Rebecca Sharkey

Letter of the day (in the Times)

It’s not just eyesight but also reaction times and risk judgement- we risk testing what is easy to test and missing important factors.
Improved public transport and safe walking (e.g. even pavements and well segregated pedestrian and cycle infrastructure) would help reduce need for car dependency.

Father in law driving, passes a cyclist.

ME: that was a bit close

HIM:

ME: imagine it's me next time

HIM: okay

ME: thank you

Road traffic deaths are not inevitable!

"Challenging car dominance is never simply a technical decision about street layouts or emissions levels. It is a challenge to a deeply embedded status quo" - Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo.

People of all ages and abilities walk, cycle, sit, and socialise on the Strand Aldwych—a former arterial turned pedestrian zone in London, which is lined with buildings, trees, flowers and plantings, benches, and terraces.

People of all ages and abilities walk, cycle, sit, and socialise on the Strand Aldwych—a former arterial turned pedestrian zone in London, which is lined with buildings, trees, flowers and plantings, benches, and terraces.

People of all ages and abilities walk, cycle, sit, and socialise on the Strand Aldwych—a former arterial turned pedestrian zone in London, which is lined with buildings, trees, flowers and plantings, benches, and terraces.

People of all ages and abilities walk, cycle, sit, and socialise on the Strand Aldwych—a former arterial turned pedestrian zone in London, which is lined with buildings, trees, flowers and plantings, benches, and terraces.

London's Strand Aldwych is more than a facelift; it’s an ambitious metamorphosis of an inhospitable traffic sewer into a vibrant civic stage for culture, learning, play, and human connection. This is city-making refined for the 21st century: turning underutilised asphalt into spaces of possibility.🔚

1 in 3 doctors were born overseas.

1 in 2 builders were born overseas.

1 in 6 nurses were born overseas.

1 in 4 transport workers were born overseas.

1 in 7 UK business founders were born overseas.

1 in 5 university academics were born overseas.

The UK would be screwed without them.

Helsinki records zero traffic deaths for full year Helsinki has completed 12 months without a single traffic fatality, a milestone credited to lower speed limits, safer infrastructure, and years of consistent planning, officials say.

Not a single person died on Helsinki’s roads in the last year.

An impressive achievement which shows cities across the world that road traffic deaths are not inevitable.

www.helsinkitimes.fi/finland/finl... Helsinki records zero traffic deaths for full year - Helsinki Times

Paris said au revoir to cars. Air pollution maps reveal a dramatic change. Air pollution fell substantially as the city restricted car traffic and made way for parks and bike lanes.

“Air pollution fell substantially as Paris restricted car traffic and made way for parks, people-streets and bike-lanes.”

Better for the climate, better for health, better for livability & quality of life.

Common sense.

Such a no-brainer, it’s remarkable that more cities HAVEN’T done the same.

This is great to see.

Ending the acceptance of road death is such a well-framed, worthwhile and important ambition, and one that we should roll out across the country.

Loving the walking and cycling culture in Ghent, which has one of the largest car-free zones in Europe (there are a few cars in the centre but they are ‘guests’ and have to give way to everyone else)🚶🏼‍♀️🚲💕🇧🇪 #ActiveTravel

Essential holiday reading in the cycling nirvana that is Ghent 🇧🇪🚲☕️💕
@modacitylife.com

In Paris, “school streets” are now calm, lovely, car-free spaces. The visionary policy championed by @annehidalgo.bsky.social has had a profound effect.

We can learn from this.

Rue Charles Baudelaire, 12e

‘Motornormativity’ - where society fails to address the massive harm caused by motor vehicles, leading to a higher acceptance of death and injury on our roads. In the case of the West Midlands, a shocking 2,373 people last year.

@ianwalker.bsky.social

www.theguardian.com/world/2023/j...

Too often, anything other than car infrastructure is treated as an afterthought or an add-on. To give everyone real freedom of choice in transportation, cities must be designed with equity and intent.

The money and space always exist.

It’s the courage to challenge car dominance that doesn’t.

Really enjoyed this conversation, with examples of how our behaviours are so often shaped not by what we know or believe but are shaped by the environment and options around us.

We DO things (which are made easy for us by our environment) and THEN we believe they are worth doing.

The Cultural Blindspots in Transport | Professor Ian Walker Low Traffic Future Podcast · Episode

I’ve listened to this podcast twice, and want to listen again to take notes - so many fascinating insights from
@ianwalker.bsky.social and @edwardlamb.bsky.social about the strange psychology of car driving and #motornormativity

open.spotify.com/episode/2Yxn...

@lowtrafficfuture.bsky.social

Children have as much right to their streets as drivers. There is no legal basis for them being shoed off streets. And I have no doubt that cars - moving and parked - cause a nuisance for children.

This is extraordinarily depressing from Manchester City Council.

@playingout.bsky.social

The “hill of hysteria”, whereby people increasingly freak out about a new transport policy right up to implementation, and then increasingly chill as the sky does not in fact fall in

Clever new study shows a powerful ‘status quo bias’ prevails re new transport policy. Looks at levels of public fear about this, finds exact inverse of the Goodwin Curve of public support: the “Hill of Hysteria”!

Sad to see so many choose to die on that hill

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Depaving and regreening desperately needed now! 👇

Thanks for creating!

Striking logic, from @tomflood.bsky.social

kids car seat: IF ONLY WE APPLIED THE SAME LEVEL OF DESIGN, TESTING, SCRUTINY AND REGULATION USED FOR OUR CHILDREN'S CAR SEATS Parent and kid biking: TO THE BIKE LANES THEY RIDE TO SCHOOL IN.

scrutiny.

Cycles deliver the joy that car ads promise. 😃

Jeff Bezos pays his staff poverty wages and dodges tax. No wonder he can afford to shut down half of Venice for his wedding this week.

Tax billionaires NOW.

Location: Piazza San Marco, Venice

@greenpeace.org

#JeffBezos #TaxTheSuperRich

The part that is missing, again, is the next sentence: "And therefore I am calling for Trump's immediate impeachment & removal..." 🤔🤷‍♂️

Today in "neither our media nor our political system is designed to deal with a far right authoritarian party"

Ooh can’t wait!
One of my favourite films is ‘My Winnipeg’. Fantastic that you cycle there in the winter! Very Scandi.

Looking forward to listening! Best wishes from a woman on a bike in Liverpool, England 🚲💕

Check out @pattybikes.com . This is the energy we need!

UK air pollution killing more than 500 people a week, doctors say Royal College of Physicians also says poor air quality costs country more than £500m a week

My controversial opinion today is that we should stop knowingly killing 30,000 people annually and sabotaging our economy to the tune of £27bn per year.

And that we should listen to doctors when they tell us this.

www.theguardian.com/environment/...