Streetspace Invaders

The Streetspace Invaders report that I worked on for Possible has just been published! We did freedom-of-information requests to all of London's local authorities to find out where they're siting their electric vehicle chargers - in the roadway, or on the pavement where they obstruct pedestrians.

The responses revealed that despite government targets to prioritise pedestrian space and Disabled access, many have been placed on pavements. In fact, London councils have installed four times as many EV chargepoints on pavements than in converted parking spaces.

While EV chargepoints are a welcome sight on the street, eating away at the already-scarce space available to pedestrians is not good. Pavement installations can have a profound impact on the already-poor quality of the walking and wheeling environment for people with mobility challenges, particularly wheelchair users and those with visual impairments.

I did most of the data analysis and visualization for the report. Here are a few of the dataviz highlights:

You can download the report over on the Possible website.

Electric vehicle charging rollout is posing a growing threat to walking, wheeling and disabled access — Possible

A new report we commissioned with support from Disabled cycling charity Wheels for Wellbeing, has found that electric vehicle charge points in London are “invading pavements” with significant impacts on anyone making walking or wheeling trips , especially Disabled people.

PossibleLucia Skelton