A plan to limit the number of automobiles in Oxford and Oxfordshire has provoked a very contemporary form of resistance—online misinformation and threats.
Elected officials and staff in Oxford and Oxfordshire in the United Kingdom are suffering the consequences of proposing a “traffic filtering” plan, intended to create safer places to walk and prioritize non-automotive forms of transportation.
The traffic filtering plan is intended to help the city and county, respectively, as part of the Local Plan 2040, which sets goals to become a 15-minute city.
Viral online misinformation has claimed that the traffic filtering plan “would see parts of the city cut off from each other under a ‘climate lockdown’ and that residents would have to ask the council for permission to travel from one area of the city to another,” according to an article by Christopher Carey.
“The trial scheme, set to be introduced in 2024, will see motorists fined £75 (US$91.85) if they pass through a filter at certain times of the day,” explains Carey. “Residents of the affected areas can apply for permits allowing them to pass through the filters up to 100 days a year, and there will be exemptions for buses, taxis, Blue Badge holders, emergency services, health workers and people receiving frequent hospital treatments.”
More details on the plan and the resulting misinformation can be found at the link below.
FULL STORY: Oxford council staff face threats after traffic scheme misinformation
Congestion Pricing Study Taking Shape in Los Angeles
New York City is the furthest along with a congestion pricing scheme, but San Francisco and Los Angeles are catching up in California.
Congestion Pricing Under Discussion in San Francisco
An expanding number of major U.S. cities are exploring the idea of charging drivers to drive into certain heavily trafficked parts of town. San Francisco is the most recent to explore the idea of congestion pricing (also known as cordon pricing).
Congestion Pricing Drops Holland Tunnel Delays by 65 Percent
New York City’s contentious tolling program has yielded improved traffic and roughly $100 million in revenue for the MTA.
Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage
Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees
More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?
LA’s Tree Emergency Goes Beyond Vandalism
After a vandal destroyed dozens of downtown LA trees, Mayor Karen Bass vowed to replace them. Days later, she slashed the city’s tree budget.
Sacramento Leads Nation With Bus-Mounted Bike Lane Enforcement Cameras
The city is the first to use its bus-mounted traffic enforcement system to cite drivers who park or drive in bike lanes.
Seattle Voters Approve Social Housing Referendum
Voters approved a corporate tax to fund the city’s housing authority despite an opposition campaign funded by Amazon and Microsoft.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Ada County Highway District
Clanton & Associates, Inc.
Jessamine County Fiscal Court
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service