Virtual walking…the future of journey planning?

A new online visual mapping tool has been developed by a start-up company in America*, to provide a tour of places from a pedestrian’s perspective.

An interesting concept, which builds on the idea being developed by Google Earth, but do these applications have a useful purpose, or are they just an interesting tool to play with?

Research** recently published by the RAC Foundation and the British Chambers of Commerce found that the uncertainty of journey end points, often leads business travellers to either drive the whole journey (increasingly with satnav as a companion) or hop in a taxi when they get to their destination on the train. This type of tool could certainly be used to help travellers familiarise themselves with the look and feel of a destination before they arrive, to the extent that less taxi and car journey’s are made. Some may say, what is wrong with a traditional map – nothing of course – but it would be interesting to see these tools used in a way, which helps enhance existing journeys. 

* Everyscape

** ‘Business Travel: Choice or necessity?’

Source: planetizen.com  

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Bank of mum and dad helps keep young motorists on the road

We often hear of the ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’ giving first time buyers a helping hand on the proporty ladder, but according to research from Zurich, this assistance is also extending to paying motoring bills.

Parents are spending an average of £2400 a year to keep their children or grandchildren on the road according to the report and almost half (approximately 11 million) of the UK’s 28 million motorists received some financial assistance from their parents to buy their first car.

These findings illustrate that the cost of motoring for some, namely parents, is a lot higher than others, which goes to show that any increase in motoring costs, especially fuel will have a doubly wammy effect for those supporting two or more vehicles.

Source: Whatcar    

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The environment- not a huge public concern?

Last week DEFRA released their pocket sized guide to the environment detailing environmental trends and statistics and the results of a survey looking at the attitudes and behaviours of the public towards the environment.

In this survey, despite the ongoing publicity campaigns about climate change, only 20% said that the environment should be a key focus of the Government- a 10% reduction in concern since 1989.  Instead, crime was revealed to be the most pressing area of concern, which considering the horiffic crimes reported in the past year or so- is not suprising.

However, the vulnerabilty of the environment to human activity was understood by 30% of respondents, who said that they believed their behaviour and everyday lifestyle contribute to climate change.

Source: http://www.gnn.gov.uk/Content/Detail.asp?ReleaseID=329299&NewsAreaID=2

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Education, education, education- oh and traffic police as well…

As speeding continues to be a menace, the question of how to deter this dangerous behaviour lingers.  While many believe that offenders should have their licenses stripped and wallets raided, the RAC Foundation calls for a more long lasting solution to the problem, namely- an increase in traffic police and speed awareness courses, to really drum the message into motorists that speeding endangers lives.  Below is a link to the Guardian’s ‘comment is free’ by the RAC Foundation’s Executive Director Edmund King, expressing the belief that lessons can be learnt without the need for prosecution. http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/edmund_king/2007/11/penalties_to_fit_the_crime.html

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