Manchester this week unveiled plans for Beelines – a cycle network comprising 75 miles of Dutch-style segregated lanes that will represent the largest joined-up network in Britain. The city is benefiting from that rarest of things: Politicians brave enough to be “absolutely unapologetic” that the eventual 1,000-mile cycle network will take space away from cars and could make motor journeys slower in what…
When you next hear someone referring to the wearing helmets and high-vis or the delivery of enhanced driver training as guiding principles of road safety, refer them to the hierarchy of hazard control. The system is used across industry to minimise or eliminate exposure to hazards and it has as much relevance to road danger reduction as it does to reducing…
A clever new locating device bypasses the need for smartphones and an internet connection to find friends and children in crowds, remote areas, at festivals, or anywhere else under an open sky. Lynq uses a combination of GPS and low-power, long-range radio signals to help you find other users up to three miles away. The waterproof device claims to run for…
This was the week we joined forces with Sustrans and Living Streets to help a community campaign for a safe crossing. We brought our inflatable pop-up zebra crossing to Barking to help local residents who struggling in the face of road danger. It was telling that those who attended the protest ranged in age from 5 to 85. The road…
If it’s possible to beautify an electricity pylon, why shouldn’t all infrastructure be elegant? Indeed, when physical and organisational facilities exist to serve people, and most should, beauty should perhaps be an imperative. Iceland has commissioned highly sculptural electricity pylons that resemble giant human figures striding across the countryside. The metallic structures are a powerful metaphor for our consumption of…