Signals from the future, conveniently available today
Story 181: A selection of stories from the past week
This was not on the Bridged bingo card for Hammersmith Bridge. What if the Labour Party lost control of Hammersmith & Fulham council?
The Guardian reports on election research suggesting that,
.. the Greens, if they were to run candidates in every ward, could take .. Hammersmith & Fulham.
Oh.
If the Green Party owned the Bridge, would it really want to bring cars back?
Landscape - Do you like what you see?
This is worth a few minutes of your time. Richmond council is consulting on important views across the borough. The ones in Barnes are shown in the diagram below.
These have to be worth protecting. The consultation ends on 23 March, next.
Landscape - London is to get a new park
Good to see plans advancing for a major new park in west London.
Maybe time for a new one in south west London now?
Landscape - More money, more shade
Richer neighbourhoods tend to have more shade than poorer ones, according to an MIT study.
And shade is only part of the equation. With one eye on the climate expectations in Barnes in 2050, we will need much more shade and much more seating too.
Transport - Demand for e-scooters up more than 50%
Trips increased 54% year on year, rising from 1.3m to over 2m trips, with average utilization reaching 1.5 trips per vehicle per day. Lime and Voi Technology now run more than 4k e-scooters across 1,600 parking bays in 11 boroughs of London. All this from new Transport for London data, as Jess Warren, from BBC London News explains.
Transport - Woman cycle much, much less than men
There’s a surprising and striking difference between the number and length of bike trips taken by men and women in England.
My own informal observation suggests Barnes may show something similar. This needs to change by 2050.
Transport - The French have Flaneurs: we have the Loiterers
Loitering can add to community, that sense of belonging. For nearly 20 years the Loiterers Resistance Movement in Manchester has run free, open-ended group drifts that resist productivity and commercial pressure.
Transport - More real-time information screens at bus stops
Bridged backs this campaign for more bus stops to showi real-time information. The data exists and it is useful. Why not share it?
And while we are at it, add more seating too.
Infrastructure - Side road zebras again but with a new name
Another week, another supporter for side-road zebras.
This time it is Cycling UK. I think their preferred name - simpler zebra crossings - is rather good.
No zig-zag markings. No Belisha beacons. But pedestrians offered a lot of protection at a fraction of the cost.
Housing - LED upgrade
After twenty years, the first floor of Bridged HQ has seen a major lighting upgrade. The 18 small halogens are gone, replaced by LEDs.
Why just the first floor? Partly cost.
The new lighting units and electrician - because, despite what some YouTube videos suggest, this is not a job for an amateur - came to over £500.
Transport - Oh no
Buyers in the UK can now order some of General Motors’ biggest vehicles, reports Autocar
Cadillac: Escalade, Escalade ESV, Escalade-V GMC: Yukon Denali, Sierra 1500 Denali, Sierra 1500 AT4 Chevrolet: Tahoe, Suburban, Silverado
And you thought that Land Rover Defender was big?
And finally
To close, not so much a story from the future as a reminder that bridge engineering issues have been with us for many years.
While researching a potential story about what Barnes might learn from Blackheath, SE3 - an area that, at first glance, has much in common with Barnes - I came across this sign at the railway bridge,
So yes, even then: warnings, weight limits, structural anxiety. Some things in British infrastructure have a very long shelf life.
