@grahamjames.bsky.social
Connecting people, making places: that's transport planning! Professional topics, positive outlook, own views. Re-post is not endorsement. He/him. grahamjames.co.uk
Interesting piece on the early history of railway timetable graphs:
www.chartography.net/p/charts-fol...
Photo taken from the upper deck of a bus, looking along a city street towards a signalised crossroads. It is a bright day, with some cloud cover. A person is crossing the road in the foreground. There are other people, and cars, around the junction. The people are wrapped-up warm. There is a bus stop with shelter in the right foreground. The buildings are a mixture of one to four storeys, in a variety of styles. Some have shopfronts on the ground floor.
Back at home (and thawing out) after two interesting, intensive days in Derby at the Local Transport Summit.
Always good to catch up with old friends and make new ones.
The conference theme was how to harness opportunities from the new strategic authorities. More on this from me soon...
Photo, taken from near ground level, looking along a shopping street after dark when it has been raining. We see a puddle, double yellow lines, and a give way line. In the background, the lights are on in the shops. There is a person walking towards the camera, and there are car headlights in the distance.
My week at work (downpour edition ☔ ):
Lots of work coming in. Plus:
▶️ Getting the best from controlled parking zones in one local authority
▶️ A financial model for another
▶️ Customer-service options for a third
▶️ And a visit from a cute doggie 🐕
Photo taken in Parliament Square, looking towards the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Bridge Road. The Elizabeth Tower (home of Big Ben) prominent in the centre background. It’s been a wet day and the street is damp. The sky is a beautiful blue colour as twilight approaches.
Finally, back to Cambridge for the TPS Eastern Region celebration of Transport Planning Day.
A.k.a. beer!
Enjoyed chatting with everyone. Lovely way to finish the day. (3/3)
Photo taken in Parliament Square, looking towards the Houses of Parliament. The Elizabeth Tower (home of Big Ben) is prominent in the centre background. It’s been a wet day and the street is damp, but the sky is bright and there is some a bit of sunlight poking through the clouds. Some of the people in the picture are queuing to take photos with the old-fashioned phone boxes.
... the TPS Policy Panel meeting. A good chance to look back at all our work over the last year, leading the profession, and to look ahead to next year. (2/3)
11.11.2025 21:41 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
Photo of a train alongside a station platform. The train is predominantly white with ‘Great Northern’ branding. People are walking along the platform having just alighted from the train.
Yesterday for me involved three different Transport Planning Society activities!
Firstly, an update from one of this year's TPS Bursary recipients. I'm their mentor as part of the bursary scheme. Their research is really worthwhile and interesting.
Then to London for... (1/3)
As a bonus, there’s a Graham ‘explainer’ on another topic too.
If you’re not already an LTT subscriber, I reckon this edition is a very good one to start with - but I'm biased!
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Screenshot of pages 2 and 3 of Local Transport Today, issue 925, dated 30 October 2025. The lead headline on page is “New freight time values will boost highway scheme appraisal outcomes”. That story continues on page 3, with a head-and-shoulders photo of Graham. All text is pixelated, other than the lead headline and the words “Graham James looks at the proposed revised DfT Transport Analysis guidance on this subject and its background – see pages 31-36”.
“You’re the page 3 boy”, a colleague said…
That’s one way of putting it!
Today’s issue of Local Transport Today includes my piece on the new road freight values of time that DfT is proposing.
▶️ What’s the problem with the existing values?
▶️ Why does it matter?
▶️ What’s the plan?
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If you want to do the same:
TAG changes - www.gov.uk/government/p...
Road freight VOTs - www.gov.uk/government/p...
Strictly - no idea!
Screenshot of two browser windows alongside each other on a computer screen. Both are open at UK Department for Transport web pages. The one on the left is headed "TAG: Forthcoming changes". The text reads "Record of upcoming changes to transport analysis guidance (TAG)." It then has links to HTML documents called "Forthcoming change: appraisal data update", "Forthcoming change: vehicle emissions carbon tool" and "Forthcoming change: climate change adaptation update". It looks like there's more if you scroll down the page. The one on the right is headed "Understanding and valuing road freight travel time" and continues "Research that aims to estimate new road freight values of travel time." It then has links to PDFs called "The value of road freight travel time" and "Freight value of time and value of reliability". The text continues "Details" and again it looks like there's more if you scroll down.
Lots of technical updates on transport modelling + appraisal coming out of DfT recently.
My application to host #Strictly might have to wait until I've read all these and responded to the mini-consultation on road freight values of time...
Plus some mythbusting!
And some suggestions for what practitioners can do on their own projects, to help decision-makers make better decisions and deliver the right things.
The link again: tps.org.uk/tps-policy/g...
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Illustrative screenshot of the two pages of the report that summarise the recommendations.
We also make recommendations on how transport appraisal and business case guidance + practice should evolve in response to the review, and indeed to more fully reflect Green Book principles. (2/3)
22.10.2025 20:20 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
Montage of the front page of the TPS report mentioned in this post, overlaid onto a screenshot of the TPS webpage where the report can be downloaded. The page is dated 17 Oct 2025 and the heading is "The Green Book Review and what this means for transport business cases". It includes a few paragraphs about the report, and a button to download it. For full text, see the page itself: https://tps.org.uk/tps-policy/green-book-review .
This👇is worth reading - but I'm biased!
Delighted to have been part of the team producing this report for the Transport Planning Society.
If you want to know what the 2025 Green Book Review really means for transport business cases, this is for you.
tps.org.uk/tps-policy/g... (1/4)
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.
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 #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
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?
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...
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.
31.08.2025 17:01 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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...
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...
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