Electric scooters zoom onto UK roads as government fast-tracks trials June 30, 2020 Brits will finally be allowed to zoom around on rented electric scooters from Saturday, as part of a bid to promote socially-distanced transport. The Department for Transport (DfT) said the first rentable e-scooters could be available next week, as it published guidance for e-scooter-for-hire firms. It comes as the government tries to ease the pressure on [...]
Sadiq Khan slams Johnson’s New Deal for ‘failing to grasp’ scale of economic crisis June 30, 2020 Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has slammed Boris Johnson’s pledge to pump £5bn into British infrastructure, saying the government has “fundamentally failed to grasp” the scale of the economic challenges facing the UK. In a major speech this morning, the Prime Minister set out government plans to inject billions into a new infrastructure project to [...]
Industry reacts as Boris Johnson lays out ‘New Deal’ recovery plan June 30, 2020 Boris Johnson has today laid out his vision for rebuilding the UK after the coronavirus pandemic, pledging to “build build build” to get Britain back on its feet. Citing US president Franklin D Roosevelt’s “New Deal” as a model for the plan, the prime minister unveiled £5bn in infrastructure investment and promised to “scythe through [...]
Coronavirus has reshaped urban mobility but the biggest challenge remains Climate Change June 30, 2020 The argument for small, environment-friendly personal transport has been growing stronger for some time. This was true even before the Coronavirus pandemic required us to socially distance, and the government urged us all to “consider all other forms of transport before using public transport”; thus marking a reversal of the long-standing encouragement to use trains [...]
Driving lessons get the green light to restart on 4 July June 25, 2020 Learner drivers are set to return to the road as driving lessons in England will resume on 4 July, the transport secretary has announced. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is drawing up plans to get learner drivers and motorcyclists back in their vehicles on 4 July. Theory tests will restart in England on [...]
DEBATE: Should the mayor of London move City Hall to the Royal Docks? June 25, 2020 Should the mayor of London move City Hall to the Royal Docks? Joanne McCartney, statutory deputy mayor of London, says YES. The catastrophic economic consequences of Covid-19 have already hit London’s economy hard. Unemployment is rising. Millions are furloughed. Tax revenues have fallen. London councils face a budget shortfall of £1.3bn this year. Transport for [...]
Government set to announce new hydrogen bus town trial June 24, 2020 The government is set to announce plans for the UK’s first hydrogen bus only town, transport secretary Grant Shapps revealed today. In February ministers unveiled a £50m fund for local authorities to apply to become the country’s first all-electric bus town as part of £170m in new funding for buses. Speaking to the transport select [...]
Sadiq Khan’s TfL fare freeze not ‘responsible’, says Grant Shapps June 24, 2020 Sadiq Khan’s decision to implement a four-year fare freeze on Transport for London services was not “responsible”, transport secretary Grant Shapps said today. Shapps made the comments when answering questions from the transport select committee about the decision to temporarily suspend free travel for under 18s as part of the government’s £1.6bn bailout of TfL. [...]
Coronavirus gives chance to move to ‘different type of railway’, Grant Shapps says June 24, 2020 Transport secretary Grant Shapps has confirmed that the government will use its emergency control of the UK’s railways to change the way the current franchise system operates. Speaking to the transport select committee this morning, Shapps said: “We were already going to be moving to a different type of railway and different types of contracts [...]
Sadiq Khan moots City Hall move to save £55m June 24, 2020 London Mayor Sadiq Khan has proposed moving the headquarters of the Greater London Assembly from City Hall in a bid to save £55m in the aftermath of the coronavirus crisis. Khan today announced a consultation on plans to move from the Norman Foster-designed building near Tower Bridge to the Crystal Building in the Royal Docks. [...]