“Gigafactories” could one day be churning out millions of electric vehicle batteries in the UK. The government has already committed the country to a ban on selling new petrol- and diesel-engined cars by 2030, so it seems that electric vehicles (or EVs, as they’re often abbreviated) are likely to replace much of today’s fleet.

Low traffic neighbourhoods have had a rough press over the last few months. Tales of congestion, controversy and cultural conflict. LTNs provoke strong reactions.

The publication of ‘Buses Back Better’ in March – setting out a bus strategy for England - marked the biggest shift in policy since deregulation in 1986. In place of competition between bus operators as a major policy objective, and most services determined commercially, there is a very strong emphasis on a co-ordinated approach.

Globally, only one in 50 new cars were fully electric in 2020, and one in 14 in the UK. Sounds impressive, but even if all new cars were electric now, it would still take 15-20 years to replace the world’s fossil fuel car fleet.

We all know the theory, we should be using our cars less and travelling more actively, to improve or health (mental and physical), to save money, to save time and to tackle the climate crisis.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, communities living in cities need cleaner air to breathe and outdoor public space to be social yet physically distanced.

Recognition of these issues has led public health experts, architects and urban planners to discuss how to design cities to respond to the pandemic.

he roll out of vaccines provides hope for a partial restoration of normality in cities. However, the impact of COVID-19 could last much longer. In particular, the pandemic has shown how damaging congestion, pollution and lack of green space can be – including how these factors have contributed to the severity of suffering for city dwellers. We have an opportunity to change city living for the better.

COVID-19 has triggered a crisis for public transport, as lockdowns caused its use to plummet by 70-90% worldwide. Even as lockdowns ease, buses and trains can only carry 15% of the usual number of people due to social distancing requirements – taking the “mass” out of mass transit for the foreseeable future.

The 18th Annual Transport Practitioners' Meeting goes online!

A pause has been forced on urban life. Quiet roads, empty skies, deserted high streets and parks, closed cinemas, cafés and museums – a break in the spending and work frenzy so familiar to us all. The reality of lockdown is making ghost towns of the places we once knew. Everything we know about our urban world has come to a shuddering halt. For now.