"Though robotaxis have notched up impressive growth, they look ploddingly pedestrian compared with far zippier pedal-powered rivals. [Waymo] proudly proclaims that its cars do around 250k trips a week. Yet in NYC alone that number of trips is made every three days using the city’s bikeshare scheme."

Electric bicycles, and shared electric bicycles in particular, are a revolutionary transportation technology. Forward-looking cities should be building out the infrastructure necessary to make cycling safe and convenient for everyone who wants to do it.

@sirpaintalot.bsky.social scarf just arrived. This thing is massive!

Democratic Bloc would be a great name for a bouldering centre.

Thought the UK’s fuel duty freeze was distorting only patterns of passenger transport? Think again after reading a leading rail freight executive’s complaints about how it boosts trucks over rail: www.ft.com/content/5785...

Lots of questions about my Not Involved in Blackmail, Match-fixing, Drug Trafficking or Corruption banner already answered by the banner

It is extraordinary the way that fare payers are expected to pay more each year, at least in line with inflation, but people driving get a free pass for more than a decade?!

There is no possible justification for limiting e-bikes to 15mph but not cars.

Hear me out, AI is like the car. Yes it's useful and will make lives easier but we will all be worse off if we become overly dependent on it and we should definitely not trust a word of anyone who is making money from selling it.

The bullet train in 🇯🇵-as glorious as everyone says. A reminder the Japanese built their first high speed train for the 1964 Olympics and it became national by the 80s. They’re now building Maglevs (floating trains). Meanwhile in 🇬🇧 we can’t be sure we’ll connect HS2 to Euston. Pathetic.

Kill a tree, get four years in jail. Kill a cyclist, get a suspended sentence www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wale...

My contribution to the air con debate

@medcrisis.bsky.social good morning to you too

An equivalent UK version of this stat is that there are more journeys* on the Elizabeth line per day than there are people living in any other UK city except Birmingham. (*I know journeys does not equal people)

These huge cars are vastly more dangerous, kill far more children, as they're higher at the front. They should have their own much lower speed limit in towns; and higher tax. Parking should be charged as for vans, they're larger than normal spaces. It's bizarre that they're treated as cars.

Cities increasingly have a divide between the urban mindset which eschews car ownership, is comfortable with density and uses transit by default and the suburban which sees car ownership and a single family house+garden as essential. This seems to cross established socioeconomic groups.

motorists will *never* notice cuts to fuel duty (which they permanently be convinced is too high, and in fact actually purposefully being set to victimise them), but the state will bleed itself dry for their discount that doesn't touch the sides, in a way they never would for public transport users

Important thread from Adam here. Public space - especially in towns and cities - isn't just there for the fast, efficient movement of motor vehicles and we mustn't let that motonormative thinking enable another generational landgrab as automated driving slides in

Rescued this fellow from the road last night

I Call App Britain

"We already spend £2bn a year subsidising rail tickets". There is literally a 5p fuel duty discount worth £9bn a year still in effect that Rishi Sunak introduced in 2022. Why can't we spend more to subsidise rail travel? Why can't we bring back the fuel duty escalator? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

@jamesomalley.co.uk You've probably already spotted it but the graphic in your Helen Lewis event email has the wrong date.

Yes! Uxbridge by-election was so misunderstood - Labour nearly won Uxbridge - They don't need to win seats like that for a majority - They do need enact life-enhancing green policies like Ulez to justify a majority labourlist.org/2025/04/loca...

Striking in all cases the reasons for moving include poor land use and transport. In rural areas, no shops/amenities and car dependence; in the city, pavement parking. For communities to thrive, know what people want and need, not simply what's easiest to deliver www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

My one Pope Francis fact is that he was the first pope to have an original name since Pope Lando in 913. We desperately need a Pope Lando II

Another win for Google AI summaries. Poor Charlton though

Some in Labour HQ may want to reflect on this - here’s a policy which has drastically improved air quality, benefitting the poorest citizens. But Starmer’s LOTO started criticising it because a couple of Clarkson bigmouths complained in focus groups & they (wrongly imho) blamed it for Uxbridge loss

Charing Cross Road, pedestrianised today. Glorious. Because whenever you take cars away, cities get better.

2014 no one died...

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. It's clear from the photos that a lot of these bikes were junk and shipping them off to somewhere poorer doesn't change that www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

As we're all talking about charity stuff here's my hot take. We should end tax exemptions for charities. There is so much variation in quality between them and the CC are so toothless at rooting out the rubbish ones it no longer makes sense.

You can dispute all of these deductions and fees and if you go to arbitration you'll probably win. Landlords will try get away with what they can but you don't have to let them.