RAC Foundation

see this Guardian piece on road pricing for views from, amongst others, "the battle-scarred Gooding": “I watch with interest the old hands coming out and saying the government is being backed into the corner by declining fuel duty, and their hand is being forced, ... But the political realities are as difficult now as they ever were.” “I suspect the chancellor will kick this can down the road ever further come the end of the month.” not long now until we find out. https://lnkd.in/eubZAijT

We have updated the Green Fleet Index again! The provisional figure for September 2024 is currently 4.76% (of car miles in UK done by zero emission (full battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell) vehicles. https://lnkd.in/eJQXQjgg @RACFoundation Steve Gooding Ivo Wengraf Ruby Martin Philip Gomm

Really enjoyed chatting to Hattie Hlad for this season's Driven by Excellence Podcast. We talked all things transport policy, road safety research and what steps we should take to ensure interventions are informed by behavioural science. 🎧 To listen to the podcast visit - https://lnkd.in/exufUHxY. Thanks again for the invite to join you PDT Fleet Training Solutions Samantha Leleu CMILT Sadie Booth Matt Eastland-Jones

This morning Danny Pike on BBC News Radio Sussex extensively covered the topic of Graduated Driver Licensing #GDL following the support of CC Jo Shiner Sussex Police National Police Chiefs' Council for the introduction of #GDL for young drivers. I was pleased to speak with Danny earlier in the show about the proposals (1:51.24) and it was great to hear CC Jo Shiner discussing both #GDL and other roads and general policing issues as part of an hour long discussion later on in the programme (3:11.19). You can listen again at https://lnkd.in/eYUCUbgw RAC Foundation

On the day the Government launches their car insurance taskforce (https://lnkd.in/ef4uxGf9), the latest Office for National Statistics inflation data is out and RAC Foundation analysis (https://lnkd.in/geaDMDEP) shows that over the last 10 years, "tax & insurance" (so, mostly insurance) has gone up 227.82%, while wages went up only 45.89% over the same period.

I was pleased to contribute to BBC Breakfast’s segment on Graduated Driver Licensing this morning, where I outlined the evidence for essential safeguards for newly qualified teenage drivers. The moving contributions from Sharron Huddleston and Dr Ian Greenwood as well as the insights from CC Jo Shiner National Police Chiefs' Council highlighted very clearly the critical importance of this conversation. You can watch the segment from 7.32am on iPlayer at https://lnkd.in/eSdwcgYj Thank you to BBC Breakfast for providing us another opportunity to further this vital debate. I hope this conversation continues to raise awareness and drive meaningful change to protect young drivers, their passengers and other members of the travelling public. RAC Foundation #RoadSafety #TeenDriverSafety #YoungDrivers #BBCBreakfast #NationalPoliceChiefsCouncil #GraduatedDriverLicensing

Looking for motivated PhD students to undertake research on the topic of "improving the state of the practice for transport appraisal to accommodate the productive use of travel time". If you're interested in digitalisation of activities (remote working, e-retail etc), statistical modelling, quantitative policy analysis and human behaviour; if you would like the opportunity to work closely with the UK Department for Transport on improving appraisal methodologies... and if you think you have a competitive CV, please see below. https://lnkd.in/ewfhb3qN Jacek Pawlak, Iven Stead, Stuart Allen

And that’s a wrap! We’ve just closed the ADEPT National Traffic Managers’ Conference 2024.   Over 100 delegates – comprising traffic managers, corporate partners from key service sectors, professional bodies and civil servants – attended from across England.   The event took place at Pride Park in Derby and explored the theme of ‘shaping the future of traffic management, with a focus on delivering a resilient and sustainable highways network, while navigating changes brought by a new government.   The event featured a series of presentations and panel sessions and provided opportunities for networking, knowledge sharing and engaging in Q&A discussions.   Sessions were led by industry leaders and experts, covering topics such as implementing moving traffic contravention powers, whether AI can help traffic managers, on-street EV charging, liveable neighbourhoods, maximising the potential of kerbside management, and how to engage the public on topics including ‘vision zero’, graduated driving licences and barriers to the growth and acceptance of active travel, as well as an update from our Live Labs 2 programme. This year’s speakers included Mike Potter from AppyWay, Steve Gooding from the RAC Foundation, Dr Suzy Charman from the Road Safety Foundation , Dr Shaun Helman, TRL and Brian Deegan from Active Travel England, among others. The conference was sponsored by AppyWay, Brightly, Causeway Technologies, National Highways and Aimsun. Exhibitors included Polaris Inc., Highway Resource Solutions and the Road Safety Markings Association. #highways #TrafficManagers #LocalGov

Grateful to Nick Hellen for this coverage. It would be less a restriction on the young driver than on peers seeking to travel with them. And it would, of course, have to be part of a wider package as Ian Greenwood has set out.