Disappointment at council today. Council just passed a motion from Councillor Menard for the Bank Street bus lane study which will restrict bus lanes even further from staff's proposed 3 hours to 2 hours. This means we will get no data about how parking affects bus flow in the area.

Proof that you don't need to create extra space, you simply reallocate the space you have, equitably.

An amazing member of ours put together this graphic that really encapsulates perfectly the situation on Bank Street. There is only so much space available, and we must use it as efficiently as possible. Parking isn't that. Please sign up to delegate on March 30th in favour of bus lanes!

The Glebe BIA had a report done about the area. We think this image perfectly encapsulates the reason for hesitancy by the business owners to get rid of parking. While 86% of the respondents who come to shop said they get there by means other than driving, 94% of the owners said they drove.

Councillor Tim Tierney is wrong about ‘Chronic No-Voters’ in his Ottawa Citizen Op/Ed on Saturday. His opinion would be easier to take seriously if the comments weren’t coming from someone with a 15-year track record of being a reliable yes-man for every budget. 1/21

Cars might work fine in California or Florida, but they’re not practical here in Canada. We have winter.

As usual, @sjamieit.bsky.social and colleagues at @strongtownsottawa.ca know how to make a point. Take a look at this thread. One of the core principles of taxation is that the burden needs to be distributed fairly. What we have in Ontario currently is not fair.

Remember to leave comments about Dougie’s bike lane ban on the ERO ero.ontario.ca/notice/025-1...

It’s kind of crazy that improvements to the 6 and 7 were barely discussed during the Lansdowne 2.0 vote youtu.be/wtWHri5lShA?...

Rural and suburban wards: AUSTERITY! SLASH SPENDING! CUT PROGRAMS! DON’T YOU DARE RAISE OUR TAXES! Also rural and suburban wards: YEE HAW, LET’S GAMBLE $500 MILLION ON THIS OSEG THING!

This voting map shows you why Ottawa is stuck in a rut - suburban and rural wards outnumber the city, and can effectively pass anything (no matter how terrible it is for the city). Amalgamation working as intended…

Some polling was done for Lansdowne 2.0, lo and behold the top issue for people polled was improving transportation to Lansdowne. What better way to provide better access to Lansdowne than safe, dedicated 24/7 bus lanes? strongtownsottawa.ca/2025/09/25/t... #Lansdowne #Ottawa #busLanes

We have sent out a letter to the premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, opposing his plan to remove speed cameras, which have been shown to overwhelmingly increase safety on our roads. Thanks @hansonthebike.bsky.social for putting the letter together, and @pbickerton.bsky.social for the great graphics!

I didn’t comment on Lansdowne 2.0 yesterday, because I still hadn’t seen the report until 4pm — well after the mayor put out a fancy video and held a press conference to extol its virtues. I will have more detailed comments soon, but my decision to vote no remains unchanged.

An entire day has gone by and still no release of the Lansdowne 2.0 report. Meanwhile, Mayor Sutcliffe has had time to brief the press, frame the story, and produce a feel-good video. As for those who oppose the project? Well, they're just "spreading misinformation". www.youtube.com/watch?v=4x-T...

Mr. Mayor, I believe you have to disclose sponsored posts with #ad 😂 It seems like OSEG is in full PR damage control mode with people finally realizing how bad of a deal Lansdowne 2.0 will be for the people of Ottawa

This proved to be more than a metaphor.

Is Ottawa school zone safety negotiable? 🚷Delays to sidewalk builds 🚦School Street policy red lighted 📸 Automated Speed Enforcement to be cut down by Doug Ford 📣 No! Tell the Mayor to stand up to the province and anyone who makes communities less safe. schoolstreetsottawa.ca/2025/10/11/o...

The city just revealed its plans for Bank Street... and chose to prioritize 140 parking spaces over the needs of 6000 daily transit riders. I made a video summarizing the issue in case you want an update on how things are going: www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtWH...

This. #OttCity continues to make transit more expensive and harder to use driving more people away from it. Time to end the doom loop

Good wayfinding is essential to any good transit system. Come learn how Toronto is failing at it, and how to do it right. youtu.be/Edr8csMXUfM

Turning right on red is not normal – only Canada and the U.S. are one of the only major countries that still allow it everywhere. Watch out for "concerned" opposition to banning right turns on red that are just status quo bias.

The result of the city of Ottawa tax phobia. The mayor, who adopted the Jim Watson playbook, will brag that he kept tax increases at a much lower level than Toronto. Meanwhile public services are crumbling.

Why on earth is Granville island not closed to cars in the summer? So crazy that a tiny minority of cars take up so much space, pushing pedestrians to the side

Really impressed by how easy Vancouver makes it for people to figure out the bike network for visitors. A pretty interconnected network of protected bike lanes easily marked on their map based on traffic stress

Great summary on our “balanced” approach to taxation of productive urban areas

The Trail Road waste facility is super cool if you’ve never had a chance to go

Today it took 20 minutes to get down Elgin and another 50 to get to Bells Corners by car. A balanced approach to our transportation network gets us all nowhere fast. We need to shift our investments to give people who want to get out of cars a real choice. Show me who is happy moving around Ottawa.

100%. The “balanced” approach is simply the adherence to a status quo that will only get worse as the population grows and transit remains under-supported. And the TMP we’re set to approve next week perpetuates more of this.

@en.ottawa.ca has released Draft 2 of the new Zoning By-law, which features several significant changes. Our former board member Jeffrey Ren, an urban planner, has summarized these changes in a new blog post. Please read up—and submit your feedback by June 30! www.ecologyottawa.ca/draft_2_zoni...

Some great work by the folks in Strong Towns Ottawa working to promote bus lanes on Bank St.

Scary how the mayor is blocking citizen voices to push Lansdowne 2.0 through the613.substack.com/p/city-hall-...

It’s the same arguments against bike lanes every time - especially hilarious on an actual side street lol

Some more amazing coverage of our push for 24/7 Bus Lanes on Bank Street! Shoutout to @ryantaras.bsky.social at the Capital Current! capitalcurrent.ca/groups-call-...

The Centretown Community Association has sent a letter on the draft Transportation Master Plan not meeting the needs of urban residents. "It will make the lives of those who live and work here less affordable, less accessible, and less safe." @mayormarksutcliffe.bsky.social @arieltroster.com

Mark Sutcliffe’s Ottawa

The ad looks even better in person 🔥

Our three candidates for the debate in Ottawa-Centre. NDP, Liberal, and Green. One candidate did not show up at the last minute, can you guess who?

Volunteers gave King Station a makeover this morning! You shouldn't get lost while taking the #TTC. Learn more and show your support for better TTC information and signs: www.ttcriders.ca/wayfinding

I’ve been planning cities & working with city halls all over the world for 33+ years, and I’ve observed and experienced a lot of things. And one thing I think is still underestimated— the culture of boldness or business-as-usual set by the city manager/ceo is incredibly important for your city hall.

Say what you will about OC Transpo and the bus route changes, but this little bus cutout mailer they sent out is way too cute

Really appreciated getting to visit Ottawa as a guest of @envirocentre.bsky.social. There's so much energy in Ottawa to make transit work better and to have transit be a bigger share of trips. 1/

TIL

Ottawa is probably far off from implementing congestion pricing, but still something think about for the future

There's a petition opposing the NCC summer zone – and one of their claims is that it slows down emergency vehicles? I guess it would be better if this fire truck was stuck behind cars in traffic???

Happy International Women’s day! If you’re looking for an urbanism book to read today, consider checking out Feminist City by Leslie Kern

Thank-you Ottawa Centre, for putting your trust in me to be your champion at Queen's Park. Last night you showed that in our community, we always embrace love and hope over anger and fear.

I’m quite impressed by the precision of the snow clearing operators in Ottawa - it’s quite the organized operation

Simon’s has started embracing the solution 😆