The strategic road network is managed by a charity and relies on the goodwill of land owners for access. Some motorways will be muddy and flooded each winter. Also The strategic road network stops randomly at council boundaries and investment is where councils are willing. (UK edition).

Samson Leonard Biddle, 37, failed to stop for police, driving extremely dangerously. Eventually, tactical contact stopped him. Upon being arrested, he refused to give a specimen. You might not be terribly reassured to learn that he received just a 6-month suspended sentence and 4-year driving ban.

The Government's upcoming Cycling & Walking Investment Strategy 3 needs both investment and strategy. Seems like an obvious thing to say, but there's a risk it could lack both. Talked about it here on @podstreetsahead.bsky.social 👇

Germany shifts over 2 million e-bikes every year. France: over 500,000. Britain? It will be lucky to get to 150,000. Why? Because people need to feel safe to cycle, and that requires serious and sustained government support, which has not been forthcoming. www.theguardian.com/news/2025/de...

Cycling and walking could help deliver almost everything Brits say they want to achieve in 2026 — if we design streets to support them. Getting fitter, losing weight, being healthier, saving money; enabling active travel quietly does all of it. With no gym contracts.

You might think that a man who drove into 100 people, using his car as a weapon, would NEVER be allowed to drive again. It turns out he will be able to, around three years after leaving prison by taking an extended retest. Why should he ever be able to get behind the wheel again?

NEW: 50+ transport and health groups have written to the Government calling for clear targets in the upcoming Cycling & Walking Investment Strategy 3, as well as a comprehensive plan for a national active travel network, matching the long-term strategic focus given to roads.

“Moving to a situation where cars are not considered the fastest and most convenient mode of transportation will take ambition and imagination. But the alternative is a very expensive dependency, which clogs up the UK economy.” theconversation.com/how-the-uks-...

Five years of inaction. Now what? 🤷 Living Streets' @tansbraun.bsky.social joined @adamtranter.bsky.social on @podstreetsahead.bsky.social to talk pavement parking https://www.linkedin.com/posts/adamtranter_pavement-parking-an-unhappy-fifth-birthday-activity-7400632118323863552-SYUU

Worst birthday ever.

Just as you thought food delivery companies couldn't inflict any more misery on society: Instead of using lowly-paid gig economy contractors to deliver groceries, they're replacing humans with robots, who, in turn, force humans off the pavement into road traffic.

Compare and contrast the Government language. £3,750 EV grant on a £35k car: ‘helping families’. Cycle to Work: ‘subsidising leisure’. And yet cycling delivers TEN TIMES the impact of electric cars for reaching net zero. It’s almost like narrative, not data, is driving policy.

We are living in a real-life episode of Black Mirror: an app dispatches workers, monitors their every move, while riders - some using rented identities - risk abuse, exhaustion and invisibility. “We are a very modern kind of slave.” www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Bluesky hivemind: which topic(s) would you like to hear us at @podstreetsahead.bsky.social discuss next?

Unless there's an unbreakably valid safety reason why not, all button-operated pedestrian crossings should activate the lights in pedestrians' favour instantly when pressed.

Car brand BYD's new SUV ad pokes fun at people walking and cycling, comparing them to Horse & Carts. It joins a long list of car ads that sell a false promise of convenience and aspiration while punching down at sustainable transport modes. So I made it a bit more realistic...

So much of the Left tries to replicate the Right when it comes to transport policies, carefully doing everything they can to avoid upsetting drivers. Here's what happens when you focus on the majority of people who stand to benefit from improved transport options.

An article in the Financial Times argued that Britain should “fall in love with cars again” and invest in more motorways. Here’s why the economic argument is flawed and why we should not. open.substack.com/pub/pinecono...

It would be impossible to parody this commercial. The makers mistakenly made a built in-parody of how horrible it is to be stuck in a car (and psychologically un-healthy) and how much more fun, human, enjoyable, interactive, spontaneous and less-expensive it is not use one is. @usa.streetsblog.org

Cars deliver the dependency that car ads promise.

Trapped in traffic and stuck travelling long distances to work because of car-centric planning? Be grateful, says Mercedes-Benz’s latest advert which aims to persuade us that spending two years of our lives stuck inside a car is somehow actually a good thing.

A human on a bicycle is nature's most efficient traveller. A version of this graph went on to inspire Steve Jobs of Apple, who used it in a 1980 presentation describing the personal computer as "the equivalent of a bicycle for our minds."

Your next pricey takeaway could well be cooked in an entirely different kitchen from the one you expected, delivered by someone who doesn't match the picture of the courier, using what the platforms say is a bicycle but is actually an unlicensed motorbike. www.londoncentric.media/p/host-kitch...

NEW EPISODE! 🚨 Lisbon’s Streets and the People Trying to Change Them Lisbon is a beautiful city with a reputation for being a safe place. That's true from one lens, but look deeper and you'll discover a city with one of the worst road safety records in Europe. shows.acast.com/streets-ahea...

Your regular reminder that cities aren’t loud. Cars are loud.

A man using a mobility scooter had to be rescued by the fire service as he became stuck between a wall and a parked car. How much longer must he and other pedestrians have to wait for a pavement parking ban and adequate enforcement? www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news...

The Embankment cycleway (CS3) in London was purposefully built to be wider than was usual in order to future proof it. Some said it would hardly be used. Now there’s a decent case for widening it further. Induced demand is real.

This photo shows 58 cyclists and just two cars. MPs looking out of their window today will see a steady flow of people cycling, some for the first time in a while, given confidence to do so with quality infrastructure. Just over 10 years ago there wasn’t even a cycle lane here.

Would you push someone off this 54-foot ladder? Hitting them with your car at 40mph does the same damage.

Not all local media treat road danger with the seriousness it deserves. That’s why I’m grateful to @birminghamlive.bsky.social and @graeme-b.bsky.social for consistently giving victims and families a voice, holding politicians to account, and now campaigning to ban killer drivers for life.

Bad news for cities. 🚨 Cars are parked 95% of the time, eating up valuable street space. Now, new research from Lisbon shows parked cars are also intensifying urban heat: by as much as +3.8°C. 🌡️ 🧵

Cities need better mobility solutions. And sometimes, the most effective ones have been in front of us (and indeed, behind us) for decades. This one is affordable, usually has two wheels… but it’s not a bicycle. 🧵

In case you were wondering the French for “Cyclists Dismount”. 🤷‍♂️

Try explaining to someone outside the UK that this road, shared with walkers, cyclists and horse riders, legally has a 60mph speed limit. Madness, really.

Last gov's attempt to stop LTNs, 20mph zones abandoned. 'Good' says @adamtranter.bsky.social ex-West Midlands active travel commissioner. Reducing road danger & giving people safe travel choices back on table with more evidence. Time for London to deliver then... www.standard.co.uk/comment/low-...

“A real Plan For Drivers would support these measures to reduce road deaths and use more LTNs to deliver genuine transport choices, freeing up the roads for those who really need to drive.” - @adamtranter.bsky.social

It's not a 'war on motorists', it's a war against needless deaths. It is perplexing to me that the same commentators who want a smaller state also want Whitehall to decide whether a few bollards can be placed in Birmingham. Opinion piece by me in The Standard 👇 www.standard.co.uk/comment/low-...

NEW EPISODE! 🚨 We report from The Future Design of Streets conference, with global insights by: Maria Vassilakou, ex-Vice Mayor of Vienna Demetrio Scopelliti, Milan urban planner Agustina Martire, Reader, Queen’s University David Sim, author of Soft City Listen: shows.acast.com/streets-ahea...

Badgers can't talk, so thank goodness they have the National Highways PR department to help communicate their appreciation.

Last week, I had the chance to listen in on a conversation between @who.int and the Mayor of Paris, @annehidalgo.bsky.social. Here are five things other cities could learn (with a bonus bit on the increasing powers of UK Mayors): micromobilitybiz.com/five-things-...

Not a single person died on Helsinki’s roads in the last year. An impressive achievement which shows cities across the world that road traffic deaths are not inevitable. www.helsinkitimes.fi/finland/finl... Helsinki records zero traffic deaths for full year - Helsinki Times

More than two in three drivers have shown support for a nationwide pavement parking ban, according to a new poll, reports GB News. www.gbnews.com/lifestyle/ca...

Media coverage is fuelling a backlash against e-bikes. But often, the stories aren't even about e-bikes at all. Last week, the BBC reported that an "e-bike" was involved in a serious incident. But it was actually a high-powered electric motorbike. Here's how it got changed...🧵

NEW EPISODE! 🚨 @lauralaker.bsky.social speaks with Melissa Bruntlett @modacitylife.com about the topics in her upcoming book: "Women Changing Cities: Global Stories of Urban Transformation." Listen here - or wherever you get your podcasts. shows.acast.com/streets-ahea...

In roughly what year did cities forget how to design public amenities? Left: Installed 1875, Lisbon Right: Installed 2019, London

Talking on a mobile phone while driving, even hands-free, gives you similar reaction times as a drunk driver. So it seems quite insane to take it one step further and integrate Microsoft Teams video calling into a car's in-built system. www.theverge.com/news/708481/...

The Telegraph’s editorial stance consistently rallies against any measures to reduce car dependency. Their readers have now voted for their favourite European cities. The top 3: Seville, Copenhagen and Venice are well-known for not being filled with cars…

Shocking to see multi-billion pound delivery platforms taking no responsibility for how their riders operate. Riders are incentivised to break rules to make ends meet. It puts themselves and others in danger. Well done to @lauralaker.bsky.social for holding them to account on BBC Breakfast 🧵

It's positive to see Labour, Conservative and Reform politicians agreeing that we need a proper national network for active travel. Perhaps we can leave the culture wars behind and get on with providing people with genuine transport choices. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...