Thoughts, insights and rants about futures, climate change, system change, transport, wicked problems, EDI, and heavy metal

By Professor Glenn Lyons

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  • ‘He lied and lied’ – an attack on climate policy?

    ‘He lied and lied’ – an attack on climate policy?

    “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 Read more

  • Hurry the hell up – or not: a stocktake on road transport decarbonisation

    Hurry the hell up – or not: a stocktake on road transport decarbonisation

    I know – you can’t take any more. Madness reigns. But here’s a slide deck on how we’re doing on road transport decarbonisation in the UK. Mark Frost asked me to present today at an Urban Design London online event, alongside Aoife Dudley & Esther Kurland. Mark sensibly suggested adding ‘timely’ to the title. I updated the slides again Read more

  • What the hell is going on? The Plan for Drivers

    What the hell is going on? The Plan for Drivers

    In today’s edition of ‘What The Hell is Going On?’ we take a look at what the 50 million driving licence holders in Great Britain have been waiting for – “The Plan for Drivers”. The cover message to this policy paper states that “The plan includes a list of actions that government will pursue with Read more

  • Seeking advice on buying an electric vehicle

    Seeking advice on buying an electric vehicle

    I’m a car owner and driver (though it will come as a shock to the Government that I am pleased where I get the chance to drive less and only want to get from A to B without any frills). The car dependent system depresses me and I’m looking for leaders to change the system Read more

  • Let’s scrap the sustainable travel hierarchy

    Let’s scrap the sustainable travel hierarchy

    Welcome to today’s edition from Paris of ‘What The Hell Is Going on?’ in which we ask… WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON? We consider the scrapping of the Sustainable Travel Hierarchy – naively advocated by so-called experts – and its replacement, the Sustainable Power Hierarchy. To any half-decent campaign manager, spin doctor or newspaper Read more

  • Rosebank oilfield given the go-ahead – hurrah for profit and power

    Rosebank oilfield given the go-ahead – hurrah for profit and power

    Rose-BANK $$$ given the go ahead. Congrats to the oil and gas industry, their lobbyists and shareholders. 09:26 news today – “Shares in Ithaca Energy, which will partner with Norway’s Equinor to develop the huge Rosebank oil field, 80 miles west of the Shetland islands, have jumped more than 8% on news of the approval of the controversial Read more

  • Public Service Announcement: Polite reminder about ‘The Seven Principles of Public Life’

    Public Service Announcement: Polite reminder about ‘The Seven Principles of Public Life’

    Public service announcement – a polite reminder to all concerned about ‘The Seven Principles of Public Life’. I appreciate that they were published nearly 30 years ago but it appears they are still meant to be in effect. I wonder whether in hindsight these should have been called ‘The Seven Practices of Public Life’ as Read more

  • Metal mashup of a prime minister’s speech

    Metal mashup of a prime minister’s speech

    I know you’ve been concerned about a range of worrying heavy metal proposals and today I want to confirm that they’ll never happen. The proposal that all Radio One listeners should be forced to listen to heavy metal. I’ve scrapped it. The proposal that you should be forced to listen to seven different types of Read more

  • Short-term decisions for a political future

    Short-term decisions for a political future

    I didn’t sleep well last night. Bad news day yesterday and a chance to talk about it on BBC Radio Bristol this morning. Media interviews tend to be short lived and you don’t quite know the angle that the interviewer will take. I was on the John Darvall show an hour ago. The motivation for Read more

  • You say scenario, I say scenario

    You say scenario, I say scenario

    Scenario planning is now entering the mainstream of transport planning – great! But hang on, now people are discovering that scenarios are not so easy-peasy when you try and develop and use them. You say ‘scenario’, but I say ‘scenario’. Oh dear, confusion is starting to creep in. What a mess! Last week at the Read more

  • Death Plunger – our family’s new (imaginary) black metal band

    Death Plunger – our family’s new (imaginary) black metal band

    Our family has created a sensational new black metal band called ‘Death Plunger’. Our debut single is ‘The Final Minute’. In this exclusive announcement we are able to share the artwork for the single and the song’s lyrics. Unfortunately the band is currently an imaginary one though we are all committed to its success. I’m Read more

  • My journey by train from the UK to Southern Spain

    My journey by train from the UK to Southern Spain

    My family left our rented villa in southern Spain at 7am this Saturday morning. A few hours later and they are already home. They flew. I will arrive home two whole days after them IF things go to schedule. Today it’s Malaga-Madrid-Barcelona, youth hostel overnight. Tomorrow is Barcelona-Paris, hotel overnight. Monday is Paris-London-local station. Some Read more

  • Transitioning to Net Zero

    I’ve just taken part in the first 2024 webinar from the Association of European Transport’s Transport and Mobility Forum. Hosted by Conall Mac Aongusa, Chaired by Derek Halden and with Susan Krumdieck and Elizabete Arsenio alongside me on the Panel, we got stuck into the wicked matter of the future ahead of us and what…

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  • A New Year’s radio interview, and Jevon’s Paradox

    The transition to electric vehicles is in full swing and in the news, while I’ve been worring about Jevon’s Paradox. I’ve just done my first BBC Radio Bristol interview of 2024 on the topic of the EV transition. Putting aside politics and other matters about addressing the climate emergency, transitions are fascinating – especially as…

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  • Extinction Rebellion – walk in your own shoes in 2123

    Handmade Extinction Rebellion Christmas tree decoration from Robin Lyons and Catt Lyons. An intensely personal gift which I love 💚 As the season that marks the high point of our capitalist year comes to an end, have a think about XR and Just Stop Oil. These are not terrorist eco zealots, they are the voice…

  • Neurodivergent experiences of streets and possible improvements to the built environment

    1 in 7 people are neurodivergent. Their brains are different with differences in social understanding, sensory processing, communication and information processing. This relates to neurological differences such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and dyspraxia. Neurodivergent people think differently and can often excel – at creativity, innovation, specialisation and hyperfocusing. Check out this 2 minute primer on…

  • The black elephant of digital accessibility in the transport sector

    As the year draws to an end I’m now familiar with the term ‘black elephant’ (h/t Anna Rothnie) and realise that it very aptly represents digital accessibility when it comes to transport planning and appraisal. A black elephant is something visible to everyone but no one wants to deal with it so they pretend it’s not…