• Heavy SUVs & electric cars smash through guardrails (Slate)
• How to Travel to Heathrow's 6 Stations for Free: Video (Geoff Marshall)
• The Future Growth of Los Angeles Rail Transit, for the 2028 Olympics & Beyond (Adam Susaneck)
• NYC’s New Faregates & Transit Robot Cop to address Out of Control fare evasion: Video (Here Be Barr)
• New Melbourne homeowner finds elaborate model train setup beneath feet (SBS News)
• Mexico's $4.5BN Gamble To Rival The Panama Canal: Video (The Impossible Build)
• Why Paris Tore Down A Highway To Build A Tram: Video (Sensato)
• AI shows stoplights are a big climate problem, with a simple fix (Anthropocene)
• The railway station car park so big they had to name the streets (Waking up Geelong)
• Artist imagines classical painting figures on contemporary public transport (Colossal)

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1. Purpose of Maps: A good map depends on its purpose. It should clearly define parameters like orientation and navigation but can also tell deeper stories about history, context, and unrealized plans.
2. Geographic vs. Diagrammatic Maps: Diagrammatic maps like Harry Beck’s iconic Tube map simplify navigation, but geographic maps reveal the complexity and reality of subway networks. Andrew Lynch balances both in his work.
3. The Evolution of Subway Mapping: The New York City subway map has evolved from Massimo Vignelli’s modernist approach to its current version, each reflecting different priorities—art, utility, and user psychology.
4. Storytelling Through Maps: Andrew’s maps explore what the subway system was, what it could have been, and what it might become, highlighting the importance of understanding historical layers and abandoned infrastructure.
5. ...

How the whole thing works, with Andrew Lynch

Maps are more than tools—they’re stories. In this episode, Andrew Lynch takes us on a journey through the subway systems of New York and Washington, revealing the secrets of abandoned lines, unrealized designs, and the choices that shape how we move through cities.

Journey With PurposeRandy

The mega transport project will significantly expand the underground metro network in Naples and connect the city’s northeast to a new high speed rail hub. The line will be around 14km long from Naples-Afragola high-speed station to Principe Umberto station. It will be almost entirely underground, with tunnels excavated using traditional methods and tunnel boring machines.

The total estimated investment in the Naples metro line 10 project is £2.7bn (€3.1bn). It is being developed by the Municipality of Naples and the Campania Region. Lot 1 includes the design and construction of civil works for line 10, which will be carried out in phases. Under the £572M (€660M) contract, the consortium will work on the first phase of lot 1, which covers 6.5km of line. The contract also grants the consortium the exclusive right to execute additional works – pending financing – up to a total value of more than €1.7bn for the future completion of the line.

Webuild team bags £572M civils contract on new Naples metro line | Ground Engineering

A Webuild-led consortium has won a £572M (€660M) contract for the design and construction of civil works on the new metro line 10 in Naples, Italy.

Ground EngineeringThames Menteth

The argument goes that larger and heavier cars are simply too wide for London’s parking spaces and too big for its roads. They’re more likely to cause serious injuries or death, with the occupants of the car safer but pedestrians or cyclists in a much worse position.

SUVs are also rapidly growing in popularity, now accounting for two thirds of new car sales in the UK.

But how would an SUV tax actually work?

One problem is that “SUV” – which stands for sports utility vehicle – is more of a marketing term than a set of explicit criteria. TfL would first have to decide exactly which cars would be impacted by a charge. If London defined which size of vehicle counts as an SUV, then that would become the de facto national standard, which could incentivise manufacturers to design vehicles that stay below that level.

Oliver Lord, of campaigning organisation Clean Cities, said that such measures are usually enforced by taking into account either a car’s physical size or its weight. He said the rapidly increasing height of cars on London’s roads is a “major cause for concern when it comes to visibility of children, and hitting people in their vital organs”.

Reducing SUV use shouldn’t be done by purely punitive measures, he said. It’s also about providing alternatives for people, particularly after the departure of car-sharing company Zipcar from London: “TfL could be doing a lot more to point out that there are alternatives to buying huge cars.”

What are other cities doing?

Similar SUV taxes are usually achieved by charging more for parking. In Paris, fees for parking heavy cars have been tripled. In Cardiff a similar system is being introduced based on a car’s weight, while Bath is looking to charge more for parking based on vehicle size.

But the mayor and Transport for London don’t have London-wide control over parking, which tends to be devolved to the 33 local authorities. (Haringey council has already introduced a small surcharge on cars over four metres in length.)

Instead, this suggests any London-wide system would have to be enforced using TfL’s existing ULEZ and Congestion Charge cameras – if they’ve not been blown up. This system already works to enforce new safety standards on lorries entering Greater London.

What about just taxing all cars?

Fundamentally there’s a political tension at the heart of all of the mayor’s Vision Zero work. As TfL itself puts it in the report, cutting private car usage is “one of the most effective ways to cut road danger”. And the fastest way to reduce private car use is to make it more expensive and annoying to drive a car. Understandably, people who rely on their car or feel they don’t have suitable public transport alternatives, especially in outer London, don’t like the idea of having to pay more for something they see as a necessity.

As London Centric previously revealed, TfL had developed detailed plans to introduce per-mile road charging in London. But these were scrapped ahead of the 2024 mayoral election, amid fears that the policy could hit both Sadiq Khan’s re-election campaign and Labour’s national election campaign. Since then private car usage has continued to creep up in London, in direct contravention of the mayor’s objectives.

What else does the mayor’s Vision Zero report propose?

The report makes 43 commitments to reducing risks on the road, including:

• Making 20mph the default maximum speed in London
• More enforcement against illegal number plates by targeting the use of ghost and cloned plates
• Making it easier for the public to report dangerous driving using footage from dashcams and helmet cameras
• Installing 1,000 new zebra and signal-controlled pedestrian crossings
• Tackling the use of unsafe and non-road-legal e-bikes and e-motorcycles.
• Focusing on making high streets safer, as they are where 46 per cent of all deaths and serious injuries in London occur

This is a reprint of the London Centric article from March 16, 2026, which can be read on their site by clicking on the following:

How would London’s “Range Rover tax” work?

Plus: Our reporting on Asif Aziz’s evictions reaches the prime minister, the brief life of Londonmaxxing, and how parking became the latest frontline in Newham politics.

London CentricJim Waterson

[Note that the PWI has since renamed itself the Railway Engineering Institution (RailEI)]

1. Digital Wayfinding Evolution: The project aimed to modernize the wayfinding system for Washington Metro by incorporating real-time digital information that complements existing static signage.
2. Order’s Design Philosophy: Garrett Corcoran’s firm, Order, focuses on creating cohesive design systems rooted in identity, extending across mediums like branding, editorial, motion, and wayfinding.
3. Metro’s Historical Legacy: The project respected and built upon the iconic design elements of Washington Metro, including the architecture by Harry Weese and the graphic design system by Massimo Vignelli.
4. ...

Recipes for Wayfinding in the Washington Metro, with Garrett Corcoran

Garrett Corcoran shows us how design can be a bridge between the past and the future. Taking on the challenge of extending wayfinding to digital screens for the Washington Metro, Garrett shares what it’s like working with historical design legacies and figuring out how to make screens feel as natural as those mid-century hexagon tiles.

Journey With PurposeRandy

Quantum inertial navigation uses ultra-sensitive sensors capable of detecting minute changes in motion and rotation. Unlike satellite-based navigation systems such as GPS, it does not rely on external signals, meaning it could provide highly resilient positioning even in environments where satellite signals are unavailable, including tunnels, dense infrastructure or areas affected by interference.

The technology is being developed as a potential future alternative to fixed trackside positioning infrastructure, which can be costly to install and maintain and are vulnerable to environmental disruption or equipment failures. Once developed, quantum will enable a lower cost, more reliable, more resilient system.

Click on the following to continue reading:

Step forward taken in quantum navigation technology for rail - Rail UK

Step forward taken in quantum navigation technology for rail - Technology

Rail UKRailUK-admin

Indian cities are striking, for all the cliches of how they engage all your senses, but also the ambition. Metro lines are threading through dense neighbourhoods, massive infrastructure projects get delivered at pace, and development is not really up for debate, it’s just happening.

Compared to the endless consultation cycles and delivery paralysis we see in much of North America and Europe, there’s something bracing about that momentum. Depending on who you are, this is not positive for everyone. We are not talking utopia here, not by a long shot. We are not saying this is bad either.

Challenger Cities EP59: Building Faster Than Memory with Ruchita Bansal

Listen now | Indian cities are an excellent lesson in what happens when modern infrastructure collides with ancient systems, and how we need to better understand how to connect contrasting realms.

Challenger CitiesIain Montgomery