Category Archives: Road transport

‘First taste of winter’ snow in UK brings school closures and travel disruptions

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Severe weather alerts in northern Scotland, Northern Ireland, central and southern Wales and eastern English counties

Large parts of the UK were blanketed with snow as the country got its “first taste of winter”, which brought school closures, train delays, difficult driving conditions and an appeal to check in on vulnerable people.

Met Office yellow severe weather alerts for snow and ice were in place across northern Scotland, Northern Ireland, central and southern Wales, and eastern counties from the Scottish Borders to Norfolk, with forecasters warning of potential hazards through this week.

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Paris drivers warned of fines as city begins limiting traffic in parts of centre

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Three-month ‘educational phase’ begins for scheme it is hoped will reduce through-traffic and improve air quality

Paris authorities have begun limiting traffic in a large zone of the city centre, with police alerting drivers that they are now banned from driving through the French capital’s central four arrondissements and risk a fine if they do so after next spring.

The so-called “limited traffic zone” (ZTL), home to about 100,000 people and 11,000 businesses, is part of a broader push by the socialist mayor, Anne Hidalgo, to restrict traffic and encourage cycling and public transport use across the car-clogged city.

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TfL could be forced to pay millions over Dutch lorry drivers’ low emission zone fines

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Hauliers’ group Transport in Nood BV launched judicial review earlier this year over fines issued in Ulez and Lez

Transport for London (TfL) could be forced to pay back millions of pounds in low emission zone fines issued to Dutch lorry drivers after agreeing they had been issued unlawfully.

The body said it had agreed to settle a claim regarding the Ulez fines after a company representing dozens of Dutch haulage companies launched a legal challenge into the ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) and low emission zone (Lez) fines earlier this year.

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Labour urged to scrap UK road schemes such as £9bn Lower Thames Crossing

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Suggestion would allow government to divert money earmarked for new roads to rail and other public transport

Campaign groups have urged the government to cancel major road building schemes including the Lower Thames Crossing, amid growing speculation that ministers could divert money earmarked for new roads into rail and other public transport.

The transport secretary, Louise Haigh, is due to decide in a week whether to sign off a development consent order [DCO] for the £9bn road crossing linking Essex and Kent.

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Europe beats the US for walkable, livable cities, study shows

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Cities such as Zurich and Dublin found to have key services accessible within 15 minutes for more than 95% of residents

When Luke Harris takes his daughter to the doctor, he strolls down well-kept streets with “smooth sidewalks and curb cuts [ramps] for strollers at every intersection”. If the weather looks rough or he feels a little lazy, he hops on a tram for a couple of stops.

Harris’s trips to the paediatrician are pretty unremarkable for fellow residents of Zurich, Switzerland; most Europeans are used to being able to walk from one place to another in their cities. But it will probably sound like fantasy to those living in San Antonio, Texas. That’s because, according to new research, 99.2% of Zurich residents live within a 15-minute walk of essential services such as healthcare and education, while just 2.5% of San Antonio residents do.

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TfL to refund drivers wrongly issued with Ulez fines after cameras vandalised

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Two cameras in Chingford were twisted around to face roads outside the low-emission zone boundary

Transport for London (TfL) has said it will refund drivers wrongly issued with ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) charges because of vandalised enforcement cameras.

The transport body confirmed two cameras in Chingford, north-east London, “became misaligned” for a short period and many fines were issued incorrectly. It is understood the cameras were twisted the wrong way so that they were facing roads outside the Ulez boundary.

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Families to launch class action after Hunter Valley bus crash driver jailed for decades

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Legal case targets Transport for NSW for alleged safety failings on road where 10 passengers were killed and company that employed Brett Button

Families who lost loved ones in a deadly New South Wales bus crash say they will launch a class-action lawsuit as the driver responsible was sent to prison for decades.

Brett Button, 59, was sentenced on Wednesday to 32 years in jail, with a non-parole period of 24 years, for killing 10 passengers and injuring 25 who had been celebrating a young couple’s wedding in the Hunter Valley.

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People in England driving more, cycling less and walking further, survey shows

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Department for Transport’s annual travel poll shows car or van trips up 8% as Covid-era shift to cycling fizzles away

People in England are walking record distances, official figures show – but charities have said more needs to be done to get individuals on their feet.

According to government data, the average walking journey increased in length last year, even as most other forms of day-to-day travel continued to lag behind pre-pandemic levels.

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UK travellers warned of likely disruption over bank holiday weekend

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About 19.2 million people likely to hit road for leisure trips and more than 2 million expected to fly overseas

Travellers are being told to expect widespread disruption this bank holiday as delays and congestion are predicted across key roads and rail routes, and airports are expecting more than 2 million people through their doors.

On what is expected to be the busiest weekend for travel this year, the transport analytics company Inrix said the heaviest road traffic was likely on Friday between 10am and 6pm, and Saturday between 10am and 1pm.

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M25 weekend closure: drivers told to expect ‘incredibly busy’ routes

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Roadworks mean stretch between junctions 10 and 11 will be shut from 9pm on Friday to 6am on Monday

Drivers have been warned to expect delays this weekend as part of the M25 shuts down for the third time this year.

Major roads in the south-east will be “incredibly busy” this weekend as National Highways closes a section of London’s orbital motorway for roadworks in both directions between junctions 10 and 11 in Surrey from 9pm on Friday to 6am on Monday, the AA said.

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Two dead after truck strikes group on Fourth of July in New York City park

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Ford F-150 came down a street ‘at a high rate of speed’, went past a stop sign, on to the sidewalk and into a park

Two people were killed and nine others injured, four critically, when a pickup truck drove into a group celebrating the Fourth of July holiday in New York City, authorities said.

A Ford F-150 came down a street “at a high rate of speed” shortly before 9pm Thursday. The truck went through an intersection and past a stop sign, drove on to the sidewalk and into Corlears Hook Park on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, said Jeffrey Maddrey, the New York police department chief, during a news conference.

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UK haulage industry calls for investment in electric truck infrastructure

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There are just 300 electric HGVs in the 500,000-strong lorry fleet – and only one public charging point, says RHA

The road haulage industry is calling on the new government to urgently tackle investment in infrastructure for electric trucks, after pointing out there is just one public charging point for HGVs in the whole of the UK.

Takeup of electric cars is soaring, with about 1.1m fully battery-powered cars on British roads and about 63,000 charging units in 33,000 locations, according to Zapmap data.

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Stonehenge likely to be put on world heritage danger list over tunnel plan

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Unesco officials recommend adding Wiltshire stone circle amid fears road scheme would compromise its integrity

Stonehenge is likely to be put on a list of world heritage sites that are in danger because of the plan to build a tunnel under the precious landscape.

Unesco officials have recommended adding the Wiltshire stone circle and the area around it to the list because of concerns that the tunnel would “compromise the integrity” of one of the Earth’s great prehistoric sites.

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Vehicle damage claims in Wales fall 20% since speed limit cut to 20mph, says insurer

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Campaigners say lower speeds reduce casualties but scheme has since been amended to give people more choice to rescind limits

Vehicle damage claims in Wales have fallen by 20% at one leading car insurer since the nationwide 20mph speed limit was introduced there last September.

Wales was one of the first countries in the world, and the first nation in the UK, to introduce legislation for a default 20mph speed limit in built-up areas last year.

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Bus plunges into river in central St Petersburg killing at least three

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Russian officials say nine people were recovered from Moika after vehicle veered off bridge

A bus veered off a bridge in St Petersburg, Russia, killing at least three people and leaving six others injured on Friday, officials have said.

The emergencies ministry said rescuers removed nine people from the water, three of whom died. It said four others were in critical condition, and two more were in a serious condition.

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Food importers in UK say new Brexit checks could add 60% to costs

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Businesses say fees for Dover inspections are much higher than first thought and will push up shop prices

Importers of food from the EU into Britain have said newly introduced post-Brexit checks could increase their costs by up to 60%, pushing up prices for customers and driving some shops out of business.

After five previous delays, the UK government on Tuesday introduced the physical checks on animal and plant products entering from the EU, having revealed at the start of this month that it would be implementing a common user charge (CUC) of up to £145 per consignment.

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Welsh government may reverse 20mph limit on hundreds of roads – but denies U-turn

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Minister admits mistakes have been made but says speed limit will remain in high-risk areas

Hundreds of roads and streets where a 20mph speed limit was introduced under a controversial law could be returned to 30mph, as the Labour-led government admitted mistakes had been made over the policy.

The Welsh government denied it had performed a U-turn and insisted the default 20mph for roads in built-up areas would remain to prevent deaths and save the NHS money.

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Tory candidate for London mayor has Trumpian attitude to climate, says Khan

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London mayor expected to criticise Susan Hall in speech launching panels on school roofs

Sadiq Khan will accuse his Conservative rival in the race to be London’s next mayor of being “Trumpian” over the climate crisis, as he announces plans for solar panels on schools.

Khan is expected to acknowledge resistance to his expansion of the ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) in a speech on Friday but insist that he still intends to “go further”.

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45 dead as bus plunges from bridge into ravine in South Africa

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Only survivor after vehicle falls 50 metres and catches fire is eight-year-old who was taken to hospital with serious injuries

An eight-year-old child was the sole survivor after a bus carrying 46 people fell 50 metres from a bridge in South Africa into a ravine and caught fire.

The child, who has not been named, was taken to hospital with serious injuries, the transport ministry said in a statement late on Thursday.

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Labor unveils watered-down fuel efficiency standard that eases emission rules for large SUVs

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Bill to be introduced to parliament this week will incentivise carmakers to import cleaner vehicles

The Albanese government has watered down flagship new laws aimed at disincentivising the use of high-polluting cars and hastening the importation of cleaner vehicles amid pressure from the auto industry.

On Tuesday the transport minister, Catherine King, and the energy minister, Chris Bowen, revealed the details of compromise bill to be introduced to parliament this week, with the changes largely easing rules for popular large SUVs.

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