Found out thanks to Cookdandbombd that there's a new series 'just dropped' of Things You Should Have Done, with reportedly absolutely zero BBC promotion. I really enjoyed the first series, it had an inspired level of daft to it. Anyway, it's here: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

We had a good run

Predictions for 2026: 1. Socks are gonna get asymmetrical 2. A galactic homunculus will consume the sun and 3. The triumphant return of the ski-jacket

Yay

it brings me no pleasure to say this, but gen alpha will make the same mistake as millennials. they will abandon high rise trousers and adopt skinny, low rise pants, deeming the first to be too "old" and the second "young." then their children will rightly mock them.

Year 1 data on congestion pricing in Manhattan… * Vehicle traffic: -11% * Foot traffic: +3.4% * Storefront vacancy: -0.9% * Pollution: -22% * Revenue for mass transit: $548M So YES this has been a huge success.

This is one of the most beautiful things I have witnessed, the craft here is impeccable.

If it was in the North it would not exist. See: HS2 phase 2. Northern Powerhouse rail Leeds tram system. If Westminster cared enough to invest in a long term transport strategy for the north it would have huge benefits.

It’s worth mentioning, though it’s been said repeatedly: the Lizzie Line carries 1/6th of UK daily rail passengers (not including the Tube) and has already paid off its entire costs. And if HS2 had been committed to, without plans being tweaked every 5 minutes, Phase 1 would be opening next year.

Tips on getting rid of your Wet Man

South Park alumnus Toby Morton saw the rename on the cards months ago and bought the trumpkennedycenter domain (com and org). https://www.trumpkennedycenter.org

Right now!

These two images of Chinese train driver Han Junjia were taken less than 30 years apart. Transformative change is possible when it is relentlessly pursued.

My whole life we’ve been told that The US is simply too big to have high speed rail

4️⃣ Under Mobility Minister Elke van den Brandt, Brussels has started a shift from a car-choked city of corridors to a salon city. A new circulation plan and 30 km/h speed limit have cut car traffic by 30%, increased cycling by 36%, reduced crashes by 22%, and halved both traffic fatalities and noise.

3️⃣ In New Delhi, entrepreneur Kalpana Viswanath has drastically changed the conversation about public space and transportation by centring women’s perceptions of safety—helping government officials recognise how fear and comfort often determine how people move through the city and access opportunity.

2️⃣ In Bogotá, Mayor Claudia López tackled the hidden burden of unpaid care work (the daily unpaid tasks of running a household) by creating neighbourhood “Care Blocks”—community assets that also helped shift travel habits—boosting walking and cycling by 6% and reducing car trips by 15% in four years.

1️⃣ Under Mayor Ada Colau, Barcelona completely rewrote the rules of urban space: reclaiming a million square metres for pedestrians, tripling its cycle network to 273 kilometres, adding 80 hectares of green space, halving car traffic, and cutting street-level air pollution by 20% in just eight years.

Transit's main competition is cars. If you raise fares from $2.50 to $3, you're still way more affordable than driving. But if you cut the bus from every 15 to every 20, you're screwed because cars have infinity frequency and 24 hr service span.

UPDATE

It's actually quite difficult to break into the nitrous oxide vault, but once you're in you're laughing

Today, thoughts inevitably turn to a man whose life and death will always be associated with this time of year – a man whose purity of heart and good works alike contain, I think, the true spirit of the season.

Unbelievably, #DuvetKnowItsChristmas generates such good will on social media that over the years we've raised somewhere approaching a quarter of a million quid for homeless charities. If you can spare a bob or two, sling some to Centrepoint, and here's the link: www.gofundme.com/f/duvet-know...

The flying Tiger The flying tiger He destroyed his rubbish cage Yes YES The flying tiger is OUT!

This is the 15th year of #DuvetKnowItsChristmas, which is preposterous. Rules: if you find yourself dealing with unusual / claustrophobic / gaudy sleeping arrangements this Christmas Eve, share a picture with the world. Use the hashtag (with capitalisation) and cc me if you can be bothered.

It’s nearly time …

one Christmas party I would be happy to attend

‘Tis the season to be planning end-of-May extravaganzas c/o @alovelytime.bsky.social www.instagram.com/reel/DSo4Y79...

In 2023 I became obsessed with videos of dads in cargo shortswaiting in parking lots during Taylor Swift's Eras Tour. So when she came to town, I grabbed a camera and headed down to talk to them. I thought it'd be funny. It turned out to be something else entirely.

How I'm turning up to the Bluesky Christmas party.

If only @andyburnham.bsky.social had the guts to do this!

Tomorrow evening it’ll be my annual duty to vaguely shepherd the activity on the #duvetknowitschristmas hashtag and urge people to give small sums to charity. 7.30pm? Something like that?

Woman who starts riding a bike not sure if she should be a poor unemployed loser who can't afford a car or an elite smug entitled asshole with a toy, asks neighbourhood Facebook group to help out.

one Christmas party I would be happy to attend

Last-minute gig idea! A knock-off VHS that looks a bit like a classic Disney cartoon:

£2.5 billion capital funding is a drop in the ocean for a scheme that would pay for itself in no time through increased economic activity driven by improved labour mobility. This is a bad decision made for the wrong reasons by weak people who don’t deserve the power they wield.

All of these skills built up on the project will be scattered to the winds because we have cancelled a chunk of the project and we're not building any more high speed rail.

It turns out the abyss was actually staring at someone it knows behind me. Embarrassing.

I refuse to shut up about this: NYC started charging $9 to bring a car into our most transit-rich zone, the haters & trolls predicted doom, but traffic evaporated instantly and here’s Times Square tonite (even after the holiday tourists have left). For a better future, build transit & price driving!

IDEA: Take a half block and remove cars.

If you are not already aware this was addressed in possibly the greatest radio comedy of all time. youtu.be/yl22NCgg_CU?...

Lovable Victorian Urchin's Guide to a Merry Christmas youtube.com/shorts/fLIh7...

Want to try my sketch podcast Crowley Time but not sure where to start? Well here it is, a brand new Best Of with a difference! Finally, me, Tom Crowley, is made to answer for his crimes by the highest authority: aliens. Available on your podcast app and at crowleytime.com now!

The Basque Government/Biscay provincial government have just agreed to finance the FIFTH new Bilbao metro line covering a population of roughly that of Leeds and Bradford. Every station and platform is fully accessible and the current maximum fare is 0.76€ per journey.

Yeah despite the BBC News article not mentioning it, the YP one has this (unbelievable) line "The final consultation on the route has also been pushed back, as is confirmation that it will be a tram network." "AS IS CONFIRMATION THAT IT WILL BE A TRAM NETWORK"

Remember when HS2 to Leeds was cancelled by the NIC's shitty maths and fundamental lack of expertise, and Leeds was thrown the bone of "you'll get trams" and I said those would never be delivered? Yeah, as I was saying...

Commuting by bicycle in Belgium pays off as employees earn compensation for every km they ride. 1 in 6 employees commute by bike and get a bicycle allowance of €0.28/km. People cycling to work in 2024 earned an average of around €460 net per year (some as high as €810), up 20% over the past year.

thanking our lord and saviour @thejazzemu.bsky.social for timely reminders youtu.be/9-96YTHPlgU?...

The Strand, then and now. A better world is possible.