People often want simple answers to the question of why transit is worse in North America (US especially) than other places. A transit agency voluntarily slowing it’s trains down for dubious “safety” benefits, as the government bans speed cameras says a lot.

Two young kids ride their bikes in a curb-protected bike lane in Toronto. On one side is the traffic lane, on the other is a streetside cafe.

Drivers: I couldn’t see you, it was raining
Drivers: I couldn’t see you, there was frost on my windows
Drivers: I couldn’t see you, it was dark
Drivers: I couldn’t see you, the sun was in my eyes

Also drivers: I never see anyone using that bike lane, let’s rip it out.

A bad day for Canada, and therefore the world.

Ontario (population 16 million, 40% of the country) has passed new legislation prohibiting bike lanes that take a lane from cars.

An escalation from Bill 212, which required municipalities to get approval.

A sad day for cyclists. Bill 60 - which prohibits the conversion of motor vehicle lanes to bike lanes (or any other prescribed purpose) - has passed Third Reading this morning which will kill various cycling projects in Toronto & across Ontario. #shame #BikeTO #BikeSky #TOpoli #ONpoli #VisionZero

Diagram of all current indefinite Temporary Speed Restrictions in effect on Line 1. This info has not been public but I finally got an MFIPPA released recently so I can share this. All TSRs except the ones at the ends are at the request of Alstom, and have been in place since the LRT inquiry in 2022

Unfortunately drivers turning right on red rarely are paying attention to pedestrians. It should be banned downtown and throughout Ottawa

Watch and learn. 👀 🧠

I’ve written often about how infants learn language not just with their ears, but with their eyes.

But I’ve rarely run across a better video example than this lovely moment shared to IG by seanandcaitlin.

(Thread 🧵)

Did you see icebergs too??

😐😒

A male Violet-headed Hummingbird perched at @tapirvalley.bsky.social #CostaRica

#birds #nature

One thing that I was thought was revealing about the divisions within Canada:

When Carney acknowledged Poilievre's hard work on his campaign in his victory speed, the crowd of Liberals cheered.

When Poilievre mentioned Carney in his concession speech, there was loud booing.

This is an embarrassment for the city. There's never enough money for making roads safer for non-car users, because all the money has been siphoned away to general coffers!

An aerial shot of the Commanda pedestrian bridge

Good news: The Chief William Commanda Bridge re-opens tomorrow to pedestrians and cyclists!

Bonkers that we live in a world where Liberation Day is a term used by the US government to commemorate the day when it imposes huge tariffs including on allies - with massive price increases to the American public - significantly increasing the likelihood of a global recession.

Hard to take cities seriously on housing when building a modest new structure on a lot you own requires multiple "public hearings" as if you're changing the law to allow public swordfighting, or driving while drunk.

Image showing the expected trip shares between the current numbers in 2022 versus the expected numbers in 2046 according to the city's Transportation Master Plan document.

The City's TMP phase 5 released today is... extremely disappointing. It pushes the same status quo, if anything it walks back many of the very necessary transit priority projects we needed.

We're expecting less than a 2% drop in personal vehicle use in our modal share. In 20 years. Embarrassing

Please get involved and advocate for better transit infrastructure in Ottawa! The proposals have left out key improvements on major routes through the core and instead focus, once again, on commuters in and out of the city.

Would love if they put bus lanes from Billings to downtown, but I think the city would implode trying to propose that idea.

If only they collapsed provincially too..

The dream!

Here's hoping the city actually goes through with it. They've been suspiciously quiet on this project. I emailed asking for an update two weeks ago but didn't get a response.

We need more of this!

It's the time of year where you can swim through the underpass at Bank/Riverside.

#ottawa #cycling

Introducing bike lanes is about creating transportation choice. When you give people safe choices, they can choose a bike for some trips, reducing congestion and reducing conflict between users. Leaders don’t need more evidence, we need to speak better to the public feeling of scarcity.

Happy to be part of your riding now! 🙌

☠️☠️☠️

A Toronto Star article: "Ford government’s own research warned that removing Toronto bike lanes may not ease congestion, may make roads less safe. The government was warned that its plan to remove bike lanes may not get traffic moving as advertised, documents show. In November, the Ford government passed Bill 212, which empowers it to remove bike lanes on Bloor Street, Yonge Street and University Avenue."

The modern conservative playbook. There is no need for the stated reasons to have any relationship with reality. The tariffs aren't about fentanyl and removing the bike lanes isn't about congestion.

www.thestar.com/news/gta/for...

Meanwhile in Ottawa bus stops seem to be every 50 meters from each other.

I hope the trains in Toronto look like they when they get electrified 🤞