Thanks so much for coming on, @noeldolphin.bsky.social! Was a great conversation about why we need a rolling electrification program for this country. If you are in the smallest doubt, take a listen.

Huge thanks to @freewheeling.info who allowed me, this week, to go through the "Sparks Effect", HM Treasury and how we run the railway, on the Freewheeling Podcast. www.freewheeling.info/the-freewhee...

What is happening to our country? I’ve just listened to the start of the PM programme on BBC Radio 4. Evan Davis opened with the story of the early release of “an Algerian” from prison. The story is about the release of “a sex offender”; he was not in prison for being north African.

This is the right thing to do for so many reasons: fiscal, environmental, transport, social. Real shame the Lib Dems have reacted with such unprincipled opportunism. They must know it’s the right thing to do, eh @ollyglover.bsky.social www-bbc-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.bbc....

Have just seen this great little article on German trams by @robertkwolek.bsky.social of @createstreets.bsky.social www.createstreets.com/the-country-...

I like this from @freewheeling.info. rather than make fares simple, make them do the hard bit for you...

I’m sure Matt Goodwin will be along shortly to tell us all whether LNER Customer Service Host Samir Zitouni counts as British or not. news.sky.com/story/train-...

Train fares are a nightmare, but the main issues are the apparent arbitrariness, the amount of cognitive effort required by the user and a genuine fear of fines. These are the problems to solve, but it’s not exactly the same as complexity. www.freewheeling.info/blog/complex...

I've written a couple of things over the last days about how the government and much of Westminster remaining on X as the platform becomes increasingly toxic is having consequences for our politics...

𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗽 𝗪𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗲𝘂𝘄 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝘂𝘁𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝘆𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗵𝗲𝗻𝘁. Today’s episode is a masterclass in the art of transport changemaking: the focus on experimentation, clear strategy and the need for urgency. www.freewheeling.info/the-freewheeling-podcast/filip-watteeuw

Rail: taxpayer subsidy of £400 per second to keep UK trains running looks unsustainably high. Some fresh ideas from @freewheeling.info to entice new passengers and boost revenue. Reserved seats on any train. More first class. Simpler railcards to drive loyalty. www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-...

My latest Substack examines how flawed polling and flawed journalism are distorting the debate over assisted dying kellnerp.substack.com/p/peers-beware

Some changes to immigration rules today, not just increasing English language requirements, mean migrants looking to live and work in UK will have to meet far far higher standards than British nationals, while paying vast sums to be allowed to do so. That isn't a system based on "fairness". 1/

Never say my blog isn’t current: today I’m reviewing a TV show that aired closer to the Second World War than today. Yet, terrifyingly, it’s still remarkably current. The hairstyles, bow ties and restaurant decor are retro but the issues are unchanged. www.freewheeling.info/blog/tv-revi...

Maybe there is a “verify“ article somewhere that gently explains it, but I do think that the BBC is irresponsible in credulously reporting a plan is to fund all of these policies with £47 billion worth of savings without unpacking the consequence of £47 billion of cuts www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Someone check if I’ve got this right: I think (for the first time ever) there is a cohort of voters who have lived a majority of their life under a Labour government. Specifically, people born 17 March to 17 June 1997.

The share is irrelevant. What matters is the amount of coal (and carbon). If we're still burning large amounts of coal, it doesn't make any difference that we're also generating a large amount of renewables: the atmosphere doesn't care. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

📰 Excellent piece in this issue of www.itsinternational.com by @freewheeling.info on the ‘Mini Switzerland’ integrated transport concept… 🇨🇭 + the brilliant @beatekubitz.bsky.social on #realtimedata and #Oasis gigs Also #trafficmanagement, #V2X and #VisionZero i.e. something for everyone 🫶🏻

I bumped this up my playlist - definitely worth a listen. The case for AV buses is stronger than AV cars. I didn't quite get the practicalities for use. If there are no staff, how will they ensure enough people pay, and how will they deal with anti-social behaviour? @freewheeling.info (1/3)

Paris is getting on and delivering autonomous buses. On the latest podcast, I talk with James Dick of RATP (Paris's transport agency) about the work they're doing. Autonomous public transport has so much more potential for social good than robotaxis! www.freewheeling.info/the-freewhee...

We already have a system where unwilling, unpaid "volunteers" are made to do work in the community. It's called Community Payback, undertaken by convicted offenders. So Labour's message to people wanting to come to the UK and build a life is literally "We'll treat you like criminals."

Transport changemaking requires a willingness to try things and figure out what they do. Role model kids. freewheelingbitesize.substack.com/p/play-isnt-...

If immigrants need to volunteer in the community to earn a right to live here, shouldn’t British citizens have to do the same?

Coffee looks cheerful this morning

Made in America! US car culture created the modern world. Thanks to the power of Silicon Valley, it is also shaping our future. Today’s blog… www.freewheeling.info/blog/motorno...

To get things done, find the people in organisations that know other people open.substack.com/pub/freewhee...

Am I right that this digital ID seems designed to alienate the “don’t make me carry papers, Stasi” mob without satisfying people like me who think that a unique digital ID for everyone could make so many things so much easier?

To those Labour MPs taking shots at Andy Burnham for even thinking about challenging, ask yourselves why he feels the need. People are fed up. The comms from No.10 are a disaster, and you're handing Reform an open goal. This isn’t about Farage’s charm-it’s about the vacuum of leadership at the top.

Seriously?? Seriously??? “Reform [UK] voters don’t think climate is important and the Mail and Sun [newspapers] complain that Starmer has spent a record number of days overseas” Genuinely, words fail me. www.ft.com/content/5f8f...

Listening to Andy Burnham on BBC Radio Manchester and the calls are mainly about: transport. Bolton caller: where’s the tram we were promised (which they were). Doesn’t personally care about the “prime minister debate”, wants to know why they spend 4 hrs commuting when they live 12 miles away

The richest man on earth owns X. The second richest man on earth is about to be a major owner of TikTok. The third richest man owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The fourth richest man owns The Washington Post. See the problem here?

As a transport changemaker, I particularly care about this. I just wish it was even close to being the worst thing he's doing. www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

From a Norwegian guy I work with on why he didn't take my call: "And pardon for not picking up - the volume of unsolicited spam calls I get from unknown UK-numbers offering 'financial advisory and investment opportunities' is unbearable." Great to know we still have a world-beating sector!

I can't disagree with Dan here...

Whether they're blaming vaccines and Tylenol, or selling dubious "remedies," what they're really doing is promoting the perception that families (and especially mothers) can prevent and treat Autism. And thus also the perception that people with Autism and their families don't need social support.

On the one hand, better late than never. On the other hand: why so late? The case for doing this was just as obvious in May as it is in September.

Truly facile, awful analysis by Nick Robinson normalising hate speech by 'ordinary people' and equating it with free speech. The boiling point is too many of Britain's commentators unthinkingly wading in the toxic swamp of X and believing it is what passes as normal.

There should be a high bar for politicians attacking the media, but maybe Ed Davey has half a point here? For example, the first three paragraphs of this BBC story repeat Reform's £243bn figure without saying that the thinktank behind the estimate now disowns it. (This is mentioned in paragraph 35)

We live in a "motornormative" world. What does this mean? Why does it matter? Well, it means that the world is designed on the basis that driving is the natural, normal way to travel. This matters quite a lot. More in today's blog post www.freewheeling.info/blog/motorno...

Where Reform is headed is very much in line with the new right, that in order to save western democracy it must be destroyed. Patriotism as nihilism. Culture wars to become real ones. Very dangerous stuff.

Labour doesn't just need a story, it needs to understand the modern world. Latter is true for all the parties and many countries, politics as one long irrelevant nostalgia fest for the 1950s.

Oh great, just reading that a key part of Labour's next relaunch will be "reindustrialisation". Because the manufacturing fetish has worked so well elsewhere. Demonstrate you don't understand a modern economy in one easy step.

This letter to The Economist makes a decent point. The case for robo taxis probably feels overwhelming in a country where the urban design means you're utterly screwed without a car. It's like how higher crime rates presumably boost the car for security solutions. Not entirely enviable

Always angers me that Hunt is treated as a sensible moderate when he was responsible for that utterly cynical move on tax - which is a major cause of the dreadful and damaging fiscal position the country is now.

No

Journalists on here, please explain to me the rule that says countries can never “turn to the IMF”, they must *always* “turn, cap in hand, to the IMF”. Is it something you learn on your grad schemes?

The disability "reforms" precedent suggests the Govt thinking will be: 1) We're spending too much on kids with special needs 2) If we stop funding the needs, the needs will go away. I'm afraid that's not true. The needs are real and need to be identified. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Good morning, ICYMI

Passed Buckingham Palace today, and I’ve never been more of a monarchist. Flag is at half mast for the Duchess of Kent. The fact that is for the woman who used to give out the trophies at Wimbledon is a reminder that monarchy being ludicrous and out of touch is precisely the point.

The "Daily Mail Test" is the biggest barrier to high-quality services in the UK. That's the proposition behind my blog post today. www.freewheeling.info/blog/empower...