• It’s the Beadles’ (& Burlington Arcade’s) 200th anniversary (HydeParkNow) • Dublin public transport use up, car use down (IntelligentTransport) • Toronto’s transit de-devolution battle (Spacing) • Railways and literature (NYReviewOfBooks) • Crowdfunding reduces bikelash …
Continue readingAuthor: Long Branch Mike
What are Rail Industry Readiness Levels? (RailEngineer)
Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) were first defined by NASA in 1989 as a method of classifying the maturity of a technology or product during its development and acquisition. Originally seven in number, this was increased …
Continue readingCan solar PV power railways? (RailwayTechnology)
Shining example: will solar PV power the railways of the future? How will our expanding railways be powered in the future? And are electrified networks powered solely by renewable energy the answer? Demand for traction …
Continue readingLA rebooting bus network using cell phone data (Wired)
The Orange Line [BRT] carries more than 20,000 people every weekday. But setting this route aside, bus ridership has gone off a cliff, here and nationwide. Some 2,300 buses run around LA every day — …
Continue readingCapacitors: cheap, ubiquitous & backlogged (Quartz)
The CEO of GoPro, which manufactures small, stout action cameras, literally can’t make enough of them. The culprit, reports Quartz’s Daniel Wolfe, is a worldwide shortage of one of the modern world’s critical cogs: multilayer ceramic capacitors …
Continue readingMonday’s Friday Reads – 22 April 2019
• Tube map of London roads (DiamondGeezer) • Homes England to winch homes onto London rooftops (EnvJ) • Trolley canal boats and canal railways (LowTechMag) • Cycling tunnels under the Tyne dug by hand (Guardian) …
Continue readingFriday Reads – 19 April 2019
• Analog Tube map prototyping (EsriArcGISBlog) • Paris to trial all night Metro & Tram lines (MetroReport) • Uber admits directly competing with transit (Jalopnik) • Story of Toronto streetcars’ bullseyes (SeanMarshall) • Old NYC …
Continue readingDe-prioritizing cars in the hierarchy (CityAsAService)
The last century was all about designing cities around the needs of cars. But today, many cities have committed to reducing or entirely removing cars from pedestrian-heavy areas and have set ambitious goals to become …
Continue readingTaxi companies are fighting back (SmartCitiesDive)
All hail: How taxi companies stay competitive in an evolving marketplace. As ride-hailing services grow in consumer popularity, savvy cab companies are using technology and improved sustainability to compete for business. Every innovation brings the …
Continue readingScooters are inducing transit trips (SFChronicle)
San Francisco officials, who rejected electric scooters after an unruly, unlicensed rollout a year ago, are now cottoning to the two-wheel devices under a yearlong trial that limits their numbers. Midway through that trial, the …
Continue readingMonday’s Friday Reads – 15 April 2019
• The Shipping Forecast podcast (BBC) • Noah’s climate train travels across Europe (RailwayTechnology) • The 6 types of urban tribes (CityMetric) • Inside 45 year old 2nd Ave Subway tunnel (NY1) • Vancouver Greenways …
Continue readingDo AV companies care about safety? (RadUrbanist)
Or is it just a good way to market their product? A lot of big promises have been made about self-driving cars. If you listen to their boosters, the technology is poised to eliminate traffic, end …
Continue readingFriday Reads – 12 April 2019
• Why are fewer people riding the Tube? (TheDeveloper) • £2 Tube coin design evolution and details (HydeParkNow) • Nottingham Park commuter tunnel mis-spec (AtlasObscura) • Salford students built Great War tank tram (USalford) • …
Continue readingOn to the next battery breakthrough (Quartz)
Electric planes could be the future of aviation. In theory, they will be much quieter, cheaper, and cleaner than the planes we have today. Electric planes with a 1,000 km (620 mile) range on a …
Continue readingThe race to code the curb (CityLab)
Everyone—from ride-hailing cars to delivery trucks to bikes and scooters—wants a piece of the curb. How can smart cities map and manage this precious resource? The curb is hot. No longer just a home for …
Continue reading