Update: our rail trail bike trip "doesn't have enough mountain biking"

Madeleine Bonsma-Fisher, PhD@mbonsma.bsky.social · 5d ago

6-year-old after the first day of mountain bike camp: "Worst day ever. I only want to bike on the road." 6-year-old after the last day of mountain bike camp: "If we were in a mountain bike race do you think I would just beat you or beat you GOOD?"

Streetcars are too smooth, I enjoy practicing my bus legs

Costa Samaras@costasamaras.com · 5d ago

post your worst transportation take: I actually love the mobile lounges at Dulles.

6-year-old after the first day of mountain bike camp: "Worst day ever. I only want to bike on the road." 6-year-old after the last day of mountain bike camp: "If we were in a mountain bike race do you think I would just beat you or beat you GOOD?"

Yesterday a guy in a lifted pickup truck saw me standing with my bike in the street and said "You shouldn't stand there, there are trucks turning here" and I said "Maybe you should get a smaller car if you don't want people to get hurt" and he swore at me and drove away 😬😬

David Zipper@davidzipper.bsky.social · 5d ago

Which vehicles most endanger the drivers of other cars? Giant pickup trucks — and the Dodge Charger Source: www.iihs.org/news/detail/...

Public libraries are incredible treasures.

You don’t have to force me onto a bike …

What in the world

So much of experiencing weather during active travel is sheer joy, even the joy of ridiculousness when I'm getting drenched to the core on a ride home, knowing that I have a warm shower at the end of it. It's taught me that weather is to be enjoyed and I'm waterproof (and good gear is the best)

I always say that people overestimate how much "bad" weather you actually experience when doing active travel - even a rainy day might not actually rain on *you* during the time you need to be outside - but my husband just left on a bike to do pickup and a thunderstorm started 5 minutes later 😬

Ontario construction nerds: this may be your chance to get egress reform and update elevator rules so point-access blocks are as viable as stacked townhouses. What parts of our building code need changes?

Gil Meslin@gmeslin.bsky.social · 2w ago

Attention single-stair/missing middle people: as part of OBC review, the Province has opened a consultation on the Building Code, seeking to “identify ways to reduce unnecessary costs, delays, complexity, and administrative burden”. Runs to August 14. ero.ontario.ca/notice/026-0744

But HOW could I get my kid and his bike to mountain bike camp without a car??

Incredible that we can have nice things

Jason Thorne@jasonthorne.bsky.social · 2w ago

Toronto, you’re going to love your new waterfront park! The next phase of Biidaasige Park is now open.

Slip lane to sit lane conversion. Dutch Village Road, Halifax

Oops! I did it* again *Got too many chips, had to zip down the sides

Politicians from Brad Bradford to Josh Matlow are talking about more policing but none of them are talking about the widespread corruption we’re seeing in the Toronto force (or across Canada). I think this is a big problem.

"... roughly 87,000 people participated, with 80 per cent of responses coming from the City of Toronto, and a further 15 per cent from the region. Among those who participated, 87 per cent opposed any changes to the airport." 🔥🔥

Toronto Star@thestar.com · 2w ago

#Breaking: Federal government grounds Billy Bishop airport expansion

“From our human perspective, roads mean connection and development. But for wildlife, they represent disconnection, barriers and a threat to survival.”

The War on Cars@thewaroncars.bsky.social · 2w ago

"Camera trap footage revealed that, over 15 months, the aerial wildlife crossings enabled 15,000 safe crossings by arboreal animals — and not a single roadkill."

I've had several deep and delightful conversations with colleagues and friends over the past week, and I'm feeling uplifted by the many smart people who care so much and are doing what they can to make the world better.

This. This is the correct, science-backed, responsible framing. Wish more news outlets did it like the CBC.

'Just stop burning fossil fuels.' Scientists stress that our smoky skies only have one true fix | CBC News

Smoky skies in Toronto have led to new scrutiny of government efforts to fight fires and manage forests. But scientists say the realistic way to tackle the smoke is fighting climate change itself.

cbc.ca

Boy, the Alberta Transportation's new Barbaric Urban Bicycle Lanes Tip Line, and that drop-down menu sans "Other" field. www.alberta.ca/report-conce...

IMO car dependent places are awful for raising kids (I was raised in one). You turn into an Uber driver for your own kids or they’re stuck at home. I’m raising my kids in a city where we have everything we need close by and freedom to choose how we get around: walking, biking, transit or driving.

This could have been 4 parked cars

We're so back, baby

This episode was really good. It helped clarify for me how my feelings on prison abolitionism and transport justice can be in harmony. I do actually think people shouldn't go to jail, AND that we should have stronger consequences for the harms caused by driving.

The War on Cars@thewaroncars.bsky.social · last mo.

NEW EPISODE: Is the way we think about criminal consequences for drivers who harm pedestrians and cyclists another form of motonormativity? A study from Professor Ian Loader of the University of Oxford challenges how the law sees driving and offers solutions. podcasts.apple.com/lu/podcast/r...

Forced car dependence is a real thing and the solution is not "make driving less expensive"

Friends in Beaches-East York: we have a federal by-election coming up. Now is a good time to remind our leaders that Canada's climate action is very important to us!

Shawn Micallef@shawnmicallef.bsky.social · 3w ago

Thinking about this too. If the only way to keep Canada together is to pump out carbon.. But I also think it's why people upset by this turn, as logical as it might seem from the Carney POV, need to start being consistently vocal (as they are) that abandoning climate programs is not acceptable.

What the Carneys of the world ignore is even the business case for slashing environmental protections doesn’t work. I work for a small business. We won’t get foot traffic until the smoke clears. No one will buy a coffee, sit on the patio, anything. This hurts business, it’s bad for the economy.

This whole thing with trains sent into wildfire areas, and unhoused people stuck outside in dangerous conditions, and the government rolling back our climate action... it's making me so mad. We don't have to do this! We could choose to take care of everyone!

Native blooms in my garden. Evening primrose, bee balm, Virginia mountain mint, and foxglove beardtongue.

I dropped the cargo bike today, with kids inside, in front of a lot of people, and despite my mortification I'm glad to be using transportation where mistakes are silly and embarrassing and not deadly