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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  • Compulsory National Service – FFS

    Compulsory National Service – FFS

    [Apologies. The image for this post may cause offence to young people who care more about climate change than empire.] It appears the Prime Minister (or one of his SPADs) has been watching his box set of Yes Prime Minister desperately hoping to find inspiration to win a few votes. Nothing like looking back to Read more

  • Archeologists are baffled

    Archeologists are baffled

    Archeologists are baffled by discovery of an ancient document that supposedly offered a guiding light in a bygone era. “We’re still unclear whether or not these principles were meant to be put into practice or just a nice theory” said Professor Xavier Rumpus, a specialist in public discourse and protest. His colleague Professor Beatrice Profitte Read more

  • From Hell I Rise (and I’m NOT talking about Predict and Provide!)

    From Hell I Rise (and I’m NOT talking about Predict and Provide!)

    Predict and Provide just keeps rising from the dead, doesn’t it? Bear with me. The album ‘From Hell I Rise’ has just arrived. A little of what you fancy does you good. Calling all my metalhead connections – this is a BIG hashtag#MetalFriday. I remember going with Robin Lyons to see Slayer for their final Read more

  • Amazing women in the construction industry

    Amazing women in the construction industry

    Storytelling, personal journeys, and leaders walking the walk help us to nurture talent, embrace diversity and foster an inclusive working environment. But we have a long way to go. I have been at the annual Construction Industry Council (CIC) conference today on behalf of Chartered Institution of Highways & Transportation (CIHT) – a gathering of Read more

  • Let’s get interrailing – place your bets now

    Let’s get interrailing – place your bets now

    I’ve never been to Glastonbury Festival but I’m guessing getting your summer rail journey planned across Europe is on a par with the stress of whether or not you’ll get a Glasto ticket when they become available. Last year for the family holiday in southern spain I went by train (while the others flew). The Read more

  • Decarbonising transport – buckle up!

    Decarbonising transport – buckle up!

    Here’s your progressively zoomed-in May 2024 update on decarbonisation: globally as a whole, globally for transport, globally for direct emissions from transport, for direct emissions from transport in the UK and for car driving and flying. The story goes like this in brief: We need to reduce emissions globally by 45% compared to 2010 levels Read more

  • People at the heart

    People at the heart

    Our journeys through life and careers are about people at the heart. I am increasingly aware of this as I reflect. It was therefore a most welcome opportunity this weekend to head to The Black Heart in Camden Town, London. Will Pedley will be known to many of you as the current Transport Planner of Read more

  • We’ve been told so often that economic growth is a good thing that we can’t see past it

    We’ve been told so often that economic growth is a good thing that we can’t see past it

    Cognitive fluency is an unconscious bias whereby things that are harder to understand are less believable. For most of us, we’ve been told so often that economic growth is a good thing that we can’t see past it. The idea of NOT wanting economic growth is unthinkable, even blasphemous to growth worshipers. I found this Read more

  • Should I give up Black Mass or going to the annual Transportation Research Board conference to fight climate change?

    Should I give up Black Mass or going to the annual Transportation Research Board conference to fight climate change?

    Should I drink 5000 cans of beer each year or fly to the Transportation Research Board annual conference in Washington? The myclimate website suggests that “In order to stop climate change this is the maximum amount of CO2 that can be generated by a single person in a year: 0.600tCO2”. I’m not sure what ‘stop Read more

  • Are the UK political parties in listening mode on transport? The CIHT manfesto has been launched today

    Are the UK political parties in listening mode on transport? The CIHT manfesto has been launched today

    BREAKING NEWS 📢 Vote for us and we’ll ensure transport gets worse more slowly than the other parties. This was Phil Goodwin’s observation years ago on why transport does not tend to feature strongly at election time. Now, beyond addressing traffic congestion, there are bigger fish to fry. So will the UK’s political parties give Read more

  • Meeting someone for the first time when you feel like you’ve know them for years

    Meeting someone for the first time when you feel like you’ve know them for years

    Meeting someone for the first time when you feel like you’ve know them for years. I had the great pleasure of spending some time at home with Tim Sullivan today and his wonderful family as they passed through on their way back to Australia. It was impossible in the space of a couple of hours Read more

  • You can ‘fly off on holidays and eat steak’ under net zero

    You can ‘fly off on holidays and eat steak’ under net zero

    Chris Stark – thank you for all your immensely important work with the CCC. But I’m totally non-plussed by “you can still fly off on holiday each year, and you can have a steak if you want to. There’s not a huge shift here”. I’d genuinely welcome an explanation so I understand. The message to Read more

  • Decide and Provide – a diffusing innovation in a climate emergency

    Is a transition in transport planning taking place? Is ‘decide and provide’ an innovation that is diffusing into thinking & practice, or is it following a hype cycle? This evening I had the pleasure of speaking online at the Active Travel Cafe (https://lnkd.in/eerQvtrf) – an inspiring gathering of individuals passionate about….active travel. I’d been asked…

  • At work in the ruins

    I feel a low level sense of grief for the naivety & ignorance I have left behind – when I was inside the Matrix, consuming as if magic put the shiny fresh things in the shops, consuming the trivia & the air-brushed media, believing that grown ups existed whose job it was to make everything…

  • An in-depth critique of the new Draft National Policy Statement for National Networks

    In this LONG article I offer my review of the Draft National Policy Statement for National Networks. In doing so, I should point out that (continuing on from other roads related matters of late) my focus is on roads (rather than also considering rail). I should also warn you, this is quite a long article (over 5000…

  • The only way is ethics – making your way in your career and being true to yourself

    Are you in a good place in your career? Have you found a role and team that optimise you, that allow you to be your authentic self and boost your wellbeing? Our careers are, typically, long journeys with lots of twists and turns. They are a big part of our lives and it seems evident…

  • Lads, lads, lads

    Thank goodness #iwd2023 is over. Now we can get back to lads, lads, lads. I saw the archetypal ‘lads lads lads’ photo on LinkedIn this week – car industry awards evening, team photo. Ten white blokes celebrating a win for their luxury car brand. A little frighening really. I remember several years ago Nicola Kane introduced me to the…