October 1st, 2026 Subscribe Help keep Transport Leader free, for everyone. Become a Supporter Stop Selling Sustainability: What Paris Teaches Us About Greener Transport Key Takeaways Our transport systems are optimised for moving cars rather than people, and the environment pays the price in far more ways than carbon emissions alone. Electrifying vehicles is necessary but nowhere near sufficient to make transport genuinely better for the environment. Even when the political mood favoured...
4 days agoΒ β’Β 7 min read
Subscribe Welcome. In Today's Transport Leader: Bus Speeds Are Falling. Here's What 15 Cities Reveal About Why Contactless Ticketing Is Already Obsolete. Here's What's Next Road Safety Needs More Than Funding. It Needs Social License Plus Quick Trips and Jobs Read online Help keep Transport Leader free, for everyone. No paywall. No locked content. Just a way for readers who've gotten value from it to help keep it going. Every issue of... Read more Become a Supporter Buses Bus Speeds Are...
7 days agoΒ β’Β 7 min read
September 24th, 2026 Subscribe Building Better Transport Systems Part 3 - Direct Costs, Hidden Costs: The Real Transport Bill Key Takeaways Car-dependent transport systems have a high overall cost with low direct costs but high hidden costs. An alternative transport system where driving paid a much greater proportion of the hidden (social) costs it creates would have a much lower overall cost. The debate over who pays for transport is built on a myth: driving isn't self-funding, and public...
11 days agoΒ β’Β 10 min read
Subscribe Welcome. In Today's Transport Leader: We Think Everyone Else Is Okay With Speeding. That's Part of the Problem NYC's Vision Zero Reboot: Bold on Actions, More Needed on Outcomes A Framework for Delivering Sustainable Transport? Plus Quick Trips, Tool and Jobs Read online Help keep Transport Leader free, for everyone. No paywall. No locked content. Just a way for readers who've gotten value from it to help keep it going. Every issue of... Read more Become a Supporter Road Safety We...
14 days agoΒ β’Β 6 min read
September 17th, 2026 Subscribe Defining a Better Transport System, Part 2: Freedom to Drive, or Freedom from Driving? Key Takeaways Freedom is central to the pro-car argument, but it rarely gets tested against what freedom actually means. Individualist freedom rests on the harm principle: you're free to act until your choices start harming others. Ranked by harm to others, transport modes fall into a familiar hierarchy: the private car does the most harm. Our transport system isn't the...
18 days agoΒ β’Β 9 min read
Subscribe Welcome. In Today's Transport Leader: Does Working From Home Cut Emissions? It's Complicated. The Global Costs of Driving Commingling Paratransit and Demand-Responsive Transport Plus Quick Trips and Jobs Read online Help keep Transport Leader free, for everyone. No paywall. No locked content. Just a way for readers who've gotten value from it to help keep it going. Every issue of... Read more Become a Supporter Planning Does Working From Home Cut Emissions? It's Complicated. Remote...
21 days agoΒ β’Β 6 min read
September 10th, 2026 Subscribe Defining a Better Transport System, Part 1: Getting Productivity Right Key Takeaways This is part of a series of posts on what a better transport system would look like from different perspectives, starting with economic productivity. Economic productivity in transport isn't about how fast one trip is; it's about how efficiently the whole system moves people and goods. Cars can harm productivity in multiple ways beyond congestion, including through land used for...
25 days agoΒ β’Β 9 min read
Subscribe Welcome. In Today's Transport Leader: Transport Policy Evolution - From Predicting Traffic to Understanding People Bremen's carsharing study: does it prove reduced car use? The problem with a bus network accessibility plan Plus Quick Trips, Tool, Innovation and Jobs Read online Policy Transport Policy Evolution - From Predicting Traffic to Understanding People Professor David Hensher from the ITLS at the University of Sydney. Last week, he provided a short summary of where he sees...
28 days agoΒ β’Β 6 min read
September 3rd, 2026 Subscribe Fares, Secrecy, and the Suburban Rail Loop: A Case Study in Transit Funding Politics Key Takeaways Victoria wasn't wrong to fund part of the Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) through fares; it was wrong to hide it. Secrecy, not the policy itself, turned a defensible funding decision into a political scandal. Australians dramatically underestimate how heavily their public transport is already subsidised, which makes fare rises politically toxic. Low or free fares don't...
about 1 month agoΒ β’Β 11 min read