Improved services - as part of restarted / improved life?

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Looking forward - future direction (of transport and travel) in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) with particular reference to the South West. Posting in "campaign for new and improved services" as we sure as heck need to improve from where we are today!

TravelWatch SouthWest

TravelWatch SouthWest (TWSW^» (TravelWatch SouthWest - website)) is a social enterprise company which acts as an advocate for passengers to lobby for the improvement of public transport in the region and works closely with local authorities, business organisations, partnerships and other stakeholder groups.

Membership of the TravelWatch SouthWest CIC^▸ (Community Interest Company ) is open to every ‘not-for-profit’ organisation in the South West of England whose sole or principal purpose is to represent the users of any public transport service or to promote the development of public transport services – membership is also open to other ‘not-for-profit’ organisations’ in the South West England who represent the interests of special and potential classes of public transport users e.g. the disabled or the elderly. TWSW currently has over one hundred affiliated organisations.

On Friday, the directors of TravelWatch SouthWest (of whom I am one) met in video conference.  The following is written from my personal notes and does not necessarily reflect any official views or actions or TWSW, and may be missing elements too.

Questions and considerations

Questions ... (general ones) ...
* What has changed for the moment, and what (if anything) has changed for ever?
* How will the UK and the world move forward from its current position?
* How can we help inform and influence to make best use for our new world? 
* How do we look after the regional and local elements in the national and global picture?
* Are there opportunities to improve as we (re)develop, and to loose things that weren't good?
* Are there risks of loosing things that we should keep, and of missing opportunities?

We "need" / it is desirable to ...
* Look after the planet (climate and clean)
* Look after people's lives (mental and physical)
* Look after the economy (macro and micro)

Questions ... (transport ones) ...
* How long will lockdown last and how will it be released?
* Clean Air and climate change - how can this agenda be driven forward too?
* At what returned levels will travel be required - public and private?
* What is the need for speed, for frequency, for capacity, for journey start / end points going to be?
* How will public transport by safe with regards infection control?
* What will be the economic model for public transport?
* Life style changes - working from home, order and deliver?
* Will people want to travel, staycation "levels" - abroad, own country, own home?
* What early restrictions and what is "early"?
* How far ahead do we look?
* Are there opportunities to restart better?

Questions ... (for TravelWatch SouthWest itself - also for The Coffee Shop) ...
* How do we support and advise our members?
* How do we co-ordinate ?
* How do we implement the macro ideas into the micro of individual services?
* How do we campaign ?
* How do we resist the extreme dogma (if indeed we do)?

Images of change

Social distancing on buses


Changes to buses - normal development overtaken by current events


Resurgence in public transport ...


... potentially stillborn?


Flights down to a tiny proportion of what there were


Smog and traffic jams replaced by clean air and open roads


Wild and feral life returning to our towns and cities


Working not in an office but from home


Meeting not in person but online


Many of these pictures are representative, bearing in mind current restrictions on going around to take appropriate images.


Remember the Climate agenda and green triangle
Walking; Cycling;
Ferries; Trains; Coaches; Buses;
Flights;
Driving

And powered leisure / travel for travel's sake
Water - Cruises and boats - Waverley, Balmoral, Kingswear Castle; Rail - Heritage Rail;  Road - Bus rallies


I am frankly baffled by the enormity what is being done / tackled ... hard to know where to start.  OK - I have started by looking to summarise the issues (above).

[Adelante_CCT]

It seems fitting you have used Coronation Road bus stop in the images

[grahame]

It seems fitting you have used Coronation Road bus stop in the images

 

An accident.  This stop is right outside my home!

[grahame]

A further picture of current change.

[ellendune]

If this (Barclays boss: Big offices 'may be a thing of the past') is the trend then we will see a significant effect on travel.

Here are some extracts

About 70,000 of Barclays' staff worldwide are working from home due to coronavirus lockdown measures.

This had led to a rethink of the bank's long term "location strategy", Mr Staley said.

But Mr Staley said his bank was re-evaluating how much office space it needed, as it was now being run by staff working "from their kitchens".

He added that in the future retail branches could be used by investment banking and call centre workers, hinting at an end to long commutes for some workers.

"There will be a long-term adjustment to our location strategy," Mr Staley told reporters. "The notion of putting 7,000 people in the building may be a thing of the past."

[broadgage]

One specific change that could be implemented in public transport vehicles is disinfection by ultra violet light.
Special ultraviolet lamps are available that kill most micro organisms.

The light from such lamps is dangerous to skin and eyes but may be safely applied in two ways.
Air may be passed over such lamps before being heated or cooled and blown into the passenger accommodation. This is an established technology in food and pharmaceutical factories, but could perhaps be applied to vehicles.

Alternatively such lamps could be installed within the passenger saloon, but only lit overnight, or at other times when the vehicle is empty.

Also applicable to underground railway stations.

BTW^▸ (by the way), back in BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) days, ultraviolet light was used to sterilise the water supply in catering vehicles. A very small spyhole allowed simple visual confirmation that the lamp was lit.