Category Archives: City transport

Claims of ‘lawlessness’ on New York City subways increase danger, critics say

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Violent crimes in 2024 have been used as ‘political tool’, and law enforcement response does not solve root issues, critics say

A high-profile string of violent crimes on New York City’s subway in 2024 has been used “as a political tool” by pundits and politicians, transit advocates say, leading to a false perception of spiraling underground crime, which could create more danger in the future.

Crime in the subway system, one of the world’s most used rapid transit systems, declined in 2022 and decreased again in 2023, according to police. But subway crime is up so far in 2024, and it is the nature and violence of the incidents that has captured public attention.

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Australia may increase standard car parking spaces as huge vehicles dominate the streets

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Critics say boom in sales of SUVs and dual-cab utes has been disastrous for safety and the environment – and car parks may be at risk of collapse

Parking spaces in Australia may soon become bigger as a response to the nation’s love affair with SUVs and large cars, but planners fear parking lots are at risk of collapse under the weight of increasingly enormous vehicles.

For the past few decades, the standard size for car spaces on streets and in parking lots has been 5.4 metres long and 2.4 to 2.6 metres wide – big enough to allow a Ford Falcon or Holden Commodore to park comfortably.

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Schemes to boost walking and cycling ‘must take women’s safety into account’

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DfT also says bids for new £200m funding pot for England could include plans for better school routes and inclusive street designs

Council bids for a £200m funding pot to boost walking and cycling must “take women’s safety into account”, according to the Department for Transport (DfT).

A 2021 Office for National Statistics study showed half of women felt unsafe walking after dark in a quiet street near their home.

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E-scooter safety: Australian states and territories under pressure after spate of fatal crashes

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After three riders died in September and injuries rise, doctors are pushing for better helmet compliance and a rethink on regulations

State and territory governments have largely resisted calls from doctors for tighter regulation of e-scooters, despite a recent spate of accidents that caused serious injuries and deaths.

Last month three Australians died while riding e-scooters, doubling the number of fatalities since 2018, when the first rental scheme was rolled out in Queensland.

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More than 100 bus routes in England face cuts and cancellations

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Falling passenger numbers, rising costs and the forthcoming end of emergency government funding blamed for services being reduced or terminated

At least 135 bus routes across England have been lined up for cutbacks or closures this summer as councils and bus operators grapple with falling passenger numbers, staff shortages and funding constraints.

Changes to services include reduced frequency, fewer stops and some routes being cancelled. Among the proposed cuts, some of which have already been implemented, are 16 routes in London, 25 in Liverpool and about 40 across the north-east.

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The lost history of the electric car – and what it tells us about the future of transport

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To every age dogged with pollution, accidents and congestion, the transport solution for the next generation seems obvious – but the same problems keep coming back

In the 1890s, the biggest cities of the western world faced a mounting problem. Horse-drawn vehicles had been in use for thousands of years, and it was hard to imagine life without them. But as the number of such vehicles increased during the 19th century, the drawbacks of using horses in densely populated cities were becoming ever more apparent.

In particular, the accumulation of horse manure on the streets, and the associated stench, were impossible to miss. By the 1890s, about 300,000 horses were working on the streets of London, and more than 150,000 in New York City. Each of these horses produced an average of 10kg of manure a day, plus about a litre of urine. Collecting and removing thousands of tonnes of waste from stables and streets proved increasingly difficult.

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People plan to drive more post-Covid, climate poll shows

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Exclusive: Gap between actions and beliefs threatens green recovery from pandemic

People are planning to drive more in future than they did before the coronavirus pandemic, a survey suggests, even though the overwhelming majority accept human responsibility for the climate crisis.

The apparent disconnect between beliefs and actions raises fears that without strong political intervention, these actions could undermine efforts to meet the targets set in the Paris agreement and hopes of a green recovery from the coronavirus crisis.

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Dolphin numbers up in Hong Kong after Covid crisis halts ferries

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Revival prompts calls to divert boats to help protect native Indo-Pacific humpbacks

Large numbers of dolphins returned to Hong Kong waters within weeks of the Covid-19 crisis shutting down high-speed ferries, and researchers are now calling for protections before the ferries resume.

Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins, also known as Chinese white dolphins and pink dolphins, are native to the Pearl River estuary, but typically avoided the waters between Hong Kong and Macau because of the high volume of high-speed boats.

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Milan seeks to prevent post-crisis return of traffic pollution

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Coronavirus-hit Lombardy city will turn 35km of streets over to cyclists and pedestrians

Milan is to introduce one of Europe’s most ambitious schemes reallocating street space from cars to cycling and walking, in response to the coronavirus crisis.

The northern Italian city and surrounding Lombardy region are among Europe’s most polluted, and have also been especially hard hit by the Covid-19 outbreak.

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How a Belgian port city inspired Birmingham’s car-free ambitions

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Ghent’s transformation produced shorter journeys, cleaner air and a cycling explosion


Birmingham – once, proudly, the UK’s “motorway city” – has announced plans to entice people out of cars and on to bikes and buses. If officials get their way, the city will be split into zones, and, rather than driving direct, motorists will have to use the ring road for all zone-to-zone journeys.

Those travelling by foot and bicycle in the new Brum won’t be inconvenienced: their journeys will be simple and – with fewer cars – safer. With cars out of the way, bus journeys will become swifter and more reliable.

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Game of thrones: commuter sells seat on crowded Tokyo train

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Novel wheeze to profit from packed trains latest in long line of creative ways to deal with Tokyo’s long commutes

Every morning, millions of Tokyoites cram into overcrowded trains across the world’s largest city. Most must stand, often squeezed uncomfortably together. So, earlier this month, one enterprising commuter came up with a novel wheeze to profit from the situation.

His morning journey ran from the suburb of Chiba into central Tokyo – a long trip for which he was almost always guaranteed to get a seat. So he put that seat up for auction – for 2,000 yen (£14.50). He named the car, and the time of the train, and asked buyers to show him proof of payment on their mobile phone.

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Unwelcome guests: moped riders protest as Amsterdam drives them from bike lanes

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Dutch capital steps its pro-cycling reputation up a gear with new regulations – and not everyone is happy

Convoys of mopeds speed down Amsterdam’s bike lanes, beeping their horns and flouting their bare heads. This isn’t some strange Dutch festival, though. These were protests from some of the thousands of furious moped riders ahead of a new city regulation which came into force this week to force them out of bike lanes, on to main roads and into helmets.

The cycling city of Amsterdam is stepping up a gear – with plans to ban petrol and diesel vehicles from the centre by 2030, the removal of 10,000 car-parking spaces, a hike in parking charges and a wide range of measures to take from the car and give to pedestrians, cyclists, green space and children.

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Las Vegas is about to take a gamble on Musk’s Boring Company

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Contract for Tesla-powered underground system reveals lofty goals for a company whose founder is known for missing deadlines

Las Vegas is set to give Elon Musk’s Boring Company its first payout: a $44m contract to build a high-speed underground transit system serving an expanded convention center. But the city is hedging its bets. The contract withholds over two-thirds of payments until construction is complete, and specifies hefty penalties should the system fail to accommodate enough passengers.

The project is a gamble on technology that has yet to be demonstrated at a commercial scale, and on a company whose founder has a reputation for missing deadlines.

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Eco wonder or safety nightmare? Germany to vote on e-scooters

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Electric scooters could be on roads by June, leaving UK last major European country not to have approved use

Germany’s upper house of parliament is due to vote on Friday on whether to allow electric scooters on to the country’s roads, following a feverish debate spanning everything from road safety to air quality.

The transport minister is behind the plan, but he has faced a barrage of protests from lobby groups, representing both car drivers and bike riders, who have warned of chaos and accidents if the so-called e-scooters – known locally as e-rollers – are allowed.

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How public transport actually turns a profit in Hong Kong

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The Hong Kong MTR’s ‘rail plus property’ model keep fares cheap and makes the company completely self-sustaining. Could loss-making metro systems in other cities learn lessons?

“Once we build the railway, the value of land rises and we capture the increase in value,” says Jacob Kam, managing director and soon-to-be chief executive, of Hong Kong’s Mass Transit Railway (MTR) Corporation.

Related: Hong Kong faces commuter chaos after rare train collision

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On board Zimbabwe’s only commuter train – a photo essay

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Chugging through townships, maize fields and scrubland as the sun rises, Zimbabwe’s only commuter train is cheap and reliable – two qualities its passengers cherish in a downwards-spiralling economy

Each morning sleepy travellers walk to the tracks and clamber aboard Zimbabwe’s only commuter train as it prepares to leave the Cowdray Park settlement at 6am and embark on its 12-mile (20km) journey into Bulawayo, the country’s second city.

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