Deep Thinking Initiative
Alternative thinking about transport for a different future
TAPAS is pleased to host the contributions in LTT magazine’s new initiative for 2025, exploring new ways of looking at transport in its widest possible context.
We want to promote discussion about how transport should sit in the wider scheme of things as society continues on a path of rapid technological, cultural and social change.
We believe new thinking, concepts and paradigms are needed to test a much wider set of future scenarios about how transport fits into the total agenda for human life on our planet – and what expectations are realistic, feasible and sustainable.
We hope you will enjoy reading the contributions below and are keen to publish further new ‘deep thinking’ on this agenda – and have an open discussion arising from them. This will culminate with an event in the summer where participants can take part in a major ideas exchange.
Please register on TAPAS and get in touch if you would like to contribute to this project!
The Deep Thinking Initiative Articles
In this issue another contributor joins LTT magazine’s and TAPAS discussion about how transport should sit in the wider scheme of things as society continues on a path of rapid technological, cultural and social change. New thinking, concepts and paradigms are needed to test a much wider set of future scenarios about how transport fits into the total agenda for human life on our planet – and what expectations are realistic, feasible and sustainable.
This time Peter Jones highlights how the people ultimately affected by transport decisions can be misunderstood and overlooked.
We have already had eight other provocative reflections from Duncan Irons, Glenn Lyons, Kris Beuret and Terence Bendixson, Nick Tyler, Tom Cohen, Emma Woods, Keith Mitchell, and Colin Black, which are now all available from the links below.
We are keen to publish further new ‘deep thinking’ contributions, and are now pleased to announce an open discussion about the future of transport in the summer where participants can take part in a major ideas exchange. If you think you can contribute to this conversation, we’d be pleased to hear from you.
Peter Jones highlights how we should measure travel behaviour and its implications and impacts.
How we measure travel determines what we find – are we using the right metrics to address today’s and tomorrow’s challenges?
DATA AVAILABILITY is a central theme in transport analysis and policy-making nowadays, with rapidly increasing volumes and ever widening sources of data threatening to swamp our ability to process it – adopting AI is seen as the solution for the transport sector.
Colin Black highlights how the people ultimately affected by transport decisions can be misunderstood and overlooked.
Why transport planning needs to hear the voices we’ve been missing
ONE OF the first lessons in transport planning is that transport is a derived demand. But we often forget what that really means. Strip it back, and behind every journey, aside from some freight movements, are people. Real people. And people, let’s face it, are messy. We’re inconsistent, contradictory, and not always logical. We want convenience and sustainability, but not if it means walking in the rain. We crave freedom, but resist change. We don’t always do what we’re advised, even when it’s clearly in our best interest, or the planet’s.
Keith Mitchell is concerned that we should be planning now for a new less car-dependent generation, and their housing.
Planning for car light communities must start now
FOR THE LAST few years, there has been cross party support for the delivery of more housing to ‘solve the housing crisis’. There has been much less debate about the effect this could have on our need to reduce the impact of travel on carbon, beyond the ongoing and planned technological fixes for the vehicle fleet.
Emma Woods shares her belief that conventional economic thinking is obscuring consideration of important elements that should be part of any discussion of the role of transport.
Why ‘Economic Thinking’ is preventing us from tackling the real issues with transport
IN THIS ARTICLE I want to highlight the creeping dominance and normalisation of ‘economic thinking’ across the transport sector, as indeed in many parts of our professional and personal life. I fear it is leading us to be overly focussed on ‘economic’ priorities, marginalise other values or goals deemed subservient to ‘the economy’, and essentially lose touch with the fundamentals of what is essential to making life worth living.
Tom Cohen explores the way we teach the next generation about the relationship between transport, planning and land use, and the kinds of jobs they go on to undertake.
Let’s teach joined-up thinking to break the transport and planning silos
IF YOU ARE at a transport conference and find your attention is wavering, you might care to try a game of silent bingo. This involves listening out for some of the tropes that appear with reliable frequency in the speeches of presenters. “X per cent of journeys are under Y km and so could readily be cycled” is a personal favourite. “Transport now represents the largest share of our greenhouse gas emissions” is another good one.
Nick Tyler has been working to tap into the essence of human mobility needs.
Hypermobility, the damaging addiction of modern
OUR MODERN WORLD is just a couple of centuries old . The presence of mankind upon our planet around 300, 000 years . So can it be entirely logical to just add response after response in transport interventions on top of where ‘modern man’ has ended up in just 200 years of technological trial and error (and all the problems that has brought) , but ignore the basic character and needs of the people it is all supposedly for?
Kris Beuret and Terence Bendixson highlight what they believe is damaging neglect of a core part of our mobility mix.
Time to end walking’s role as transport’s Cinderella mode
IF WE ARE to genuinely think deeply about the future of transport, let’s start by properly recognising the mode that is used almost universally, is resource-light, carbon neutral, inexpensive, is the most space efficient mode, does not require significant major new infrastructure and is really good for the physical and mental health of the user. And that is walking.
Professor Glenn Lyons considers what he feels are unwelcome forces blocking the way to a more sustainable transport future, and how best professionals can respond to such frustrations.
Looking for the light in a dark age
THE FAREWELL SPEECH from President Joe Biden from the White House last week warned the United States (perhaps the world) that “an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power, and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms …. a dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultra-wealthy people”.
Duncan Irons from SYSTRA shares his own reflections on some shortcomings he believes are embedded in the current professional mindset about the role and expectations of transport planning.
Shouldn’t we be looking at Transport through a different lens?
JUST BEFORE CHRISTMAS, I took part in LTT’s annual Local Transport Summit , this time held in Bedford. This 24-hour residential event is rather unique - it is conducted under ‘Chatham House Rules’ and brings together senior minds from across the transport world to convene and freely exchange insight. There is much to discuss – and the programme is highly enjoyable, but also intense- with a lot of immediate political issues to address. This year we reflected on the delivery of a potentially upcoming Integrated Transport Strategy ,and whether this requires a new approach to transport planning.
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