Here's how packed the QED was yesterday during the lead-up of the Charge game. All of the occupants of these cars could have comfortably fit into a single bus. There's no need to force everyone to get here by car, it doesn't scale and leads to frustration for everyone. We need 24/7 bus lanes.

Our January newsletter is coming out tomorrow. Make sure to subscribe to catch it fresh in your mailbox. It features our upcoming events, calls to action, and advocacy highlights! strongtownsottawa.eo.page/newsletter

Gio did a great job putting those pins together, if you haven't checked out his stuff, highly recommend it! Dude where's my bus did a great job covering our transit system and he's coming out with a new documentary on the O-train this year! www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPaO...

Nat and I are on our way to see our @pwhlcharge.bsky.social take on the Frost! Another OTW, maybe?!

Great session of outreach today ahead of the charge game at Lansdowne for bus lanes on Bank! Lots of people taking the 6 and the 7 to come support this fantastic team! Imagine if they had a reliable and efficient way to get here without having to sit in traffic or try to find parking!

Same thing here on Bank Street! Yet study after study shows that other modes of transportation are typically bringing in much more business on a regular basis! The easier we make it for those other people to shop there, the better the businesses will do!

We're unfortunately in for a looooot of these unless we manage to get our city finances in order. Building more efficiently will help ensure the infrastructure we have is kept in good condition, helping our citizens avoid disasters like these!

The scary thing is that this pipe is only from 1959 and failed prematurely, a growing trend. There are still pipes downtown from the 1870s to be replaced. We currently replace about 20km of pipe each year, but we laid down 1800km of pipe in the 50s and 60s. 5X our current replacement rate.

Pretty much sums it up. In no other part of our lives would this make sense, yet it's a regular occurrence in how we plan our cities.

Pretty much sums it up. In no other part of our lives would this make sense, yet it's a regular occurrence in how we plan our cities.

Imagine congestion pricing in #OttCity: even just, say, just the urban area shown below, or a concentrated area bound by Bronson, 417, Rideau River… imagine how much better our city could be. Imagine a #BetterOttawa @strongtownsottawa.ca @bettertransitottawa.ca

What’s on our team’s reading list? Our Comms Coordinator, @etiennelefebvre.bsky.social, shares the five books that most influenced his thinking on cities in 2025. parkingreform.org/2025/12/18/f...

These traffic cameras are a great tool to see how inefficient cars are on Bank Street, and how much extra traffic parking adds. This single intersection is clogged with a total of what is probably 15-20 people in cars. All while a bus with easily over 2x that sits stuck in traffic.

These traffic cameras are a great tool to see how inefficient cars are on Bank Street, and how much extra traffic parking adds. This single intersection is clogged with a total of what is probably 15-20 people in cars. All while a bus with easily over 2x that sits stuck in traffic.

Rideau Street McDonald's reopens by honouring predecessor's viral raccoon ottawacitizen.com/news/rideau-...

Here's just 2019 and 2024 side by side. There were no speed cameras in 2019.

Here’s the link for online version if it makes reading easier, a great piece: www.newedinburgh.ca/new-edinburg...

I've filtered Ottawa's traffic collision data to show only collisions with injuries for each year, and then added the speed camera locations present in those years. It looks like speed cameras have made the roads much safer.

A small speed camera (ASE) update: Staff are collecting speed data at former ASE sites to compare driving behaviour before, during, and after camera enforcement. All data collected will be publicly available on OpenData and posted on a monthly basis beginning in January 2026.

🚨No loss of life or serious injury on our roads is acceptable.   📣Join our Action Lab with @thebikinglawyer.bsky.social   👉Holding policy makers accountable   👉Using stories of road violence for good   Featured Guest: David Shellnutt   📆January 6th 7:00-8:30pm  👇Details and RSVP wp.me/PgXcP6-2t

@mayormarksutcliffe.bsky.social @shawnmenard.bsky.social @davidmoscrop.com @bikeottawa.bsky.social @strongtownsottawa.ca @arieltroster.com Let’s go Ottawa. Make biking normal for every age for three seasons.

This wonderful piece, about new incremental housing going up, written by Sharon Nyangweso was shared in our group. We really think this couldn't have been said better. We cannot lock our neighbourhoods into stasis if we want them to thrive. We need to be adaptable and allow for incremental growth.

Another wonderful monthly meeting in the wraps! Great to see so many come out despite the poor weather last night! We discussed where we've come over the last couple years as a group, our plans for 2026, the upcoming municipal election, and more! Our next meeting is in January, info on our site!

Yesterday, Ottawa City Council approved the 2026 budget. Councillors were good about pointing out the fundamental problems with our bus reliability, but they still voted in support of a budget that will not solve the bus shortage. Our full response: bettertransitottawa.ca/blog/budget-...

it was months and months of pushing, but line 1 is almost back to 5-minute all day frequencies. huge shoutout to our members at BTO as well as @strongtownsottawa.ca for getting 6-minute frequency back during midday.

With the TTC board meeting wrapping up today, it’s as good time as any to post one of my favourite Venn diagrams.

We've worked together with our partners at the Peoples Official Plan coalition to touch on a very important aspect of our yearly budget process, that of affordability. We strongly recommend reading the letter, and providing your thoughts to your councillor! strongtownsottawa.ca/2025/12/09/i...

We did it- 18 and Under Youth Pass is coming to #Ottawa as of July 1st, 2026. It will bring free transit for youth on weekends, holidays, after 5pm on weekdays and all day every day in the summer (July and August)!

Let's get this in Ottawa ASAP! So many more types of housing would be unlocked by this. We need to learn from the rest of the world, rather than being stuck in outdated building practices.

We've worked together with our partners at the Peoples Official Plan coalition to touch on a very important aspect of our yearly budget process, that of affordability. We strongly recommend reading the letter, and providing your thoughts to your councillor! strongtownsottawa.ca/2025/12/09/i...

The report suggested Ottawa limit parking downtown and encourage pedestrian movement. This didn’t pan out. Ten years after the bylaw was adopted, the core was littered with surface parking—producing the “dead areas” Bacon warned about.

The City of Ottawa is nearing the finish line on its new zoning bylaw. Did you know Ottawa's zoning is only two degrees from Kevin Bacon? 🧵...

Pushing the "make it worse" button on a $3.5B project sounds insane, right? While I'm always excited for more transit in Canada, the Finch West LRT is showing #Ottawa something NOT to do for our future rapid lines like the Baseline Transitway. Let's talk about two crucial words: Signal Priority.

Housing and transportation go hand in hand! As we shared earlier today, there is lots of housing going up on Carling, which is GREAT! But where are the investments into transit? No bus lanes, no BRT, nothing... Even though hundreds of new residents are being added. Housing needs good transit!

Stroad parking lot with single story restaurant transforms into ➡️ 213 new homes and 4 new ground floor businesses in Ottawa, Canada

Signal timing is a huge piece of the puzzle! Hopefully cities are paying attention and learning from elsewhere!

What a great day to go out and chat to transit users about their experience with the system. Thanks to the members who came out! We're encouraging people to contact their local councillors in favour of bus lanes on bank! We have a template you can use! strongtownsottawa.ca/bank_street_...

this is bank st if it was awesome help us fight for 24/7 bus lanes on bank st! @bettertransitottawa.ca @strongtownsottawa.ca

Modal filters like this one on Elm Street are a great way to eliminate through-traffic on a local street.

Safe infrastructure for pedestrians is vital for making our city better for all of us! People of all ages and abilities should be able to get around their city year round.

Great to see this direct and fact-based approach to resident concerns about sidewalks and traffic calming as part of integrated renewal with an awesome FAQ! @visionzeroottawa.bsky.social @ecologyottawa.bsky.social @strongtownsottawa.ca @schoolstreetsyow.bsky.social

There's enough inaccurate or concerning information in the way in which @en.ottawa.ca is communicating about the 2026 Budget that I felt it should be addressed. And it's the concept of $252M in "savings" that I want to talk about, because this information is being used falsely. 1/

Ahhh yes, the bus lane moving thousands of people an hour is causing the congestion, and not the car lane that gets backed up with 10 cars filled with a single person each 😭😭😭 Look at the picture, there's probably 15 people total causing this much traffic. Cars have been sold to you as a lie.

"...speeding incidents more than doubled in her community the week after the Ontario government ended speed camera ticketing". Wow who could have guessed! Definitely not us and every other community group that said this was going to lead to extremely dangerous driving www.cp24.com/local/toront...

In case anyone needed a better visual to show why the bus lane is "empty" and the car lane is "filled". It's pretty simple. Cars are realllyyyy bad at moving large amounts of people. They're definitely great for specific uses! But to rely on them for every single trip is where we have failed.

Who could have guessed, increasing transit accessibility increases traffic to stores! As we've been saying, bus lanes on bank street will HELP businesses, not hurt them! "Yes, we knew there would be an increase...but seriously, it’s beyond expectations." Thanks for sharing Angela!

In case anyone needed a better visual to show why the bus lane is "empty" and the car lane is "filled". It's pretty simple. Cars are realllyyyy bad at moving large amounts of people. They're definitely great for specific uses! But to rely on them for every single trip is where we have failed.

Ahhh yes, the bus lane moving thousands of people an hour is causing the congestion, and not the car lane that gets backed up with 10 cars filled with a single person each 😭😭😭 Look at the picture, there's probably 15 people total causing this much traffic. Cars have been sold to you as a lie.

Who else thinks that folks like @sjamieit.bsky.social and @pbickerton.bsky.social and everyone at @strongtownsottawa.ca should be nominated for an Order of Ottawa Award?

Great coverage from Elina Ellis and Nyla McEwan at Capital Current about the issues with Bank Street and why bus lanes are needed if we want any serious chance of success for Lansdowne 2.0. It's great to see so many different groups realize we need bus lanes! capitalcurrent.ca/calls-grow-f...