Prague wins the "shortest ever pedestrian crossing signal phase" contest. I can barely make it to the other side before it turns red. And I walk pretty fast.

Do Americans and Canadians understand the meaning of these road signs?

Here is an inspiration for Toronto on how to manage left turns with center-running tram lanes. Cars wait in the rightmost lane instead of occupying the tram lane and yield to trams. It seems to work pretty fine in a very busy unsignalized intersection.

Czech 🤝 Bolognese 🚋🚋🚋 Tramvaj <-> tramvaï

Apparently the Czechs do not fall or jump like lemmings into incoming traffic when they alight from trams on a platform island, so they don't need railings.

Finally got my hands on this book. As far as I know, one of the best introductions to the modern (late 19th-early 20th century) German urban planning practice in a language I can read. Piccinato (1977 ). La Costruzione dell'Urbanistica. Germania 1871-1914.

This large redevelopment in Bologns was planned in the early 2000s, but was badly hit by the 2008 crisis and remained only minimally developed for almost 15 yrars. Nice to see that in the last few years it's finally filling up.

Official names of the stops of the upcoming tram of Bologna just dropped. www.comune.bologna.it/novita/notiz...

Something tells me the Canadiens won.

Retrofitting for flood prevention is really dring up construction cost in Italy. This is clearly visible in the recently opened double-tracking of the Adriatic line near Lesina, where the line had to be moved to a higher viaduct from an embankment which was acting as a dam on floodable land

Broke: bus lanes Woke: ambulance lanes Bespoke: firefighters lanes Corso Regina Margherita, Torino maps.app.goo.gl/DRLM6hFPuWXe...

At the @nacto.bsky.social I presented on using basic loop detectors to run TSP. Here's one such example: Two not so well placed loop detectors are good enough to be used to trigger downstream SCP detectors.

Bologna tram updates 🚋🚋 As road works progressively come to an end, installation of canopies' structure at tram stops has started. They really went for a strong "Red Bologna" look 🫣

A rare example of a quality full redesign of a street in Italy. Via Amedei, Mantova. First pic, how it was, i.e. the typical oversized street of postwar peripheries. Other 3 pics: how it's now, turned one-way, depaved and traffic-calmed.

I might never make it to the release of the Transit Priority Atlas this Friday if @egoldwyn.bsky.social gets so fed up with correcting my Canadian spelling to the American one and throws me out of the 12th-floor window of NYU-Marron

Catch @chittimarco.bsky.social launch our new Transit Priority Atlas (TPA) on friday at 9am in Brooklyn. You know about Offset Bus Lanes and Queue Jumps but what do you know about Transit Modal Filters and Auckland's bus-speed curve? luma.com/rf2ehtyu

Fun fact. The Italian planning law (1150/42) never mentions the word "use" even in the single very vague reference to zoning: "the division of the territory into zones, specifying those designated for urban expansion, and the zoning characteristics and constraints to be observed in construction."

NYC drivers must be much more intelligent than Ontario's one, because somehow they manage to understand that the traffic light on the left is for buses only, while the one on the right is for the parallel general-traffic lane without giant road signs (Buses here cut cars to move to a curbside lane)

The MET is run by a cabal of mathematicians.

Brooklyn Commons is a very enjoyable public space, because of its generous tree canopy but even more because it's a rare example of a public space where cars aren't allowed, not even on the edges, a very rare occurrence in NYC and in North-American cities in general. It's a miracle it exists.

It did look familiar Right: the Italian standard direction road sign for the station

Diesel engines on a station platform, what a joy for one's ears.

The City Council of Helsinki decided today, with votes 77-5, to rebuild the 2+2 lane Kaivokatu street in front of the Central Railway Station as an inviting area for people walking and biking and with a four track tram stop for better service. Info from an earlier stage: www.hel.fi/en/news/the-...

A little sneak peek for you folks.

I will sure regret breaking my rule of not talking about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in here, but I happened to have dealt with this issue in my thesis and the answer is a very common one: start by blaming the Brits and their flawed Land Settlement process in the 1920-30s.

Look what's in the mailbox.

I've decided to start writing a newsletter. Its name is Infrastory, which I've long thought captures what I focus on. It's a portmanteau of infrastructure and history, but it's also about telling the story beneath ("infra") the surface. You can find & subscribe at infrastory.substack.com

My good friend @englishrail.bsky.social has told me so many great stories about infrastructure over the years, really excited today that he's launched a blog (I'm helping out). First post is about how Canada became an enormous amount of the American oil market. open.substack.com/pub/infrasto...

It's happening. On Friday, 5/15, we are soft-launching our Transit Priority Atlas 1.0 website. Come join us in person at 370 Jay Street to explore this knowledge-sharing tool and get lost in circulation planning layouts and intersection management strategies for better on-street transit.

In 2016, Québec government issued a directive classifying every project worth more than $50 million as a "large project" with a specific approval procedure from the "Conseil du Trésor" In 2026, we have reached the point where rebuilding a short, narrow street is almost worth a megaproject.

Hoisting this from the discussion. In the 2000s and 2010s there was quite a lot of academic debate around the concept of "urban planning culture" in Europe, as a reflection emerging from the process of EU harmonization. This map is still quite simplistic, but it captures some broad commonalities.

Tracklaying for Bologna's first tram line has reached almost 90%. There is only one major four blocks gap and a few small gaps left here and there, notably at complex intersections that are built in small segments to avoid complete closures. They seem on track to respect June deadline for 100%.

That's a bit lateral to the main topic of the thread, but I don't buy the argument that Americans drive more milrs on avearge because the country is bigger. They do drive more because planning is car-centric and cities are sprawling, which has little to do with the size of the US.

Anyway, happy May Day, the only and real Labour Day, to those who celebrate.

Please, explain to me how blowing dust around from the sidewalk into the air with a leaf blower at 7am is part of the city's spring cleaning practices.

How it started -> how it's going. A 2x2 lane major arterial used to run through the middle of Aalto University Campus in Helsinki. The construction of the metro station and the Jokeri LRT has provided an opportunity to rethink the circulation plan, cutting through traffic away from the campus core

I think one reason Traffic in Towns hasn't had as much success as other works on automobility in planning circles is that it's not as rhetorically outspoken against mass automobility as urbanists like Mumford, Krier, or Jacobs.

Since people sometimes struggle to understand why it's important to consider what happens outside the targeted corridor when it comes to transit priority, here is a simple matrix of conflict points for: different types of transit lanes X lateral street circulation setups.

I just discovered a fantastic, well-organized, easy-to-navigate online version of 1963 Buchanan's "Traffic in Towns." Just wonderful. trafficintowns.uk/index.php/bo...

Maybe I'm still too Italian, but I actually find it incredible that a tax accountant that you pay a fortune as onorary needs to be reminded that April 31st is the due date for paying your taxes in Canada, since time immemorial. Really unbelievable how much this country charges for total mediocrity.

Today it's 22C and Montréal's popuhas suddenly tripled.

Great thing of cities, nyc in particular: it's 8:45 pm, you forgot wine and an ingredient for dinner; no problem, just walk 2 minutes and you'll get them.

Peak Southern Italy postwar infrastructure vibes here.

Fondazione FS is running two special historic trains next month to commemorate 50 years from the decommissioning of the last triphase electrification in Italy in the morning of 25 May 1976. www.fondazionefs.it/it/treni-sto...

Our new IONizeWR article is a deep dive into the evolution of plans and costs for ION Stage 2:

I have been working on this one For A While, I hope local policy/politics people and transit cost nerds anywhere take a look

Find someone who loves you as much as the Swedes loves to blast enormous transit caverns in hard rock. The massive underground bus terminal under construction at Slussen.

I just learned about the "Divergabout" a mythical beats that is half Diverging Diamond, half Roundabout, and I honestly think that the North American road engineering profession is unredeemable.

It's somehow very telling that the English language doesn't have an expression that fully translate the French expression "politique volontariste (de l'État)". It reflects how much policy-making in the anglosphere, especially in urban planning matters, is reactive rather than proactive.

One of the anecdotal facts that I use to support my claim that Italy is a "Country of Cities" in a way France isn't is the fact that the modal name of the level of government that roughly corresponds to "counties" is: ITA: Province of _Major City Name_ FR: River or topographical feature Name