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Sam Wakeling @samwake.bsky.social · 1d

Tyne folks, how is the closure of the flyover working out with traffic? I heard it was a worry before it happened but can’t see much comment since?

@carltonreid.com @tynetom.bsky.social @alisonstenning.bsky.social

Sam Wakeling @samwake.bsky.social · 1d

About Tyne

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Sam Wakeling @samwake.bsky.social · 1d

About Tyne

Sam Wakeling @samwake.bsky.social · 2d

Very few kids cycle to our school. Mine do, and they love it.

This morning another school parent said that seeing them riding each day brings her joy.

🥹

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Reposted by Sam Wakeling

Prof. Ian Walker @ianwalker.bsky.social · 2d

"The single most important behaviour, design or regulation for creating streets conducive to walking and cycling, was physical separation between the modes"

We've got a new study out, learning from a broad mixture of street users, planners and designers

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Highlights
For marginalised street users mode separation is the key to human-scale movement.
Streets conducive to walking and cycling have functional, safe and accessible design.
Professionals must approach street design, regulation and user behaviour holistically.
Combinations of influencing factors persuade people to either use or avoid a street.
There are no easy fixes to the public realm that will work for all non-drivers.

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Sam Wakeling @samwake.bsky.social · 2d

Getting a 20mph limit on a road where someone has been killed would be a dramatic improvement on current policies.

People being killed with vehicles is most likely on roads where traffic speed is deemed too important to consider for 20mph safety treatment.

Peter Walker @peterwalker99.bsky.social · 2d

In the Q&A, Holden is asked if 20mph zones should only be put on roads where there has been a fatality. Holden says he thinks it’s a bit much to expect someone to die before you get a 20 limit - but then complains a lot about their general use.

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Reposted by Sam Wakeling

Tessa Khan @tessakhan.bsky.social · 3d

While the Tory party's energy & climate policy grows increasingly detached from reality, worth reflecting on a remarkable, under-reported event at Labour conference: the launch of Climate Jobs UK, a campaign by GMB, Prospect & other TUs focused on the creation of good jobs in the energy transition
🧵

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Sam Wakeling @samwake.bsky.social · 3d

Quite a contrast between the British walk to school and the one in Czech Republic.

What differences do you notice?

A child in blue school uniform walking on a pavement alongside a tarmac road, waiting by to cross a side road. Curving double yellow lines, trees, and a 30mph speed limit sign are behind them. An adult with them is asking “see anything?” They reply “Er, no”

A child with long hair and school backpack walks on irregular cobble type paving in an open square area edged by buildings. There are other children walking ahead and some cars parked on the square in the distance.

Reposted by Sam Wakeling

David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 6d

I'll say it again. Our horror at the Gaza genocide and at the atrocity in Manchester comes in both cases from the same, inherent part of our shared humanity. We need to assert that shared humanity in the face of both these evils as loudly as possible, and in as many practical ways as we can.

Kevin Schofield @kevinschofied.bsky.social · 6d

NEW: Home secretary Shabana Mahmood urges pro-Palestine protesters to consider not taking part in marches this weekend.

"Imagine if you lost a loved one to a terror attack in this country ... sometimes a little unity, a little solidarity, some love to other people is required"

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Sam Wakeling @samwake.bsky.social · 6d

Aren’t they? Seems to be plenty of conflict points on carriageways, and people in cars are getting hurt a lot too.

Is there a part of motonormativity which encourages us to see vehicle harm as only applying to “other” users, while implying that using a car is safe as long as you’re inside?

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Sam Wakeling @samwake.bsky.social · 7d

Whose streets? Their streets.

Street with children riding scooters in the low sunlight abd green trees. another small child walks with an adult on the pavement. Row of cones in distance close the street for vehicles

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Reposted by Sam Wakeling

Priestley Centre for Climate Futures @priestleycentre.bsky.social · 8d

Have you noticed that the increasing number of cars in Leeds is causing an impact on health, wellbeing and safety across the city?

Priestley member and Professor of Transport Governance @gregmarsden-leeds.bsky.social is spearheading the “Car When We Need It” experiment in response
lnkd.in/eDqN_vCF

Leeds households encouraged to sign up for car sharing experiment

Families, friends and neighbours across Leeds are being invited to join forces and take part in a three-week experiment exploring different ways to access cars without needing to own them.

www.leeds.ac.uk

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Sam Wakeling @samwake.bsky.social · 8d

Great interview on how little children’s needs and play are considered in govt.

I’m reminded of the council playgrounds near us having the swings removed during lockdown. Some didn’t return for months or years.

While car parking which obstructed social distancing was barely touched.

Two playground swing sets with the swing chains tied together.

Frame of a swing in a park with the chains and swing removed

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Sam Wakeling @samwake.bsky.social · 8d

The bus companies challenge it, “However, the streets where those buses drive are where we have most problems with traffic safety.”

“Nowadays I think everybody is getting used to it. The buses will not even be a lot slower than they were…”

Dutch Cycling Embassy @dutchcycling.nl · 8d

Tonight, 132 of Haarlem's streets will be slowed to 30km/h.

We sat down with experts at Gemeente Haarlem about why, how they made it happen and what challenges they faced.

READ THE INTERVIEW: buff.ly/vQEeYhs

#DCEnetwork

Sign with 30km/h warning sticker over the top

Reposted by Sam Wakeling

Katja Diehl @katjadiehl.bsky.social · 9d

"The main objective of these changes is to make it safer for children to walk to school by limiting car traffic. “We want Paris to regain streets where it is possible to let go of a child's hand,” said Patrick Bloche (PS), deputy mayor, at the Fête des rues aux écoles (Street Festival at Schools)."

Yonah Freemark @yonahfreemark.com · 9d

Paris celebrated the opening of its 300th “school street”: landscaped & pedestrianized or semi-pedestrianized blocks situated in front of schools. Most have been completed since 2020.

Paris passe le cap des 300 rues piétonnes près des écoles pour être « plus accueillante aux enfants »

La municipalité, qui a organisé samedi une fête dédiée, tire un bilan positif de ces espaces piétonnisés aux abords des établissements scola

leparisien.fr

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Sam Wakeling @samwake.bsky.social · 10d

2024 road crash data is out and I looked at child injuries in Sheffield.

56 children were seriously injured on Sheffield roads last year, higher than other recent years.

maps.dft.gov.uk/road-casualt...

Chart with largely flat but rising line of serious injuries per year: since 2018, 50, 40, 44, 50, 46, 56

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Reposted by Sam Wakeling

Eyeye @eyeyeopticians.bsky.social · 12d

Been coming to Paris the last weekend in September for about 8 years. The transformation in terms of the quality of the experience is mind blowing.

The air is not polluted, there are people on bikes everywhere. The streets have been reclaimed and sitting outside cafés is even nicer than before.

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Sam Wakeling @samwake.bsky.social · 12d

I wonder if there’s a potentially powerful social norm which this policy would echo: you don’t overtake a hearse.

When someone has been killed on a street, traffic getting slowed down should be a basic respectful response.
Emergencystreets.org

Emergency Streets

Emergencystreets.org

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Sam Wakeling @samwake.bsky.social · 12d

Yes in theory. Though don’t big orgs with lots of power have more complexity? Yes Minister was funny for a reason!

Sam Wakeling @samwake.bsky.social · 14d

It seems the processes are often a result of the nature of the institutions.

Perhaps when they’ve been built around serving capital rather than people.

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Reposted by Sam Wakeling

Yair Wallach @yairwallach.bsky.social · 14d

"But what can we do more?" ask UK pundits

Despite the various rhetorical dramas, the UK continues to maintain almost entirely normal relations with Netanyahu's government. Real measures are long overdue.

For some ideas, see below
www.gov.uk/government/p...

Myanmar sanctions: guidance

www.gov.uk

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Sam Wakeling @samwake.bsky.social · 14d

Yes, and also dismantling the ones that do harm by existing

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Sam Wakeling @samwake.bsky.social · 16d

You can submit complaints here www.bbc.co.uk/contact/comp...

Make A Complaint | Contact the BBC

www.bbc.co.uk

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Sam Wakeling @samwake.bsky.social · 16d

Every time we say “we’ll have to wait until someone is killed before this changes” we show we are more humane than the wretched road system.

Almost always, when someone is killed, nothing is changed.

No one is held accountable for making it a deadly space.

We could try: emergencystreets.org

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Sam Wakeling @samwake.bsky.social · 16d

Every time we say “we’ll have to wait until someone is killed before this changes” we show we are more humane than the wretched road system.

Almost always, when someone is killed, nothing is changed.

No one is held accountable for making it a deadly space.

We could try: emergencystreets.org

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Sam Wakeling @samwake.bsky.social · 16d

I visited Dudley and crossed this large junction, designed as hostile to human life (30mph, no crossings, many lanes, barriers), I felt very unsafe.

Later I learned that in 2023 a “woman in her 70s” (no other public reporting) was killed crossing here.

It’s still just the same.

Who’s next?

Sunny day with blue sky and a wide desert of grey tarmac and traffic lights, with futile red “slow” paint markings.

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