All articles by barbara speed
barbara speed
Google's self-driving cars might have robotic arms. To make them less confusing
The short history of autonomous vehicles has already shown us that in a closed environmement, cars that drive themselves are…
Communal living rooms and a “disco laundrette”: Is shared living really the future of affordable housing?
A headline on design website Dezeen last week announced that an architecture firm had unveiled plans for a new “genuinely affordable”…
Forget free rail for the under-11s. Here are three other ways to make London transport fairer
Last week, Boris Johnson announced a new deal with London rail operators which would let under-11s travel for free when…
The week in Airbnb drama
This week, both the tech and business worlds have crowded around their screens to watch as online holiday rental site Airbnb…
Most of the world's busiest metros are in Asia
The Tube’s pretty busy, right? Sometimes you can’t even sit down on a seat. That one time, when you accidentally travelled…
Shock news: street names are sexist
Streets are named for all kinds of reasons, but there’s a pretty fair chance that they represent an accolade of some…
Transport for Madeira: How to get around when you live on a volcanic island
Advances in transport are all well and good, but they’re not much use if you live in some of the…
Will the Night Tube be running by Christmas?
So where’s the Night Tube, then? When the project, which would see 24-hour service on selected service at weekends, was…
What are "sanctuary cities", and why does Donald Trump hate them so much?
What is a “sanctuary city”? It’s one of the words flying around during the US presidential nominations: a city that refuses…
What are "piggyback homes", and could they help ease London's housing crisis?
Another day, another document in our inbox containing increasingly hysterical suggestions for how we can hope to house the tens…