Scott Urban

Complex highway interchange from the air

Never forget, car dependency isn’t freedom.

Some might ask “what’s more free than cars?”

Choices.

Choices are more free than car dependency.

It’s not a hard concept.

I’m not pitting cars against any other single mode of transport.

I’m rejecting design that creates dependency on just one mode.

Insights from Liveable Neighbourhoods 2025 – and what it means for Oxfordshire — Oxfordshire Liveable Streets If you only know “liveable neighbourhoods” from Oxfordshire social media, you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s just another way of saying “war on motorists”. For the last few years, Oxfordshire Liveab...

Wonderful to see OLS go from strength to strength. Have a look at this must-read from @siobhannmansel.bsky.social www.oxfordshireliveablestreets.org/news/liveabl...

One of the most disturbing things about the U.S. government getting themselves into the anti-vaccine game is that it is a time-release poison pill.

It will take a few years before the worst of the harm is visible to enough people that they will truly understand what has been done to them.

Torture Techniques from CIA Black Sites Were Used at Alligator Alcatraz Amnesty International, interviewing migrant detainees, identifies use of the confinement box. There can be no denying it is a torture prison

They're using the confinement box, one of the most horrific methods of CIA torture in the post-9/11 black sites, against migrants now. This is the direct result of the lack of consequences for the architects of the torture program. Either there will be criminal penalties for this or it will expand.

GWR train at Swindon station. Matt Taylor at flickr.com, CC-BY-NC-SA.

Oxford–Bristol direct trains could run every two hours as early as May 2026. GWR has submitted an application for seven round-trips each day, increasing to hourly (15 round-trips) in 2027. Trains would stop at Swindon, Chippenham and Bath, but not Didcot Parkway.

'I'm Always on the Bus': How Transit Advocacy Helped Katie Wilson Become Seattle's Next Mayor — Streetsblog USA "I really think that our public transit system is such a big part of people's daily experience of government," says the incoming mayor of the Emerald City.

Stoked to have a new interview with Katie Wilson (no relation), Seattle's new mayor, Transit Riders Union co-founder, and living proof that bold vision for (and wonky obsession with) transportation reform can win elections.

Anna Hughes, author Order books by Anna Hughes

Cycling around the coast of Britain back in 2011 was a life-changing trip that showed me you don’t need to travel halfway round the world to have an adventure. I wrote the book to inspire others to explore closer to home. You can buy a signed copy here 👇 docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

After this weekend's racist attacks on the EU, I've written a column about the moral obligation to stop posting on X.

Oh no, wait, I wrote it *two years ago* when it was blatantly obvious what was going on and how it would get much much worse.

www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

How the UK’s dependency on cars slows down the economy Clogged up Britain

car dependency is crippling the UK theconversation.com/how-the-uks-... "for the UK to be more like Singapore, the government needs to make motorists pay much more for their car use. To be more like the Netherlands, it must take away their space"

Joy for cyclists as 10-minute 'eco' ferry shuttle across the Thames launches The Orbit Clipper, which will link Rotherhithe and Canary Wharf, is 100 per cent battery-powered

New London ferry can transport 100 people + bikes across the River Thames, linking Rotherhithe to Canary Wharf. share.google/zgQ5ltdX3iZI...

When it comes to driving many people seem to think making something a bit more difficult or even just having to pay for it is taking away "freedom" to do it.

Authoritarianism often begins with restrictions on who can enter a country, but it seldom stops there; constraints on who may leave typically follow.

Every time we visit people in a more suburban environment I’m reminded how much less active the lifestyle is.

It’s not even the worst suburbs. There are sidewalks and some things nearby. Walking is mostly not dangerous.

But it’s not a default or natural option. You have to force yourself out.

The Great Salt Lake took my top spot this year. More in my #SpotifyWrapped

Here’s my listening age, from my #SpotifyWrapped.

Meanwhile

Thames Water half-year profit leaps to nearly £400m after it raises bills by third Revenues jumped 40% to nearly £2bn after debt-ridden utility hiked water bills sharply in April

Thames Water half-year profits leap to £386m after bills rose by nearly a third.

Leaks and sewage dumping will continue for years.

£20bn+debt. A third of the bill covers interest payments.

Captive customers have no choice.

End the scam. Nationalise water.

UK using more wood to make electricity than ever, Drax figures show Giant biomass plant reveals burning of wood pellets made 9% of UK’s electricity in July, its largest ever monthly share

UK using more wood to make electricity than ever, Drax figures show.

Drax burns wood, the most expensive electricity, biggest UK polluter.

Drax is highly profitable. Received subsidies for years, will receive £458.6m a year between 2027 and 2031. Govt doesn't take any equity stake.

Time to admit the truth: Brexit has been an unmitigated economic failure, says The Telegraph.

Brexit Effect:

UK GDP down 8%
Investment down 18%
Productivity down 4%
Employment down 4%
Immigration not cut
No trade benefits
No regulatory freedom

Why do some still vote for Farage?
archive.ph/L2Gqp

My guess: more folks in USA heard "I am the sun and the air" relative to those in the UK.

Last week, ICE arrested and separated a father and son after a routine check-in. Six-year-old Yuanxin had just enrolled in the first grade at an elementary school in Astoria. Now he's in custody, alone. ICE won't say where. This cruelty serves no one. It must end.

A cycling and walking strategy goes into a bar... And gets a bit of a pep talk

Shaping the next five years: why you should care about the rather lacklustre third Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy consultation - and what you can do about it lauralaker.substack.com/p/a-cycling-...

Wondering why car-share clubs aren't exempt from CC and ULEZ in London. @carltonreid.com @labourstone.bsky.social @co-wheels.bsky.social

YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS THIS!!!!! 😍

Join us for a virtual GOTV rally on Monday night featuring former VP and Tennessee legend Al Gore, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rep. Pramila Jayapal and LaTosha Brown.

Sign up via the link in our BIO!

Yep, park and ride 400 went past us yesterday with "bus full" and still 6 stops before high street.

"3A back from town was so packed we decided to get off halfway back & walk instead!"
Early days for Oxford's road-pricing scheme (the temporary congestion charge) but wow.
There's a lesson here: If you want modal shift, you have to prioritise it. Everything else is talk.

Factory workers dash for home IT WAS a brave person who ventured out when Cowley car workers were leaving the factory.

Workers cycling home from the car factory in Cowley, Oxford in the 1960s www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/1041279...

Large number of people cycling out of Plymouth dockyard at shift end in the 1950s

Plymouth dockyard end of shift, 1950s

People enjoying riding bikes along a canal in Utrecht, Netherlands. #Dutch

Posts about urban biking in Dutch cities are routinely replied to with comments like “well, they have the big advantage of being relatively flat.”

The Dutch also have the big advantage of not constantly making excuses about why they can’t make clearly smarter city-making decisions. #Leadership

Russian influence petition surges past 100,000 signatures A petition demanding a full inquiry into Russian influence in UK politics has passed 100,000 signatures

A petition demanding a full inquiry into Russian influence in UK politics has passed 100,000 signatures | East Anglia Bylines