The Ranty Highwayman
@rantyhighwayman.bsky.social
A highway engineer's adventures in time & space. The street is not too narrow your imagination is too narrow | Independent sustainable mobility design specialist | Better streets & places | Runs @cityinfinity.bsky.social | https://linktr.ee/rantyhighwayman
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#HelloBluesky, I'm Mark, a civil & highway engineer with nearly 30 years experience, with the last decade as a specialist in sustainable mobility design. I'm a freelancer at @cityinfinity.bsky.social.
I post about highways & transport, often with Opinions.
Also homebrewing, silly films and snark.
I post about highways & transport, often with Opinions.
Also homebrewing, silly films and snark.
Out on a site visit with other consultant colleagues looking at various things.
They were recording pedestrian flows and this chap was recorded at 9am. Bold as brass.
They were recording pedestrian flows and this chap was recorded at 9am. Bold as brass.
November 11, 2025 at 10:15 AM
Out on a site visit with other consultant colleagues looking at various things.
They were recording pedestrian flows and this chap was recorded at 9am. Bold as brass.
They were recording pedestrian flows and this chap was recorded at 9am. Bold as brass.
Reposted by The Ranty Highwayman
India: 67th poorest country in the world
UK: 160th poorest country in the world
India: 100% rail electrification is affordable, and we have achieved this in 2025
UK: anything more than 39% electrification is unaffordable, and we will never achieve 100%
UK: 160th poorest country in the world
India: 100% rail electrification is affordable, and we have achieved this in 2025
UK: anything more than 39% electrification is unaffordable, and we will never achieve 100%
Here is an embarrassing graph I have just made for a report. Fun fact:
in 2020/21 Indian Railways added the equivalent of the UK’s *entire electrified railway network* (over 6000 route kilometers!) to their own electrified network - and then did this again in 2021/22
…and AGAIN in 2022/23! 🤯
in 2020/21 Indian Railways added the equivalent of the UK’s *entire electrified railway network* (over 6000 route kilometers!) to their own electrified network - and then did this again in 2021/22
…and AGAIN in 2022/23! 🤯
November 9, 2025 at 1:00 PM
India: 67th poorest country in the world
UK: 160th poorest country in the world
India: 100% rail electrification is affordable, and we have achieved this in 2025
UK: anything more than 39% electrification is unaffordable, and we will never achieve 100%
UK: 160th poorest country in the world
India: 100% rail electrification is affordable, and we have achieved this in 2025
UK: anything more than 39% electrification is unaffordable, and we will never achieve 100%
Reposted by The Ranty Highwayman
Cycleway works in Westminster klaxon! 📢
They're starting to build kerb-separated cycle tracks on George Street, Marylebone, for Cycleway 43 🥳
Cycling's about to get safer in Westminster - thank you @adamhug.bsky.social @maxsullivan.bsky.social
They're starting to build kerb-separated cycle tracks on George Street, Marylebone, for Cycleway 43 🥳
Cycling's about to get safer in Westminster - thank you @adamhug.bsky.social @maxsullivan.bsky.social
November 10, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Cycleway works in Westminster klaxon! 📢
They're starting to build kerb-separated cycle tracks on George Street, Marylebone, for Cycleway 43 🥳
Cycling's about to get safer in Westminster - thank you @adamhug.bsky.social @maxsullivan.bsky.social
They're starting to build kerb-separated cycle tracks on George Street, Marylebone, for Cycleway 43 🥳
Cycling's about to get safer in Westminster - thank you @adamhug.bsky.social @maxsullivan.bsky.social
Reposted by The Ranty Highwayman
If you liked the Ringways Map, this is for you 👇🏻
Well, we promised a follow-up for #MapMonday to the fascinating London Ringways #Map for another major city in Great Britain, so here it is...
The Greater Glasgow Transportation Study from 1968.
The Greater Glasgow Transportation Study from 1968.
November 10, 2025 at 6:08 PM
If you liked the Ringways Map, this is for you 👇🏻
Reposted by The Ranty Highwayman
Some argue that the unauthorised flags are about patriotism or celebration but if TfL employees are met with threats by simply enforcing the rules, the “flaggers” expose their true intent which is intimidation and division. I'm glad TfL is working with the Met to respond.
November 10, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Some argue that the unauthorised flags are about patriotism or celebration but if TfL employees are met with threats by simply enforcing the rules, the “flaggers” expose their true intent which is intimidation and division. I'm glad TfL is working with the Met to respond.
Reposted by The Ranty Highwayman
I wrote to TfL asking them to remove unauthorised flags in Merton that have caused fear in my community. TfL has committed to removing them - but I've now discovered contractors taking them down are being threatened. This tells you everything: this was NEVER about patriotism.
November 10, 2025 at 6:04 PM
I wrote to TfL asking them to remove unauthorised flags in Merton that have caused fear in my community. TfL has committed to removing them - but I've now discovered contractors taking them down are being threatened. This tells you everything: this was NEVER about patriotism.
Reposted by The Ranty Highwayman
In today’s media climate, progressives face an asymmetry: any mistake or misleading impression is treated as a scandal, while the right’s constant stream of misinformation is normalised.
November 10, 2025 at 5:56 PM
In today’s media climate, progressives face an asymmetry: any mistake or misleading impression is treated as a scandal, while the right’s constant stream of misinformation is normalised.
Reposted by The Ranty Highwayman
The CURRENT sitting MP for Clacton earns £511,000 as a presenter for GB News and took £281,000 as a brand ambassador for Direct Bullion.
So maybe sit this one out, you rancid herring.
So maybe sit this one out, you rancid herring.
November 10, 2025 at 5:44 PM
The CURRENT sitting MP for Clacton earns £511,000 as a presenter for GB News and took £281,000 as a brand ambassador for Direct Bullion.
So maybe sit this one out, you rancid herring.
So maybe sit this one out, you rancid herring.
Reposted by The Ranty Highwayman
Surely "she appeared from nowhere," is a guilty plea? It's certainly no defence.
Especially for a police motorcyclist going through a red light at double the speed limit.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Especially for a police motorcyclist going through a red light at double the speed limit.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Fatal royal outrider crash footage shown to Old Bailey jury
A Met Police outrider denies causing death by careless driving after he hit an 81-year-old woman.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 10, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Surely "she appeared from nowhere," is a guilty plea? It's certainly no defence.
Especially for a police motorcyclist going through a red light at double the speed limit.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Especially for a police motorcyclist going through a red light at double the speed limit.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by The Ranty Highwayman
How often do the police object to new or upgraded works because it makes illegal driving easier?
I appreciate tackling illegal motorcycling isn't easy, but the police shouldn't be just objecting like this.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
I appreciate tackling illegal motorcycling isn't easy, but the police shouldn't be just objecting like this.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Thornaby cycleway plans stall over off-road bike concerns - BBC News
Cleveland Police says it is against plans for a new path footpath and cycleway.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 10, 2025 at 5:09 PM
How often do the police object to new or upgraded works because it makes illegal driving easier?
I appreciate tackling illegal motorcycling isn't easy, but the police shouldn't be just objecting like this.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
I appreciate tackling illegal motorcycling isn't easy, but the police shouldn't be just objecting like this.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by The Ranty Highwayman
we fight for freedom
November 10, 2025 at 4:05 PM
we fight for freedom
He can't outrun the Reaper for ever.
a bald man says yes way in a blue background
Alt: William Sadler as the Reaper from Bill and Ted. A bald man with a pale face and staring eyes.
He says "yes way".
media.tenor.com
November 10, 2025 at 5:32 PM
He can't outrun the Reaper for ever.
Reposted by The Ranty Highwayman
Everything on our news agenda is being driven by a corrupted disinformation machine, run by a billionaire who sponsors Tommy Robinson and who keeps trying to foment civil war in the UK.
And incredibly our MPs & news providers stay there.
THAT is the problem. Not some bad editing choice on the BBC.
And incredibly our MPs & news providers stay there.
THAT is the problem. Not some bad editing choice on the BBC.
November 10, 2025 at 9:18 AM
Everything on our news agenda is being driven by a corrupted disinformation machine, run by a billionaire who sponsors Tommy Robinson and who keeps trying to foment civil war in the UK.
And incredibly our MPs & news providers stay there.
THAT is the problem. Not some bad editing choice on the BBC.
And incredibly our MPs & news providers stay there.
THAT is the problem. Not some bad editing choice on the BBC.
Reposted by The Ranty Highwayman
Happy Turkmenistan Tree Planting Day (Autumn) for those who are celebrating. Twice a year, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov, a shovel, and his unfeasibly smooth neck photoshopped hovering next to a tree.
November 10, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Happy Turkmenistan Tree Planting Day (Autumn) for those who are celebrating. Twice a year, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov, a shovel, and his unfeasibly smooth neck photoshopped hovering next to a tree.
Reposted by The Ranty Highwayman
Protected cycle tracks with floating bus stops keep people of all ages safe on bikes whilst also allowing buses to move freely without being delayed by slower cyclists.
November 10, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Protected cycle tracks with floating bus stops keep people of all ages safe on bikes whilst also allowing buses to move freely without being delayed by slower cyclists.
I've been nosing around Transport for London's FOI page and there is someone who racked up 167 congestion charge fines and 265 ULEZ fines totalling £107,980 between January and September this year 😱
November 10, 2025 at 2:31 PM
I've been nosing around Transport for London's FOI page and there is someone who racked up 167 congestion charge fines and 265 ULEZ fines totalling £107,980 between January and September this year 😱
Reposted by The Ranty Highwayman
Maybe Keir should demand the heads of major US news networks any time they imply Britain is on the brink of civil war or that we live under sharia law. Or does it not work both ways?
November 10, 2025 at 11:29 AM
Maybe Keir should demand the heads of major US news networks any time they imply Britain is on the brink of civil war or that we live under sharia law. Or does it not work both ways?
November 10, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Reposted by The Ranty Highwayman
Sky News just had Kelvin Mackenzie on, former editor of The Sun, one of the people at the centre of probably the most disgraceful front page in newspaper history, complaining about BBC journalists not being objective and 'fake news'. Astonishing. ~AA
November 10, 2025 at 10:53 AM
Sky News just had Kelvin Mackenzie on, former editor of The Sun, one of the people at the centre of probably the most disgraceful front page in newspaper history, complaining about BBC journalists not being objective and 'fake news'. Astonishing. ~AA
Reposted by The Ranty Highwayman
If the BBC is guilty of anything it has been far too ready and willing to follow the right-wing media narratives pushed by the billionaire press barons, instead of pursuing its own independent journalism based on exposing and uncovering the truth – regardless of whether people want to hear it.
November 10, 2025 at 1:01 PM
If the BBC is guilty of anything it has been far too ready and willing to follow the right-wing media narratives pushed by the billionaire press barons, instead of pursuing its own independent journalism based on exposing and uncovering the truth – regardless of whether people want to hear it.
Reposted by The Ranty Highwayman
Happy There Is A Circulatory System Walking Through The Kitchen Day to all who celebrate.
November 10, 2025 at 10:54 AM
Happy There Is A Circulatory System Walking Through The Kitchen Day to all who celebrate.
Reposted by The Ranty Highwayman
Reposted by The Ranty Highwayman
If you've just arrived via the Ringways Map, hello! 👋 You might like this podcast I recorded for Radio 4 a few years ago, telling the Ringways story and how I came to be writing about it. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p...
BBC Sounds - The Boring Talks, #32 - Roads That Don't Exist
Chris Marshall loves roads... even those that don't actually exist.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 9, 2025 at 4:32 PM
If you've just arrived via the Ringways Map, hello! 👋 You might like this podcast I recorded for Radio 4 a few years ago, telling the Ringways story and how I came to be writing about it. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p...
Reposted by The Ranty Highwayman
When Green party critics call our thoroughly researched policies that are often worked through for years "simplistic" "undeliverable" etc, they are never specific about which policies or why.
That's because it would reveal that what they really mean is "our donors don't like them"
That's because it would reveal that what they really mean is "our donors don't like them"
Darren knows that come the next election, Bristol is turning even more Green.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Greens’ ‘undeliverable’ promises will let voters down, says Labour minister
Exclusive: Darren Jones says Labour has to convince young people it is ‘modern party of the future’
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 7:52 AM
When Green party critics call our thoroughly researched policies that are often worked through for years "simplistic" "undeliverable" etc, they are never specific about which policies or why.
That's because it would reveal that what they really mean is "our donors don't like them"
That's because it would reveal that what they really mean is "our donors don't like them"
Reposted by The Ranty Highwayman
We shall respect them in the laybys...
Don’t forget to get your supporters bus to stop on the way to the game at 11am so you can performatively stand in silence on the hard shoulder. (Obviously, all but one of you will forget to actually wear a poppy for this sombre occasion) @remembrancewatch.bsky.social
www.facebook.com/share/p/1FkX...
www.facebook.com/share/p/1FkX...
![A screenshot of the above linked Facebook post by the “Granite City RSC” [an Aberdeen based Rangers Supporters Club] en route to Dens Park for their 3 pm kickoff away to Dundee FC.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:fzqh4vvuu6s6dmzpgc43b45s/bafkreidjmzimdokxzzple6xp4kqew5f6u4oucx3tenvurssum2nfunmtma@jpeg)
November 9, 2025 at 4:13 PM
We shall respect them in the laybys...