Blog: With the #Melbourne Suburban Rail Loop pushing ahead, the State Government really needs to include provision for potential future stations - especially in the sections with the longest gaps between stops. It'll be near-impossible later.

People for Public Transport have released their scorecard for the upcoming state election here in SA. i thought the Labor incumbent gov't response was really disappointing. do you agree with the scores given? there's more details on their website: peopleforpublictransport.com/2026-State-E...

I'm not "anti-car." I own a car. I drive (more than I'd like). I'm opposed to car culture and car dependecy. And I'm supportive of safe and efficient transit options for *everyone.*

No, not all PHEV owners. But enough, apparently, that those who do run on mainly electric aren’t making a huge difference to the overall conclusion.

It’s tempting to offload your thinking to AI. Cognitive science shows why that’s a bad idea theconversation.com/its-tempting...

Public transport is not just about infrastructure - service is vital. How often does it run? How late does it run? Do the routes form a usable network? PTUA's @tonybmorton.bsky.social in the recent Infrastructure Victoria webinar. Watch it here: www.infrastructurevictoria.com.au/resources/ac...

WATCH: This is my favourite thing on the internet right now. Well done Norway! youtube.com/watch?v=T4Up...

PLEASE HELP US SHARE THIS: “We’ve let the lies be far too successful, and that’s significantly hurt our cities. No more.” It’s our blunt NEW @usa.streetsblog.org op-ed sharing why we’ve created @urbantruth.bsky.social. SPOILER: We need to call out the lies and tell the truth much more persuasively!

Chinese car companies now happily contributing to Australia's duel problem of plug-in fossil fuel cars and oversized yank-tanks, both helping to drive transport emissions up and up - probably back to pre-covid trends. No one is immune to car company brain www.theguardian.com/environment/...

“Helsinki hasn’t registered a single traffic-related fatality in the past year…Citing data that shows the risk of pedestrian fatality is cut in half by reducing a car’s speed from 40 to 30km/hr, city officials imposed the lower limit in most of Helsinki’s residential areas and city center in 2021.”

Great new initiative to develop better messaging around the value of good urban planning, led by @brenttoderian.bsky.social, @grantennis.bsky.social and @tomflood.bsky.social.

You know what’s scary? Car dependency. #UrbanTruth

In a big city, where fares produce a lot of needed revenue, eliminating fares mean less service. It means that the poor people that the author claims to care about can't access opportunity, because the free bus they need doesn't exist, or is too crowded to board. 5/

Free fares are still working in some smaller US cities -- Richmond VA and Albuquerque NM are now the largest. But Kansas City just went back to charging fares. Why? Some feel security was worse. But the big reason is: They need the money!!! 3/

Sorry, but this @nytimes.com op-ed on free fares in New York City, by @galvinalmanza.bsky.social, is deeply ignorant of the issues. It proposes that pretty social justice vibes and some careless citations will change facts of math. Thread: 1/ www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/o...

For every €1 provided through a Basic Income For Artists pilot program in Ireland, the government got €1.46 back. So it’s being made permanent. Over and over we see it. It saves public money to provide public housing. And it makes public money to provide basic income. We can’t afford to NOT do it.

My urban planning pet peeve is when people talk about which cities are “well-designed”. But it just ends up being cities that are older. I agree, older cities are nicer. But I want to know which cities are doing good things *today*, not just which ones lucked out to get big sooner.

R.I.P Jon Kudelka @kudelka.bsky.social “If I did a sequel it would probably involve a scientist swearing a great deal” allouryesterdays.info/2025/04/28/i... @allouryesterdays.bsky.social

This one feels particularly relevant today. Vale Jon Kudelka.

Weekends are the busiest shopping days, but many bus routes run half as often, and some don't run at all. More buses = more options = more people out of the traffic.

This is a fantastic piece. Seniors hold onto driving is because they rightfully fear losing independence and connection. There are systemic and infrastructure barriers but as @nondriver.bsky.social notes, nondrivers have a wealth of resources they can share to overcome some of them.

The real reason is because it makes the car companies more money. They tried to make the claim that they made us all safer but they just kept getting bigger along with our trucks which actually just made everything more dangerous while also more expensive. In the end it’s always about the money.

ICYMI: “In the era of the climate crisis, politicians campaigning against bike-lanes aren’t fit for office.”— @taylornoakes.com in @cultmtl.com Also in an era of worsening urban traffic, pollution, city noise, exploding public costs, competition among cities, and not nearly enough space in cities.

Interesting framing by the ABC, calling the town of Seaspray “tiny”, but the developer a “giant” and the offshore turbines “towering”. In the accompanying image, even with the towers coloured red for “illustrative purposes” (ie. otherwise you might not be able to see them) the towers look tiny.

Hope your day's going well. My comments on behalf of @ptua.org.au on tonight's ABC and 9 News. The Metro Tunnel brings benefits to some lines...the service upgrades need to be the first step, not the only step, in providing #Melbourne with the metro rail service it needs. (Note the socks!)

Inadequate urban transportation infrastructure weakens access and opportunity, including the collective opportunity to fight to defend democracy.

@yonahfreemark.com reviews "all of the urban transit projects around the globe that are planned for 2026—and list those that were completed in 2025." www.thetransportpolitic.com/2026/01/20/t...

Really interesting episode about how car dependency ruins kids' lives. Personally, growing up in a car-only place was a prison. Worse I didn't quite realize how bad it was while in it. #carsruincities

"Collective outcomes [from cars] are mostly negative, including traffic fatalities, consumption of public space, and harmful effects on public health." doi.org/10.1016/j.tr...

Another day, another #vline bustitution disaster. Two train loads of passengers, no buses…

Areas in #Melbourne 's growing west like #Melton and Wyndham Vale need frequent, higher capacity suburban trains to cut crowding and keep people moving. Electrification done with track expansion would also help speed up journeys from Geelong and Ballarat.

The February timetable doubles the number of trains to some stations.👍👍👍 But other areas continue to rely on infrequent services. The upgrades show what is possible - time for the State Government to invest in more trains more often across the network.

Letting individuals decide how many parking spaces they do or do not wish to build on their own land gives people more freedom, not less. Yet absurdly, one of the last defenders of these burdensome mandates tries to paint removing them as an example of “lifestyle authoritarianism.” Huh???

There are really mean and manipulative guys on this planet, who sell us lies, laughing about us and unfortunately we are still buying it.

Actual causes of the US road safety crisis: 🔹 Car bloat 🔹 Failure to enforce traffic laws 🔹 Fast urban roads 🔹 Suburbanization of poverty/jobs Blaming smartphones is lazy thinking.

Where will the next megafire break out? Climate change is making it tougher to predict by @rachaelnolan.bsky.social and @trentpenman.bsky.social theconversation.com/where-will-t...

All the (remaining) democracies should be doing this in the schools. apnews.com/article/fake...

Check out the original IIASA paper here: pure.iiasa.ac.at/id/eprint/40... Here's the 2025 update: iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...

Your great-great-grandparents commuted about an hour a day. So did Roman merchants. So do you. No matter how fast we make transportation, people just live farther from work regardless of income. It's called Marchetti's constant, basically Jevons paradox for your morning commute.

“In like 95% of situations where a disengagement or accident happens with autonomous vehicles, it’s a very regular, routine situation for humans.” Tech companies claimed autonomous vehicles would reduce congestion. They add to it. Why would we believe any of their claims, especially about safety?

this relatively old post has really stuck in my head for quite some time. It collects and represents so much about the basic principle of projections: not as crystal balls into the future but as stories that massively influence decisions we make today, and ironically create new futures

Putting solar on your roof is great, but the world of possibilities is so much bigger than that once you notice that burning oil for cars is the #1 source of climate pollution/driver of the collapse of American democracy. Start here:

Dave is absolutely correct here. Displacing oil demand specifically is a related but unique suite of technologies and policies, many of which don't have the pretty upwards bend of lovely s curves, particularly in the US even pre-trump

Our fares are cheap for long distance journeys, but for short distances, the most expensive in Australia. The State Government should bring back a cheaper short distance fare to ensure public transport is affordable, and cheaper than driving. Ch9 story: youtu.be/uCQCaO26Em8...

...New York is going to have to make them frequent, too, or the new policy is bound to fail. I take a look at cities around the world that have experimented with free transit in this HIGH SPEED dispatch: www.highspeed.blog/fast-and-free/

I love that Zohran Mamdani took his oath of office in the Old City Hall Station! And that he rode the W train to work today. His mayoralty of the great city of NY is bound to be transformative. But making city buses fast and free only gets things half right... 🧵

If you don't try to draw a map of a bus network, decision-makers will never see how complicated it is. Our firm often draws an agency's first clear map. Its effect is sometimes to show that the service doesn't make sense, which starts the process of improving it. Apps are helpful but maps matter.

I get a lot of crazy looks when I say self-driving cars are designed for lawbreaking. But it’s 100% true.

Like oh huh - in one of the most chronically drought plagued states the Governor known to be extremely friendly to wealthy business interests vetoed a bill that would require them simply *to estimate or report annual water usage* even tho their water usage is totally NBD & doesn't matter at all? OK