Transportinfo.org.uk - today's transport news in the uk, hand picked for you each morning

Wednesday, 26 May 2021

BBC News

• Tesla fined in Norway over battery issuesA court has ruled that the car giant must pay £11,500 to each complainant.

Financial Times

• Oil producers face costly transition as world looks to net-zero future Many fossil fuel-dependent economies will struggle to diversify despite intense pressure to hit 2050 targets

The Guardian

• Really smart motorways would have a lower speed limit | LettersDaniel Scharf on the case for a 50mph maximum, Neill Fozard on the dangers during motorway upgrading, and Chris Hughes on a scary near-missThe case for reducing the national speed limit from 70mph to 50mph was made by Stephen Plowden and Mayer Hillman in 1996 and reinforced many times, including by the environmental audit committee in 2006. The prime reason has been reducing carbon emissions from petrol and diesel, but your article (If there'd been a hard shoulder, I'd still have my mum: are smart motorways safe?, 22 May) sets out the safety case: reducing speeds on conventional motorways is...
• End mowing of road verges to create huge wildlife habitat, says UK studyManaging verges for nature would create combined area the size of London, Birmingham, Manchester, Cardiff and Edinburgh for wildflowersRoad verges cover 1.2% of Great Britain, an area the size of Dorset, and could be used to grow wildflower meadows and create habitat for wildlife, a new study says.In a report outlining the scale of road verges in England, Scotland and Wales, researchers from the University of Exeter used Google Earth and Google Street View to estimate that verges account for about 1,000 sq miles (2,579 sq km) of the UK's land.

Times Online

• Used electric car saves you £5,600 on petrol equivalent [subscription]Used electric cars are up to £5,600 cheaper to buy and run than petrol and diesel equivalents, with the price difference growing each time they are sold on, according to research.

Other Regional Press

• MP questions Government's local lockdown over key Heathrow routeThe council has since confirmed that there are no new restrictions in force

New Civil Engineer

• Wales to Ireland tunnel ‘more attractive’ than Scotland to Northern Ireland linkA Wales to Ireland tunnel could prove to be a "more attractive" prospect than the previously suggested Scotland to Northern Ireland link, according to tunnelling expert Bill Grose.