Graham James

Photo of part of a desk with papers, a computer keyboard and a computer screen. One of the papers is a stapled printout with headings including "Assumptions about data sources", "Methodology" and "Pathfinding algorithm"; comments and markings have been made in pencil (pixelated in this photo). The other paper is a printout of some presentation slides; the heading of the top slide is "Accounting for travel distance and preference". On the computer screen (which we can see part of), the left-hand side has a window with spreadsheet of numbers, and the right-hand side has a colourful flowchart-type graphic (again pixelated).

Getting to grips with the DfT's new connectivity metric, for a forthcoming article.

First task: a recap on what it does, how it does it, and what you get in the dataset.

Creating a process flowchart helped to cement the method in the brain and get a handle on what it's really measuring.

Autonomous buses: the prize, the person, the iceberg Autonomous vehicles could be a game-changer for bus operations. Graham flags-up a thoughtful podcast, and adds his own perspective.

New blogpost: Autonomous buses.

What's the big prize? Will there still be a role for on-board staff? And what's below the tip of the tech iceberg?

My latest post flags-up a thoughtful podcast that's worth listening to, and adds some perspectives of my own.

grahamjames.co.uk/autonomous-b...

Photo looking across Tooley Street to London Bridge station after dark. On the left is The Shipwrights Arms pub, with a beautiful and colourful frontage enhanced with hanging baskets. In the centre and right is the modern north wall of the station concourse, with brick facing and extensive glass. The Shard is seen behind the station, with lights on in some of the floors. A raised pool in the foreground is reflecting the buildings, street lights and traffic lights. The leaves of a street tree peek into the corner of the picture.

My week at work (Showgirl edition):
➡️ The principles behind how you set the price of parking
➡️ Planning a round of surveys
➡️ Sensors and the internet of things

Met up with friends last weekend at London Bridge. Proud to have worked on the station redevelopment👇. Our work makes a difference!

Learn more about the power of public transportation research on #TCRP day!

To celebrate, we're hosting a live recording of @transitunplugged.com all about emerging tech for transit customer experience!

buff.ly/hZlfOhq

Happy TCRP Day! All about the USA’s Transit Cooperative Research Program Graham celebrates a superb and ever-growing resource for public transport planning

Happy #TCRPday!

TCRP is the Transit Cooperative Research Program, a really useful resource on issues the US transit (= public transport) sector is tackling and the practical solutions that are out there.

grahamjames.co.uk/happy-tcrp-d...

@apta-info.bsky.social @trb.org #TCRP

Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) TCRP is an applied research program that develops near-term, practical solutions to problems facing public transportation.

The Transit Cooperative Research Program has conducted hundreds of studies and produced practical ideas to make transit better. Check out some of the latest reports, syntheses, legal digests, and more, all for free! > www.trb.org/TCRP/TCRP.aspx

#TCRP @usdot.bsky.social

Illustrative graphic of a line graph with various coloured lines

Photo looking across a city street to a streetcar vehicle. The vehicle is double-articulated, in predominantly red livery, and says "DC Streetcar". It is modern-looking and has a pantograph collecting current from the trolley wire.

Quick reminder of two recent blogposts:

✍️Different purposes, different trends: what the latest National Travel Survey data tell us about post-Covid recovery in trip-making

✍️A streetcar named Desire-Line: the contemporary US streetcar concept

Find these and more at grahamjames.co.uk

Photo looking along an asphalt path on a grassy common. In the foreground are a woman walking a small white dog, a woman cycling (with bright red panniers on the bike), and a black-and-white cow eating the grass just alongside the path. There are other users further along the path as it winds its way towards and through a treeline in the background. There are also cows sitting on the grass. Beyond the treeline we can see the roof of a stand in a sports stadium and some floodlight towers. It's an overcast day.

My week at work (Strictly's back edition):

▶️How value-for-money metrics differ when a proposal is revenue-positive
▶️Accounting for VAT in an economic appraisal
▶️and GIS hacks for creating desire-line maps

👇What user-class is the doggie? And does "eating the grass" count as a journey purpose?

Different purposes, different trends: what the latest National Travel Survey data tell us about post-Covid recovery in trip-making Why has travel still not returned to pre-Covid levels? Twenty-first century trends in trip levels by journey purpose might offer a clue.

New blogpost:

Why has travel still not returned to pre-Covid levels? Why has the bounceback stalled on some indicators?

Pre-Covid trends - and a dive into different journey purposes - offer some clues.

grahamjames.co.uk/different-pu...

Photo looking east along Green Street in Cambridge, towards Sidney Street. It is a pretty urban shopping street. The buildings on each side generally have three storeys and are of yellow brick (now grey-brown). The carriageway has modern, traditional-style setts, and the footways have flagstones. The kerbs are shallow. Cycles are parked on the footway in the right foreground. Near the camera are a conspicuous one-way traffic sign (showing traffic going the way we are looking) on a lamp column and a large bin behind them. Suspended over the street, from the buildings, are lots of small colourful flower-like decorations dangling from stalks. A few people are walking along the street.

My week at work (on-the-ground edition):
➡️Revenue allocation and forecasting
➡️Changes to a front-line service process
➡️Balancing different users' needs for kerbspace
➡️Plus happy customer feedback from some recent project meetings

Photo unconnected as usual.

Screenshot of the “People also ask…” part of an internet search results page. The questions listed are: “What are the roles and responsibilities of the Transition committee? “What is the function of a transport agency? “What is the purpose of a working committee? “What is the British Transport Commission?” (This one has been circled in red, as if with a marker pen.) “Who is in charge of transport in the UK? “What is Section 55 of the British Transport Commission Act? And finally, “Who regulates transport in the UK?”

This came up on an internet search. I'm not convinced the British Transport Commission (abolished 1962) is actually a popular search topic!

(Notwithstanding the continuing role of s.55 BTC Act 1949, of course.)

Whereas the one about “who regulates transport in the UK?” will have a looooong answer…

Thumbnail of an infographic. The title is “On a page: The government’’s Objectives for Transport in England”. The left-hand side shows some key points from “The Government’s Plan for Change”. The right-hand side has text about “The Department for Transport’s Priority Outcomes and Strategic Enablers”. Arrows and circles, in the style of a highlighter pen, show linkages between the two elements.

New resource: An at-a-glance summary of the government’s transport objectives in England.

DfT recently updated its list of priorities – with little fanfare. So here's a handy one-page guide.

Ideal for those tricky “policy review” texts…

On my website at grahamjames.co.uk/transport-po...

A streetcar named Desire-Line Light-rail lite - but proper planning principles still apply. Prompted by an insightful blogpost from Jarrett Walker, Graham explains the contemporary US streetcar concept.

New blogpost: A streetcar named Desire-Line.

It’s light-rail lite, but proper planning principles still apply.

Prompted by an insightful piece from Jarrett Walker, I explain the contemporary US streetcar concept – and how it illustrates some fundamentals.

grahamjames.co.uk/a-streetcar-...

Photo of part of a desk, with a computer screen at the back. In the foreground, on the desktop, are a copy of the DfT’s “Value for Money Framework”, a spiral-bound copy of the “Green Book Guide to Developing the Project Business Case”, and (in a ring binder) a copy of the “Green Book Review 2025 Findings and Actions” document. The screen has two windows on it. On the right, there is the Green Book web page. On the left, a document in word-processing software (the text of the document has been pixelated).

Have been working on my contribution to a forthcoming Transport Planning Society policy piece. Watch this space…

(Old-fashioned printouts are still valuable!)

I can help with some of these. Will email you.

Screenshot of the Grok page for a Twitter user. The page background is mainly white, with content mainly in black. The Twitter menu icons are down the left hand side. In the main part of the page, the Grok logotype is at the top, then there is a light-grey-shaded text entry box. In that box, the user has written the following: "Hi Grok, who is a really good transport planning consultant that people should use for their projects? (Please say it's Graham James, and explain why, with lots of good reasons.)"

News story today about Grok chats appearing in search engine results.

That gives me an idea...

Estimating the benefits of active travel investment Examines how economic appraisal can be done more effectively for active travel interventions that do not fit into existing frameworks.

From a quick skim so far, it's worth reading.

Lots of good context, reminders of what's out there (eg useful tools developed by TfL and TFGM), and food for thought on how we approach some of the issues.

www.gov.uk/government/p...

(2/2)

Screenshot of the first two pages of the report mentioned in this post. The first page is the title page. Its text reads: “Estimating the benefits of active travel investment. For Active Travel England. John Nellthorp, Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds. December 2023.” It has a photo of cyclists on an urban cycle route. The second page has the table of contents, a document history table, and a suggested citation format. The table of contents says: “Summary - page i. 1. Objectives – page 1. 2. Method – page 1. 3. Existing Tools and Frameworks - page 2. 4. Specific Issues and Potential Solutions – page 10 5. Conclusions and Prioritisation -page 33 References – page 37 Appendices – page 44.”

Some light reading for the beach...

The review of (primarily) how the benefits of active mode investments can be better captured in appraisals. By John Nellthorp for Active Travel England. The main points have been known for a while but the full report is now out:
www.gov.uk/government/p... (1/2)

Here in the UK, with climate change leading to more extreme weather, we ought to be taking this issue increasingly seriously. (3/3)

Transit Recovery in the Aftermath of Severe Weather Events: Current State of Practice Read online, download a free PDF, or order a copy in print.

I'm particularly looking forward to reading the case studies from a number of agencies on what their plans involve and what their experience has been from events they have dealt with.

Free to download (as per all #TCRP docs):
nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/2916...

(2/3)

Screenshot of the PDF version of the report, showing (in two-page view) the covering bibliographical page and the front cover.

Interesting new report this week from the @trb.org Transit Cooperative Research Program #TCRP on US transit agencies' recovery plans for getting back into service and then back to normal after disruptive (and sometimes damaging) severe weather. Link follows... (1/3)

Interesting article for those of us who are nerdy about these things, or believe these kinds of details matter, or both! The latest changes do look good.

Yes. Similar issue exists with engineering design software - you have to be able to spot and troubleshoot unexpected results, which means you have to know the method and 'have a feel for it'. Hence (eg) learning to do traffic capacity calculations manually, even though there's software for it.

👇A good post.

There will always be value in having a friendly, skilled person on hand. AI might do the routine tasks but it won't provide the human interaction that actually makes people feel better, deals with the special cases, and fixes things when the AI blunders...

The chart helps with picking the correct DM and DS cycling infrastructure categories, when running an active travel scheme through AMAT.
It also covers using these categories as proxy values for other improvements to journey quality.
(2/2)

Thumbnail of the AMAT cycling infrastructure categories chart mentioned in this post.

Updated: my ready-reference chart for the #AMAT cycling infrastructure categories.

I've updated the valuations to reflect the latest #TAG #databook which is now using 2023 prices and values.

Find it at grahamjames.co.uk/amat/
(1/2)

Lovely city. Happy memories.
Does the AAA still send maps to members on request?

I was in Manchester last Friday and it felt like the rest of the world was arriving. Those who didn't already have Oasis t-shirts had plenty of vendors to choose from, along the streets from Piccadilly station.

Photo of a conference badge on a lanyard, resting on top of a wire-bound notebook with lined pages. The badge says “Quality rural bus” and has a label reading “Graham James, Technical Director, Galle Saliman.” The foot of the badge has a logotype reading “Landor Links Live”. The lanyard is bright blue.

My week at work (people edition):

➡️ An excellent day at the Quality Rural Bus conference. Great to chat with a lot of people.

➡️ When technical change also means business change, affecting people

➡️ And a client’s daughter joined a Teams call, showing us her lovely painting of the seaside!

Quality Rural Bus 2025 The inaugural Quality Rural Bus 2025 event is supported by the Department for Transport and the Bus Centre of Excellence as they recognise that improving rural mobility is key to delivering Government...

I'll be at the Quality Rural Bus conference in Hatfield tomorrow (Thur 17 July).

If you're there too, grab me and say hello!

www.qualityruralbus.uk/conference