Writing doesn't just help you process your thoughts. Neuroscientists have found it physically changes your brain in ways that build resilience and help you handle everyday stress and challenges. theconversation.com/writing-buil...

Happy New Year 2026 ⭐ ✨ Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major): This 24cm (9.4in) long woodpecker species is found across Europe, Northern Asia and also occurs in North Africa. Thank you again Laura Corkindale for sharing your photo taken in the New Forest, Hampshire, UK. #woodpecker #nature

Good morning. Let's make a collective resolution: this will be the year in which we start to turn things round.

E-cargo bikes sound pretty amazing in this new UK study: "Parents’ and children’s enjoyment, curiosity, and sense of adventure encouraged additional travel, transforming routine journeys into playful and memorable family experiences." doi.org/10.1016/j.tb...

Dürkopp Austria🇦🇹 c1915 🚲 #bikesky #bici #vintage #photography #bicycle #bike #fahrrad #自転車 #illustration #art #design #cycling #cyclinglife #bikelife #biking #bicicleta #velo #cycle #vélo 🚲🚴

Year 1 data on congestion pricing in Manhattan… * Vehicle traffic: -11% * Foot traffic: +3.4% * Storefront vacancy: -0.9% * Pollution: -22% * Revenue for mass transit: $548M So YES this has been a huge success.

Kids these days.

A new World Bank report calls on governments to create dedicated Livable Streets Investment Programs, steadily scaling funding to 10% of road budgets by 2035. Why? Because livable streets deliver some of the highest returns in transport investment—up to €16 per €1 spent: investinlivablestreets.info

“I don't wanna go far for stuff" My eloquent and powerful rebrand of the 15 minute city.

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.

Come to Bristol on 12th March! A day-conference bringing together people from across this wide and diverse movement for children's freedom and right to play out near home. Great speakers, lots of discussion. Low-cost and free ticket options! Don't miss it. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/celebratin...

“Dutch people cycle an average of 2.6km each per day. If this pattern was replicated worldwide, annual carbon emissions would drop by 686 million tonnes. This mammoth figure exceeds the entire carbon footprint of most countries, including the UK, Canada, Saudi Arabia and Australia.” @euronews.com

Really excited about this PhD project on Unprecedented Extreme Events with Dave Macleod at Cardiff, @lizstephens.bsky.social and me @bristoluni.bsky.social @cabot-institute.bsky.social Interested in a climate science PhD with interdisciplinary work and real world impact? tinyurl.com/yjxkrb3h

jamanetwork.com/journals/jam... 'Vaccinated individuals had a 74% lower risk of death from severe COVID-19 and a 25% lower risk of all-cause mortality. Sensitivity analysis revealed that vaccinated individuals consistently had a lower risk of death, regardless of the cause.'

'I can't rely on the bus - it doesn't show up on time!' 'Can you park on your driveway so the bus can keep to time?' 'No! I need my car(s)!' And repeat...

The average thickness of #Arctic sea ice reached a new all-time minimum this year (in this dataset)... 📉 More graphics: zacklabe.com/arctic-sea-i...

“Air pollution fell substantially as Paris restricted car traffic and made way for parks, people-streets and bike-lanes.” Better for the climate, better for health, better for livability and quality of life. Common sense. Such a no-brainer, it’s remarkable that more cities HAVEN’T done the same.

Looking at today's Active Travel England (@ategov.bsky.social) updated funding allocations, here is the funding per person per year. I think it makes good sense to fund places that put money to best uses, I made this chart shows how that policy play out in practice. www.gov.uk/government/p...

Despite what you hear from fossil fuel-funded politicians, the U.K has just generated a record amount of clean, domestic wind energy. Enough to power 23 million homes! U.K decarbonisation policy is a recipe for energy security.

If seeing your planet burning and flooding is more tolerable than seeing a bike lane in your city, you might want to revisit your priorities.

Exclusive: More than 50 groups connected to transport and public health have urged the transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, to set specific targets for levels of walking and cycling in England, warning that plans as they stand are too vague. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

December, balancing it all out. Pleased with my German baking as well as progress in the gym.

We have published a new paper and it's one I'm really happy with. A collaboration with Janina Welsch of ILS Dortmund. rdcu.be/eS96s We look at the relationship between migration background / ethnicity and travel behaviour, using UK data. THREAD on the findings

In the Netherlands, where the Dutch invest in safe cycling, the over-65s cycle around a quarter of their journeys, while the over-80s cycle around 10% of theirs. Low Traffic Neighbourhoods and cycle lanes don't 'restrict freedom', they expand it.

I FOI'd English councils whether they use legal land purchase powers to create traffic-free paths. Just 1% said they have successfully. Why is something that's so common for roads almost never done for cycle routes? And what does it mean for cycling? lauralaker.substack.com/p/cycleways-...

Jimmy Cliff, Jamaican reggae singer, actor and cultural icon, dies aged 81

So glad to #getoutside for a #walk today.

Crashed and abandoned, left obstucting the footway and cycletrack for at least nine days now. Remind me where pedestrians and cyclists are in the heirarchy of road users.

Great piece! > I argue that skateboarding, too, is a pedagogical instrument… > The playfulness skating allows is not about turning cities into playgrounds but turning individuals into people who can find playgrounds in cities.

As nations KEEP FAILING on #ClimateAction, cities must DOUBLE their efforts & actions on #ClimateChange mitigation though the SIGNIFICANT power of land-use and transportation decisions, which are within the power of cities and are TRANSFORMATIVE in addressing the #ClimateCrisis. Further & faster.

The latest National Travel Survey clearly questions that old myth about "Active travel is just for the middle classes, what about working people who have to drive?"

Keep this in mind when people claim cars mean business — closing Central #Madrid to cars over holidays resulted in a 9.5% boost in retail spending on its main shopping street: STUDY. There was also a 71% drop in air pollution. Via @carltonreid.com in @forbes.com. #citymakingmath #citiesforpeople

Der LKW-Fahrer bog links ab, dabei übersah er den Scooter-Fahrer. Dann ist das Verb erfassen falsch gewählt, liebe #mopo. Er überfuhr den Menschen! Am Windhukkai ist ein in beide Richtungen benutzungspflichtiger Fuß- und Radweg. LKW-Fahrer nehmen dort idR keine Rücksicht beim Abbiegen

I enjoy the cycle rides with my kiddo to sports activities, good for catching up.

As winter flooding looms, it's worth noting that a young street tree in an asphalt surface can prevent 60% of the rain that falls on it from reaching the ground, even when not in leaf. Increasing the low levels of urban tree cover should be a strategic national priority.

Yet another evidence review argues very strongly that simply providing alternatives to driving doesn't reduce driving This isn't surprising, if only thanks to habit. If I unthinkingly jump in my car for every trip (as many do), new buses won't change that www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Very dull, cold and damp. Brought my own dopamine for my #utilitycycling journey to the gym and shops. #getoutside #wintercycling

A grey day, very glad I was able to #getoutside for a #walk.

Pretty wet out there, but I still needed to go to the shops. My #walking journey featured a lot of puddles as well as #pavementparking which added unnecessary challenges.

Another lovely #utilitycycling journey on a mild day. So glad to make short, urban trips on foot or cycle. Meant I got a little bit of sunshine too!

It’s not just about what you remove (cars, noise, dirty air). It’s about what you add (people walking, a lot of bike parking, trees, outdoor dining, and room for kids to play safely). Amsterdam: 1986 and today. Streets for people. HT @hackneycyclist.bsky.social for the great before-and-after

"Not TV or illegal drugs but the automobile has been the chief destroyer of...communities." ― Jane Jacobs

Marcella Giulia Pace, Italian astrophotographer who took ten years to capture 48 colours of the moon #WomensArt (via Amazing Physics) #FullMoon

17 C is quite warm for November. Made for a nice #cyclecommute though.

To be clear, what is being proposed here is to axe the main mechanism for getting Britain’s homes insulated - which is by FAR the best way to reduce household energy bills in the long term 🤦‍♂️ …and also, just incidentally, an absolute non-negotiable requirement for meeting UK climate targets 😬🥵☠️

Analysis from @friends-earth.bsky.social provides new insight on environmental injustice in the UK: “… people of colour, those on low incomes and non-drivers are now disproportionately overrepresented in the 5% of neighbourhoods still exposed to the most extreme air pollution.”