Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Rich @hoxtonrich.bsky.social · 11m

The problem the Greens have is the need to win in a horribly unfair FPTP system. This kind of thing has constituency majority support almost nowhere. His Green populism had showed signs of broadening appeal but this does the opposite imo.

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Rich @hoxtonrich.bsky.social · 26m

Also an English politician with explicit *support* for Scottish & Welsh independence is strange too given neither population appears to reliably want this. A coherent position is to support the right of those nations to choose but it comes across like the Brexiter’s glee to move fast & break stuff

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Rich @hoxtonrich.bsky.social · 30m

This appears to be a very foolish political move. I’d personally love to see the monarchy go but ‘break up the union and abolish the monarchy’ appeals to maybe 15% of the public & will be relentlessly hammered by the press. Even Corbyn understood this.

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Hackney Cyclist @hackneycyclist.bsky.social · 2h

Huge local support and also support from the emergency services road.cc/content/news...

Police urge against scrapping low traffic neighbourhood, saying it reduces crime

Met highlights big fall in anti-social behaviour in Tower Hamlets area where council wants to ditch Liveable Streets scheme

road.cc

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Rich @hoxtonrich.bsky.social · 2h

And yet strangely following those changes @richardleeming.bsky.social won an increased majority showing ‘everyone’ is in fact a small but loud & self-important minority who can’t see past the bonnets of their oversized wankpanzers

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Rich @hoxtonrich.bsky.social · 2h

He did although there is a very live question about the legality of that position in light of the commitments made to secure the original funding. He doesn’t have broad support either, but sadly probably enough factional support to win again.

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Simon 🪗 @mzdt.bsky.social · 3h

Once again, the argument against road safety + pollution improvements consists of what people 'feel', their 'views' and 'feedback'.

No actual evidence, because that would show that LTNs work.

Rich @hoxtonrich.bsky.social · 3h

This is absolutely bizarre. These LTNs, which from the start always had majority local support, & which were paid for by TfL, are now uncontroversial in practice. Removal of £2million OBGR improvements would be an unprecedented act of social vandalism & financial waste. Shameful stuff.

Letter from Lutfur Rahman and Aspire Councillors promising they’re still planning to rip out the LTNs as soon as possible.

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Rich @hoxtonrich.bsky.social · 3h

This is absolutely bizarre. These LTNs, which from the start always had majority local support, & which were paid for by TfL, are now uncontroversial in practice. Removal of £2million OBGR improvements would be an unprecedented act of social vandalism & financial waste. Shameful stuff.

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Rich @hoxtonrich.bsky.social · 4h

Look at the width of that monster. Cut it back to one traffic lane one bus lane and one cycle lane in each direction and give the space back to people.

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Cllr Ed Lamb @edwardlamb.bsky.social · 1d

Why spend billions burying a road when you could just plan for city of the future where residents don't need cars to get around?

Liverpool's busiest road could go 'underground' in £1bn plan

Mayor outlines transformational idea to sink The Strand in order to accommodate huge King Edward Triangle development

www.liverpoolecho.co.uk

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Rich @hoxtonrich.bsky.social · 19h

Nothing in the plans stops a future filter there or on nearby routes & I’m not inclined to oppose positive change in the unlikely hope something better may come along, especially alongside people with opposite goals complaining about lost car parking. We’re gonna have to agree to differ on this one!

Rich @hoxtonrich.bsky.social · 19h

Of course if cycle growth is enormous the fact of a cycle track does not prevent it or surrounding routes being filtered at some point in the future. There is also c27 to the north which can certainly be improved. To me it looks like a decent scheme. 🤷‍♂️

Rich @hoxtonrich.bsky.social · 20h

The plans show tracks are up to 2.5m wide but go down to 1.5 where road width is constrained. That seems pragmatically compliant to my (inexpert) eye. I’m sure filtering would be better but that doesn’t seem to be an option & opposition will likely lead to no change.

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Rich @hoxtonrich.bsky.social · 20h

I’m no highway engineer but if they meet 1.5m that is the minimum ltn1/20 width & pragmatism is needed for practical constraints. Do you have a viable alternative? I’d be reluctant to oppose a hard plan for a properly protected cycleway for some theoretical perfection Westminster will never deliver

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Rich @hoxtonrich.bsky.social · 20h

In what respect? The council seems to have answered both of the points you make very clearly

Extract from committee report which states the proposal does not affect signal timings or capacity for motor vehicles so will have no bearing on future traffic flow changes brought about by pedestrianisation of Oxford Street

Extract from committee report which states cycleways are LTN1/20 compliant and meet minimum widths.

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Rich @hoxtonrich.bsky.social · 21h

Also a good example of what economists call low price elasticity of demand which is a good sign too many people are not being offered viable alternatives. Yet weirdly their solution is LTC to induce even more demand rather than say new rail and bus connections that might actually help manage it 🙄

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Prof. Ian Walker @ianwalker.bsky.social · 1d

First newsletter published! simple.ghost.io/what-seems-t...

If you like this sort of thing, sign up for more

What Seems to be the Problem?

Can we make any progress on transport while we don't recognise there's a problem to be solved and can't recognise solutions?

simple.ghost.io

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Rich @hoxtonrich.bsky.social · 21h

Really interesting thank you. The difficulty is buy-in for your solution (making driving harder) very particularly suffers from your diagnosis (protection motivation theory) in that people (wrongly) believe it is punitive rather than effective. We are in such a mess.

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Rich @hoxtonrich.bsky.social · 1d

Well the building footprints don’t occupy the entire plot, obviously. So the trees are part of the approved landscaping scheme. Whilst any loss of trees isn’t ideal given the desperate need for housing planting more than twice what you’re removing seems perfectly reasonable.

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Rich @hoxtonrich.bsky.social · 1d

‘More than 150 new trees are due to be planted to replace the 70 that will be felled’

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Rich @hoxtonrich.bsky.social · 1d

There has been a call-in of Westminster Council’s decision to implement Cycleway 43 (the usual guff about lost parking and road narrowing). It is going to Committee today. Westminster residents may wish to attend to show support for the scheme. 🚲 committees.westminster.gov.uk/mgChooseDocP...

committees.westminster.gov.uk

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Anon Opin @anonopin.bsky.social · 1d

I live 5min walking distance from 2 supermarkets, 2 pubs, a cinema and numerous restaurants, 10min from town, 15min from work, 30min bus ride to nearest city. Despite this, car-owing zealots seem to think I'm an idiot because I don't spend £200+ a month on a vehicle I don't need.

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Rich @hoxtonrich.bsky.social · 1d

💯 this!

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Rich @hoxtonrich.bsky.social · 1d

It is human nature to latch on to any reason which makes sense in your own head when a small business fails. But as a policy point it does show why these claims need to be taken with more salt than a portion of chips & a bit of objectivity introduced.

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Rich @hoxtonrich.bsky.social · 1d

This reminds me of the drycleaner who (when visited on a solvent emissions project) told me a new cycle lane had destroyed his business. Coincidentally the several other dry cleaners with no cycle lanes I also visited that day told me post-covid home working had destroyed their businesses. Hmmmm.

Ben (BicycleBenUK) @ben.fiets.uk · 1d

Who knew - no-one wants to get a chippy dinner home on the bike. It is absolutely essential that food is only ever transported by car. Nobody told me when I've been to my local by bike. I obviously should have joined the mass of cars jamming up the nearby roads and pavements!

Extract of a road.cc article showing local business objections to cycle provision:

"Installing cycle lanes may be 'politically correct, but the reality is that when they impact parking provisions, it has a detrimental effect on local businesses. We do not have the climate to prioritise cycle lanes over cars," Alleddandro Varesse, the boss at the Blue Lagoon chippy told the Daily Record.

Hayley and Ewen Logan, of Logan the Jewellers, added: "We have yet to hear of a single business or resident who supports this idea, keen cyclists included. Even they like to get their takeaways home while they're still hot."

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