Data feed kaput

Thank you!

@betterstreetsforbirmingham.org

Imagine being Richard Tice and this tax news breaking while knocking on doors in Longbridge, Birmingham.

Reform UK - Didn't exist in 2018, Didn't exist in 2022, Not yet published
Independent Candidate Alliance - Didn't exist in 2018, Didn't exist in 2022, Not yet published

Greens - None in 2018, None in 2022, 9 April 2026
Lib Dems - 10 April 2018, 22 April 2022, 10 April 2026
Labour - 28 March 2018, 14 April 2022, Not yet published
Tories - 1 April 2018, 23 April 2022, Not yet published

We're less than three weeks from the Birmingham City Council local election. Main hustings have begun. Only two parties - The Greens and Lib Dems - have published their manifestos. What's up with that?

Edit: More like 80. You'd prioritise, obvs.

I do not know how much this costs, but I do know that so long as we're primarily attaching signage to existing posts, then it should keep costs down.

There are around 45 discrete routes in the city. The average length of these routes is just under 4km per route.

Relatively small cost for utility?

This route is around 7.4km from city centre to city extent.

I reckon it probably needs 65 directional signs (in/outbound treated as different signs), 50 double-sided route repeater signs, refreshed cycle carriageway markings and around 40 directional carriageway markings.

I felt better for the first time in a month today, so went out for a cycle. I ended up thinking 'what if I follow the advisory routes north west?' and ended up in Sandwell Valley Country Park.

A severe lack of signage and advance notice of turns is what lets the quietway network down.

Birmingham is awash with local election candidates – but will result be a ‘coalition of chaos’? Some fear a fragmented field of hopefuls from Labour, the Conservatives, Greens, Reform and independents could leave city ungovernable

Paul Tilsley, long-term councillor, appears to feel similarly.

Is it possible to access previous recordings?

Good luck out there 🫡

‘Supporting trade unionists is in my blood but it's time to stop automatic support for Birmingham refuse workers’ - LabourList A Birmingham Labour member writes from a resident's perspective on the ongoing bin strikes in the town.

The bit that Unite doesn’t want to say out loud.

Every election we see people throw their hats into the ring from all walks of life. This election, the stakes couldn’t be higher. There are many fires to put out despite the budget being balanced. Based on social media, many candidates do not understand the role and powers of the Council or the money (or lack of) available. Promising the earth to residents but with no way to achieve it. I feel that many from across the political spectrum do not possess the skills to create council policy or scrutinise day-to-day delivery. These are skills that will be sorely missed given the complexity of the city. Should independents manage to pull off their campaign, there is little consistency between candidates to create a programme for governing Birmingham. And there is no natural leader. Akhmed Yakoob, Shakeel Afsar and George Galloway are not standing for election so become irrelevant after polling day. Meanwhile, Reform is busy telling every voter in the country that their local area is broken, without setting out their vision for Birmingham in 2030. Will upcoming Labour and the Tory manifestos, like the already-published Green and Lib Dem manifestos, pitch an optimistic future? Should the 13 April PollCheck projection materialise, Birmingham will be ungovernable. While the Tories are promoting that they might be the largest group in the Council, they still fall well short of a majority. Even should they enter an agreement with Reform. Any suggestion of an Indy-Green coalition is for the birds given Yakoob refers to Greens as having “degenerate” policies. During the count, I expect many surprise wins with slim majorities come count day. The results of this will have a profound impact on our everyday lives. We have many opportunities ahead for the city and it rather feels like we’re about to shoot ourselves in both feet. The Council going off the rails since 2022 is merely a taster of the dysfunction that 1.2 million of us are about to experience in real time.

A view on Birmingham's local elections.

Nice - have got this in my pool of literature already so will be good to hear from the author.

Victoria has made public transport free – NSW hasn’t. Has there been any difference in uptake? Public transport access, travel time and familiarity with the network all play a role in how many people switch away from driving.

Is making public transport free “effective?”

“…the relatively small difference between Victoria and NSW suggests price is not the main constraint on mode shift. Access, travel time, service reliability and the ability to make specific trips appear to matter more.”

Via @theconversation.com

It gets murkier as there are 69 wards but around half have two seats. Indies splitting each others’ votes in the ‘inner city’ wards are going to be very interesting.

Interesting new poll (which underemphasises indies)…

22 days until the elections and only two of an expected six manifestos have been published. 🤔

keep it up babes

Would be good to see this for Lime Bikes in Brum. I went to town for the first time in about a month today and they're being very well used.

Ce visuel parfait de @tomflood.bsky.social me fait penser à cette super vidéo de Larry vs Harry:
Bullitt Life: a day in the life of a Bullitt cargo bike and the people that ride them.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zive...

Data feed (API) temporarily unstable folks, sorry!

It feels like they've fixed stuff, but then either not given it enough money to become quickly tangible or is something that isn't felt universally or is an infrequent public service interaction. Meanwhile everyday experiences, mostly delivered by councils, aren't getting better.

Would it kill the Coachella live stream to have a clock on their stream so you can scrub appropriately????

At least you haven’t hit an IQ ceiling 😉

A local election candidate aggressively opposing the @a38cycleway.bsky.social extension to Longbridge has been revealed to live in Redditch, two council areas away.

It would take them approximately 42 minutes to cycle to where the extended lane will begin. 😅

@AngryNimbysInNationalNews