Chisinau – ash grey days in a Mercedes Benz
‘Chained to the centre of the cross, at the meeting point of the mad ambitions of the East and West…an empty space geometrically defined, but with its meaning never clarified’ ‘The protagonist of the future should lose the narcissistic demeanours that ultimately lead to a lethargic state of being, a primordial, passive state. Instead of […]
Everything’s going yellow
There was something different about this normally routine journey from Liverpool Central to Kirkby. Not just that it was a new train (the first of the new generation) but the way people were reacting to it. There was genuine excitement from some of the regular passengers. And the staff looked pretty pleased too – chatting […]
A breakthrough that has taken 20 years
As the clock winds down to zero on my time at Urban Transport Group I thought I’d look back at the people and trends that have made the biggest difference to urban transport in the 20 years I’ve been at UTG and its predecessor body, pteg. On the people who made the biggest difference, I’m […]
Making progressive change happen
Stopping a roads programme I was one of the founders and coordinators of ALARM UK – a successful national coalition of anti-road protest groups in the 1990s. Here’s an extract from ‘Road Block – how people power is wrecking the roads programme’ which told the story of the campaign. The full text of the booklet can […]
Effective urban transport governance
This report sets out the many benefits of metropolitan areas establishing empowered transport authorities and provides a guide to the issues and options for those areas who are considering setting one up. Written by Urban Transport Group Director, Jonathan Bray for the global public transport body, UITP, the report shows how transport authorities have been able […]
If you come at King Car, you better not miss
On 8th September 2000, the Stanlow Refinery in Cheshire was blockaded by Farmers for Action protesting about the cost of fuel. Two days later, fuel protesters were on site seeking to shut down six of the countries’ nine oil refineries and four oil distribution terminals triggering panic buying. Just six days after the protests began, […]
Zero emission buses need a bigger plan
Berlin, 2013 Nine years ago I was at an event in the Schoenberg district of Berlin, in what was a gas holder and is now repurposed as a conference centre. As well as being effortlessly Berlin cool, the gas holder also symbolises the energy transition as it is part of a wider buzzing former industrial […]
Lessons from the Covid experience
The inquiry into the UK response to Covid is only seeking evidence by invitation. So here’s my unsolicited viewpoint… Winter is on its way. And there are plenty of things to worry about other than Covid as our place on the surface of Planet Earth tilts away from the sunshine whilst we experience the unsettling […]
Lessons we can learn from Scandi cities
Scandi cities like Malmo are the hope of the world on climate. Sure they are doing all the things everywhere else is doing on transport (zero-emission vehicles, modal shift and so on) but they are also doing the research and development for the rest of us on what you need to do next on climate. […]
Making the case for transport authorities
“Underneath all the commercial activities of the board, underneath all its engineering and operations, there is the revelation and realisation of something which is in the nature of a work of art … it is in fact, a conception of a metropolis as a centre of life, of civilisation, more intense, more eager, more vitalising […]