Beate Kubitz

Well well well.....Rishi Sunak, Infosys & his family's business partnerships with oil and gas giants Facts from @BylineTimes and @AdamBienkov ⏬️ North Sea

Cycle road. Mother for scale.

@stratageeb1 Indeed!

@BeateKubitz Wide, well maintained, separated from road traffic and no doubt direct between destinations! What a rural cycle trail is supposed to be if we are serious about modal change!

One of my favourite cycle paths in Germany runs between Plaue and Angelroda through a wheat field, with the main road it avoids inaudible in the distance.

@feetsby @MarkSharon_DP There are different finding models for local transport elsewhere. Companies in France pay a payroll levy to fund local transport. German cities/states raise their own taxes from companies (the success of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine led to a windfall in Mainz).

Tram time! Erfurt, population 200k ish, has a great tram system, super bus routes, cycle lanes and bustling pedestrian zones.

@feetsby @MarkSharon_DP Public transport serves a very wide group - the people who use it directly but also others who don’t but benefit from reduced congestion, better air quality and better road safety. Taxing to fund public transport is a smart way to make your city work better.

@mrgodive @BelfastUrbanist @tjmoore As a trade off with cars in the way, I’ll take wires

@BeateKubitz @BelfastUrbanist @tjmoore The city’s are better with all the wires overhead?

@mrgodive @tjmoore Boarding is slow on buses (in the uk - Barcelona is probably nearly tram speed). Fully segregated bus lanes may be nearly tram speed and have had some success in Manchester. However teams are a smoother ride, electric and don’t produce tyre particulates.

@BeateKubitz @tjmoore Not so sure as double deckers hold a lot plus at busy time more buses can be added. Bus lanes give buses priority as well

@jamiewfurlong @awjre Not that I know off. The council is valiantly trying to persuade them that it’s possible to preserve the heritage and provide access but they’re quite intransigent

@awjre don’t hold your breath… the council is still trying but fixing 99% of a route doesn’t make it accessible…

@mrgodive @tjmoore So the hierarchy of how much access to public transport increases house prices by is train > tram / tube > bus. I think that kind of reflects people’s value of bus routes and how they can be changed being less valuable from user perspectives.

@BeateKubitz @tjmoore Buses can do all that & are not restricted to tracks so very flexible

@MarkSharon_DP Taxes. It’s a mystery that Germany and France have similar size economies to the UK, similar tax bills but you can actually see evidence of where your taxes go

@BeateKubitz Paid for how?

@drpaulitious @MarkSharon_DP Public use of rapid public transport is usually underestimated in the uk. Eg the Edinburgh tram reached break even a year earlier than projected (despite build being controversial & slow)

@drpaulitious @MarkSharon_DP It’s usually public policy to have a decent tram system to ensure your city thrives. Germany is very decentralised so they can decide locally to spend public money on them. The city or region usually has a stake in the tram operator so it’s in its interest to be efficient.

“Ticket offices do so much more than sell tickets” Fantastic interview with @Tanni_GT on #TicketOfficeClosures Ticket offices are so much more than four walls. Help save them: bit.ly/SaveTicketoffi…

When you go to sleep in southern France and wake up in Northern Europe… kit change for the last leg in Erfurt