key focus for the Public Health & Sustainable Transport Summit to be held on 27 March 2019 in

The Healthy Streets Awards 2018 took place at the London Guildhall last week. The judges were impressed by the high quality of this year’s entries, which included some of the best work carried out in the UK The winners of the Healthy Streets Awards 2018 were announced last week, with Waltham Forest bagging three trophies. The London borough took the Healthy Street of the Year, Behaviour Change Initiatives and Photo of the Year awards. It was also a good night for The London boroughs of So

Just pause for a moment and think about your last holiday or visit to a National Park. How did you get around? How did this compare with your routine day-to-day ways of travelling? It may seem like a different world from the frenetic global mobility disruptions, but just maybe these aren’t as far apart as we think.  To what extent did getting on that shuttle bus, renting that bike or walking to the shop change your views on public transport or active travel for the other 48 weeks of

Mayor of Liverpool City Region Steve Rotheram and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham addressed a full house at Smarter Travel LIVE! hosted by Merseytravel and Liverpool City Region and organised by Landor LINKS. They said that radical change is needed across the North if mayors are to be allowed to deliver for their regions. “The economic growth of our city region is asking questions of the transport system it can’t answer,” said Burnham. More than 500 people attended t

Electric vehicles have a great future in the UK – but there is a long way to go, with plenty of risks, and this month’s Budget could be a setback. That was the gist of a Westminster Forum conference on the Government’s Road to Zero strategy held earlier this month. Chair Helen Goodman MP, who has Sunderland’s Nissan plant in her constituency, set the tone. She contrasted the Labour Party’s new commitment to carbon neutrality by 2050 with her own “not good&rdq

A transport revolution appears to be underway in the West Midlands, and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is major part of the picture. The long talked about ‘Sprint’ routes are finally happening. Changes to governance, with a new combined authority, a Metro mayor and a need for better transport connections ahead of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, seem to have focused minds. Plans  for a whole network of Sprint routes are now on the table.  Sprint gets off to slow start

Paul Hammond, global practice leader for economics at Mott MacDonald, an event partner for Smarter Travel LIVE!, echoed the calls from Mayors Rotherham and Burnham for better integrated transport infrastructure across the North, and is ready to support delivery. 'As many of the presenters at Smarter Travel LIVE! pointed out, the challenges and solutions are myriad and should not be seen in isolation. Active travel, for example, is a key aspect of a healthy community and an integral part of the

The 6th Annual Smarter Travel LIVE! Conference, hosted by Merseytravel & Liverpool City Region (LCR) on October 16 and 17, attracted more than 600 delegates from across the UK and beyond. Steve Rotheram, Metro Mayor of Liverpool City Region, and Andy Burnham, Greater Manchester Mayor, both gave keynotes, stressing their commitment to ongoing devolution and the delivery of a fully integrated, accessible and clean transport network linking key towns and cities across the North (see news pages)

In the run-up to the publication of expressions of interest for the future Oxfordshire Strategic Traffic Model (OSM) on October 23, Smarter Travel LIVE! hosted a workshop session with Oxfordshire County Council, innovation hub MoBox and Oxford-based im23, the smarter mobility agency, to outline new ways for local authorities and the tech community to collaborate. In a first for UK local authorities, Oxfordshire County Council is using its OSM procurement to demonstrate how to leverage innovation

Liverpool City Region's Mayor, Steve Rotheram, speaking at Smarter Travel LIVE!, last week, referred to the Office of Road and Rail’s report into a summer of rail chaos which found “systematic failures from government, Network Rail and the rail operators” leading to collapsed services and missed chances to avoid disruption. “Can you honestly imagine chaos on that scale being allowed to happen in London and the South East without major government intervention,” he as

On 11 October it was the turn of The Guardian’s Parliamentary sketch writer, John Crace, to become the latest in a lengthening line of critics to take aim at the allegedly hapless transport secretary, Chris Grayling. “She [Prime Minister Theresa May] appointed Grayling as transport secretary primarily on the grounds of damage limitation because transport was a relatively quiet beat and surely he couldn’t come to too much harm there?” Crace began. “But this has turne

The mobility options on offer to meet users’ personal travel needs have significantly diversified over the last few years. While the traditional analogue options of walking, driving or cycling with your own car or bike, or using a timetable and catching a fixed route bus or train still exist, they are now augmented (and in some cases are being replaced) by digital ways to identify, book and use a much wider range of transport modes, including those adopting very different, and much more fl

Prime Minister Theresa May’s announcement that fuel duty will again be frozen in the Budget has given renewed impetus to calls for the introduction of road pricing to address air quality and congestion in urban areas. Supporters and critics of May’s decision told LTT this week that local authorities tasked with reducing urban air pollution needed more targeted methods of driving behaviour change, including road pricing. As further evidence of a “disconnect” in governmen

Bristol City Council has suggested introducing a workplace parking levy or a congestion charge to fund significant investments in public transport infrastructure. The prospect of new levies on motorists is raised in the Bristol Transport Strategy, which sets out how the city’s council plans to tackle challenges affecting journeys such as traffic congestion, growth in housing and jobs, inequality and health problems caused by inactivity and air pollution. Marvin Rees, mayor of Bristol, sa

Leeds City Council is set to introduce a Clean Air Charging Zone (CAZ) across more than half the city in January 2020. The worst polluting buses, coaches and HGVs that fail to meet the council’s minimum emissions standard will pay a £50 daily charge. A Leeds City Council spokesman told LTT: “Our proposals are that the worst polluting taxi and private hire vehicles that don’t meet our minimum emissions standard would only be required to pay £12.50 a day or alternati

The closure of a pair of flyovers in central Liverpool provides an opportunity to reduce motorised traffic and encourage more journeys by public transport, cycling and walking, say two charities. The Churchill flyovers, which connect the northern suburbs to the city centre, closed for structural inspections on 28 September. The closure is likely to last for at least six months, since the flyovers were built without apertures to provide access to the interiors of decks and columns. Problems alre

Stockholm’s congestion charge scheme has proved remarkably effective at suppressing traffic levels and encouraging a shift to other modes of transport in the ten plus years since its launch. After initially facing widespread public opposition, it now has majority support, even among those who regularly pay the charge. One of the scheme’s architects, director of the Stockholm City Transport Administration Jonas Eliasson, vividly recalls the uproar around its launch in 2006: “It

The last issue covered the LTT seminar on the future of transport investment appraisal, which raised wide-ranging issues about professional practice and the way transport projects are looked at in their wider context by other parties. The discussion included current DfT consultation on potential revisions to WebTAG – the DfT’s guidance on preparing the economic case for transport investment. The DfT has also been holding a series of specialist theme-based workshops. Tom Van Vuren (pi

If you go down to Milton Keynes today, you’re sure of a big surprise. Driverless pods, robot goods deliveries, ‘petrol stations’ for electric vehicles –  Milton Keynes has them all, perhaps providing an insight into how towns and cities everywhere will look in the future. This ‘new town’ in Buckinghamshire, which developed from the late 1960s to house population overspill from London, has always been big on innovative transport thinking. It is the exempla

Low income car owners in Birmingham could receive up to £2,000 of credit on a public transport smartcard to soften the blow of the city’s charging Clean Air Zone (CAZ), under proposals submitted to Government by the city council this month. The mitigation measures also include electric vehicle charging credits for plug-in van owners, and a range of exemptions from the CAZ charges for at least one year.  Birmingham was one of five cities ordered to introduce a CAZ because the Go

The potential for batteries to cut emissions from diesel trains will be tested by two franchises using retrofitted hybrid units next year. Hundreds of new diesel multiple units (DMUs) have been ordered in recent years and many earlier ones have been modified for continued operation after the January 2020 deadline for compliance with accessibility regulations.  With trains having a lifespan of at least 30 years, DMUs may eventually be conspicuous in urban areas where diesel road transport

Drivers’ dependency on the car has jumped in the last year, with third (33%) of motorists – the equivalent to 13.2m – saying they are more reliant on their cars now than 12 months earlier, compared to just 27% in 2017, reveals research conducted by the RAC. The motoring association's annual Report on Motoring is based on a representative survey of 1,808 motorists. Data from the study of motoring trends, now in its 30th year, shows car dependency had been dropping steadily sin

Around 50 streets in the capital will be closed to traffic on Sunday 22 September to mark World Car Free Day. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and Transport for London (TfL) are backing London Play, the charity that works to give children the freedom to play by shutting roads to traffic. The charity helps residents to organise Play Streets, where roads are closed to traffic a few hours once a week or month to provide a safe space for children to play outside with their friends. Play Streets also enc

Opening this month, Edinburgh's Your Bike cycle hire scheme is using innovative 'hybrid lock' technology that supports a network of 'virtual' geo-fenced bike parking stations along with physical stations. It's about bringing a planned and integrated approach with new facilities and solutions for cities so that the private car is no longer first choice, says Matt McNulty, urban mobility director for Serco and Your Bike The Your Bike scheme in Edinburgh, to be known as ‘Just Eat Cycles&rsqu

We all agree on the need to improve air quality, and that the future will see a huge shift away from petrol and diesel power in road transport. But the policy debate, in terms of air quality, also needs to improve. There’s plenty of pressure: this week the Prime Minister met the motor industry, worried about Brexit but also environmental hostility; local authorities are imposing controversial ultra-low emission zones; and, in Brussels, the vehicle manufacturers’ group, ACEA, is at l

New funding of more than £100m for R&D into low and zero-emission vehicles in the UK has been announced by Prime Minister Theresa May at the Zero Emission Vehicle Summit in Birmingham. The £106m funding package covers projects developing innovative green battery, vehicle and refuelling technology. The Prime Minister referred to her “ambitious mission” for the UK to become world leader in low emission technology as part of a drive to keep the country green. She&n

The government has announced £2m to support the uptake of e-cargo bikes. The funding is designed to help pave the way for electric delivery vehicles to replace older vans, improving both the environment and reduce congestion. The announcement is part of the international Zero Emission Vehicle Summit being held in Birmingham this week. The event brings together policy makers, industry experts and opinion formers from around globe to tackle carbon emissions and to explore ways to impro

Zero emission cars, vans and taxis could be issued with green number plates to promote clean engine technology, the Department for Transport has suggested. The special plates, which are already used by countries like Norway, Canada and China, would be available for green vehicles like electric and hydrogen cars. As well as promoting zero emission vehicles, the DfT says green number plates could help support local incentives for electric vehicles such as access to bus or low emission vehicle la

Chariot, Ford’s ride-sharing shuttle service, launched its first European routes tailored for companies and campuses in London. Chariot uses Ford Transit vans in a minibus mode to provide a ride-sharing service that connects commuters living and working in areas underserved by public transport with nearby transit hubs. The Chariot service was launched in London earlier this year with four routes designed to complement the city’s existing public transport system. The new Chariot ro

An east-west cycling route has been officially opened by London walking and cycling commissioner Will Norman. The 12km Quietway 2 (Q2) will enable people to cycle from east London into the city centre and on into Bloomsbury and Walthamstow via Angel, Haggerston, London Fields and Clapton. The Quietway network is a continuous direct and clearly signed cycle routes on the capital’s traffic light streets. The Quietways complement fully segregated cycle routes that Transport for London (TfL)

Clean air zones and low emission zones, safer lorry schemes, alternative fuels, Brexit... Central and local government is presenting the road freight sector with a plateful of policy challenges, making life busy for industry bodies such as the Freight Transport Association. “The workload is certainly increasing greatly, particularly in the areas of the environment and Brexit,” says Natalie Chapman, the FTA’s head of urban policy and the South of England.  Think about the

Hundreds of new housing developments across the country could be delayed for months because of the DfT’s request that councils “pause” design work on street schemes with level surfaces – i.e. no kerbs.  Transport minister Nusrat Ghani wrote to councils in England at the start of this month “asking” that they “pause the introduction of new shared space schemes that incorporate a level surface, and which are at the design stage”. The Department

The development planning system in England has an in-built bias towards building new housing estates on greenfield sites that are heavily car dependent, a new report concludes.  The Transport for New Homes project was funded by the Foundation for Integrated Transport, an environmental transport grant-making charity set up in 2014, and with help from the RAC Foundation. The project team visited scores of new housing developments in England and three in the Netherlands to assess their locati

Abandoning the valuation of travel time savings in transport appraisal would be a “fundamental error”, three of the UK’s leading transport economists have said.   The comment comes in a paper responding to David Metz, an honorary professor at the Centre for Transport Studies, University College London and a former chief scientist at the DfT.  Metz had a paper published in the journal Case Studies on Transport Policy last summer (LTT01 Sep 17), arguing that the trave

Nottingham City Council will not introduce a charging Clean Air Zone after modelling suggested an alternative set of measures would achieve compliance with EU limit values by 2020. Nottingham was one of five cities originally ordered by the  Government to introduce a class B CAZ covering buses, coaches, HGVs, taxis and private hire vehicles because modelling suggested that the city would be unable to meet EU nitrogen dioxide limit values in 2020.  The other four cities were Derby, Sou

The DfT has issued a call for evidence on how to increase the use of electric cargo bikes and electric vans for delivery services in urban areas.  The DfT says e-cargo bikes have “huge potential” but asks if financial support is needed to make them commercially viable.  It asks if their widespread use requires changes to infrastructure, such as roads, parking, loading zones, and cycle lane design.  “What level of training should riders have?” the DfT add

The DfT is grappling with a range of complex points raised in response to its consultation on reforms to community transport.  The reforms aim to bring England, Scotland and Wales into compliance with EU regulation 1071/2009. Community transport organisations will have to hold a public service vehicle licence to operate commercial services. Non-commercial services can be exempted, as can services operated by undertakings for which transport is not the main purpose, and short distance servi

Britain’s energy regulator Ofgem is consulting on reforms to how consumers are charged for using electricity that would smooth the path to electrifying road transport. The consultation has been launched alongside a new report looking at the challenges electric vehicles pose for the electricity network. Ofgem says two principles should drive the electricity industry’s approach to facilitating electric vehicles (EVs): system costs for all consumers should be minimised by making more e

Proponents of cycling have long argued that more should be done to encourage a fuller cross-section of society onto the saddle. Better infrastructure is part of the solution but even in cities such as London, where extensive cycle routes are in place, a large proportion of the population continues to eschew the bicycle. Electrically assisted bikes are making cycling accessible to many people who previously regarded it as too strenuous. Crucially, this includes elderly or overweight people who l

New mobility services capture the imagination and have the potential to transform how we travel. An otherwise truly terrible course I was on a few years ago introduced the earworm of “Just because you can doesn’t mean you should; just because it’s new doesn’t mean it’s good.” So how do we identify ‘good’ and when does ‘can’ become ‘should’? There is a healthy coherence emerging around the whole agenda-that-has-no-name &ndash

What does it take to become a cycling champion? That is a question I could ask any of my recent bosses: Andrew Gilligan, Will Norman and Chris Boardman. I have held senior roles under all three, advising on the quality of infrastructure and planning the spending of billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money. I hope they don’t mind this Viewpoint, or that’s my career finished! They are three very different characters, all with their own unique attributes and specialities but there i

The 100th citybike docking station has been installed in Liverpool within the Titanic Hotel’s car park, in the World Heritage listed Stanley Dock. The new station, which can hold 10 bikes, connects the district to a network of stations across Liverpool, with the scheme now offering 500 bikes. Situated near to the Regent Road entrance the Ten Streets creativity district, the citybike station provides easy access to the city centre. The Regent Road area is undergoing a multi-million pound

Transport for London is offering grants to schemes to help groups in the capital that face barriers to cycling. The Cycling Grants London (CGL) programme, funded by TfL and run by environmental regeneration charity Groundwork London, is offering a total of £240,000, which will be available to up to 30 groups. Projects will receive up to £10,000 over a three-year period to support groups that do not cycle due to barriers relating to income, health, ability, skills and access to inform

The Department for Transport is seeking ideas on how to increase the number of ‘last mile’ deliveries made by electric cargo bikes and vans. The Last Mile and Future of Mobility call to evidence, both published today, will explore how technology could make transport safer, more accessible and greener.  The results of the call for evidence will form part of the government’s Future of Mobility Grand Challenge, which will explore all the regulatory barriers to technological

Thousands of motorists are still flouting a traffic ban that was introduced three years ago in the London Borough of Waltham Forest as part of the Mini Holland programme. More than 9,000 fines have been issued to motorists contravening the traffic ban on Orford Road in the Walthamstow Village area. The scheme was introduced in 2015 as part of the Mini-Holland programme, with three outer London boroughs – Waltham Forest, Enfield and Kingston upon Thames – receiving around £100m

Proposals to make London the world’s most walkable city have been unveiled by Will Norman, London’s walking and cycling commissioner. The capital’s first Walking Action Plan, which is supported by Public Health England (PHE), maps out a vision to make London the most walkable city in the world, with a million extra walking trips each day by 2024. London’s Mayor Sadiq Kahn wants to increase the proportion of people walking, cycling and taking public transport from the cur

Hackney council is offering residents the chance to design their own ‘parklets’ to replace parking spaces on their streets. A trial scheme, launched today, will support the installation of 15 parklets across the London borough. The trials will run from one to six months, after which the council will decide whether to make the parklets permanent. Each parklet will occupy a single parking space, with the design determined by residents. Features could include planters, bike racks, ben

The National Grid’s annual Future Energy Scenarios report  finds that electric vehicles will will play a major role in delivering a low carbon future. Electricity demand is expected to grow significantly by 2050, driven by increased electrification of transport and heating. There could be as many as 11 million electric vehicles (EVs) by 2030, and 36 million by 2040.  In the same month, the Automated and Electric Vehicles (EAV) Act, which has now passed through Parliam

Plans for a major upgrade of junction 9 of the M3 motorway at Winchester have attracted overwhelming support at a public consultation. Some 96% of respondents backed the need for the improvements to this junction, which will be redesigned to create a dedicated free flow lanes, which will allow drivers travelling between the M3 and the A34 to avoid using the junction roundab

The Automated and Electric Vehicles (EAV) Act, which has now passed through Parliament, is set to be a significant step towards improving air quality, cutting congestion and boosting road safety, claims Government. The AEV Act will see a 'massive improvement' in electric chargepoint availability, and gives the government new powers to ensure motorway services are upgraded with plenty of points, and even allowing mayors to request installations at large fuel retailers in their areas. I

The revised National Planning Policy Framework has been published, and sets out the government’s planning policies for England and how these are expected to be applied. The revised framework replaces the previous National Planning Policy Framework published in March 2012. Building attractive and better-designed homes in areas where they are needed is at the centre of the new planning rules, says Government, as Secretary of State Rt Hon James Brokenshire reveals the new framework. The consu

Speed limits on all red routes in London's congestion charging zone will drop to 20mph by May 2020, as part of plans to eliminate deaths and serious injuries on the capital’s road network by 2041.  The Vision Zero action plan – published today by the Mayor of London, Transport for London (TfL) and the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) – also states that by 2024 speed limits will be cut in most of London’s town centres and other high risk locations. Overall, TfL is

Researchers have published a comprehensive report on private- and public-sector big data policies affecting transport in EU countries and abroad. The travel behaviours and transport preferences of city dwellers are changing. Transport researchers and policymakers are therefore faced with numerous challenges as they strive to create efficient, safe and sustainable transportation systems, notes CORDIS, the EU Research and innovation news service. In order to address these issues, the EU

Now in its 3rd year, the Awards will showcase the ways in whiich people's lives are being improved through cost-effective, clean and integrated transport provision across towns and cities. These awards celebrate both the positive impact that smarter travel projects can deliver, and the professionals who lead them. Whoever you are, whatever your project or service, everyone has a chance of winning a Smarter Travel Award. You don’t have to have the biggest budgets, the sexiest product or th

According to recent statistics produced by the Department for Transport, bus service use in England is in decline. Although bus use per person has increased significantly in London over the last 25 years (+52%), it has fallen by 40 per cent in many other English metropolitan areas. Along with London, Liverpool City Region is a proud exception to the rule. As a result of the introduction of a range of customer-focused improvements, including on board Wi-fi and USB charging points, the number of f

ArrivaClick is an on-demand minibus service that takes multiple passengers heading in the same direction and books them on a shared vehicle, with the aim of tackling air quality issues and congestion. Enabling people to move out of private cars with the offer of convenient and comfortable shared journeys is a key driver for the project. ArrivaClick in Liverpool will become operational later in the summer. There are no fixed routes, with journeys determined by where passengers want to go wit

Painting a picture of the changing use of our transport system is not easy. A picture composed only of averages or aggregate change amounts to clumsy brush strokes. The finer detail in the picture comes from the artist’s ability to reflect the diversity of components of change – the distributions from which the averages arise. The Department for Transport's latest statistical release, 'Road Traffic Estimates: Great Britain 2017'  attempts to paint a picture, including fine

All new street lighting columns installed on streets with on-street parking should be equipped with electric vehicle charging points, says the DfT’s new environmental strategy for road transport.  The headline pledge in the Road to Zero strategy is for all new cars and vans “to be effectively zero emission by 2040”. “We will end the sale of new conventional petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2040,” it says. “By then we expect the majority of new cars and

Local authorities can undertake speed limit enforcement and prosecute drivers who break the limit using a little-known piece of legislation, according to campaign group 20’s Plenty for Us.   Although signed-only 20mph limits have been implemented across a huge number of the nation’s residential streets, few limits are enforced, with many police forces not regarding it as a high priority. 20’s Plenty said this week that  existing legislation may provide the scope for

You wait ages for a consultation about bus information and then two come along at once. The DfT has just published proposals that will require operators to broadcast audio-visual information about services to help passengers with visual and/or hearing impairments, and for making data such as fares, routes and timetables ‘open’ so that they can be used in apps and other digital products.   The consultation on audio-visual information applies to the whole of Britain, and sets out

The decision by Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn to devote all six of his questions to Prime Minister Theresa May during the showpiece PMQs session of Parliament on 4 July to the subject of buses raised more than a few eyebrows amongst political journalists. The Guardian, for example, described Corbyn’s choice of subject matter as something “few people would have expected”, whilst The Daily Telegraph suggested that the Labour leader’s decision was “unusual”.

At first glance, bus stations might seem an unlikely saviour in the battle to save our town centres. Yet that’s precisely what forward-thinking councils are pinning their hopes on as they seek to stop the inexorable shift from the high street to out-of-town developments.  Bus stations are symbolic of the decline of our town and city centres. These transport hubs have all too often fallen into a state of neglect that mirrors the depressed, dilapidated areas in which they are located.

A project designed to reduce the dominance of the car on a shopping street in Newcastle has won support from a retailer who was among its harshest critics. Steve Robson (pictured) and other traders had opposed Newcastle City Council’s plans to remove parking bays on Acorn Road, in the suburb of Jesmond, and feared the changes would drive away customers. Three years ago the council implemented the £350,000 project, funded by the government’s Cycle City Ambition Fund, making th

The government must start to lay the foundations now for the altered streetscape of 2050 when all cars and vans will be electric as well as mostly autonomous, argues the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) in a new report. The first National Infrastructure Assessment, published this week, sets out a long-term strategy for the UK’s economic infrastructure from 2020 to 2050. Electric vehicles will soon have the same range and be cheaper to buy and maintain than fossil fuel vehicles, t

A once notorious gyratory road system has been transformed into Aldgate Square, one of the largest public spaces in the City of London, featuring safer routes for cyclists and pedestrians. The six-year, £23m project is now complete, with the square being opened by Charles Bowman, the Lord Mayor of the City of London. The square, which is near Aldgate Underground station, has undergone a host of changes. The one-way gyratory system has been replaced with two-way traffic. Also, new cycling

The government has stated its aim of making all cars and vans on the UK’s roads zero emission by 2050. The sale of all new petrol and diesel cars and vans will end by 2040, as set out in the government’s Air quality plan. “By then, we expect the majority of new cars and vans sold to be 100% zero. By 2050 we want almost every car and van to be zero emission,” says the Road to Zero strategy. The government previously stated in its

Nearly half of cyclists often experience ‘close pass’ incidents when out on their bikes, according to a survey by the London Cycling Campaign (LCC). The online survey, which received more than 3,000 responses from LCC members and supporters, reveals that being passed closely by a motor vehicle happens to 23% every time they cycle while 45% said it was a frequent occurrence. Among the other key findings, 50% said they now cycled in the centre of the lane as much as possible, 32% had

The Santander Cycles hire scheme in the capital has broken records for two months running, with last month becoming the scheme's best June to date, TfL has reported. The 1.18m hires last month follows a record-breaking May with 1.1m hires. London's heatwave has helped encourage more people to explore the capital on two wheels, says TfL. Santander Cycles has been able to meet this demand by providing extra bikes at parks during weekends and launching a new trial in Westminster and the City to pr

Former London cycling commissioner Andrew Gilligan has recommended a huge investment in cycling facilities in Oxford, Cambridge and Milton Keynes in a report for the Government’s National Infrastructure Commission.  Gilligan was commissioned to write a report on cycling provision in the three cities as part of the NIC’s wider work on the growth prospects and infrastructure needs of the Oxford-Milton Keynes-Cambridge arc. His report is highly critical of  provision for cyc

Brighton and Hove City Council is to tighten the emission standard for its bus-only low emission zone (LEZ) in the city centre.    The existing LEZ, enforced by a traffic regulation condition (TRC), covers North Street and Western Road, and covers about 95 per cent of bus movements in the city.  Buses are required to meet the Euro V standard by January 2020, although low frequency bus routes are exempt (those entering the zone fewer than 25 times a week).  The council expe

Brighton & Hove City Council is to procure an operator for its expanding network of electric vehicle charging points, a move that will see the council end its policy of paying for the electricity used in charging.  The appointed firm will supply, operate and maintain the council’s charging point infrastructure in return for a proportion of the charging fees received from drivers. The council currently has 18 charge points but more than 200 lamp post charging points are to be ins

Leeds City Council is consulting on a revised charging clean air zone (CAZ) featuring a smaller zone, lower charges, and  a limited time extension before certain types of taxi and private hire vehicles must comply.   The statutory consultation on the CAZ runs to 12 August and follows a consultation on the draft plans (LTT 08 Dec 17).  The Government has ordered Leeds, along with four other cities, to introduce a CAZ in order to bring annual mean nitrogen dioxide concentrations b

Fleet operation provides an essential pillar for a modern economy, not only in the supply of goods in such key sectors as construction, but in the provision of delivery services generally, and in sectors such as public transport. The modern trend towards internet shopping has only increased the demand for vehicle operation, but the increased emphasis on fleet work has also heightened public and political pressure to improve standards of efficiency, safety and environmental protection. In general

Plans for a cycling and walking network across Greater Manchester, made up of more than 1,000 miles of routes, was unveiled at Cycle City Active City last week. The ‘Beelines’ network will include 75 miles of segregated bike lanes as well as 1,400 safer road crossings on most routes and 25 ‘filtered neighbourhoods’ where priority will be given to people over motorised traffic. Beelines was launched at Cycle City Active City by Chris Boardman, Greater Manchester’s c

The government will encourage police forces to tackle ‘close pass’ driving, the transport minister Jesse Norman has announced. Speaking at the Cycle City Active City conference in Manchester last week, the minister praised the work of West Midlands Police, which was the first force in the UK to carry out ‘close pass’ operations.   Norman visited police officers Steve Hudson (pictured above) and Mark Hodson, who pioneered the West Midlands operation. “It has be

The retailer Halfords is to give around £1m to the Bikeability scheme to enable an additional 25,000 primary school children in England to receive cycling training. The 40-month agreement between Halfords and cycling training charity the Bikeability Trust was announced by transport minister Jesse Norman at the Cycle City Active City conference in Manchester last Friday. Norman said: “This extra money will expand Bikeability so that more children can cycle safely and confidently on l

The Charter for Parks, launched by the National Federation of Parks and Green Spaces, and a coalition of national organisations, has called on on Prime Minister Theresa May and First Ministers Nicola Sturgeon, Carwyn Jones and Arlene Foster, to celebrate these spaces and take action to safeguard them. The Charter calls on the UK’s four political leaders to: Endorse a legal duty for all public greenspace to be managed to a good standard Ensure adequate long-term resources for maintenanc

parkrun UK and the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) are set to launch a groundbreaking initiative that could see thousands of patients being ‘prescribed’ outdoor physical activity rather than medication. The initiative aims to improve the health and wellbeing of health care staff, patients and carers, reducing the need for lifelong medication. In 2017, the 1.11 billion prescriptions dispensed in communities across the UK cost £9.17bn. Head of Health and Wellb

Steve Rotheram, Liverpool City Region Metro Mayor, and Nathalie Nicholas, the Combined Authority’s recently-appointed Deputy Portfolio Holder for Transport and Air Quality, represented the city region during June at a National Clean Air Summit convened by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, UK100 and IPPR. The idea is a simple one, says The Independent: ‘Get people from across the UK in the same room, from a local level all the way up to the corridors of Whitehall, to see what can be do

MPs have voted in favour of building a third runway at Heathrow by 415 votes to 119 – a majority of 296. The Conservative government had instructed its MPs to back the Airports National Policy Strategy (NPS) in the House of Commons vote last night. Labour’s official position was to oppose expansion, but its MPs were given a free vote. The SNP abstained. Construction on a third runway at Heathrow could start within three years. Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has formally designa

Brighton's bike share scheme (BTN BikeShare) is to expand with 120 new bikes and nine new hubs, mostly in Hove.  The scheme started last September with 450 bikes at 51 sites and, in the nine months since, has attracted 35,000 subscribers. Back in March, after gaining more than 22,000 users in just six months, the scheme became the biggest in the UK outside of London, and by the end of May there had been 213,000 rentals and more than 400,000 miles cycled, according to the Brighton and Hove N

Councillors in Birmingham will decide next week whether to consult on controversial plans to implement a charging clean air zone covering all types of vehicle – including cars.  The proposal would make Birmingham the first city in the country outside London to implement a CAZ covering private cars. An officer’s report acknowledges the controversy the proposals will cause: “A category D  CAZ [i.e. covering all vehicles] will have negative impacts on a far greater prop

Councils wanting to reduce pollution from toxic gases such as nitrogen dioxide from traffic on our roads must consider how compliance can be cost-effectively achieved for Clean Air Zones (CAZ) and Low Emission Zones (LEZ). There are several practical steps that can be taken by extracting greater value from limited resources by utilising existing assets more effectively. CCTV enforcement and traffic management systems are now routinely deployed by councils to capture civil traffic contraventions

Work is to start next week on building a new transport interchange at Ashton Bus Station in Greater Manchester. The new interchange – to be delivered by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) and Tameside Council – will feature a covered concourse, with seated waiting areas, as well as electronic information screens. It will have shops, fully accessible toilets, baby-changing provision and enhanced passenger security including CCTV. There will also be improved taxi facilities. Dur

A mass cycle ride took place on the streets of Portsmouth yesterday to mark the start of Refugee Week. The event was organised by The British Red Cross and charity Cycling UK to highlight how giving refugees and asylum seekers access to bikes can help change their lives. The event is part of Cycling UK's Big Bike Revival project, which seeks to refurbish unused bikes along with maintenance advice and training events to get people cycling again or for the first time. Am

To mark Clean Air Day 0n 21 June, free travel is being offered on Manchester’s Metrolink light rail service for commuters travelling before 7am and after 7pm. The move, by Metrolink owner Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), is part of a drive to encourage people to think about changing travel habits to improve air quality. TfGM wants employers to consider flexible start and end times for their staff so they can take advantage of the free travel offer. Greater Manchester Mayor Andy

Westminster City Council is taking legal action in a last-ditch effort to halt the construction of Cycle Superhighway CS11 through Swiss Cottage.  A Westminster City Council spokesperson said: “We fully support the provision of safe cycling and we are making major investments in the City to provide this, working closely with TfL and the Cycling Commissioner. However, residents are overwhelmingly opposed to the Cycle Superhighway 11 proposals.” Residents have expressed concerns

Measures to improve road safety outside a girls’ school in east London have been drawn up by an all-female team. Tower Hamlets council brought in consultant Project Centre to work on the project with students from Central Foundation Girls’ School (CFGS).  Supported by female managers from Project Centre, students went on a site visit, collected survey data and assessed the needs of all road users. This helped shape the proposed measures, which are now out for public consultatio

Stockholm’s congestion charge scheme has proved remarkably effective at suppressing traffic levels and encouraging a shift to other modes of transport in the 20 plus years since its launch. After initially facing widespread public opposition, it now has majority support, even among those who regularly pay the charge. One of the scheme’s architects, Director of the Stockholm City Transport Administration Jonas Eliasson, vividly recalls the uproar around its launch in 2006: “It w

Two fleets of new trains will be introduced to the Core Valley Lines in South Wales under the 15-year Wales and Borders contract awarded this week to KeolisAmey. Discontinuous electrification  will be implemented on the lines, with one branch being operated by heavy rail trains and the other three by light rail. All vehicles will be fitted with batteries to eliminate the need for diesel operations and the heavy rail fleet will be tri-mode (diesel, battery and overhead electric), enabling t

Westminster City Council has withdrawn its support for the Mayor of London’s proposals to pedestrianise the western section of Oxford Street. Mayor Sadiq Khan wanted to see the section from Oxford Circus to Orchard Street, near the flagship Selfridges store, pedestrianised.  This would have coincided with the opening of the Elizabeth Line (Crossrail) between Paddington and Abbey Wood next year, with improved pedestrian access at Bond Street station. However, the council has now stat

Ministers should ask the Office of Rail and Road to devise a new pricing model for electric vehicle use, encompassing the cost of electricity, road infrastructure, and congestion, according to a new report by bus industry lobby group Greener Journeys.  Transport economist Professor David Begg and Greener Journeys chief executive Claire Haigh make the recommendation in a report looking at the pricing of road transport. Begg was the first chair of the now defunct Commission for Integrated Tr

“When I hear someone say they have a data platform I reach for my shotgun,” Professor Jonathan Raper declared earlier this year. Raper was in a Q&A session with Graham Hanson, the DfT’s Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) policy lead, at the Catch! showcase event at the Future Cities Catapult in Clerkenwell Green. Raper reflects mounting concern amongst transport data experts that people have a misplaced understanding of what data platforms should provide to qualify as use

In my early days campaigning for sustainable transport I put a huge effort into submitting evidence to local plans in an effort to get public transport more squarely on the map. Finally I realised that my efforts were largely in vain, because local public transport of the quality that I envisaged was desperately under-funded, and because local plans were more or less dominated by a single theme. This was how to accommodate targets for new homes on ‘strategic’ sites. Transport, it see

Transport and energy consultancy Cenex has appointed Dennis Hayter as the new chairman of its board.  Hayter, who has served as a director of Cenex since 2013, was involved in founding the UK fuel cell power technology company Intelligent Energy in 2001, where he served as vice president through to 2015.  Hayter succeeds Brendan Connor, who served as chairman from October 2005. Hayter will remain on the Cenex board as a non-executive director. Robert Evans, chief executive of Cenex,

More than 50% of would-be cyclists are put off getting in the saddle because of overtaking cars, potholes and having to share the road with HGVs. These were among the key concerns raised by adults across England, Wales and Scotland who took part in a survey conducted for the charity Cycling UK by YouGov. In the online poll, involving 2,024 respondents, 57% said they are deterred from cycling by lorries and other large vehicles while 56% cited drivers overtaking too closely and 56% highlighted p

A virtual reality tool to promote safer interaction between drivers and cyclists has been launched by Ford Motor Company. The ‘Wheelswap’ tool will help bring about behaviour change, making urban areas safer and helping to reduce pollution and congestion, said Ford. The tool is designed to show motorists and cyclists how inconsiderate driving and riding can be potentially fatal. Initial studies show that after undergoing the experience, nearly all participants said they would chang

Funding is being offered to schools and local authorities in Scotland to help them create safe, traffic-free routes. The Safer Routes to School scheme is being funded by the Scottish Government and delivered by the charity Sustrans. Sustrans hopes that creating safe zones around schools will encourage children and their parents or guardians to travel to school on foot, by bike or scooter. As well as helping schools develop traffic-free zones, Sustrans plans to target further education colleges

The key findings of a European research project into the impact of transport policy on congestion have been published in a new report. The project – called CREATE (Congestion Reduction in Europe: Advancing Transport Efficiency) – examined congestion reduction policies in five western European capitals: Berlin, Copenhagen, London, Paris and Vienna. The report charts how policy priorities in the cities have shifted over the past 50-60 years: from road building, parking, lower density

Walking is a basic human activity but its fundamental character can make it difficult to identify and categorise as a mode of transport and consequently to occupy a prominent position on the policy agenda. In order to find its political identity it must be given a context. For example, this can include walking for a purpose, such as for leisure or as part of a journey to work, or how walking interacts with its environment, including urban and suburban townscapes, and more natural rural landscape

Walking is a basic human activity but its fundamental character can make it difficult to identify and categorise as a mode of transport and consequently to occupy a prominent position on the policy agenda. In order to find its political identity it must be given a context. For example, this can include walking for a purpose, such as for leisure or as part of a journey to work, or how walking interacts with its environment, including urban and suburban townscapes, and more natural rural landscape

The government is being urged to ban cars from the immediate vicinity of school gates during drop-off and pick-up times by Living Streets. The walking and sustainable transport charity has produced a report, Swap the school run for a school walk, in which it sets out 21 recommendations designed to enable more children to walk to and from school.  The charity delivered the report to the transport minister Jesse Norman at the start of Walk to School Week. More than 2,000 primary schools in

A cycle hire scheme being launched in Edinburgh will feature a hybrid lock system so that users can choose between dockless parking or leaving bikes at docking stations. Public service provider Serco will run the scheme for Transport for Edinburgh (TfE), with the first bikes set to be in operation by September. Serco also runs the cycle hire scheme in the capital for Transport for London. The Edinburgh fleet will comprise the same Pashley Cycles currently being rolled out in London, although i

Sustainable transport charity Sustrans has been appointed to a panel of urban design experts recommended by the Mayor of London and Transport for London (TfL). The Architecture Design Urbanism Panel 2 (ADUP2) is a pre-approved list of built environment consultants. The Panel’s job is to support the Mayor's regeneration programmes and priorities, as well as other public sector-funded projects in London. The panel is intended to make it quicker and easier for organisations such as local au

Transport secretary Chris Grayling visited Yorkshire to officially open an £400m scheme to upgrade of the A1 between Leeming and Barton. Almost 70,000 drivers each day will use the new stretch of dual carriageway in Darlington. This is the sixth scheme to be completed as part of the government’s £15bn road investment programme. The A1 upgrade scheme is one of several on the journey between Newcastle and London, which is being upgraded. Other elements include: the M1 wide

The Department for Transport is urging the public to take part in a consultation on cycling and walking before the 1 June deadline. The department’s call for evidence on cycling and walking - Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS) safety review in England – and seeks views and opinions on everything from improved infrastructure to education for all road users. In March transport minister Jesse Norman announced in March 300,000 in total for three pilot projects, which aim to

A new, purpose-built train depot for London's new Elizabeth line has opened at Old Oak Common, in north-west London. The depot will house and maintain up to 42 of the Elizabeth line's 70 new trains at a time. The maintenance infrastructure at Old Oak Common will be pivotal to the day-to-day operation of the Elizabeth line when it launches in December 2018. The Old Oak Common depot has come into service as TfL prepares for the introduction of its rail services (TfL Rail) in west. TfL Rail will

The Lake District National Park Authority is exploring the potential to replace car access to a popular visitor attraction with a gondola system. The idea is being explored for the Whinlatter Forest Park area, about four miles west of Keswick and close to the A66 east-west trunk road.  The forest visitor centre is a popular destination for activities such as mountain biking, walking, and its adventure play trails for children. Access to the visitor centre is via the steep single track B52

Consultants have identified 21 possible options for improving transport links between South-East Scotland and the Scottish Borders. They will be explored by Transport Scotland’s second strategic transport projects review (STPR). Transport Scotland commissioned Jacobs to conduct the Borders transport corridors – pre-appraisal study in the context of a vocal lobby for the recently reopened Edinburgh-Tweedbank Borders Railway to be extended south along its original route, potentially a

Electric vehicles, hydrogen vehicles, driverless vehicles, Mobility as a Service, open data, ride-hailing apps, public bike hire schemes... a bewildering array of disruptive transport technologies and mobility products have emerged in recent years. But how should local authorities respond? Help pioneer each one? Embrace just one or two? Or let others take the lead? Hertfordshire County Council’s cabinet member for highways recently summed up the choice in the context of road technology dev

Electric vehicles, hydrogen vehicles, driverless vehicles, Mobility as a Service, open data, ride-hailing apps, public bike hire schemes... a bewildering array of disruptive transport technologies and mobility products have emerged in recent years. But how should local authorities respond? Help pioneer each one? Embrace just one or two? Or let others take the lead? Hertfordshire County Council’s cabinet member for highways recently summed up the choice in the context of road technology dev

In dismissing the idea of installing a modern tramway in Bath, Francis King offers no realistic alternative options for solving the city's dire problems with growing traffic congestion and worsening air quality (Letters LTT 13 Apr).  His assertion that none of Bath’s local bus services enjoy ridership levels that might justify upgrading to tram is no reason to eliminate this mode from the solution to these problems. Indeed, France’s refusal to rule out trams is precisely what l

As a major supermarket joins the trend for using electric cargo bikes for its delivery services, changes in general travel trends need much more careful scrutiny, say researchers. Increases in levels of home deliveries, and the rapid growth in light van traffic, for example, are poorly understood. In April this year, Sainsbury’s began its innovative new trial of grocery delivery services by electric cargo bike. A fleet of five zero emission bikes is making deliveries across South London,

Work to build Cycle Superhighway 11 (CS11) at Swiss Cottage is to start in mid-July, Transport for London (TfL) has announced. The current gyratory system will be removed and a two-way system introduced on Finchley Road and Adelaide Road. Avenue Road, which is between College Crescent and Adelaide Road, will become bus and cycle only, with a stepped cycle track, creating a new public space. Changes to Swiss Cottage are due to be finished in September. The reconfigured route will improve safety

Changes in how we plan our transport networks for the future are urgently needed, says the first report from the Commission on Travel Demand We need to start planning now for how we travel around England in the coming decades, according to a major new report. It explains how, as a population, we travel substantially less today than we did one or two decades ago. Overall, we make fewer trips, spend less time travelling, and travel fewer miles.  But there are noticeable differences in our t

Do you know how to open a car door safely? Exactly who is allowed to travel on the pavement? Is there a speed limit for cycling? During May 2018, as part of a public consultation, the Minister for Transport's team will be visiting four English regions to talk with the public about road safety prior to possible changes in the law Against the backdrop of a country concerned about obesity levels, air pollution and congestion, the Government is keen to make cycling and walking the natural cho

The Government should prepare the country for the rapid acceleration of electric vehicle take-up, according to the National Infrastructure Commission’s EV policy lead. Catherine Jones, a senior policy adviser at the NIC, said: “There may be a strong case for making sure the UK has the charging points in place to support the fastest possible take-up of electric vehicles, without adversely affecting the energy network.” Jones said that, under current trends, only 3-7 per cent o

The Welsh Government will reduce the speed limit on five sections of trunk road, including the M4, from 70mph to 50mph in the next two months to reduce local air pollution.  Welsh environment minister Hannah Blythyn said ministers had accepted their previous plan to tackle air pollution had not satisfied legislative requirements, as exposed by the recent judicial review, and that a final, compliant plan would be published by 31 July in accordance with a court undertaking. She said this was

The UK Government recently announced a total ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles from 2040. While this move will certainly be beneficial for the environment, there are a set of significant challenges to be addressed in the intervening 22 years. Collectively, overcoming them will ensure that the owners of battery electric vehicles – which may number in the millions in a matter of decades, up from less than 200,000 today – will be able to operate their vehicles in a conve

Nearly 400 guided walks are to take place across Greater Manchester in May as part of a festival to encourage people to make journeys on foot and explore the region. The event, organised by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), will offers free guided walks exploring local towns, cities, countryside, canals, riversides and parks across the conurbation. The festival has the support of several local walking groups and charities. Walks cater for all abilities and interests, including a family

Over two-fifths of children are worried about air pollution near their school, a new UK-wide survey reveals. Some 43% of children living in urban areas are concerned about the levels of air pollution near their school. The YouGov poll, carried out for walking and cycling charity Sustrans, surveyed over 1,000 children aged six to 15 years old last month about their attitudes towards air pollution and the actions they think should be taken to help clean up the air.  More than one in three (

New biofuel targets are designed to double the use of renewable fuels in the UK transport sector within the next 15 years, cutting the sector’s reliance on imported diesel fuel. Changes to the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) compel owners of transport fuel who supply at least 450,000 litres a year or more, to make sure that the mix between fuel types is at least 12.4% biofuel by 2032. Currently the industry, which supplies fuel to transport companies such as haulage firms and

Birmingham City Council is preparing a £16m public realm and traffic management programme for the Snow Hill area of the city centre.  Nine individual projects are proposed for delivery in three phases of works. Phase one is expected to commence in October and phase two next April. Phase three is dependent on securing further funding. Phase one includes reducing traffic flows on Colmore Row by banning right turn movements into the street from Livery Street, which runs down the west s

Bath and North East Somerset Council has shortlisted three options for a charging Clean Air Zone in the city.  The council was one of the 28 ordered by the Government last year to prepare an action plan to bring nitrogen dioxide concentrations down to within EUlimit values in the shortest possible time. Bath says the zone must be in place by 2020. The three zone options all cover the same city centre geography (see map) but differ in the vehicle types covered: • Class B: charges wou

For over 40 years John Grimshaw has been at the forefront of the drive to create cycling and walking routes in the UK. From acting as designer of the Bristol-Bath path in the early 1980s, Grimshaw became chief executive of the active travel charity Sustrans from its inception in 1984, and oversaw the creation of the National Cycle Network that now extends to over 14,000 miles. Since leaving Sustrans in 2008, he has continued to work on implementing a range of off-road cycling and walking paths,

My last two pieces were reflections on different aspects of the process of creating better streets. This time, I want to turn my attention to the matter of how to assess whether or not a street has actually been made better. In fact, I’ll be writing about how we might assess the qualities of any street, whether or not it has recently been subject to a ‘betterment initiative’ (and if no-one’s ever used that phrase before, I’m claiming it). One prompt for my doing th

Electric vehicle owners may have to accept temporary reductions in the rate of electric vehicle charging in order to prevent power outages in local electricity networks, one of Britain’s major electricity network operators is warning.  Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks, one of Britain’s biggest electricity distribution network operators (DNOs), is consulting on what it calls an interim solution for emergency situations when local networks  are likely to fault beca

Bus operators are to be given until the end of 2022 to achieve full compliance with Scotland’s first Low Emission Zone in Glasgow. Cars, vans, and lorries will all be brought within the zone’s coverage from that date as well. Phase one of the LEZ will commence on 31 December this year, applying to buses only. The zone will cover the central area, including the existing city centre Air Quality Management Area. The city’s main bus station, Buchanan Street, and access roads to it

Grants totalling £48m for ultra-low emission buses are being offered to councils and bus operators to help them roll out new, cleaner fleets.  The fund, which covers the next three years, will pay for “hundreds” of new ultra-low emission buses and the infrastructure to support them, says the DfT. This follows a previous scheme, where 13 organisations received more than £30m, enabling them to put more than 300 low-emission buses on the road by 2019.  Any bus w

Jon Orcutt, director of communications and advocacy at Transit Center, NYC, talks to Transport Xtra about the need for NYC's proposed congestion charging policy and why Uber and Lyft are currently a menace to the city. Jon talked with Andy Salkeld, Leicester City Council Transit Center is a national Foundation dedicated to improving public transit. We are based in New York City, specifically in Lower Manhattan, and were closely involved with the major positive changes that took place under th

A £400,000 fund to help make Scotland’s rail stations more cyclist-friendly is being offered to councils and community organisations. The Scotrail Alliance – a partnership between Abellio ScotRail and Network Rail – is offering £100,000 a year to cycle-rail projects, which must provide at least 50% match funding. The Deadline for applications to the fund is 20 April 2018. The Scotrail Alliance says the fund will contribute to its vision of providing a ‘doorst

The rising demand for cycle parking across the capital is not being met, with Network Rail particularly culpable in its failure to provide enough cycle racks at train stations, says the London Assembly in a report published today. Transport for London (TfL) should set out “clear steps” on how the rising demand for cycle parking will be met, which partners will be involved and how the infrastructure will be funded, says the assembly’s transport committee. Network Rail was sing

Proposals for a 5km cycleway have been announced by Manchester City Council. The mostly segregated route would link the city centre with Chorlton Park to the south. The Department for Transport has awarded £3.9m for the project while Manchester City Council, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) and the Cycling and Walking Commissioner for Greater Manchester, Chris Boardman, are seeking to raise a further £5m. A Manchester City Council spokesman said: “This would pay for the

Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) has appointed nextbike to run the largest docked bike-share scheme in the UK outside London. More than 2,000 bikes will be available for hire in Birmingham, Coventry and Wolverhampton from September. A further 3,000 bikes will be rolled out in phases in Walsall, Sandwell, Dudley and Solihull in 2019.  Docking stations will be installed at key sites, with bikes available 24 hours a day, and annual membership will cost £30. A discount rate will be of

Despite all their efforts to implement policy and to plan, build and operate our nation’s transport infrastructure, the planners and politicians involved always seem to forget that there is one immutable issue that will eventually catch-up with them. That is the ‘law of unintended consequences’.  In transport terms the biggest example of this, and the one that has caused the most disruption to the most people, was the purely political one made in the early 1980s to allow

Bristol City Council has shortlisted five options for a Clean Air Zone (CAZ) to bring air quality to within legal limits.  Bristol was one of the 28 councils ordered by Government to draw up a plan for achieving compliance with EU limit values for nitrogen dioxide in the “shortest possible time”.  The five CAZ options are: 1. a non-charging CAZ  2. a medium-sized charging CAZ, covering all vehicles except cars (a Class C scheme under Government definitions) 

Gender inequality remains a big issue when it comes to active travel in the UK, says Sustrans. The charity has published a new report, ‘Are We Not There Yet?, revealing that women’s journeys around cities are typically shorter than men’s, use different modes of transport and are more likely to involve ‘trip-chaining’ (multi-stop journeys) which tend to be for a balance of child care, work and household responsibilities. While women are motivated to tr

The London Borough of Wandsworth has given more details of its plans to become one of the leading places for electric vehicle charging.  With the Government recently criticising councils for the slow pace of delivering on-street charging points (LTT19 Jan), Conservative Wandsworth has told ministers it wants to be at the forefront of delivery.  The borough has received £187,500 for residential charge points from the £4.5m allocated to 25 London boroughs through the Office

Tottenham Court Road is set to become more cyclist and pedestrian friendly, with all motor vehicles except buses banned from using the thoroughfare between 8am and 7pm, Monday to Saturday. The restrictions are due to be in place by early 2020, said the London Borough of Camden. The first phase of the £35m scheme begins in March, with initial works to include: new granite paving on New Oxford Street by Centre Point; the removal of pedestrian barriers and traffic light poles from Tottenham

A growing number of workers in the UK would rather be based in lively urban centres than business parks on the outskirts even when there is ample parking, according to a new report from the Urban Transport Group. “More people in more key sectors of the economy do not wish to be ‘buried alive’ in a business park on the outskirts (however good the car parking) and their skills are in sufficient demand that they can choose the employers that provide them with a more interesting a

Property developers and landowners should be required to pay more towards public infrastructure projects at rail stations, according to Chelsea Dosad, associate director at professional service company KPMG. Speaking at Rail Stations and Property last week, Dosad said that Land Value Capture (LVC) would help make rail station developments possible in the face of limited government support. LVC would involve projects taking a share of the windfall gains received by private interests, said Dosad.

Plans for a West London Orbital rail line - connecting Hounslow, Hendon and Cricklewood - feature in the Mayor of London’s Transport Strategy. Mayor Sadiq Khan’s transport vision for the next 25 years was presented today to the London Assembly ahead of its final publication next month. The proposed West London Orbital Line, linking up London Overground services, would run via Brent Cross, Old Oak

The Campaign for Better Transport has announced it is looking to appoint a new chief executive office to replace Stephen Joseph, who will be stepping down at the end of Autumn. Joseph was appointed executive director of Transport 2000 in 1988, the same year Michael Palin was appointed President, and received an OBE in 1996 for services to transport and the environment. Transport 2000 changed its name to Campaign for Better Transport in 2007. During his 30-year tenure with the charity, Joseph

All over the world, we are observing the trend towards pedestrianising whole districts rather than individual streets. Zaha Hadid Architects has proposed ‘Walkable London’, a full-scale network of pedestrian routes which will create corridors of activation across the capital.  Walkable London aims at re-introducing walking as an integral part of the city’s transport network. The firm's research highlights, available as a research booklet, state several key statistics driv

Following its trial of bus services in London last year, travel app Citymapper has finally launched what it terms ‘The Responsive Network: a  solution for dynamic shared transportation in cities’. The service is live in London, and is know as ‘Smart Ride’, and is already available via the apps. Writing in a post on medium, Citymapper declares that they ‘design a network, not a route’. ‘Unlike traditional buses that are tied to a route, our veh

Following entrance to multiple markets in the United States, Chariot  is launching its daily commuter shuttle service in London, to 'make getting around the city easier'. Chariot London is the latest of Ford’s European initiatives, accelerating the development of its smart mobility technologies. Throughout 2018, Ford will be trialling a 20-strong fleet of plug-in hybrid Transit Custom vans in the UK capital as part of the “Cleaner Air for London" initiative supported by Tra

Cycling UK is to run its Big Bike Revival across England for the fourth consecutive year having secured £500,000 funding from the Department for Transport (DfT). The campaign will offer free cycle checks, maintenance advice and tips on how to get cycling. The project seeks to help people get their unused bikes back on the road along with training events to get people cycling again or for the first time. Last year’s event encouraged more than 6,000 people to become regular cyclists

With all the talk of autonomous and electric cars, hyper loops, bi-mode trains that run under wires and then don’t, etc, the world of the transport planner is being turned upside down. What we thought we knew is no longer holding true, technology is changing all we knew, and legislation is not keeping up. Let me illustrate through one simple example. With the advent of electric-powered cycles, what is the difference between such a cycle and a mobility scooter (or an invalid carriage as th

One dividend from the rapid developments in information technology has been the emergence of the concept of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) in the form of the integration of multi-modal information, ticketing and payment systems. The idea of integrated transport systems is long-established but has often been frustrated by events. Yet MaaS apparently offers the opportunity for a new level of seamless door-to-door mobility by using just one platform and a single payment. The service can therefore com

To move, we occasionally need to stop. Indeed, we could look at door-to-door / end-to-end journeys by designing how we stop (to change from one bit of the journey to another) as much as how we travel. Transport hubs and interchanges are all about designing hiatuses between journey segments. Whilst we usually think of these as the grander multi-modal cheek-to-cheek interchanges, the humble bus stop is an intermodal interchange hub too. So far, so obvious. But in the emerging models of mobility a

We’re on the verge of a huge shift in the way we live and travel. Ownership was long considered the pinnacle of societal ranking – and in some ways, still is. Buying a house or a car has traditionally been seen as a rite of passage, a way to mark one’s success. But things are starting to change. In the current economic climate, renting has become the norm for younger people and buying a car is beginning to seem like a waste of money when more and more of us are living in cities

Leeds City Council has chosen Ofo as preferred operator of a dockless bike share scheme in the city. The news follows on from Ofo launching a 1,000-bike scheme in Sheffield last month. Martin Farrington, Leeds City Council’s director of city development, told councillors that a  number of dockless bike hire operators had approached the council about launching a scheme in the city.  There were no legal barriers to prevent them doing so, he added, and this meant the council could

More than 900 people have applied to participate in a trial of lightweight hydrogen cars in South Wales. Monmouthshire County Council agreed in 2016 to host the trial of the Rasa two-seater car developed by Riversimple Movement Ltd of Llandrindod Wells, Powys (LTT/10 Jun 16). The trial will be based in Abergavenny, where a small filling station will be created in the car park beside the bus station. Riversimple aims to start the trial this spring and to have about 20 vehicles in public use by

Researchers at the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) found reduced speed limits have led to a reduction in the number of fatal, serious and slight injuries from road traffic collisions - including statistically significant reductions in average traffic speeds of 2.7mph. - equating to estimated cost savings of over £15 million per year. Walking and cycling across Bristol has increased, both among children travelling to school and adults travelling to work. The introduction of

Islington Council has invited public comment on the redesign of the Old Street roundabout as part of the £1m competition to transform the gateway to London’s ‘tech city’. Thirty-nine proposals have been selected for discussion from the 120 submitted. One proposal, called Silicon Hill, from architects Cove Burgess and Eco Cycle storage envisages three cylindrical glass towers with safe storage for more than 600 bicycles, which would surround a 'pocket park' and café

Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is to receive £3m of government funding to help reduce harmful emissions on the region’s bus fleet. The award, from the national Clean Bus Technology Fund, will enable bus operators to retrofit vehicles to reduce tailpipe emissions of nitrogen dioxide (NO2). TfGM said it would work with bus operators to target the areas of highest NO2. Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, welcomed the funding award, but argued that the government needed

New technology which will unlock the potential for electric vehicles to help power people’s homes is being boosted by almost £30 million in government funding. The funding has been awarded to a total of 21 vehicle-to-grid (V2G) projects in the UK, to pay for research and design and development. The aim is to explore and test both vehicle-to-grid technology itself and commercial opportunities, writes electricdrive.com. Projects will demonstrate how the energy stored in the batter

The pace of technology-driven innovation from the private sector in shared transportation services, vehicles, and networks is rapid, accelerating, and filled with opportunity. At the same time, city streets are a finite and scarce resource. These principles, produced by a working group of international NGOs led by Robin Chase, and including c40, ICLEI and World Resources Institute, are designed to guide urban decision-makers and stakeholders toward the best outcomes for all. Ride-sharing start

The UK’s new bus and coach market fell in every quarter of 2017, according to figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). Following a period of strong growth in 2015 and 2016, last year saw registrations decline by -12.7% to 7,666. Double-deck demand saw the biggest fall across the year, declining -17.1% with 1,598 units registered. Single-decks and minibuses also experienced declines, down -8.2% and -13.2% respectively. Air quality modelling will be a

A software package that forecasts the effects of infrastructure investment, development proposals and regulatory change has been developed by Prospective, a company founded by researchers from UCL, Cambridge and the Alan Turing Institute. The software outputs a wide range of forecast impact indicators, from land and property values to social and physical utilities demands and multimodal travel behaviour. The most dramatic aspect of the software, however, is that proposals can be designed and te

With an estimated one billion hypertension cases worldwide, the role of the built environment in its prevention and control is still uncertain. With this in mind, a new study published in the International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health examined the associations between neighbourhood walkability, blood pressure and hypertension in a large and diverse population-based cohort. Access the study's abstract and results here The study shows that neighbourhood walkability within one-kilo

An artificial intelligence system designed to help clear the best route for ambulances is set to have its first live trial in Oxford this year. Computer modelling in Liverpool indicates that the AI could reduce response times by 40%, but the Oxford trial will be the first live test on the road. It is due to start by the end of the spring and is expected to last a year. Ambulance services across the UK are required to meet 75% of life-threatening cases within 8 minutes to guarantee NHS funding an

A team of leading architects, designers and engineers have been selected by HS2 Ltd to modernise Euston station and develop plans for new stations in Birmingham, Solihull and Old Oak Common, north-west London. The firms will be contracted to create detailed designs for the four stations, due to open in 2026: The contracts are as follows: Birmingham Curzon Street – WSP UK Limited (working with Grimshaw Architects LLP) Birmingham Interchange – Ove Arup & Partners International

The Department for Transport (DfT) Bike Share masterclass, held last week in Leicester, saw local authorities and operators alike give the DfT a strong heads-up that, in future, some kind of bike share licensing framework may be needed in England. Whilst agreeing that voluntary codes of conduct and signing up to the Bikeplus accreditation scheme are working for now, with the co-operation of the current players operating in the UK, there is no guarantee that less co-operative operators won't seek

Councillors in York have endorsed plans for a bus-based Clean Air Zone in the city, with a target implementation date of 2020.  The council’s preferred option, which will now be consulted on with operators, is for a minimum mandatory requirement of Euro VI standard for buses crossing the city’s inner ring road.   Exemptions would be given to a small number of tendered services that enter the city, and to Coastliner and EYMSservices, which operate from Leeds to the Yorkshi

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has given the green light for six new cycle routes across the capital, with a mix of main roads and Quietways through Ilford, Barking, Tottenham, Wembley, Willesden, Peckham and Rotherithe.  About 75% of the routes, spanning nine boroughs, will run on main roads. “We have already expressed a strong preference for most of the routes on main roads to be segregated,” said a Mayor of London spokesman. These projects have been chosen from a list of 25 routes

Sustrans is inviting cities and local authorities to take part in a project to collect cycling data relating to infrastructure, travel habits, public attitudes and air quality. As an extension of its Bike Life initiative, the charity says the project will help participating cities build the case for cycling and inform planning at a local level while shaping the political and funding landscape for active travel across the UK. For example, Greater Manchester’s cycling commissioner Chr

Plans for a new ‘Station Quarter’ around Runcorn rail station forms the centrepeice of a major regeneration of the Cheshire town. Halton Borough Council is working with a consortium, including architects We Made That and consultants Regeneris and Steer Davies Gleave, to develop a masterplan featuring housing, retail, commercial and leisure units in Runcorn. Runcorn station is on the Liverpool branch of the West Coast Mainline and is also a commuter station into Liverpool Lime Street

A £150m scheme to build a new rail station at Guildford and to turn the adjacent surface car park into a ‘Station Quarter’, with homes and shops, has been approved by the Planning Inspectorate. The appeal decision overturns Guildford Borough Council’s refusal to give the scheme planning permission. The development will feature a new public square, reconfigured access for vehicles with a new taxi drop-off area, a nine deck multi-storey car park and secure cycle parking.

The roll-out of the 20mph limit across all residential and shopping streets in Edinburgh has entered its fourth and final phase. The scheme is to extend to South Edinburgh on 5 March. This marks the completion of an 18-month roll-out across the Scottish capital. Edinburgh joins the growing number of European and UK cities introducing lower speed limits, a move supported by organisations such as Police Scotland, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the World Health Orga

People who are too busy to include exercise in their daily routines should “multi-task” by cycling or walking to work, suggests a new study by the British Medical Journal (BMJ). The study found that cycling in particular helped to improve health. It said that that people who are less physically active are more likely to develop health issues such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes; and likely to die younger.  It suggests that councils and government need to make it a top pri

Young adults in Great Britain and other countries are driving less now than young adults did in the early 1990s. The Department for Transport (DfT) commissioned the Centre for Transport and Society (UWE, Bristol) and the Transport Studies Unit (University of Oxford) to carry out a systematic assessment of available evidence on the subject, both by review of UK and overseas published literature, and by new secondary analysis of existing UK data sets. The study sought to address the questions:

A new statistical release for January 2018 from the Department for Transport presents four pieces of analysis using National Travel Survey data.  Key findings include:  There have been substantial changes in travel behaviour since 1975. The total number of trips per person per year increased from 1975 until 1990 and has been falling since 1995. The basic unit of travel in the NTS is a trip, which is defined as a one-way course of travel with a single main purpose. In 2011-2014, dis

After a dramatic decline during the financial crisis in the latter part of the last decade, the UK motor vehicle industry has made a strong recovery. November 2016 saw a 9.6% increase in the number of cars produced in the UK compared to the previous year and a record number of cars were exported during 2016 – representing 77.3% of total production. Like the rest of the manufacturing sector, the automotive industry is currently in the process of digitalisation, a journey that introduces th

The major revamp of King’s Cross station and its environs has been recognised at the London Planning Awards. Network Rail scooped the ‘Best Project Five Years On’ and the ‘Mayors Planning Award for Excellence’ trophies at this year’s event, held at Whitehall Palace last week. The London Planning Awards is organised in partnership with the Mayor of London, London First, RTPI, Planning Officers Society and London Councils. Since the Grade 1 listed transport hu

The Netherlands is in pole position to make the transition to automated transport, reveals a new report from professional service company KPMG. It found that the Netherlands came top in a cross-section of 20 countries planning for self-driving vehicles. Using an Autonomous Vehicles Readiness Index (AVRI), KPMG scored each nation on four ‘pillars’: policy & legislation; technology & innovation; infrastructure; and consumer acceptance. Behind the Netherlands the other top rank

Transport for the West Midlands (TfWM) is sounding out light rail manufacturers about  plans to procure 50 trams to operate on an expanded Midland Metro network.  The vehicles will be needed to cover the extensions to Edgbaston and Eastside in Birmingham (seven-nine); Wednesbury to Brierley Hill (22); and East Birmingham and Solihull (20).  They must be capable of operating in catenary-free environments, such as with fuel cells. Sections of route in Birmingham and Wolverhampton

The London Borough of Brent is the latest authority to express interest in a new type of  of lamp post electric vehicle charging point for streets where the lighting columns are located at the rear of footways.   Electric vehicle charging points installed in street lighting columns are growing in popularity as a way of bringing EV charging to residential streets. But this is often regarded as impractical where the lighting columns are located at the rear of footways because the cables

The government’s air quality strategy is built on contradictory policies and inadequate funding for councils, according to new research from Sustrans. The charity used its Eunomia air quality model to estimate the contribution of walking and cycling in reducing air pollution and the subsequent benefits to public health. Sustrans director of insight Dr Andy Cope said: “The government has provided funding of £280m to help address air quality in England. Whist this investment is

In the past week or so, Transport Ministers Jesse Nornam and Baroness Sugg have answered several Parliamentary Questions (PQ) from fellow MPs and Lords about bike share schemes and cycle safety. The increasing volume of queries and concerns about bike share schemes, in particular, indicates how seriously local authorities are taking the issues of regulation and control – and of future developments in bike share business models and scheme operation.  A PQ is a question put formally to

A bicycle training and servicing enterprise has launched an initiative to give refugees refurbished bikes and bike maintenance training. Pro Bike Service CIC is seeking financial donations, bikes and bike parts to support refugee families in east London. This will enable refugees to access amenities and services, education and employment while also providing a means of healthy transport.  Pro Bike works within the gift economy, where services or goods are given without any explicit agreeme

The planned East Midlands Hub station should open well in advance of the arrival of HS2 in 2033 to help stimulate the local economy. This is among a list of priorities agreed last week by the DfT and Midlands Connect and East Midlands Councils. They have stated a commitment to open the station at Toton in the 2020s, at least for Network Rail services, to support the planned Innovation Campus nearby, which has the potential to create 10,000 new jobs. In a meeting between transport secretary Chr

The take-up of government grants for on-street electric vehicle chargepoints has been “extremely disappointing”, says the DfT. Since the launch of the On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme more than a year ago, just £150,000 out of £1.5m available for 2017/18 has been awarded, a DfT spokesman told LTT.  Only five councils - Portsmouth, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, Cambridge, Luton and Kettering – have applied for grants, which cover up to 75%

Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, has revealed that for the first time since modern records began London was entering the third week of January without having breached legal limits for toxic nitrogen dioxide (NO2) air pollution. The London Mayor’s Office has claimed that the introduction of Low Emission Bus Zones in the capital has contributed to improvements in air quality at the start of 2018. Legal limits set a maximum of 18 hours of ‘very high’ pollution levels –

The Woodland Trust and Community Forests in the north of England have been working together on developing the concept of a new Northern Forest, which will accelerate the creation of new woodland and support sustainable management of existing woods right across the area. Many more trees, woods and forests will deliver a better environment for all by: improving air quality in our towns and cities; mitigating flood risk in key catchments; supporting the rural economy through tourism, recreation and

A new report from the MaasLab at UCL, commissioned by TfL, provides insights about Londoners’ attitudes towards car-ownership, shared mobility services and Mobility as a Service (MaaS) as well as an impact assessment about a potential introduction of MaaS in the city. Londoners’ attitudes towards car-ownership and Mobility-as-a-Service: Impact assessment and opportunities that lie ahead is available online.  According to the report, at least 35% of regular car users stated that

The related problems of air pollution and congestion impact negatively on key risks to the public's health: namely cardiovascular disease, lung cancer and respiratory diseases, along with rising obesity levels brought about by the lack of physical activity due to car-dominated lifestyles and road safety fears. Many transport academics and practitioners are asking if some form of road pricing is essential inn order to reduce traffic volumes and so help to fix these challenges?  The recent U

CIHT has finally launched its review of the issue of shared space and how it is being designed, implemented and installed across England. ‘Creating better streets: Inclusive and accessible places’ provides a series of recommendations to Government and industry on how this complex issue can be further improved and developed. The review’s recommendations are aimed at Government, local authorities and those professionals who are working to make our highways inclusive, safer and a

Responsibility and regulation is becoming an increasingly hot topic for bike share, with questions being asked in the UK Parliament and the Lords about what powers local authorities in England have to regulate schemes within their boundaries. These issues will be a major focus of the DfT-supported Bike Share Masterclass in Leicester on 30 January, as Minister Jesse Norman contemplates the need for a possible ‘national standard’  Bike share goes from strength to strength acros

A cargo bike delivery service has been launched in the City of London to encourage businesses to reduce deliveries made by diesel vans. This follows a pilot scheme in the Smithfield area over the Christmas period. The service is being offered to businesses in the Square Mile making deliveries anywhere within the Congestion Charge zone. “The pilot has shown that cargo bikes and trikes have capacity to deliver successfully in central London for a range of customers,” a City of London

Highways England has published a set of design principles, which, it says, will encourage the building of roads that are environmentally sustainable, “nurture wellbeing” and allow “dignified and equal use by all”.  The document – The Road to Good Design – sets out 10 principles that act as “prompts” rather than instructions on how to create “better, more beautiful roads”. The principles, published today, state that good de

Fears over safety is the main reason why parents and carers will not allow their children to actively travel to school in Scotland, reveals new research. The findings come from the School Travel Survey for Parents, released by Sustrans Scotland and the Scottish Parent Teacher Council (SPTC). It found that 42.4% of parents cited a range of concerns over active travel to school. These included unsafe walking and cycling routes, a lack of or inadequate pavements, ineffective or lack of crossings

A new safer route for walkers, cyclists and horse riders, connecting the villages of Okeford Fitzpaine and Shillingstone in north Dorset, has officially opened to the public. The route, known as the Little Lane Trailway, had been largely impassable for the last 30 years. The project was wholly funded by the EU’s LEADER Rural Development Programme through the Northern Dorset Local Action Group (LAG). The Little Lane Link Project secured an award of £44,200, due to

Sales of new cars in the UK were down 5.7% in 2017 compared with the previous year, according to new figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). This marks the first drop in annual registrations of new cars in six years, said SMMT. The fall in sales was chiefly due to a 17.1% drop in diesel car sales, caused by “anti-diesel rhetoric and the potential for tax hikes causing buyers to hesitate”, said SMMT. “However, these cars remain the right choice

Clean Air Zones may not  deliver expected air quality improvements because vehicle emissions are frequently much greater than the official Euro standard of the vehicle suggests, a manufacturer of a real-world emission monitoring system has warned.  Clean Air Zones (CAZs), or Low Emission Zones (LEZs) in Scotland/London, will use Euro emission standards as the criteria for determining whether vehicles can drive within the zone without paying a charge. In Scotland, the Government is pro

Swansea University and Brunel University London have won a competition to run Santander bike hire schemes, after raising the highest amounts in crowdfunding campaigns.  Swansea and Brunel raised the most among a shortlist of five universities towards the running costs of cycle hire schemes. The cycle hire schemes will be open to students, residents and visitors. The winning universities will now receive the capital costs for their schemes from Santander, which will cover the initial

The developer behind plans for residential tower blocks and an expanded shopping centre in Walthamstow, north-east London, said it will pay £1.5m towards the extension of the Tube station.  Last week Waltham Forest’s planning committee approved Capital & Regional’s application for the shopping centre, which would extend onto a third of the existing town square. Outline permission was granted for up to 502 homes in four tower blocks of between 12 and 29 storeys. Capit

Barriers that prevent some groups in the capital from cycling are being removed thanks to a grants programme, says Transport for London (TfL). The Cycling Grants London (CGL) programme, funded by TfL and administered by environmental organisation Groundwork London, aims to support those that do not cycle due to barriers relating to income, health, ability, skills and access to information or equipment. Since the programme was launched in 2015, nearly £600,000 has been awarded to a wi

Poor air quality and physical inactivity are the public health issues of our time. In political circles, we hear plenty of strategic posturing: the new £220m Clean Air Fund has been announced, although details are not yet forthcoming. Integrated transport and spatial planning is back on the agenda, this time to improve health, rather then economic, outcomes. In reality, a combination of appropriate measures is needed to get more people moving, and to do so in clearer air. Plans for air qu

Construction work to transform Waterloo into a people-friendly area will start in early 2020, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and Lambeth Council have announced. Waterloo roundabout will be removed to create a new public space, with better routes for pedestrians, cyclists and public transport users. Earlier this year Waterloo Roundabout was identified in TfL’s Safer Junctions programme as one of 73 junctions in the capital with the worst safety record for pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclist

Greater Manchester's walking and cycling commissioner Chris Boardman has published his much anticipated report Made to Move (report will download instantly), which outlines 15 key steps to transform Greater Manchester by changing the way its citizens and visitors get around. The goal ‘should be to double and then double again cycling in Greater Manchester, and make walking the natural choice for as many short trips as possible. We must do this by putting people first, creati

Electric, connected and autonomous vehicles will “revolutionise” the road network, leading to a new era of safer, easier and less polluting travel, predicts Highways England in a report published today. The report outlines Highways England’s proposals for the strategic road network (SRN), with an interface between roads and connected vehicles to “communicate in a more useful way with those driving on our roads”.  Technology has a pivotal role in improving mai

A new report has argued that the government should create a new commission to involve the public in major infrastructure projects. The absence of a national strategy for infrastructure has serious implications, says the independent Institute for Government (IfG) in its report How to Design an Infrastructure Strategy for the UK, the fourth in a series of reports on improving infrastructure decision making in the UK. New projects are ‘dreamt up, reframed, scrapped and reinvented, seemingly w

Berlin-based Chargery offers a green mobile charging service for electric cars in urban areas. Based on smart data analysis, Chargery proposes bringing the charging station to its customers by bicycle, reports New Atlas. At the moment, the service is focusing on businesses but when the scheme rolls out to private customers, bookings will be made via an iOS/Android companion app for a pay per use model, with the price inclusive of delivery. The Chargery project is currently undergoing t

Local authorities in Cambridgeshire are to consult early next year on bus rapid transit or light rail options for  a radial route into Cambridge from the south-east. The Greater Cambridge Partnership, which comprises the City Deal authorities (Cambridge City Council, South Cambridgeshire District Council and Cambridgeshire County Council), has been exploring bus-based improvements for the A1307 corridor between Cambridge and Haverhill and has narrowed the choice down to three options. 

A fleet of 500 all-electric Renault ZOEs will be arriving in Madrid this month to join new car-sharing scheme ZITY, the result of a cooperation between Renault and urban services operator Ferrovial. Madrid has the highest rate of daily car-sharing in Europe due to the city’s size, population, traffic problems and air pollution issues. This new car-sharing scheme covers a wide area of the Spanish capital, with vehicles provided to customers in the right place at the right time via a smartp

Leeds City Council has announced plans for a charging Clean Air Zone covering buses, lorries, taxis and private hire vehicles within an area bounded by the city’s outer ring road in the north and the motorway network in the south.  Vehicles that do not meet the minimum engine standards – Euro 4 for petrol vehicles and Euro 6/VI for diesels – will pay a daily charge. The council is working to implement the zone by the end of 2019. Automatic numberplate recognition cameras

The National Infrastructure Commission has released more details of its forthcoming prize competition to design roads capable of accommodating driverless vehicles (LTT24 Nov).  As well as road design, the Roads of the Future competition will consider traffic management, and how the rules of the road may need to change.  The competition will be launched in the new year, and is being run by the NIC in conjunction with Highways England and the Government’s innovation agency Innova

The Government should cease funding for the Transport Systems Catapult if the organisation cannot articulate a clear plan for how it will deliver economic benefits to the UK, consultants have recommended. The need for a new approach at the TSC is highlighted by a report published alongside the Government’s industrial strategy last week. Consultant EY was appointed to review the catapult network andidentifies the TSC as one of three that must prepare a detailed plan of activities for the n

Construction work has started on Glasgow’s South City Way (SCW), a 1.8 mile segregated cycle and pedestrian route on the city’s Southside from Queen’s Park and the city centre.  The project was Glasgow City Council’s winning bid in the 2016 Community Links PLUS (CLPLUS) competition, funded by the Scottish Government and run by sustainable transport charity Sustrans. A £3.25m was awarded, with match funding from the city council. The first phase of works

Strategic charging zones for electric vehicles could be rolled out across Edinburgh as part of the city’s first Electric Vehicle Action Plan.  The zonal approach to charging hubs are one of five key strategic objectives in the city council's plan, which will be considered by members of the Transport and Environment Committee.  In September the Scottish Government announced a major expansion of electric vehicle infrastructure across Scotland by 2022, coupled with a phasing out o

Islington Council is seeking design ideas to create an “iconic gateway” at Old Street roundabout. The London borough is seeking proposals incorporating public art and embracing the spirit of “Tech City” - the technological, economic and cultural powerhouse around Old Street. Applications are being sought from a range of disciplines including architecture, urban planning, transport, art, Smart Cities and technology. The 1960s roundabout will undergo a major transformation

More space for hire bikes is urgently needed at mainline railway stations in London to meet commuter demand, according to David Eddington, head of cycle hire at Transport for London (TfL).  Secure, overnight lock-up facilities for the Santander cycles should be provided near stations, he said. Staff could wheel the bikes between docking stations and nearby storage facilities or do shuttle runs in vans, which would be “much better than transporting the bikes through the congestion of

Sustrans’ research has been recognised by the United Nations as an example of best practice in using science to shape sustainable development policy. The new UN report, ‘Strengthening the Science-Policy Interface: A gap analysis’, highlights the need for greater collaboration between scientists and policy makers in finding solutions to environmental challenges. It recognised Sustrans’ Fit for Life report covering independent research by leading experts

A new drone challenge has been launched in the UK that will work with five cities to explore if and how drone technology could be used to support local needs. The Flying High Challenge, run by innovation foundation Nesta together with Innovate UK, will consider how drones could assist cities with their emergency services, buildings maintenance, and traffic, environmental and pollution monitoring.  Drone technology is advancing rapidly. UK cities now have a unique opportunity to shape this

Working with the UK charity Sustrans, independent environmental consultancy Eunomia has developed a model that measures air quality benefits from reducing motor emissions due to shifting to walking or cycling and changes in personal exposure to air pollution. The model aims to support local authorities in making the case for investment in boosting walking and cycling and estimates the contribution of active travel in reducing levels of particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide – and the sub

A new publication has been released providing user guidance on using the Health Economic Assessment Tool (HEA

Research undertaken for the recently published Urban Mobility Innovation Index suggests that whilst most cities do have an established strategy for urban mobility, these are frequently a statement of ambitions and guiding principles rather than a roadmap set out to address concrete local challenges, informed by comprehensive data. Coverage of mobility options relating to health, fairness and accessibility is ‘quite diverse among cities’, as is the quality of the service provided

Business and energy secretary Greg Clark has announced that Coventry and Warwickshire will be the home of the new National Battery Manufacturing Development Facility (NMDF). The facility will receive £80m of funding from the government’s £246m investment programme for battery technology – the Faraday Battery Challenge. A part of the Automotive Sector Deal, the new centre will build on the West Midlands reputation as a locus of automotive expertise and research and deve

Jonny Goldstone, co-founder of London’s Green Tomato Cars, has returned to the company as managing director at what he calls a pivotal time in the capital’s private hire market. Green Tomato Cars seeks to provide an environmentally-friendly private transport services. Goldstone plans include upgrading the fleet to exclusively zero emissions and hybrid vehicles by the end of 2018. Other changes include an upgraded website with easy, secure booking from the home page and a simplified

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has launched a public consultation on the next phase of his plans to tackle London’s poor air quality by expanding the Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ). The ULEZ standards would be applied London-wide for buses, coaches and lorries from 26 October 2020 and for cars, vans and motorbikes, with limited exemptions, up to the North and South circular roads from 25 October 2021.

Groupe Renault has produced a 1,000 cars enabled to participate in a European trial of connected and autonomous vehicle technologies. The Méganes will be provided to fleet customers taking part in SCOOP, an European Union pilot project for the deployment of cooperative intelligent transportation systems. The EU project facilitates trials of future vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2X) connectivity solutions under real-world driving conditions. SCOOP features a ran

The government hopes that its Industrial Strategy will place the UK at the forefront of development of autonomous vehicles (AVs), artificial intelligence (AI) and innovative approaches to shared mobility services. The draft Industrial Strategy, titled “Building a Britain Fit for the Future”, outlines how the government intends to boost businesses and worker productivity through investment in the skills, industries and infrastructure of the future. The White Paper confirms governmen

Housing developments will be car-free except for disabled people in parts of the capital with the best public transport connections, under new measures announced by London Mayor Sadiq Khan. This is among the proposals to reduce parking capacity in the mayor’s draft London Plan, published this week. The draft states that residential car parking would not be linked to unit size, so that parking spaces would no longer go up as unit sizes increase. Meanwhile, office developments in central a

A £13.4m initiative to create a driverless transport testing area based in Greenwich, south-east London, is due to be up and running by spring 2019. Loughborough University (LU), the lead academic partner, has been awarded £500,000 as part of the project to develop a research programme enabling a real-world working testbed for connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs). The Smart Mobility Living Lab: London will enable companies to trial their ideas, technology and services within co

Policies that seek to ban diesel and petrol cars from towns and cities is a knee-jerk reaction that ignores the efforts the automotive sector has made to produce less polluting vehicles, the president of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has said. Tony Walker used his speech at the SMMT’s annual dinner to address the issue of air quality. He focussed on the automotive sector’s efforts to invest in new technology and improve air quality in towns and cities.  

Train operator Southeastern bagged two trophies at the National Cycle-Rail awards presented at Methodist Central Hall, Westminster yesterday. Southeastern took the coveted Operator of the Year award as well as Best Station of the Year for its work in improving bike parking facilities at Gravesend Station. The awards, hosted by the Rail Delivery Group (RDG), celebrate the work done by the rail industry and associated organisations to encourage integrated cycle-rail travel. Station of the Year G