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Conspiracy or Cockup? Reports without date of publication
Conspiracy or Cockup? Why do so many reports get published with no clear indication of their date of publication? Is it incompetence on the part of the report authors or a deliberate attempt to make their work appear timelessly contemporary? It’s not big and it’s not clever. Stop doing it and put the publication date Read more
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The first follower is what transforms a lone nut into a leader
“The first follower is what transforms a lone nut into a leader”. So says Derek Sivers in this excellent 3-minute TED Talk about starting a movement: https://youtu.be/hO8MwBZl-Vc?si=V5kx8OH_mtOEpl8G. It seemed very apt to use for the Decide and Provide session at the Annual TRICS User Meeting at The Magic Circle in London today. I stood up Read more
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Inclusive transport? You’re ‘avin’ a larf mate
Guess why I got to relieve my bladder at Waterloo straight away rather than queueing like I was at Thorpe Park? Inclusive transport? You’re having a larf mate. #transportplanning#edi#inclusivedesign#invisiblewomen Read more
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Hybrid conferences are more inclusive
Hybrid conferences are more inclusive – get with the programme as our professional institutions did for the Wales National Transport Conference earlier this month. As the CIHT speaker, I presented on ‘From halcyon days to a brave new world’ in relation to the changing landscape for road investment in the context of a climate and Read more
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The motivations and meaning behind climate action
If you are truly prepared to open your mind and read the following account with care, attention and reflection, I believe it will pull at your heart strings and wrench at your soul. You will come to understand why ‘love and gratitude’ and ‘love and rage’ sit at the heart of Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion. We Read more
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Decarbonising towards a more equitable future
Fancy that – transport planning day coinciding with a slew of long-term decisions for a brighter future (well, the UK Government’s cabinet was ‘refreshed’ anyway). I had the privilege of speaking at the Transport Planning Society‘s event in London, addressing the exam question “Fair shares – how equitable is the current transport system and would Read more
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False precision drives me nuts!
False precision drives me nuts and it may have a lot to answer for in the transport sector and the forecast-led paradigm that just wont seem to go away. It was cathartic to be given the chance by Dom Browne, Editor of Highways Magazine, to write the viewpoint article below for this month’s edition. You Read more
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The Pentagram of Influence – again
Two posts in one day – not sure the Al Gore Rhythm will like that. Here is the Pentagram of Influence, following its warm reception yesterday at the Wales National Transport Conference in Cardiff. I originally posted about it back in July (https://lnkd.in/e9mDriqy). I hope it can be of use to people as framework for Read more
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Road investment in Wales – from halcyon days to a brave new world
Will the herculean efforts of Lee Waters MS and colleagues in Wales help with the sisyphean task of effecting substantial positive change in the transport sector? It was a great honour to be the Chartered Institution of Highways & Transportation (CIHT) speaker at today’s Wales National Transport Conference in Cardiff – jointly organised by the Read more
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Hell awaits
In today’s episode of What The Hell Is Going On we hear from UK ministers and the UN Secretary General. Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary General (20 September): Humanity has “opened gates to hell” by letting climate crisis worsen Mark Harper, UK Secretary of State for Transport (2 October): “There’s nothing wrong with driving”, “We can Read more
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Free Your Mind – The Matrix meets Levelling Up
The Matrix meets levelling up in Manchester as Danny Boyle’s ‘Free Your Mind’ is the show to mark the opening of Aviva Studios – the £242m new home of Factory International. It’s the biggest capital investment in live arts since the Sydney Opera House. Frankly Rishi Sunak and Elon Musk in London can keep their Read more
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Suffer our dominion
Midnight and another #MetalFriday arrives. The amazing Cradle of Filth offer up ‘Suffer Our Dominion’. It’s not Ed Sheeran. But Ed and Cradle’s Dani Filth have been collaborating. Looking forward to hearing some heavy Ed. Meantime, give ‘Suffer Our Dominion’ a go when you need a boost to keep on fighting for more climate action. 🤘💚🤘🔥🤘💚🤘 The Read more
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Do you know I was a setting out engineer on a by-pass construction in the 1990s? I also worked in a consultancy designing by-pass schemes in Wales then. Both as a student civil engineer. I haven’t strongly associated myself with highways in the many years in between. However, more recently I’ve had the honour of…
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More climate action comes from more people taking climate action. I’ve not been brave enough to expose myself to risk of arrest. I think I may be more use to the cause by taking action through being a constructively challenging professional alongside changing my personal behaviours. What action are you taking or would you like…
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If you haven’t heard about The Plan for Drivers then you must have been asleep this week under a pavement-parked super-sized vehicle. To end this farcical few days in transport planning in the UK (England), I have had the privilege of being asked by The Planner RTPI to write an opinion piece on this vote-chasing fodder that…
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“He lied and lied”. This is a bold headline to level at a sitting prime minister. A reminder of the Seven Principles of Public Life: Selflessness, Integrity, Objectivity, Accountability, Openness, Honesty, Leadership. They’re important aren’t they? A bedrock upon which we should expect politics of any colour to be founded? Of course if you don’t…
What the hell is going on? 