Monthly Archives: September 2011

80mph limit?

The biggest guff spouted on the subject is that raising the limit will increase emissions by 20%. No, it’s not mph that matters – it’s rpm. At 70mph, old petrol cars rev at 3,500rpm. Longer-geared diesel or newer cars rev … Continue reading

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Blood on their hands

It’s not surprising that cyclists inhale twice as much exhaust soot as pedestrians, but further proof  is here. Moreover, the s++t in the air is multiplied by a factor of four by the system of control which prohibits infinite filtering opportunities. Whichever way you cut … Continue reading

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New traffic lights – old mistakes

Traffic lights are being installed at a T-junction near Bideford despite my proposal for a less expensive, safer FiT (filter-in-turn) solution. Story here.

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Causes of congestion

As was flagged up in a recent post, the Transport Select Committee’s report on congestion published today says nothing about the  role of traffic lights or any other interventionist traffic management measure. Not a thing. Summary of report here.

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Kind cuts

Amid the claims about the inevitability of painful cuts, I’ve lost count of the number of times over the past couple of years that I’ve pitched to editors an article that explains the scope in traffic system reform for painless cuts of tens … Continue reading

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Missing the point again?

Next Thursday (15.9.11) the Transport Select Committee publishes a report, “Out of the jam – reducing congestion on our roads”. Traffic critic, Kenneth Todd, submitted a well-worded statement, and I submitted something in haste. Today I learned that the report contains nothing … Continue reading

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Highway toad

Walking home this afternoon, I was crossing an angled junction, aware that a car had arrived behind me to turn in. I didn’t look up because, according to the Highway Code, pedestrians have right-of-way at junctions. Also I was already crossing, so … Continue reading

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Traffic lights off at night?

The Bristol Evening Post asked for my views about switching off traffic lights at night to save energy. Article here. The full text of my reply was: In a sense, any advance on the current system of mandatory traffic lights is better … Continue reading

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The folly of traffic control

On Radio 4’s A Point of View, John Gray discussed Barbara Tuchman who defined folly as pursuit of policy which is demonstrably counterproductive. Quoting from the BBC article: a policy can be identified as folly if it meets three tests. It … Continue reading

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