August 2010 Blog Posts (5)

Today's Metro has a big public ad by TfL and the Mayor of London announcing something we already knew: that bus lanes are finally open to motorbikes. Who are the morons who banned them in the first place - sunning themselves on a public pension? Justice would be better served if they were publicly pilloried, along with their fellow devisers of traffic policy which has been causing untold injustice and harm for…

Is coercion the only language that traffic authorities can speak? TfL is planning trials of 20mph zones, with average speed camera enforcement. Of course low speeds are crucial when pedestrians are around, but what's the justification for 24-hour restrictions? Rather than holistic solutions embracing culture change and roadway redesign, the first resort of traffic policymakers is control and enforcement. In failing to harness…

I’m toying with another site, thinking of "re-branding". What do readers think? See Equality Streets.

I’m always on the lookout for parallel philosophies. In last Saturday’s Guardian, Richard Sennett, professor of sociology at the LSE, welcomed the demise of the ASBO. They hand out "restraining orders to prevent people from possibly committing a crime. Blair thought social behaviour could be ‘reformed’ top down, and in this he exactly missed the point. Cultures hold together or fall apart for reasons that transcend power. On…