This is the season finale where we take a look back in cycling history and deep dive on one important topic. In this episode it is all about Mark Gorton. This document provides a comprehensive synthesis of the career, legal battles, business ventures, and civic and political activism of Mark Gorton. A technologist and entrepreneur, Gorton's influence spans the disruption of the digital media industry, the evolution of high-frequency financial markets, the promotion of urbanist policies in New York City, and controversial forays into national politics and public health advocacy.

The world is becoming increasingly urbanized. According to data shared by the United Nations (UN), “more than half of the global population now live in urban areas.”

This is up from “one-third in 1950 and is projected to increase to around two-thirds in 2050”.

Cities must adapt to accommodate change to sustain these developments and successfully manage urban growth. But where to start? Urbanization comes with challenges like congestion, pollution, and an increased demand for efficient transportation.

The UK government has just announced multi-year funding for active travel in England outside London, worth £626m. Active Travel England, the agency responsible for allocation of active travel funds in England, says this is enough for 500 miles of new cycling and walking routes.

The electric bike revolution is in full swing, transforming how we commute, exercise, and explore. Sales have surged, with purchases in the United States jumping from 437,000 in 2020 to 1.1 million in 2022. But beyond the simple joy of a pedal-assisted ride, what hidden complexities do new riders often overlook? As this transformative technology becomes more common, it’s critical to understand that an e-bike is governed by a complex web of rules and risks that don’t apply to a traditional bicycle. This article reveals five of the most surprising and crucial facts every e-bike owner should know to ride safely and legally.

Over the past decade, cities around the globe have embraced cycling like never before. Streets once dominated by cars are now alive with two-wheeled commuters, cargo bikes delivering goods, and families riding to school. The Copenhagenize Index, the most comprehensive ranking of urban cycling friendliness, evaluates 100 cities on how far they’ve gone to make cycling safe, convenient, and appealing—from protected lanes and bike boulevards to parking garages and bikeshare programs.

The Cycle to Work Scheme is an employee benefit scheme set up by the government in 1999 that enables employers to ‘hire’ bikes and safety equipment to employees through salary sacrifice.

The aim of the scheme is to get more people to commute to work by bike, promoting exercise while reducing pollution.

The authors of the study, which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, used data from Google to determine walking and cycling rates in 11,587 cities in 121 countries, a far larger sample size than in any previous research. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they found that cities with lots of cyclists and pedestrians tend to be dense and filled with bike lanes.

The authors also found that higher gas prices meaningfully increase national walking and cycling rates. “You need carrots and sticks,” says John Pucher, an emeritus urban transportation researcher at Rutgers University, who was not involved in the study. “You need incentives for cycling and walking [combined with] disincentives to car use.”

The source is primarily an analysis from Cambridge Mobile Telematics (CMT) detailing a "Road Risk Alert" that focuses on dangerous driving behaviors during the Thanksgiving travel period. This analysis, spanning data from 2022 to 2024, reveals a significant increase in both distracted driving (up 10.8%) and speeding (up 68%) on Thanksgiving Day compared to typical Thursdays. The report provides specific time frames when these risky behaviors peak, noting that speeding dramatically rises by 187% on Thanksgiving morning and distraction spikes during midday travel times. Additionally, the source examines risky driving on the Wednesday before and Friday after the holiday, concluding that both days also see increased danger, with speeding showing the largest surge. The end of the source includes contact information for CMT and a brief mention of a separate initiative with the Oklahoma Challenge to promote safe teen driving.