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Nick Lester-Davis @quinlet.bsky.social · 2d

But these alone are unlikely to generate sufficient traffic to make the system commercially worthwhile

Nick Lester-Davis @quinlet.bsky.social · 2d

Even VTOL flying taxis would find it enormously difficult to find landing places in cities

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Nick Lester-Davis @quinlet.bsky.social · 2d

More than that. A friend in North Carolina has been bankrupted by a broken wrist despite having health insurance.

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Nick Lester-Davis @quinlet.bsky.social · 2d

None of the ‘flying taxi’ developers have addressed the issue of where will they take off from or land. If you have to take a long taxi ride to get to your flying taxi it won’t be of any use.

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Nick Lester-Davis @quinlet.bsky.social · 6d

Like hyperloop, flying taxis are just a version of snake oil

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Nick Lester-Davis @quinlet.bsky.social · 10d

So robotaxis lead to more taxi trips, more expensive taxi trips, switch from private car ownership and use. So a pretty niche market but moving in the right direction

The economics of self-driving taxis
economist.com/finance-and-...

The economics of self-driving taxis

Waymo is a case study in automation

economist.com

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Nick Lester-Davis @quinlet.bsky.social · 10d

And interesting to see that official traffic forecasts still showing increases of up to 50% by 2050

Nick Lester-Davis @quinlet.bsky.social · 10d

A very interesting analysis

British men are driving less, and a culture is vanishing
economist.com/britain/2025...

British men are driving less, and a culture is vanishing

Farewell to the road warriors

economist.com

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Nick Lester-Davis @quinlet.bsky.social · 10d

The most clearing on Loch Ard this morning. Pictures taken 30 minutes apart

Sun starting to clear the mist on Loch Ard

Nick Lester-Davis @quinlet.bsky.social · 13d

These rules are not new

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Nick Lester-Davis @quinlet.bsky.social · 14d

My experience is that there is a significant (but minority) group of people who do almost all their travel by car and do not really believe there are any alternatives. This is the ‘everyone drives a car’ group. This group is dominated by middle-aged white men

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Nick Lester-Davis @quinlet.bsky.social · 15d

I’m not sure that streets have any needs. Though what you may be highlighting is the conflict between the movement functions of streets and the place functions.

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Nick Lester-Davis @quinlet.bsky.social · 16d

Loch Ard

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Nick Lester-Davis @quinlet.bsky.social · 17d

Well I didn’t expect frost this morning.

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Nick Lester-Davis @quinlet.bsky.social · 18d

As the march went past the Albert Halls

Marchers at the front of the Stirling Price March 2025

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Nick Lester-Davis @quinlet.bsky.social · 21d

And we only have the driving instructor’s word that the traffic has not slowed down when speed surveys in Wales overall do report speeds dropping.

Nick Lester-Davis @quinlet.bsky.social · 21d

But it’s a hazard which seems to result in fewer accidents!

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Nick Lester-Davis @quinlet.bsky.social · 21d

How very strange. More dangerous driving, but only in Wrexham.

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Nick Lester-Davis @quinlet.bsky.social · 23d

Another piece of evidence to show the importance and necessity of bringing urban speed limits down.

Ben Ross @benakl.bsky.social · 24d

Simeon Brown, Chris Bishop, Trucking Lobby, Mike Hosking, NZME what do they all have in common?

Telling porkies that lower speed limits increases congestion when it does the opposite

New study looks at effects of 30 km/h speed limits
etsc.eu/new-study-lo...

New study looks at effects of 30 km/h speed limits

The claim that 30 km/h speed limits lead to increased traffic congestion and higher congestion costs is a myth, unsupported by evidence, according to a new paper by George Yannis and Eva Michelaraki…

etsc.eu

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Nick Lester-Davis @quinlet.bsky.social · 24d

Toronto

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Nick Lester-Davis @quinlet.bsky.social · 27d

I should have been more specific. It's car clubs that really work. I had once worried that the would encourage non-car owners into car use, but the real impact is in encouraging car users to give up ownership.

Nick Lester-Davis @quinlet.bsky.social · 27d

Blah Blah Car as a company still operates, but mainly selling coach tickets.

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Nick Lester-Davis @quinlet.bsky.social · 27d

Lots of attempts at lift sharing none of which seem to have survived. The biggest was probably Blah-Blah-Car which started in France. The issues tend to surround that the outward times match but not the return. Car sharing, on the other hand, does seem to work.

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Nick Lester-Davis @quinlet.bsky.social · Sep 9

Sunrise coming

Dawn light in the sky and mist on the loch

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Nick Lester-Davis @quinlet.bsky.social · Sep 7

Not wholly effective then.

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