This was the title of a talk tonight as part of the Science Festival, given by Prof Sarah Sharples, Chief Scientific Adviser for the Department for Transport. I found it utterly dispiriting. The focus was entirely on new technology for cars & other road vehicles - EVs, hydrogen power, self-driving vehicles. Very little about public transport, a passing mention of scooters was the only reference to active travel. Nothing about traffic reduction, nothing about infrastructure. The chair, Dr Sunny Bains, seemed unhappy about the narrow scope of the talk too, and there was only time for a couple of questions so nothing else was explored. If this talk reflects the kind of scientific advice the DoT is receiving, we really are all screwed.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Infrastructure
The Future of Transport
(3 posts)-
Posted 7 months ago #
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Can't be sure if she characterises DoT advice overall - I've encountered officials who deal with micromobility for example. However almost all advice flowing from high officialdom and the dominant techno-industrial areas of academia seems to emanate from an hypertechnophilic worldview - imagining technology can solve (almost) everything. This is being roundly rejected in respect of climate change, where it's increasingly recognised that behaviour and lifestyle change is mandatory. If the technophiles were correct in asserting that the critical difference can only happen through ever more high technology, no less developed country would stand a chance. Truth is, of course, that getting on a bike is a choice to consume *less* technology.
Posted 7 months ago # -
Prof, Sharples is a professor of Human Factors, so she also talked a bit about how to get people to accept changes such as self-driving vehicles or EVs, but said nothing at all about how to persuade people out of their cars. Definitely an overwhelming technophile inclination.
Posted 7 months ago #
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