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Laura Laker @lauralaker.bsky.social · 1d

It's similar with transport. With safe cycle routes, eg, the biggest 'return' is for public health, which the Department for Transport doesn't directly benefit from. Makes the case against siloed government thinking - and the unhelpful trend of comparing macroeconomics with household budgets, imo

Laura Laker @lauralaker.bsky.social · 1d

A basic artists' income trial in Ireland. For every €1 of public money invested in the pilot, society received €1.39 in return. www.gov.ie/en/departmen...

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Laura Laker @lauralaker.bsky.social · 1d

It's a notoriously low-risk, high-reward crime. I attended a well-resourced, painstakingly planned police cycle theft sting operation years ago, knocking on doors at dawn. The only thieves caught were at a roadside bike rack with their stolen bikes when officers happened to stop for a comfort break

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Laura Laker @lauralaker.bsky.social · 1d

British Transport Police haven't 'decriminalised' bike theft per se; catching bike thieves is very hard. Last year my bike was stolen; the BT offices in Aldgate scanned their CCTV, found the theft (and the scout who chose my bike), passed footage to police and they couldn't identify the perpetrators

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Laura Laker @lauralaker.bsky.social · 1d

I'd recommend listening to BBC R4 Today programme just before 9am, where he clarifies the position. sadly it's not much different to the situation anywhere else bikes are stolen.

Laura Laker @lauralaker.bsky.social · 1d

British Transport police's Ian Drummond-Smith said on BBC R4 Today that within two years AI will help analyse hours of cctv footage to help solve bike theft. Lovely idea if the footage is good enough in the first place

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Reposted by Laura Laker

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

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Laura Laker @lauralaker.bsky.social · 1d

Thanks Ruth - that was pretty much my experience too!

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Laura Laker @lauralaker.bsky.social · 1d

Over the weekend I wrote down some thoughts about travelling around Lisbon by bike and on foot, and I've since removed the post's paywall lauralaker.substack.com/p/lisbon-the...

Lisbon: there may be hills

A study visit with a difference

lauralaker.substack.com

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Laura Laker @lauralaker.bsky.social · 1d

🚨New @podstreetsahead.bsky.social podcast alert! This time, we recorded from Lisbon, on the city's streets, and talking to the people trying to change them shows.acast.com/streets-ahea...

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

shows.acast.com

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Laura Laker @lauralaker.bsky.social · 3d

Notes from Lisbon - and its curious transport conundrum

Lisbon: there may be hills

A study visit with a difference

lauralaker.substack.com

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Laura Laker @lauralaker.bsky.social · 9d

Love it. I think your ginger assistant might qualify for @catswithjobs.bsky.social as stock manager

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Laura Laker @lauralaker.bsky.social · 9d

I met the famous finger waver this year! he came along to a book signing and asked me to sign the relevant page 😅

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Laura Laker @lauralaker.bsky.social · 9d

Also admire how neatly you store your panniers. Mine are usually in a messy pile in a cupboard!

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Laura Laker @lauralaker.bsky.social · 9d

Love this! Very creative

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Laura Laker @lauralaker.bsky.social · 9d

She's over a metre high at the handlebars so eats into floor space considerably more than you'd think!

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Laura Laker @lauralaker.bsky.social · 10d

Nothing could hold my 25kg pink ebike on a wall but that's partly because she's so massive in almost every orientation and the weight so heavily distributed on the back wheel. We've compromised with her parked in the kitchen 😅

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Laura Laker @lauralaker.bsky.social · 10d

Thank you! It is a pretty picture

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Laura Laker @lauralaker.bsky.social · 10d

In case you missed it, I've been looking into bike storage solutions - and here are some of the best options.

No room for your bike? Here are 13 clever, space-saving storage ideas for indoors and out www.theguardian.com/thefilter/20...

No room for your bike? Here are 13 clever, space-saving storage ideas for indoors and out

From hallway hooks to garden fortresses, here’s where to keep your bike so it’s safe, dry and out of the way

www.theguardian.com

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Laura Laker @lauralaker.bsky.social · 16d

This explainer, from July, on which is which, probably needs recirculating on the picture desk...

Pause on new 'floating' bus stops welcomed by campaigners - BBC News www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Pause on new 'floating' bus stops welcomed by campaigners

There are currently 164 floating bus stops in the capital, according to London Assembly figures.

share.google

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Laura Laker @lauralaker.bsky.social · 16d

Two screenshots of BBC articles about floating bus stops, the picture editors have inadvertently used the same image to illustrate what one is, and what one isn't. The most recent article shows the wrong type, the one that isn't under DfT/TfL review, twice www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

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Laura Laker @lauralaker.bsky.social · 19d

He referred to his as a shouting role, half jokingly

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Laura Laker @lauralaker.bsky.social · 20d

More words on that, here substack.com/home/post/p-...

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Reposted by Laura Laker

Mark D @markjd84.bsky.social · 22d

I've been fiddling with the heating today which reminded me that not enough brits seem to know about this concept:

if you have a combi boiler, setting it to a lower flow temperature (and having it on a bit longer to compensate) can mean you save a lot (~5%+) of gas

www.which.co.uk/news/article...

One simple way to adjust your boiler to lower your heating bill - Which?

If you aren't using your boiler efficiently, your home is more expensive to heat – see how flow temperature can make a difference to your gas bill

www.which.co.uk

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Reposted by Laura Laker

UNRWA @unrwa.org · 22d

“We’ve normalised horror” in #Gaza, our JulietteTouma tells @newhumanitarian.bsky.social

“There's been impunity – and that has been going on for a long, long, long time… This carte blanche has got us, all of us, where we are right now.”

This must stop.

Israel’s mass killing of Gaza aid seekers: An undeniable pattern of escalating atrocity crimes

The nearly 200 attacks we recorded contribute to the growing evidence that Israel is committing war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.

www.thenewhumanitarian.org

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