Contractors are experts at erecting buildings. Sign companies are experts at putting up signs. Neither are experts in #accessibility or urban mobility. 🛑 🚲🧑‍🦽🚶

A story of cause and effect: Last November, Ontario banned cities from using speed safety cameras to issue tickets. Reckless speeding immediately surged in Toronto, Ottawa, Guelph, and cities throughout the province. A 🧵 about my latest in Bloomberg (gift link)

What Happens When Speed Cameras Get Shut Off

In 2025, Ontario banned automated traffic enforcement. Now the number of drivers exceeding the speed limit has surged, according to traffic data.

bloomberg.com

#Cargobikes make that trip to Canadian Tire easy peasy. 50lb bag of sand, two bags of mulch, some other yard supplies. And the 90lb pup too. ☺️🚲🐶

Done work? Where ya goin'? Don't you want to stick around and enjoy this for a bit longer?

Maybe that 11pm fireworks ticked off enough people that we can finally transition to drones and music. That would be AMAZING! 🤞🤞

PSA for Drivers: you don't HAVE TO pass someone on a bike. We can also have this conversation at the next red light.

US Ambassador Pete Hoekstra welcomed Freedom Convoy leader Tamara Lich to his July 4 party in Ottawa tonight Lich is currently serving a house arrest sentence in relation to a criminal conviction over her role in the convoy's three-week occupation of Canada's capital city

Hey @toondreessen.bsky.social ! What do you think about the GG award in architecture awarded to the "Parkade of the Future"? raic.org/recognition/...

Governor General's Medals in Architecture - RAIC | IRAC

raic.org

Reminder the city spent $28m; didn’t plan for winter; didn’t meet its own accessibility requirements; created guardrails that make it less safe; missed opp to create lookouts and views to promote an “instragammable” moment; it’s good, better than nothing, but is it good enough? bit.ly/41M0xKu

Dreessen: William Commanda Bridge — Is 'good enough' really good enough?

What has been built is decent, nice even. But it falls short of excellence, revealing Ottawa's reluctance to invest in creativity.

bit.ly

mark-sutcliffe.bsky.social@mark-sutcliffe.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Good morning Ottawa. Bonjour Ottawa.

Remember this one? “Humans aren’t very efficient movers—until you put us on a bicycle, when we become some of the most energy-efficient land travelers in the animal kingdom.” Proven science via Scientific American @sciam.bsky.social #CityMakingMath

The Most Efficient Traveler Isn’t a Bird or a Fish—It’s You on a Bike

A famous graphic, now updated, compares locomotion in the animal kingdom

scientificamerican.com

This is a wonderful article extolling how good it is to walk or cycle and how it makes you much more in touch with your surroundings than in a hermetically sealed car isolated from the world. HT @ppushbike.bsky.social www.irishtimes.com/life-style/p...

I’m driving less. I don’t want to see the world through a driver’s eyes any more

Before I began driving less, I had long had a melancholic sense that the city lifestyle I lived was cut off from the seasons and nature

irishtimes.com

🎉 🚲️ Bikes are back on VIA Rail!! 🚲️ 🎉 We love to see such a popular option brought back for travellers, though we're a bit disappointed that it took so long. Read more from VIA: media.viarail.ca/en/press-rel... 📸 Jeangagnon Wikimedia

VIA RAIL REINTRODUCES ON BOARD BIKE SERVICES IN THE OTTAWA-QUÉBEC CORRIDOR | VIA Rail

MONTREAL, Wednesday, May 27, 2026 — VIA Rail Canada announced today the return of its on board bicycle service on trains between Ottawa and Québec City. As of today, cyclists can reserve a bike space…

media.viarail.ca

I agree that framing this conversation as "mobility" is important, because it should also be about "active mobility," as 🚶‍♀️🚲♿ is the feeder network for 🚌🚈. Transit users need safe sidewalks, intersections, and a connected network of mobility lanes to make public transit successful. #Ottawa

Sean Devine@seandevine9.bsky.social · 3mo ago

For at least two years, I've been saying that the 2026 municipal elections will be decided on the issue of mobility: on the increasing challenges of how to move a growing number of residents through our city. Reliable, frequent, efficient public transit is the key. 1/ www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

These signs. 🤦 Even after accessibility and safety upgrades at this intersection. I mean, they even contravene the HTA, which requires motorists to yield to pedestrians at unmarked crosswalks. I really hope there is a culture shift after the next municipal election wrt improving🚶‍♀️♿🚲 mobility.🤞🤞

Conversation in the office today: "Who was lucky and got the long-form census?!" ☺️

CSV Architects is joining us as the Hop on Bikes sponsor for our 2026 Annual Charity Golf Tournament, and we couldn’t be more thrilled. 🚲⛳ Their generosity is helping us putt (pun intended) more bikes into the hands of kids who need them. Thank you CSV Architects for going the extra mile! #Ottawa

Ottawa claiming we can’t have school streets because *waves hands* “resources” but all we would need to start with is a bunch of concrete planters. Cars can go around or turn around. It’s not actually that hard. It just takes prioritizing kids over cars and convenience.

Alissa Walker@awalkerinla.bsky.social · 3mo ago

My latest Paris dispatch on how 300 streets outside of schools became some of the coolest places in the city. But even more importantly, these family-centric improvements provide ubiquitous reminders that this society prioritizes children

1/2 Last Saturday, we kicked off our first Hop on Bikes event of the year, distributing 54 refurbished bikes to kids living in @och-lco.bsky.social. Each bike represents more than just a ride; it’s mobility and independence, yes, but also the chance to just be a kid and enjoy your childhood. #Ottawa

Question for Ottawa people: the terrible death of a crossing guard last month in Barrhaven. I saw some people say there was a (removed) speed camera there, but as far as I can tell it was some distance away and a stretch to say it was the same place. (Same culture etc of course). True?

“The Elbows Up for Climate campaign launched today with an open letter signed by more than 100 mayors and councillors from coast to coast to coast, urging all party leaders to advance Canada’s economic and climate security through five bold, and achievable actions.” #ClimateAction #ClimateCrisis

Druh Farrell@druhfarrell.bsky.social · 4mo ago

I just signed up to Elbows Up for Climate, chaired by former mayors David Miller (Toronto) and Valérie Plante (Montréal). elbowsupforclimate.ca/mayors-and-c...

Absolutely love seeing this. 🤩 A delivery vehicle that makes sense in an urban setting.💪 #Purolator #Ottawa

Good morning Ottawa. Bonjour Ottawa.

Short sighted move: ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/canada-...

Canada to temporarily suspend federal fuel tax on diesel and gasoline

OTTAWA, April 14 (Reuters) - Canada will suspend the federal fuel excise tax on gasoline and diesel from April 20 to September 7 to help consumers and businesses deal with rising prices, Prime

ca.finance.yahoo.com

Yesterday, running errands in parts of #Ottawa I'm rarely in, reminded me how much I love the Cycling Guide app! It routed me on low stress pathways and residential streets, and when at my destination near an industrial park, the colour coding told me it was time to hop on the sidewalk. #Ottbike

A new app highlights the safest and fastest cycling routes around Ottawa

The Kichi Zībī Mīkan Parkway. The Trillium Pathway along the light rail system. Or the Trans Canada Trail near Britannia Beach. These are just some of the

kitchissippi.com

These are the results of Doug giving 💲💲💲 to his buddies to build and widen highways (only to create more car congestion BTW). There are no financial challenges. It's just #priorities. #InducedCongestion #Healthcare

The Ottawa Hospital is cutting 400 jobs in bid to address financial challenges

The reduction amounts to three per cent of its current workforce.

ottawacitizen.com

The best quote so far from the Artemis II splashdown commentary: "They are all green." 🤢 Quickly followed up by a chuckle and clarification that they are all ok!😂 #CanadaInSpace

I find it bonkers that @en.ottawa.ca still does this at all hours of the night. Leaf blowing...the sidewalks. 🧐 #ClimateEmergency #NoisePollution

It's nice when newspapers use photos of normal every-day people riding bicycles as "just a normal thing to do". it normalizes the idea that cycling is something anyone can do, for transportation, for getting around the city without the financial (& emotional!) cost of driving a car).

"Cycling represents one of the most energy-efficient forms of transport ever invented, allowing humans to travel faster and farther while using less energy than walking or running." #bicycles #cycling ☺️🚲

The exercise at least four times more efficient than walking

Cycling represents one of the most energy-efficient forms of transport ever invented

independent.co.uk

To quote @tomflood.bsky.social, “Pilot road to be removed, not enough uptake says City - Drivers encouraged to check city website for alternative car routes and future road opportunities.”

Dave Robertson@davebikeski.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Good morning Ottawa. Bonjour Ottawa.