“3/4ths of disabled people don’t drive. Stop using us as an excuse for car dependency.” — @nondriver.bsky.social in collaboration with @urbantruth.bsky.social. #UrbanTruth Worth repeating. #UrbanTruth
Urban Truth Collective
@urbantruth.bsky.social
A new communications-focussed collaboration launched to champion the truth and fight disinformation about how to make better cities for people. Formed by @brenttoderian.bsky.social @tomflood.bsky.social @grantennis.bsky.social. www.UrbanTruthCollective.com
“Flood unapologetically uses the directness seen in advertising messaging to try to disrupt the dominant car-focused narrative. Often using quotes, phrases and concepts over and over again — like advertising does to get through to people.” Our own @tomflood.bsky.social. #UrbanTruth
Car adman turned road safety and sustainability advocate Tom Flood to speak in Dublin
Tom Flood — whose work used to include car advertising but who turned his skills to promoting road safety and mobility beyond cars — is to speak at an event in Dublin on September 22nd.…
irishcycle.com
Not JUST lies. Organized disinformation. #Wildfires #ClimateChange
Brent Toderian@brenttoderian.bsky.social · last wk.“Claims that wildfires can be prevented by [forest management] are not only inaccurate, but they’re also part of a broader pattern of disinformation in response to climate-fueled extreme weather… deflecting from what experts say is the biggest driver of worsening fires: the rapidly warming climate.”
“The TRUTH about better cities in an age of unprecedented disinformation and lies!” ICYMI, here was our podcast interview with @activetowns.bsky.social featuring @brenttoderian.bsky.social @tomflood.bsky.social @grantennis.bsky.social. We covered a lot about #UrbanTruth! youtu.be/ptHuub8NViw?...
The Truth About Cities in an Age of Disinformation and Lies
YouTube video by Active Towns
youtu.be
NEW: We’re very pleased to announce the addition of Anna Zivarts @nondriver.bsky.social as an ongoing collaborator with the Urban Truth Collective, author of “When Driving Is Not An Option.” Read her bio and watch for our first collaboration shortly! #UrbanTruth www.urbantruthcollective.com/about-1
In 2014, New York City lowering the speed limit from 30 to 25 mph. In just the 1st year: Traffic fatalities fell by more than 22% Pedestrian fatalities fell by more than 25% The most dangerous drivers, those driving over 35 mph, slowed down the most. Via @transalt.org Speed is always a factor.
Too Fast, Too Furious: New York City’s Speeding Epidemic and the Case for Local Control of Speed Limits — Transportation Alternatives
We need immediate action to reverse the rising death toll on our streets. Passing Sammy’s Law would give the City of New York the power to set its own speed limits and create streets safe for all New ...
transalt.org
NEW: We’re very pleased to announce the addition of Anna Zivarts @nondriver.bsky.social as an ongoing collaborator with the Urban Truth Collective, author of “When Driving Is Not An Option.” Read her bio and watch for our first collaboration shortly! #UrbanTruth www.urbantruthcollective.com/about-1
More “prebunking,” please. And repetition, repetition, repetition. #UrbanTruth
Asha Rangappa@asharangappa.bsky.social · 3w ago“Prebunking” has been found to be very effective in neutralizing disinformation
IMPORTANT STUDY: Who is the Highway Lobby? “The highway lobby has been shaping transportation policy conversations for decades in its interests.” And they spend MILLIONS buying car dependency to make sure all of us have to spend BILLIONS. #UrbanTruth Via the Union of Concerned Scientists @ucs.org
The Highway Lobby Spends Millions to Make Sure We Pay Billions
Our car-dependent transportation system is no accident.
blog.ucs.org
IMPORTANT: “For decades, fossil fuel companies have hidden behind a simple defence: we only produce the product. The driver filling a tank…they are the ones burning it, not us. The Paris court has now dismantled that argument. The consumer alibi, the industry’s most lucrative fiction, is over.”
As Europe swelters, Paris judges say consumers aren’t to blame — TotalEnergies is
A Paris judicial tribunal has just ruled on a case brought against TotalEnergies by environmental groups and the City of Paris. The judgment does not halt the company's fossil-fuel expansion. But it d...
euobserver.com
Here’s the blunt #UrbanTruth — safer urban design and infrastructure is a matter of life and death.
David Zipper@davidzipper.bsky.social · 4w agoThis morning a driver struck and killed Louisa Gag, a biking advocate and transportation planner. Gag had coauthored a Vision Zero Action plan: visionzeronetwork.org/wp-content/u...
They make up fake conspiracies about common sense ideas like having more things we need close by, so that we’re distracted from the REAL conspiracies happening right under our noses. #UrbanTruth “Teachers Asked to ‘Turn Off Lights’ in County Packed With Data Centers.”
Teachers asked to "turn off lights" in county packed with data centers
An email seen by media outlets said the adjustments in Henrico County are being made due to "the impact of higher electric costs."
newsweek.com
“However exceptional it may feel, the heatwave hitting France fits the scenarios outlined in climate projections. For decades, researchers have repeated that human-caused climate change, mainly driven by fossil fuel use, has increased the frequency, intensity and duration of these extreme events.”
Climate scientists appalled by politicians' refusal to accept responsibility as heatwave hits France
Valérie Masson-Delmotte, Jean Jouzel and Christophe Cassou say that years of warnings issued from scientists about the consequences of global warming have not been taken more seriously.
lemonde.fr
1. Congratulations to the #WorldCup host cities, like Vancouver, who have leveraged the games to successfully pedestrianize streets for people. 2. Never forget, we don’t need football to successfully open streets for people. #UrbanTruth
Paris urban biking investment helps cut pollution in half: “Between 2005 and 2024, levels of nitrogen dioxide and fine particulate matter — 2 of the most harmful pollutants to human health — have been slashed by 50% and 55%, respectively.” Via @momentummag.bsky.social momentummag.com/paris-proves...
“In 2025 — yes, after the games — Parisians approved another referendum to pedestrianize and plant 500 additional streets, removing another 10% of Paris's on-street parking; about more 10K spots…no one calls these car-free streets, rather, they're rues-jardin— literally, garden streets.” #UrbanTruth
Cool streets
Paris's school streets are effectively sculpting out instant parks in the locations where they'll provide immense public health benefits to the city's most vulnerable populations
torched.la
Cities can transform their streets for people instead of cars without hosting the World Cup. It takes leadership, and a smarter perspective on what streets are for. Our own @brenttoderian.bsky.social makes the strong case for #OpenStreets in his city after the Games are over, and beyond. #UrbanTruth
Brent Toderian@brenttoderian.bsky.social · last mo.NEW: “This isn’t cutting edge anymore. It’s just learning from our own successes & failures, and standing on the shoulders of smarter cities. Time to get it done.” My op-ed in today’s @vancouversun.bsky.social makes the case for a people-first Granville Street (& MORE streets) beyond the #WorldCup.
"Once upon a time, six companies controlled the media in this country. That, it turns out, was the good old days… ... How 2 Companies Came to Dominate the Media Business" www.thenation.com/article/soci... @thenation.com @urbantruth.bsky.social @brenttoderian.bsky.social @tomflood.bsky.social
How 2 Companies Came to Dominate the Media Business
Once upon a time, six companies controlled the media in this country. That, it turns out, was the good old days…
thenation.com
Cities can transform their streets for people instead of cars without hosting the World Cup. It takes leadership, and a smarter perspective on what streets are for. Our own @brenttoderian.bsky.social makes the strong case for #OpenStreets in his city after the Games are over, and beyond. #UrbanTruth
Brent Toderian@brenttoderian.bsky.social · last mo.NEW: “This isn’t cutting edge anymore. It’s just learning from our own successes & failures, and standing on the shoulders of smarter cities. Time to get it done.” My op-ed in today’s @vancouversun.bsky.social makes the case for a people-first Granville Street (& MORE streets) beyond the #WorldCup.
Weird how any negative framing of our auto culture is automatically anti-car & radical yet the billions of dollars spent on aggressive car ads and auto first infrastructure isn't framed as anti-pedestrian, anti-bike, anti-transit, anti-person, anti-senior, anti-child or anti-planet.
3 months ago, our website went live. Today we passed 10,000 followers here on Bluesky. Thank you to every one of you out there who are helping to call out disinformation, and spread the #UrbanTruth.
Urban Truth Collective@urbantruth.bsky.social · 5mo agoOur WEBSITE is LIVE! “The Truth About Cities In An Age Of Disinformation.” Read about WHO we are, WHY we started this, our PLANS to grow, and most importantly, WHAT WE’RE GOING TO BE DOING. We hope you’ll support this work, and help us spread the word! #UrbanTruth www.urbantruthcollective.com
So true. Auto manufacturers, car dealers, auto lenders, the oil industry, and other greedy corporations deliberately keep the public captive by opposing public transit and other alternatives to car dependency. Ruining countless lives and destroying the environment in the process.
Urban Truth Collective@urbantruth.bsky.social · 2mo agoICYMI: The One-Hour City Conspiracy! “Here's the REAL conspiracy: Too many people are forced into car-dependent lives, with more health harms, crashes, noise, air pollution, social isolation —& less space for everything our streets should be giving us.” Thx @usa.streetsblog.org #1HourCityConspiracy
When we launched the #1HourCityConspiracy campaign, calling out the lies & disinformation about 15-Minute Cities, @carlosmorenofr.bsky.social (originator of the game-changing Paris program) weighed in with strong support. “The real ‘urban conspiracy’ isn’t proximity, it’s distance.” #UrbanTruth
Urban Truth Collective@urbantruth.bsky.social · 2mo agoICYMI: The One-Hour City Conspiracy! “Here's the REAL conspiracy: Too many people are forced into car-dependent lives, with more health harms, crashes, noise, air pollution, social isolation —& less space for everything our streets should be giving us.” Thx @usa.streetsblog.org #1HourCityConspiracy
ICYMI: The One-Hour City Conspiracy! “Here's the REAL conspiracy: Too many people are forced into car-dependent lives, with more health harms, crashes, noise, air pollution, social isolation —& less space for everything our streets should be giving us.” Thx @usa.streetsblog.org #1HourCityConspiracy
Urban Truth Collective: The One-Hour City Conspiracy — Streetsblog USA
Here's the real conspiracy: Too many people are forced into car-dependent lives, with more health harms, more crashes, more noise, more air pollution, more social isolation — and less space for everyt...
usa.streetsblog.org
“In Toderian’s view, the dividing line between cities that succeed and those that stagnate isn’t geography, wealth or even size—it’s mindset. Some places embrace experimentation, risk…Others default to caution, delay, and a reflexive belief that change is impossible.” momentummag.com/urban-truth-...
Does this street look closed to you? We shouldn’t need to host the #WorldCup in order to open streets for people. #UrbanTruth #Vancouver