Cowley Area Transport Group

Most references to adapting transport to the range of problems already in progress, and expected, in the Climate Emergency are about infrastructure. Our roads melt in high temperatures, our coastlines are being eroded, stronger storms batter our coastlines including ports, and many locations have roads and rail lines close to sea level. However, adaptation to Climate Change is also about what transport modes we use and how these impact on the Climate. See article on this subject:

Transport: the missing link in adaptation to climate change in the UK

 

Fascinating book by Laura Laker on the evolution of the National Cycle Network. Illustrates the very low levels of funding for cycling in recent decades. For example, spending per person in England on cycling is at about £1 per person per year; in Scotland, the equivalent figure is £58. See review:

The National Cycle Network: history and prospects

More work on transport and environment by Steve Dawe at: https://westenglandbylines.co.uk/author/stevedawe/

There has been a great deal of uninformed social media chatter about the idea of 15 Minute cities. I have just done a review of the new book by Carlos Moreno:  The 15 Minute City: a solution to saving our time and our planet. Review at: https://westenglandbylines.co.uk/society/bookreviews/15-minute-cities-as-mainstream-policy/

I think this book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the wide implications of this extremely positive idea. .

Steve Dawe

Other articles: https://westenglandbylines.co.uk/author/stevedawe/

Which areas voted for anti-LTN candidates and why? Oxford has had a fault line running through the City on Low Traffic Neighourhoods with the local newspaper giving many headlines, front pages and column inches to the oft-repeated inaccuracies of those opposing LTNs in Oxford. Despite this, research indicates majority support for LTNs and opposition at no more than about 29%. This article looks at why such candidates were elected. It is worth noting that Oxford’s 11 independents are in no less than 5 different groups since local elections 2024, with no lack of differences on a variety of issues. With assistance from Hazel Dawe:

See:

Oxford local elections and Low Traffic Neighbourhoods

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cowley Area Transport Group submission to this consultation:

Submission CATG Transport Strategy SE 7 5 2024

By 2009, the Government subsidy to private driving in the UK was about £26bn. 2010/2011, the Government froze fuel duties – causing the subsidy to grow further. But, in a country with growing numbers of electric vehicles, refunding the road system is a necessity Governments cannot avoid. Steve Dawe, with help from Hazel Dawe, gives an outline of what Electronic Road Pricing might look like in Oxford – a city notorious for its traffic problems:

Electronic Road Pricing: a case study for Oxford

 

 

The story behind Oxfordshire County Council making Low Traffic Neighbourhoods permanent in Oxford. So much fuss and misleading media coverage about a very small number of LTNs in Oxford, when London has over 100 LTNs…Article by Steve Dawe with support from Hazel Dawe:

Oxfordshire supports existing Low Traffic Neighbourhoods

A peer reviewed academic journal article by Steve Dawe on the Government’s extraordinary Plan for Drivers. (World Transport Policy and Practice, May 2024, 29.1) The Plan for Driver shows a Government that seeks division between drivers and others, whilst having no awareness that drivers want quieter streets where they live, less pollution and better Climate policies – see article by using this link:

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/619593021331d42c0b62a1c6/t/6658f5a0dafef7079be65beb/1717106082549/WTPP+2024-29.1+rev-+2.2+MB.pdf

 

Paul F. Daniels has written a major new book on traffic and the environment: Traffication: how cars destroy the environment and what we can do about it. This article reviews a work which challenges the dependency upon, and expanding fleets of, the car. Steve Dawe, supported by Hazel Dawe, reviews the book – a significant contribution to the debate about having, using and being dependent upon a car:

How does ‘traffication’ damage our environment?

 

Our new roads and railways are costing about 8 times the average for other countries in Europe. The very high cost of such infrastructure means other areas of infrastructure like minor roads are not not repaired; walking and cycling routes are often in a poor state; pedestrianisation is not being maintained or extended where most needed. This article, see link, makes a major challenge to the idea that national infrastructure is affordable, or that much of it is necessary investment at all. Steve Dawe writes with support from Hazel Dawe:

National infrastructure: notional benefits?