Act now to help defend the sensible use of safe legal pedal-assist bicycles in Queensland: Join others from across Brisbane this Wednesday 1st April at 5pm in Raymond Park, Kangaroo Point for the SNAP ACTION: Defend Legal e-Bikes - Critical Mass Ride www.facebook.com/events/26438...

“I see it as potentially life-changing for teenagers who may choose an e-bike for transportation rather than getting a driver’s license. And that’s really positive for this generation.” Thanks to @wweek.com for my take on a bill we have worked for 3 years on. Article🔗 www.wweek.com/bikes/2026/0...

how it feels taking public transit rn

Most bicycle infrastructure projects have a cost-benefit ratio above four. Most motorways are lucky to get near two. Here's more evidence nothing's changing. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

That's a LOT of bikes in a year... japantoday.com/category/cri...

Hi #bikesky folks. I'm the new CEO of Bicycle Queensland and more can I just say this new book is a cracker. Thanks Carter and the folks at #islandpress. #transport #advocacy #bikes #transportplanning

Greetings everyone. A quick FYI that as of this week I am the new CEO of Bicycle Queensland, our state's largest cycling organisation. We represent our 12,000 members. Dream job for me! I get to be a full-time sustainable transport activist. 😆

Wuhu Old Town, Anhui Province, China. These photos are from the middle of the day in 95 degree heat. But by night you can't move for all the people. More proof all people want places to walk, wander and promenade away from cars. #wuhu #anhui #pedestrians #walking #urbanplanning #urbanism

A plea from me to add equity to any road user charge in Australia, and to ensure the legislation allows for congestion charging in future! www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Thirty years of struggle coming closer to an end ...

Australians make similar mistakes en masse. Desire, created by car/SUV/pick-up advertisers, embedded in culture, then sold. Excessive #transport costs can be self inflicted. - "More Americans are car poor as they misjudge trade-in math and pile on debt" www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

Ah, the politics of automobility in Australia's car owning democracy. The NSW Government won't shut the Sydney Harbour Bridge for a one-off massive march. Every car is sacred. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Brilliant book that #urbanists will love! Now a major prize winner. Well deserved. #booksky #urbanism www.theguardian.com/books/2025/j...

An unnecessary swim centre for the Brisbane 2032 Olympics is now costed at AUD$1.2 Billion (US$750m). It duplicates the 2018 Commonwealth Games Aquatic Centre already at Southport. No 2032 Olympic transport or urban legacy plan in sight, let alone works. GC airport light rail link still unfunded.

Great new bus network for Brisbane began today. Some teething problems, including the Translink online journey planner being overwhelmed in morning peak hour. (The app was working well at 9am for me so all should be ok now). We'll hear from the angry but it's a huge improvement on what was before.

Interesting-looking new study on people with high-carbon lifestyles doi.org/10.1016/j.er...

Sometimes the walk to a #PedBikeTrans walking and cycling seminar is even better than the event itself. Great night last night.

So the 25-cent petrol excise cut promised by Australia's federal opposition failed to help them win outer-suburban seats. It may just have helped them lose more seats in the inner-city. The politics of automobility might just be shifting in Australia... #auspol #mobilty #transport #urbanism

The LNP Oz election slogan is 'Back on Track'. But they have no detailed transport policy other than their tax cut for six months on petroleum fuels, pushing up road congestion. There's no rail policy. No cycle tracks. Not even hiking trails. I'm one disappointed transport professor. #auspol

"...for every 30-second increase in traffic delay per mile traveled, there was a 1% increase in visits to fast food restaurants. While that may not seem like a lot, the researchers estimate that over a year, it amounts to about 1.2 million more fast food meals in Los Angeles."

And so it begins... japantoday.com/category/tec...

Someone made a Wiley E. Coyote style painted wall to see if Tesla’s autopilot would detect it and well…

New podcast alert. Why are things not improving for active and public transport on the fringes of Australian cities? I spent a week living in the City of Moreton Bay recently. Some of the key infrastructure is actually in place. But policy is lacking. Hear more via the link. tinyurl.com/4uzk2pxs

Oh dear... This can't be about budget savings given the tiny sums involved. It's not about congestion busting given space-efficiency of bikes. Just stupid. "U.S. DOT Orders Review of All Grants Related to Green Infrastructure, Bikes" - usa.streetsblog.org/2025/03/12/b...

We're okay at my place. Brisbane may have averted a major flooding event. But as usual, our Bikeway infrastructure will be a mess after Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

The alt right has spent years conspiracy theorizing about the evils of walkable cities, when the oligarchs they idealize are planning in plain site to build entire cities into technofascist playgrounds where every aspect of your life is commoditized. www.wired.com/story/startu...

Billionaire Elon Musk, who is advising President Donald Trump on plans to radically shrink the US government, said that the US Postal Service and passenger railroad Amtrak should be privatized reut.rs/4iruAxY

Yes, the Cat 2 Cyclone Alfred is on path to smack Brisbane. Yes, there is still potential it will grow into a Category 3 storm. Please don't worry too much about Alice and I. We are all prepared and our house should hold up well. Best wishes to others making preparations.

Australia has a similar problem where economist, accountants, and journalists started over inflating engineering estimates with contingency and escalation. You can't say the "estimate" is $18bn if 1/2 of that is C&E - the "estimate" is $9bn with the rest is "risk management".

🎉 New paper in PNAS: Urban highways are barriers to social ties https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2408937122 Highways are barriers that cut opportunities for social ties. We quantify this effect by overlaying the US highway network with millions of social ties from Twitter.

#TicketingNews: Bus and train fares could increase by as much as 500% in some regions of Aotearoa if local councils have to meet new targets set by the government’s transport agency, official information documents revealed to Stuff have shown. MORE: www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/3605...

The US Transportation Research Board was always reasonably apolitical. No more. www.linkedin.com/posts/matt-b...

"TRB, a longtime bridge between academia and government, now faces existential questions about its future... "TRB appears to be in a particularly perilous position, reliant on funding from the Trump administration even as its longstanding reputation for academic independence is under threat."

"The 15-Hour City believes everything has its place. Houses go in one location, businesses in another, and in between is a dark sea of soul-crushing concrete and asphalt."

Battery electric ferries... www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02...

An early draft of the regional transport plan for South East Qld (including Brisbane) has been released to the local paper. www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/que...

Brisbane City Council's Transport Chair, Cr Ryan Murphy is correct; #Brisbane was absolutely not "built for cars". Check out the 1896 Cyclist's Road Map of Brisbane. All the major routes, a decade before the first car and a generation before cars became common! nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2316...

Some due recognition here Brisbane is way, way, way behind on transit oriented development (TOD) despite decades of taskforces, promises and rhetoric. Alas, the current planning system, state government disinterest and construction costs give me little hope. www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/que...

This is important — closing Central #Madrid to cars over holidays resulted in a 9.5% boost in retail spending on its main shopping street: STUDY. There was also a 71% drop in air pollution. Via @carltonreid.com in @forbes.com. #citymakingmath #citiesforpeople www.forbes.com/sites/carlto...

Great to see this campaign. Research shows just how much more dangerous larger vehicles are to people on foot. Time for government at a local and national level to reduce their impact.

We can argue all day about windfall gains and open space contributions—but when it comes down to brass tacks, this is what sits at the absolute core of NIMBYism.

The delightful folks at ABC Radio National had me on today to talk about what might be next for public transport fares after Queensland's successful 50c fare trial was made permanent. Starts around the 20min mark and you'll hear me at 23mins. www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

Proof that you can make a career focusing on one problematic component of contemporary transport and land use planning. A life well lived. nyc.streetsblog.org/2025/02/08/d...

New #TalkingHeadways podcast! Welsh MS Lee Waters @waterslee.bsky.social and Dr. Jennifer Kent join the show to discuss how Wales got to a 20 mile per hour speed limit across the country — and what it might take for other places to do the same. bit.ly/4jLU6Q2 @usa.streetsblog.org

We need to slap a tariff on American-style urban planning, develop trade relationships with planners in Europe and Asia.

The horror, the horror...

Brisbane joins most of the world in reducing minimum parking requirements in the inner-city. Good move! Cue sensationalist headlines from local media, of course: "Brisbane parking hell: Car spaces to be slashed for units in 11 suburbs" www.couriermail.com.au/news/brisban...

About right...

More on yesterday's Queensland Govt turnarounds on heavy rail to Maroochydore on the SunshineCoast and on light rail to Gold Coast airport. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-01...

Queensland's move is another sign the recent renaissance of light rail in Australian cities is waning fast. "Deputy Premier weighs in on light rail controversy" www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/news/gold-co...