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...

Delivery apps could also require regular photo verification of the vehicle being used to deliver food, to ensure - for example - it is not an illegal and dangerously modified e-bike. The companies have the technology, and they choose not to use it. www.bbc.com/news/article...

It is 39°C in Lisbon today. The same in Madrid. In Paris next week it will also be 39°C. Look at this picture. People are under trees, where it can be up to 12°C cooler. Given trees take decades to mature and many don’t survive, cities need to plant many more street trees. And urgently.

New episode!🚨The band @adamtranter.bsky.social, @lauralaker.bsky.social and @nedboulting.bsky.social is back together to talk spending review, Fake e-bikes & bike racing. Ned makes a prediction, Adam gets philosophical over spending and Laura went to Copenhagen shows.acast.com/streets-ahea...

Kiosks help build social interaction, increase natural surveillance, improve amenity and - ultimately - make cities nicer. We should have more of them.

We’ve launched a new national Discord server under the banner People Powered Streets—building on the success of Walk Ride GM’s server, which brought together 400+ advocates and boosted our impact. Join us and help spread the word to fellow campaigners! discord.gg/ayXhswNetb

My controversial opinion today is that we should stop knowingly killing 30,000 people annually and sabotaging our economy to the tune of £27bn per year. And that we should listen to doctors when they tell us this. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

We are building a deeply joyless society. Lollipop man told to stop giving kids high-fives because it delays traffic www.bbc.com/news/article...

As the author, I’m immensely proud of this report. But mainly I hope people read it and take notice. This is about the rise in ‘fake e-bikes’, and what’s driving it appgcw.org/resources/in...

NEW REPORT 🚨: Today, we release a new report "Unregulated and Unsafe: The Threat of Illegal E-Bikes", calling for urgent action from the Government to protect people from fire and safety risks from "fake e-bikes". The full report is available here: appgcw.org/resources/in...

Even assuming they'll ever functionally exist - they won't - driverless cars are intended to push us further towards car dependence, not away from it. @adamtranter.bsky.social has written up a clear case against this: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

“Ministers have not been thanked for keeping petrol prices as low as they are. They may as well be brave and raise them again.” www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

Nestled in a 1500-word article about the behaviour of (some) people cycling in Paris, there is an important graphic. Of course, people being killed or injured by drivers of motor vehicles happens so frequently that it sometimes even ceases to make news. www.thetimes.com/world/europe...

Very good @adamtranter.bsky.social piece on how the rise of the driverless car risks squeezing pedestrians out of urban life, much like with the invention of "jaywalking" when cars first emerged. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...