Simple message, really. Thanks for the bluntness, @nondriver.bsky.social. #UrbanTruth

Watching Alberta’s “Passenger Rail Master Plan” presentation and I have questions… very serious questions: 1. Why is the timeline so long? 2. Why does the proposal not consider models that work elsewhere in North America?

Building a high speed rail stop in Kingston should be welcomed, but only if integrated with existing VIA Rail service, otherwise it risks both Alto and VIA. Read more about our letter to Minister MacKinnon here: buff.ly/FZO5bxJ 📸 Nelso Silva (altered) | cc BY-SA

This issue is even more acute in smaller towns, where the population is aging faster—due kids moving to seek opportunities, often in walkable cities. Doctors are also more reluctant to tell someone it’s time to hang up their keys, because the consequences of doing so are so devastating.

Lloyd Alter@lloydalter.bsky.social · 2w ago

The demographic reality is inescapable: We are going to have millions more older drivers with diminishing capabilities, in cars that are too big and too dangerous for everyone around them, with few satisfactory alternatives to driving. It will not end well.

It’s really important that the #Vancouver Downtown Business Association, who were originally against bike-lanes, are now among their most vigourous supporters, because of ACTUAL EVIDENCE that they’re better for downtown business than any street parking they replaced. Safe bike-lanes mean business.

You can order & pick up a No Jets TO sign in Toronto here: environmentaldefence.ca/nojetsto/law...

Lawn Sign Order Form - Environmental Defence

Forests, Greenbelt, Farmland and Waterways are under threat! The redundant highway would not only cost taxpayers billions of dollars, but encouraged more greenhouse gas pollution, pushing our climate ...

environmentaldefence.ca

The Transportation Safety Board shouldn't have to make a video like this to get something done about Enhanced Train Control in Canada. After years of consultations, we expect new regulations in early 2026, and we demand a rapid rollout of ETC. youtu.be/pMHf1gmoQxQ

Not Following Signal Indications – TSB Watchlist

The TSB just launched its latest TSB Watchlist! Shaped by investigations, industry input and safety trends, it highlights where action can prevent accidents. Learn more about this issue:…

youtu.be

Who needs UFC on their lawn when in Canada we have the real Sport of Kings?

This!

Shivaji Shiva@shivajishivalaw.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Absolutely. And as a fundamentally lazy parent, this image from Tom Flood (again!), sums it up for me. It isn't complicated ...

I shall watch this with interest. There's no way to get 60% of kids actively travelling to school without disrupting current patterns of car-based mobility. This includes making all urban streets safer, not just those right outside schools www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Ministers want 60% of pupils in England ‘actively’ travelling to school by 2035

Exclusive: Transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, says cycling and walking plan focuses on ‘everyday travel needs’

theguardian.com

When we do public transit properly in Canada we’re capable of being really good at it:

Shawn Micallef@shawnmicallef.bsky.social · 2mo ago

We took the Bow Valley municipal bus system ROAM the other night from Banff to Canmore. Heated shelters (needed 🥲). It’s excellent system. Pay w an easy app. The Americans (Californians) among us were like “omg Canada is amazing. Public transit to another town & trailheads.”

The International Union of Railways has released a report confirming what we have been saying for years: transferring revenue risk to the private sector simply doesn't work, and the public is left to eat the cost anyway. 🧵 1/4 (Paywall) buff.ly/JBDCl4l

Cars-for-everything isn't a smart transportation policy. Giving people mobility options instantly gives them freedom. Healthy cities provide choices in how you move, and making those choices safe means ending the dominance of the car.

Last week Transport Action Ontario President and Transport Action Canada director Peter Miasek was invited to be a part of a panel on Alto HSR at the Canadian Institute's Urban Transit Infrastructure Symposium in Toronto. 1/5

This is the kind of climate adaptation that we’re going to be needing a lot of:

David Ho@davidho.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Trees are for shade

IMPORTANT: “The city’s own math shows sprawl comes with a massive bill. A cost-of-growth study found outward growth would cost the city more than $10 billion additional dollars compared to a future in which it chose to grow through infill.” Via @nationalobserver.com #Calgary

Calgary’s housing rollback could make costly sprawl harder to avoid

Calgary says it wants more housing and less costly sprawl. But by rolling back rules that made infill housing easier, critics say the city may be pushing growth outward — where every new road, pipe an...

nationalobserver.com

Marathon has received a federal grant to build a new port. Being so close to the CP mainline, we think it would be foolish to build a new port without a rail link. Less freight hitting the rails means more emissions and more trucks on already taxed Northern ON. highways. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Tony Blair’s policies removed the hope of affording further or higher education from a generation of kids from lower income working families. Making it worth making an effort must start in school, or don’t be surprised when some kids get used to zero effort, or seek money and kudos from gangs.

I wrote this a year ago. Seems quite relevant again. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Looking at the USA right now is like watching the „making of“ for *Idiocracy*, *The Handmaid’s Tale*, and *Don’t Look Up*—simultaneously and live.

Eoghan Daltun 🌍@irishrainforest.bsky.social · 2mo ago

News presenters talking delightedly about the current record-breaking heat wave feels like a scene straight out of Don't Look Up. The asteroid is well on course for a direct hit.

CN is not the only reason why VIA trains are often so late arriving in Toronto. seanmarshall.ca/2026/05/06/h...

How Metrolinx gets in the way of passenger rail service

As an agency of the province, Metrolinx should support Ontarians travelling on trains within Ontario, even if they are not aboard Metrolinx-operated GO trains.

seanmarshall.ca

STUDY: “Motonormativity is a shared bias whereby people judge motorised mobility differently to other comparable topics. This works against societies addressing climate and public health crises effectively.” Via @ianwalker.bsky.social. #UrbanTruth www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Why do cars get a free ride? The social-ecological roots of motonormativity

Motonormativity is a shared bias whereby people judge motorised mobility differently to other comparable topics. This works against societies addressi…

sciencedirect.com

This is really important. The REAL story isn’t that some people in Alberta want the Province to separate from Canada. The REAL story are the awful, evil powers that badly want people in Alberta to want to separate from Canada, and the shameless opportunists and useful idiots that are helping them.

Brent Toderian@brenttoderian.bsky.social · 3mo ago

“Both Russian and pro-Trump U.S. actors are amplifying and spreading misinformation about Alberta separatism in the hope of fraying Canadian unity and sowing distrust.” An overt attack on Canadian sovereignty, meant specifically to manipulate Canadians. That’s what’s fuelling Alberta separation.

After getting around #Morocco for 10 days on fast, comfortable, on-time trains, I have a new definition: “A developed country is one where you can easily, comfortably, and routinely travel between major cities more quickly by train than by car.” Morocco qualifies. Canada and the US? Not so much.

This will be my last AGM as president of Transport Action, shortly followed by heading over to the UK to sit exams as I make the move from advocacy to engineering. This Saturday afternoon I will be speaking about the need to upgrade Canada’s railways with Enhanced Train Control to improve safety.

Transport Action Canada@transportaction.ca · 3mo ago

Transport Action members and supporters are gathering in Ottawa this weekend. Join us in person at the Bronson Centre on online by Zoom for discussions of passenger rail, motorcoach, and pubic transit advocacy. www.transportaction.ca/events/2026-...

Who organizes a security checkpoint you can just sprint through? 🤦‍♂️

Read our open letter about the Alto High Speed Rail project’s long gestation and the need for government transparency in today’s Kingston Whig-Standard: www.thewhig.com/opinion/why-...

Why did the federal government choose Alto?

As Canada’s citizen advocacy organization for public transportation, welcome serious discussion of all options to improve passenger rail.

thewhig.com

It makes zero logical sense to require speed limiters on e-scooters & e-bikes but not SUVs that weigh 100x more. Useful research here. findingspress.org/article/1587...

This sums up Doug Ford’s cycling policy in a nutshell:

Tom Flood@tomflood.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Toronto Zoo removes costly fences for lion enclosure, opts to hand out camouflage clothing to patrons - inspired by city cycling infrastructure. Be Safe Be Unseen is their new slogan.

This cut is harmful. Our cities have funding gaps and rural communities that are less able to raise revenues even more so. Investment in transit creates mobility. Mobility unlocks people's potential, creating economic activity that feeds a virtuous cycle. www.nationalobserver.com/2026/02/27/n...

Ottawa's $5 billion cut to public transit funding outrages the Bloc Québécois

Patrick Bonin, the party's spokesperson for the environment and fight against climate change, emphasized that Quebec's needs are “enormous” with several projects already underway. He also urged…

nationalobserver.com