Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Scott Urban

Stephen Gower @sjgower.bsky.social · 18h

I made an infographic map. Oxford's Congestion Charge scheme (from 29th Oct) is not like most congestion charge schemes, because you can get to most streets in the city without being charged. My impression is a lot of people haven't realised this.

A street map of Oxford.

Woodstock Road, Banbury Road and the streets in their immediate vicinity are coloured pink. Botley Road and streets off it are coloured green. Cowley Road, Iffley Road and Abingdon Road and streets off them are coloured blue. Streets in Marston and Headington are coloured orange. The ring road matches the colours at each junction and fades between colours as it goes around. A small area in the middle is coloured yellow, and labelled "Central Permit Area". THe Congestion Charge traffic filters are indicated by black circles circles with white segments, those white segments correspond on a 24 hour clock face with when the filter isn't operational (and the remaining black, when the filters are operational). Crosses mark other filters in the city that are enforced by ANPR but are not part of the Congestion Charge scheme.

Text at the top of the image reads "Temporary Congestion Charge for Cars in Oxford 2025-2026. Any road outside the Central Permit Area can be accessed without passing any traffic filers by using the Ring Road and selecting an approporiate exit junction (matching colours on this map)."

A key at the bottom matches the filter types, with text "Traffic Filters. Hollow Way & Marston Ferry Road 7-9am and 3-6pm. St Cross Road, Hythe Bridge Street, Thames Street and St Clements, 7am-7pm. £5 daily permit covers all Congestion Charge filters. Free Permits available. For example for residents, business use, health and car, SEND and disabilty. Congestion Charge permits do not apply for other filters, such as High Street or in East Oxford/Cowley."

Small print reads "Full details at https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/transport-and-travel" and "©@sjgower Contains OpenStreetMap data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Locations of highway filters are approximate and for overview purposes only. v1.3"

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Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 11h

Gov. Pritzker on Adelita Grijalva: "Mike Johnson won't swear her in. Why is that? … She'll be the 218th signature forcing a vote to release the Jeffrey Epstein files."

"Trump and Mike Johnson are working awfully damn hard to keep a sexual predator's files from being released. Makes you wonder why."

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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 13h

CBS reporter Edward R. Murrow embodied what a journalist should be: someone who holds power to account instead of capitulating to it.

Over 70 years later, his segment denouncing Joe McCarthy’s congressional witch hunts rings truer than ever.

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Anne Hidalgo @annehidalgo.bsky.social · 15h

Avec de nouveaux arbres, de la nature et plus de place pour les piétons, Paris change !

La rue Charles-Baudelaire dans le 12ᵉ et la rue du Docteur-Magnan dans le 13ᵉ en sont de beaux exemples !

Photo avant/après de la rue Charles Baudelaire avec plus de nature, moins dr voitures et des piétons.

Photo avant/après de ́la rue du Docteur Magnan dans le 13e avec plus de nature et des piétons

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Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 14h

Andrew Cuomo is incapable of speaking clearly and directly about Trump’s authoritarianism.

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Thomas Zimmer @thomaszimmer.bsky.social · 16h

The Daily’s credulous/willfully ignorant/deliberately misleading portrait of Vought matters because it is indicative of a much broader tendency to normalize the assault on the constitutional order - to sanitize those who are responsible for it and the extremist ideas that are animating them.

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Thomas Zimmer @thomaszimmer.bsky.social · 17h

Vought, we are told, is a pious man who never curses. Ok! Not a word about his Christian nationalism; instead, one of the most influential political platforms in the world chooses to perpetuate the number one fallacy about the modern Right: That this is all about “small government.”

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Stephen Frost @sfrost.bsky.social · Jul 7

💯 “If you’ve ever run a big marathon in your city, you’ll know the feeling can be electric. Blocked off streets, cars temporarily banished from the road and a sense of enormous freedom as you run.”

How could cities be designed to inspire more people to take up running?

Thought provoking piece👇

What makes a city great for running and how can we promote ‘runnability’ in urban design?

Even the type of street trees planted in a city can make a huge difference.

theconversation.com

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Søren Have @sorenhave.dk · 19d

Much recommended ‘lecture’ on urban mobility and its companion, land use planning.

Love how Brent several times stress the need to call out status quo bias, eg by highlighting that people calling for ‘balance’ in really just want status quo. Which is not fair, but just what we have gotten used to.

Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · Aug 22

WATCH THIS: This is quite possibly still the most comprehensive interview I’ve ever done on smart urban transportation for better cities. Filmed in Vienna for a planned Paris-based documentary. Watch it, quote it, and please help spread it around. Thanks!

Brent Toderian on sustainable mobility

YouTube video by opascaud

youtu.be

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Home of the Brave @ofthebraveusa.bsky.social · 1d

Marjorie Taylor Greene : "Prices have not come down at all. The job market is extremely difficult. Wages have not gone up. Health insurance premiums are going to go up. Homeowner's insurance goes up every year. Rent is going up. Young people have no hope of buying a home."

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Bloomberg News @bloomberg.com · 1d

If cars are so bad for our health, our cities and the planet, why can’t we quit them? Three new books argue it’s time to really try.

‘Car Brain’ Is Making the US Unhealthy and Dangerous. EVs Won’t Fix It.

A trio of new books argue that we need to confront the full range of costs that car-based living has imposed on our cities, our health and our society.

bloom.bg

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George Conway 👊🇺🇸🔥 @gtconway.bsky.social · 1d

Robert De Niro: “Now we have a would-be king — King Donald the First. Fuck that. I’m Robert De Niro and I’m asking you to stand up and be counted in the nationwide No Kings protest on October 18th”

👉👉 nokings.org

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Mark Hamill @markhamillofficial.bsky.social · 1d

ONE WEEK FROM TODAY: Make your voices heard. Join us in a peaceful protest across our country against the most corrupt, deceitful & criminal Administration in U.S. History. We say NO KINGS, NO CROOKS, NO SPRAY-TAN CONMAN! 👎

Check for a location near you at: www.nokings.org

#BeThere 👍

No Kings

As the president escalates his authoritarian power grab, the NO KINGS non-violent movement continues to rise stronger. We are united once again to remind the world: America has No Kings and the power ...

www.nokings.org

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Orange Dick Tater Hater @realbiscuitspaw.bsky.social · 1d

It may be the last legal protest you attend.

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womensartbluesky.bsky.social @womensartbluesky.bsky.social · 1d

Georgia O'Keeffe, Lake George Reflection, 1921 #WomensArt

Painting of a hilly landscape reflected in still water in colours of purple green and blue

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Jonn Elledge @jonnelledge.bsky.social · 1d

The platform formerly known as Twitter may be horrible, but it is still shaping policy. So were we all wrong to leave?

Was the left wrong to leave X for BlueSky?

The platform formerly known as Twitter may be horrible, but it's still shaping policy

www.newstatesman.com

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The Ranty Highwayman @rantyhighwayman.bsky.social · 1d

For my mind, anyone saying that a new road or adding capacity to a junction will "unlock thousands of new homes" needs to be very stringently asked "how".

Linking a road scheme as necessary to unlocking land for housebuilding should be a huge red flag for the media to probe.

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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 2d

in 2011, the president of antifa hired me to give fashion consultancy to the organization. i recommended everyone wear navy suits with tan shoes, dress sneakers, and golf polos with slim chinos. if you arrested everyone today wearing these things, you'd destroy antifa

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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 3d

A library director in Wyoming who was fired two years ago because she refused to remove books with sexual content and LGBTQ themes from a library’s children and young adult sections was awarded $700,000 in a settlement on Wednesday.

Librarian Fired in Books Dispute to Receive $700,000 Settlement

County officials in Wyoming fired Terri Lesley, a library director, after she refused to purge children and young adult books that contained sexual content and L.G.B.T.Q. themes.

nyti.ms

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SFU Urban Studies @sfuurb.bsky.social · 5d

Join the Bruntletts for their book launch, "Women Changing Cities", an inspiring evening exploring how women are reshaping cities into more inclusive, sustainable & people-focused places.
Thursday (7-9 PM)
Challenge Theatre, SFU Harbour Centre
RSVP: tinyurl.com/7cspv5aa
#sfuurb @sfufass.bsky.social

Book Launch - Women Changing Cities: Global Stories of Urban Transformation

A Week of Learning with the Bruntletts: Dutch Practices of Active Transportation Planning

tinyurl.com

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Phil Sturgeon 🌳🚵⚓️ @philsturgeon.com · 4d

Saw an ancient woodland up for sale with someone saying it should be bought and restored. Somebody else was offering to pay for it.

Three years in and the restoration is coming along nicely, with an army of local regular volunteers all also mostly found through social media. 🫡

Conrad Hackett @conradhackett.bsky.social · 5d

Has anything great happened in your life because of social media?

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Scott Urban @urbanturbo.bsky.social · 4d

The opposite of FMS is “Email the transport portfolio holder in your local authority” (and CC your councillors)! 🖐🏼

When I cycled past the flower lane, there were 3 cyclists, and a cargo bike very smoothly turning in both directions from and onto Howard street new layout
works! Is there a platform that is the opposite of "fix my street" ??
One where we can send appreciation for what does work!!

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Scott Urban @urbanturbo.bsky.social · 4d

And today. 2/

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Scott Urban @urbanturbo.bsky.social · 4d

Celebrate your wins! Here’s “Flower Lane”, a popular bit of permeability in OX4. The photo is 2024, showing how unfriendly the approach is for anyone using it. 1/

Cars block access to a pedestrian and cycling cut-through.

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Cllr Emily Kerr 💚 @emilykerr36.bsky.social · 5d

Excited that the Oxford Congestion Charge means that the 3/3A will now run to the station!! Amongst a whole host of other bus improvements.

Oxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 5d

Oxford Bus Co has announced more frequent bus services from November to coincide with the congestion charge coming into effect. The improvements mean Blackbird Leys and Cowley will have services to the city centre every 10 minutes, while Iffley Road gets a new night bus.

Oxford Bus Company 300 stops off for a quick half at the Wetherspoons

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