There’s a lot going on in the world just now. Reality changes so fast it is difficult to find our feet. Reflection is not really a ‘thing’ right now as we move at breakneck speed from one crisis to the next.
However, I did have a chance to reflect briefly the other day outside Lidl, as I came across this fella (above) boldly parked up like some sort of angular, grounded, hyper-retro metaphor for all that now ails us in the world. My wife pointed out that its ‘Only-Fools-&-Horses’ vibe (replete with painting gear in the back) took her back to better days. We’ve come a long way, the wrong way, when the 80s are seen as halcyon. I should know, I was there.
We have attempted a few ‘revolutions’ in personal transport over the years. The DeLorean gull-wing so beloved of Back to the Future fans or perhaps the Sinclair C5 which, to my knowledge, has never once featured in a movie - for obvious reasons. But the car hasn’t really changed, has it?
Popular culture idolises and exonerates the private car, in all its tarnished glory. The latest iteration is the SUV. It’s a bigger emitter than the ‘car’ but hey, why should we bother when they look cool and are much ‘better’ than just a bog-standard, run-of-the-mill car? But hold on a minute you say, EVs will ride in and save the day - assuming we can workout how to power them all from the grid and how anyone beyond the top 20% earners can afford one, in this cost-of-living crisis. EVs still have rubber tires which are starting to look like the actual problem in terms of air-quality related health issues.
Modern EV cars have their plusses certainly, but swapping the ICE car for an EV on a one-for-one basis won't save us from getting stuck in traffic all day or make us fitter and healthier. Nor will it make our streets safer and our neighbourhoods better places to live. We really need to start thinking in new directions.
Let me introduce you to mobility hubs. A coming together of sustainable modes that promote and provide shared transport modes that provide a ‘first & last mile’ solution that means you don’t have to own anything, or service it. Given I have just spent £859 on a service & MOT and £82 on a full tank of unleaded, that sounds like a wonderful thing.
CoMoUK has been at the forefront of promoting mobility hubs as a sustainable, practical solution to ‘first & last mile’ transport here in the UK since 2019. Mobility hubs are infrastructure-based shared transport solutions connecting existing public transport interchanges, town centres and suburban interchanges to a population on the move.
However, at CoMoUK we continually get asked what a mobility hub might look like and what would it cost? What is in it and why shared mobility?
Our new guidance document ‘The design process - mobility hubs realised; Process, illustrations, and costings’ addresses these questions for five mobility hub types. The document describes the design and delivery process that can be used by built-environment professionals to further their understanding of what a mobility hub is, how it is designed, what it may cost and the elements that make up a mobility hub. The document is a great starting point for design and procurement professionals to understand how to implement a mobility hub project.
This infrastructure is new and bold and different. But it is grounded in reality – a new reality that acknowledges that the private car is on its way out and we have to find an alternative way to get around.
Not an ancient Reliant Robin, I hasten to add.
