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EDI is so woke, isn’t it?
EDI is so woke isn’t it? I mean it is only relevant to…..oh, well, hang on…..everyone! We are now online for the event below on 1 February. It’s free to attend (assuming you have the time and means) and open to all – even to politicians who are concerned that EDI may be getting too Read more
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First they came for…
It is quite chilling to read of such developments below – a “First they came for…” sensation. I find myself once again oscillating between chasing deadlines amidst a pile of day-job work and opening my eyes wide in shock at what is happening around us. “They shouted up: ‘If you don’t come down and open Read more
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Going solar decisions
We’re planning to get solar panels and a battery installed – do we take the Mr Spock or the Homer Simpson approach? Having catapulted ourselves into EV ownership at the start of 2024, we’re now sizing up options for installing solar panels and a battery. Wow, you really do start to enter super-geek territory once Read more
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Worried about an EDI-obsessed civil service?
Are you a civil servant wasting too much time on EDI, abusing your position as a ‘servant’ and comprimising productivity? Of course as a servant you will not be allowed to answer that here. I hasten to add that no productivity was harmed in the writing of this post: I am doing it on a Read more
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Go-to tonic for a mad, mad world 🤘
How has your start to the New Year been? Pretty intense this end I have to say. Car written off two weeks ago. Now in the EV owners club. Lots going on in terms of work – as ever, great people to work with but bewildered by some of the madness around us. This is Read more
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What can we do as Transport Professionals to Help Save the World?! (Or at least try…..)
My wonderful Mott MacDonald colleagues Leora Wilson and Anna Tyler decided to aim high with the first exam question of the year in their co-hosted technical webinar today in Motts. The panel with the privilege of sitting the exam was made up of Kim Yates, Damian Price, Stephen Luke and myself. Here is some of Read more
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The trigger event that has led us to EV ownership
Bang! Out of nowhere the other car hit our car. That was 2.15pm last Sunday. Our old petrol car written off. Insurance payout has already come through. Today we paid the deposit on an electric car. This time next week we should have the car at home and the EV charger installed. Some years ago, Ben Read more
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How to stop fascism
Are you ready for some insights into #fascism? I didn’t imagine as a younger man I’d be reading books like this. But the world is not the airbrushed one I once knew. As Derek Halden recently said to me – & it struck a chord – reading & writing is our way of coping. This book Read more
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Is Sky News being impartial or introducing false balance in this interview?
Is Sky News being impartial or introducing false balance in this interview? Why not take 10 minutes to watch the interview in full and weigh up what you make of it. In terms of the interviewees, Zoe Cohen is a prominent climate activist who makes it her business to draw upon understanding of reported science. Read more
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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 Read more
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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 Read more
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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 Read more
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Have you got 74 minutes to look at what’s behind the curtain? To see what the science has to show us? To look beyond the crap we are fed for the most part in our daily lives? If you have, and like me hadn’t seen it before, watch this documentary if you can – ‘Breaking…
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Juxtaposition. This lunchtime I was hit by two news items – Just Stop Oil targeting Heathrow Airport this morning, and the first big carrier to drop its climate goal. Why not play this game yourself? Find nine news items on a topic that has lots of question marks around it. One can imagine two world…
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Bunkers or bunkum? Once upon a time there was a flight of fancy that aviation only accounted for 1% of UK transport emissions. Then international aviation was included and this increased to 20%. New ‘bottom-up’ research suggests the figure is more like 60%. What the hell is going on? Academic colleagues Zia Wadud, Adeel Muhammad…
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Remember TAP-SWOT in a Box? We are pleased to let you know that a paper on this serious game methodology for socialising Triple Access Planning has now been published. Triple Access Planning (TAP) sits in the ‘decide and provide’ paradigm. It is vision-led, access-focused and accommodates uncertainty. It is contrasted with (some) traditional transport planning…
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I woke this morning at 5am and the first thing I did was read this 12-minute account from Roger Hallam about his trial and conviction. It is harrowing and shocking. In a british court. In 2024. Please spare a few minutes to read it. “I outlined four characteristics of the effects of emitting greenhouse gases…
What the hell is going on? 