Ireland challenges car dependency
Ireland’s ‘celtic tiger’ boom (between the mid-1990s and 2008) turned the Republic from one of the poorer western European countries to one of the wealthiest. In doing so it put a new car and a new house suddenly within reach of many more people. When the boom times ended a property bubble burst and Ireland […]
My latest ‘Connections’ newsletter | Issue 5 | June 24 | stories of progressive change
In this issue (download it here): 🏘 News on fresh thinking on decarbonising suburbs🌆 What the general election could mean for local transport🇸🇪 Policy geek postcard from Stockholm🚌 Stories of progressive change: Buses in the Peoples Republic of South Yorkshire😎 In depth: Time to think big again on the look and feel of public transport💭 […]
What will the election mean for local transport?
My analysis for Local Transport Today Many Local Transport Today readers will be hoping for a new Government which will address the underfunding of local transport, unlock genuine devolution of responsibility , and get behind radical, climate-focussed policies designed to promote modal shift and reduce the need to travel. So, how likely is all this, asks […]
A journey by design?
A draining COVID epidemic and the ungainly pirouettes of government policy on public transport from one extreme (‘we want all day bus lanes’) to the other (‘we hate all day bus lanes ‘), has not been conducive to big and optimistic thinking about how public transport should look and feel in the future. But ready […]
‘LocHal’ – the library at the heart of railway regeneration in Tilburg
These days, on my list of things I could do when I have time in a new place, is to visit the library. It feels almost revolutionary these days to go somewhere where you are not obliged to spend anything at all. The ‘LocHal’ library in Tilburg is a beauty. And another example of how mainland Europe […]
Connections newsletter April 2024
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Paris and London – opposites attract on progressive transport policies
I used to take the view that Paris was an ugly city (quasi motorways alongside the Seine, the dreary Haussmann boulevards, the Eiffel Tower) but with a lot of beautiful details. As well as a city that beyond the ‘grands projets’ didn’t have so much to offer on progressive thinking on transport. But the motorways by […]
An ode to Lothian Buses
It’s good to be in the warmth of the good value Lothian Buses cafe at their Shandwick Place TravelHub. Outside a pitiless January morning wind has chased the buses down nearby Princes Street. The commuters on board the buses are happy to be cocooned (for just that little bit longer) against the cold, behind mostly steamed […]
Connections newsletter – December 2023
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Bringing buses in Wales home
In my latest piece for Passenger Transport I take a trip across Wales by bus to see how public sector innovation has already led to big increases in patronage – providing a template for how the future of buses could look under public control. As you’ve probably noticed, it’s all happening in Wales. Of the […]