In this weekend's @irishtimes.com, I've written about the incredible plan by Dublin City Council to relocate from Wood Quay to Lower Kevin Street, demolishing the purpose-built Civic Offices that they fought so hard to build and replacing them with social and "affordable cost-rental" apartments ...

NYT editorial board issues a full-throated endorsement of congestion pricing: "Over its first 14 months, the [NYC] congestion pricing system has exceeded even the high hopes of many supporters. It has reduced traffic, improved the quality of life and even provided a boost for businesses."

When it comes to the likelihood of car crashes, or the deadly consequences of car crashes, speed is ALWAYS a factor. Speed kills. #UrbanTruth

"...nearly 40,000 people killed on US roads in 2024 works out to almost 12 roadway deaths for every 100,000 inhabitants, more than twice as many as peer nations including Australia, the Czech Republic, Israel and South Korea." www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

"In order to reduce climate emissions to meet a 1.5°C warming scenario, cities need to focus on increasing urban density, mass transit, cycling, and walking, while also encouraging electric vehicle use. itdp.org/2021/12/09/w...

"A federal court shot down President Trump’s attempt to kill New York City’s congestion pricing program on Tuesday, allowing the city’s $9 toll on cars entering downtown Manhattan during peak hours to remain in effect." heatmap.news/sparks/conge...

The American planning system has created a society that requires most people to own a car. And for most people those cars are becoming unaffordable! #UrbanTruth @urbantruth.blsy.social www.nytimes.com/2026/03/05/b...

Fascinating work from Rafael Prieto-Curiel and Juan P. Ospina

Halvemaansteeg & Rembrandtplein, Amsterdam in 1979 and today. From car-choked streets with little space for people to a lively car-free area with only trams, pedestrians & bikes permitted. Cafes and outdoor seating dominate the area. A reminder to politicians: design streets for the city you want.

They really want us to love cars. But why would we love being car dependent? Dependency is never freedom. Mobility freedom comes from mobility choices. #UrbanTruth

Feels tacky. We can do better. @galwaycity.ie @cosaingalway.bsky.social

Suburban Sprawl may seem cheap, but even the costs we CAN count are far too high, and we ALL pay them. HT Smart Prosperity Institute #UrbanTruth institute.smartprosperity.ca/library/publ...

New York City is a city of walkers. More trips are made on foot than by car (41% versus 28%)... MIT researchers just mapped New York City foot traffic for the first time ever

This park and ride appears to have very little to do with getting people out of their cars. How much will this additional car park for the park cost? Why are families not walking to the park? Is it possible? Is it safe from cars?

Learning from Vienna. commonedge.org/a-radical-an...

Galway City Council approved a €45.5m loan in 2022 to buy Crown Square, with the public being informed just three days before the vote. Months later, it emerged that extra borrowing was needed for fit-out works. The final cost of all this is still to be determined. connachttribune.ie/media-minist...

Speaking of "narcissistic dipshittery", the RSA has been asked more than once for evidence that high vis, or its promotion, has made the roads safer. They acknowledged that they had no such information in their possession. On one occasion they offered the "if it saves one life" justification.

So Ireland doesn't even know how many houses are being built? The numbers are unreliable, apparently. If 36,000 new houses were built last year, why were only 58 sold to buyers in Dublin? www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2026...

Excellent news! @GalwayCityCo The EU grant will help revitalise the city's historic canals as a source of clean energy and better public engagement for pedestrians and cyclists. www.rte.ie/news/regiona...

Coolglass wind-farm ruling puts every public servant in Ireland on notice www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2026...

They might park but what will they ride? Putting the car before the improved bus service? www.galwaybayfm.ie/galway-bay-f...

Trump actively rolling back all efforts to fight climate change. Trump Allies Near ‘Total Victory’ in Wiping Out U.S. Climate Regulation www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/c...

New research finds negligible benefit from "minimum passing distance" laws requiring drivers to give cyclists space when overtaking them. Protected bike lanes are far more effective. doi.org/10.1016/j.jc...

“It's not my duty as Mayor to make sure you have a parking spot. For me it's the same as if you bought a cow, or a refrigerator, and then asked me where you're going to put them.” — Mayor of Pontevedra, Spain (re-elected 6 times)

Driverless cars, hey? Since the dawn of motoring it has always been possible, for a fee, to be taken somewhere in a car without having to drive it. The technology is called “taxi cabs”. (Try getting a robot taxi to help a disabled/infirm passenger from their front door to inside the cab.)

Galway City Council's mystery move to "Crown Square" set to cause a significant increase in traffic congestion. @galwaycitycouncil.bsky.social

Cameras to detect speeding, running red lights, and use of bus lanes are set to be rolled out, as the first National Safety Camera Strategy is on track to be approved early this year jrnl.ie/6937859

What would your street look like with great cycling infrastructure? Email your photo to Marco Mulder ([email protected]). One condition: it must be a photo of a street—nothing more. International examples are more than welcome! Marco will get back to you as soon as possible.

Judge who said cyclists a “nightmare” pleaded guilty to failing to take breathalyser test A Dublin-based Circuit Court judge who said that "Cyclists have become a nightmare in Dublin" pleaded guilty in 2012 to failing to comply with a request by a garda to use a breathalyser in Connemara.…

Four pedestrian desire lines. One zebra crossing. 👇 Why do you suppose Galway City Council is so uninterested in enabling foot traffic, @illanwall.bsky.social @kleyden.bsky.social? They have an Active Travel team, with a bunch of "strategies" lining their shelves. What's their problem?

From 2019-2024, road deaths in Ireland rose by 22 per cent whereas the EU average dropped 12 per cent. www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...

Since 2010, pedestrian deaths in the US 🇺🇸 have increased by 80%. During that same time, pedestrian deaths in the EU 🇪🇺 have dropped by 37%, but that stat could be about to change. A new video by NJB. 👇

“One mile on a bike is a $.42 economic gain to society, one mile driving is a $.20 loss.” “Which means that Copenhagen, a city of 1.2 million people, saves $357 million a year on health costs because something like 80% of its population commutes by bike.” #CityMakingMath Some costs aren’t costs.

Mamdani: "We can respond to oligarchy and authoritarianism with the strength it fears, not the appeasement it craves. After all, if anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him."

“If you get hit by a car travelling at 50km/h, you’ve only got a 1.5-in-10 chance of surviving. If it’s going 30km/h you’ve got a nine-in-10 chance.” “But it was not enough to put up a sign that says 30km/h…there also needed to be design changes to slow down traffic.” Speed is always a factor.

How microplastics may be reshaping our bodies and minds. “The particles are in our blood, brains and guts – and scientists are only beginning to learn what they do.” Microplastics like those from car tires. The bigger and heavier the vehicle, the more microplastics shed.

“In London cyclists now outnumber cars in the City by 2 to 1. Paris, where they now outnumber motorists across the whole city, is catching up with Europe’s traditional bike capitals, Amsterdam & Copenhagen…In Copenhagen, bikes account for almost half of commuter trips to work/school.” @economist.com

"Nothing works like negative campaigning," according to Ivan Yeats. His suggestion that Humphreys should create fear during the election campaign is right out of the Trump handbook. #aras25

Thank you Galway West TD John Connolly for supporting additional bus services in Galway! m.independent.ie/regionals/ga...

'The real scandal here is not “bike shed groundhog day.” It’s the groundhog day of car dependency, subsidised at vast public expense, locking us into congestion, pollution, poor health and missed climate targets.' Great piece from @ciarancannon.bsky.social www.thejournal.ie/readme/bike-...

“The e-bike market is skyrocketing — and, according to some studies, outpacing electric cars…The question now is: Do officials double down on deadly car-centric urban design, or do they rethink cities to encourage people to ditch four wheels for two?” Via @grist.org grist.org/transportati...

Promising innovation from the @dubcitycouncil.bsky.social

@tinydbass.bsky.social @irishdocsenv.bsky.social @olaln.bsky.social @fhmediastuff.bsky.social @kleyden.bsky.social 👇

“In 2023, cars and their drivers killed 8,820 American pedestrians and bicyclists — 7,314 pedestrians and 1,166 cyclists. They injured another 136,281, an increase of over 5,300 injuries from 2022.” Put the responsibility where it belongs. Via @jalopnik.bsky.social www.jalopnik.com/1979666/defe...

Every year, billions of vehicles worldwide shed an estimated 6 million tonnes of tire fragments. These tiny flakes of plastic, generated by normal driving, account for 28% of microplastics entering the environment globally. Heavy vehicles eg SUVs/EVs especially. Via @us.theconversation.com

Speaking yesterday about the current extreme divisiveness in America, Obama said "at moments like this, when tensions are high, then part of the job of the president is to pull people together.” It is what American presidents do. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/17/u...

IMPORTANT: The Dutch invest €595 million annually on urban biking, resulting in €19 BILLION saved in public health care costs alone. That’s how smart govts do the math on investing in better mobility. Let’s be clear— it wastes public money to NOT do it. #CityMakingMath HT @modacitylife.bsky.social

Congestion charging in London caused an average of 7% drop in car ownership in affected areas (outer London near the charging boundary). If we want fewer cars in our streets, and all the benefits that brings, this is one of the tools that we know works. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...