Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Adam Tranter

Streets Ahead Podcast @podstreetsahead.bsky.social · 1d

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...

Lisbon’s Streets and the People Trying to Change Them | Streets Ahead

shows.acast.com

4 9

Adam Tranter @adamtranter.bsky.social · 4d

Afraid not!

1

Adam Tranter @adamtranter.bsky.social · 17d

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

4 44 310

Adam Tranter @adamtranter.bsky.social · 28d

Obviously each LA differs but in several areas I’ve witnessed only pay and display bays being monitored for overstayers and areas with double yellows ignored. Then there’s the crazy “observation period” that many councils adhere to meaning people wait inside shops and come out when they see a warden

1 1

Adam Tranter @adamtranter.bsky.social · 28d

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...

Car parked on pavement leaves man on mobility scooter wedged against wall

Campaigners say this shows why pavement parking needs to be banned

www.mirror.co.uk

11 43 140

Adam Tranter @adamtranter.bsky.social · Sep 8

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.

35 260 900

Adam Tranter @adamtranter.bsky.social · Sep 8

It’s never too late to give people transport choices.

3 20

Adam Tranter @adamtranter.bsky.social · Sep 8

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.

9 33 130

Adam Tranter @adamtranter.bsky.social · Sep 6

Campaign from Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles
Agency: twotango.co

13 27

Adam Tranter @adamtranter.bsky.social · Sep 6

Would you push someone off this 54-foot ladder?

Hitting them with your car at 40mph does the same damage.

5 32 78

Adam Tranter @adamtranter.bsky.social · Sep 5

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.

How many need to die before something changes?

27 uninsured vehicles seized in 24-hour blitz

2 18 67

Adam Tranter @adamtranter.bsky.social · Sep 1

We need more trees and greenery and many fewer cars, not to mention much less of the asphalt that comes along with them.

You can read the full open-access paper here: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

The underestimated impact of parked cars in urban warming.

The urban heat island (UHI), which describes the warmer temperature over urban landscape, is the most studied climate effect of cities. Most studies f…

www.sciencedirect.com

3 25

Adam Tranter @adamtranter.bsky.social · Sep 1

Extreme heat is a very real issue for many cities. Cities serious about climate adaptation need to start rethinking parking policies in heat-vulnerable areas, reducing the number of vehicles occupying valuable public space.

1 5 24

Adam Tranter @adamtranter.bsky.social · Sep 1

You may have heard about some car drivers telling cyclists to wear light colours to improve visibility, but perhaps they should be paying more attention to their impact of their colour choices...

1 1 20

Adam Tranter @adamtranter.bsky.social · Sep 1

There’s also a time-of-day effect:

Day: Streets heat up as cars are parked.

Night: Temperatures cool differently when those cars leave central areas.

Vehicles are changing the city’s surface albedo in real time.

Fig. 2. A) air temperature measurements around an isolated, parked car; grey dots represent the location of measurements; first point was taken beside the car (0.20 m), second point at 1 m (orange), and third point at 3 m (blue) – and above the roof, at 0.2 cm, 20 cm (red) and at 1 m (green); b) illustration of the measurements; c) Compact mobile weather station used as a reference point.

1 14

Adam Tranter @adamtranter.bsky.social · Sep 1

In Lisbon’s densest areas, a significant % of road space during the day is covered by parked vehicles.

That mass of dark surfaces absorbs and radiates heat, making walking and cycling less comfortable - and during extreme heat, downright unsafe.

Fig. 8 shows the distribution of parked cars across Lisbon, expressed as a percent of the road space in each grid cell; the overall statistics associated with this distribution are shown in Table 3. Across the city, approximately one-quarter of the land-cover is comprised of road surface. The percent of the road that is occupied by vehicles is on average small and the great majority of occupancy is associated with parked, rather than moving, vehicles; the vehicular traffic, while large in number is constantly in motion and represents transient cover in any given grid.

1 15

Adam Tranter @adamtranter.bsky.social · Sep 1

Researchers measured air temps around parked vehicles and found:

Air above a black car = up to 3.8°C hotter than the asphalt.

Air above a white car = neutral or slightly cooler in some spots.

The colour of your car literally changes the microclimate.

Fig. 6. Air temperature differences (ΔT) in the vicinity of a black and white cars. Both cars were oriented from south to north (back to front) and each was isolated and located over an asphalt car park. Measurements were made on 23rd July 2024 between 1:40 PM and 2:12 PM. The conditions were calm (mean windspeed < 1 ms−1) and clear (mean solar radiation receipt 1005 Wm-2).

1 1 17

Adam Tranter @adamtranter.bsky.social · Sep 1

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. 🌡️

🧵

How the color of cars is contributing to the increase in heat in cities
A study conducted in Lisbon by IGOT researchers shows that dark-colored cars parked in the sun can increase the air temperature around them by up to 3.8 degrees Celsius.

3 49 110

Adam Tranter @adamtranter.bsky.social · Aug 31

As The Guardian wrote, what used to be seen as “nanna glamour” is now quietly going mainstream; helped along by good design and the realities of urban living.

But let’s be honest: they could do with a better name.

www.theguardian.com/money/2024/a...

The wheelie bag rides again as ‘nanna glamour’ takes hold

Younger women and men are discovering the former fashion faux pas is a great alternative to lugging heavy bags

www.theguardian.com

5 1 10

Adam Tranter @adamtranter.bsky.social · Aug 31

Encouraging walking for short shopping trips can help boost trade in local neighbourhoods. Data from London shows pedestrians visit their high streets most frequently.

What's more, they spend up to 40% more over a month than people who drive to the high street.

HIGHER SPENDS TfL Graphic:

People who walk and cycle take more trips to the high street over the course of a month. Source: TfL 2014

1 6 23

Adam Tranter @adamtranter.bsky.social · Aug 31

If we want to make walking and wheeling easier, here’s what we need:

- Better pavements
- Safer crossings
- Pedestrian-first street design
- Local amenities within walking distance

2 15

Adam Tranter @adamtranter.bsky.social · Aug 31

From personal experience: owning one is a life hack.

Once you start using a trolley for errands and groceries... you wonder why everyone doesn’t use one.

Pictured: my trolley

2 7

Adam Tranter @adamtranter.bsky.social · Aug 31

People are walking more and travelling shorter distances.

The UK’s National Travel Survey revealed last week:

🚶 81% of trips under one mile are now being walked
📈 230 miles walked per person in 2024 (the highest since records began).

Source: www.gov.uk/government/s...

NTS 2024: Active travel

www.gov.uk

1 1 10

Adam Tranter @adamtranter.bsky.social · Aug 31

New designs are being marketed to younger audiences.

1 6

Adam Tranter @adamtranter.bsky.social · Aug 31

Shopping trolleys have seen a resurgence in popularity as Generation Z shuns shouldering bags on the long walk home from the supermarket, reported The Telegraph.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/04...

Shopping trolleys come in many sleek designs nowadays, such as these products by Sholley and Rad Union, a far cry from their 'fuddy' perception of old, reports The Telegraph.

1 1 7