We would not need to consider levies like this if we planned our city appropriately. Decades of sprawl and low density car dependent planning has led to infrastructure debt that is difficult to fathom. We've written about it here : strongtownsottawa.ca/Infrastructu... www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

It is wonderful to see the Glebe BIA acknowledge that buses, cycling, and walking are the best way to get a lot of people around in our city. Even though they fought hard against bus lanes to improve public transit very recently, it is wonderful to see them recognize the errors in their ways.

The City of Ottawa released a report regarding compensation for transit users. One of the main ways they identified to make the service better in the short term was transit priority measures, one of the cheapest ones identified was continuous bus lanes! This is cheap and easy, do it now!

@markomiljusevic.bsky.social @strongtownsottawa.ca

There is a public information session on Tuesday, April 28th, 2026, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m (Carlsbad Springs Community Centre - 6020 Piperville Road) regarding the Tewin project. We strongly encourage anyone who can to make it out. If this project must go forward, it needs the following :

CBC had a great episode about parking in downtown! We need to give people good alternatives to driving so that we can get people to where they need to go. Parking is some of the worst land usage we can have in the downtown core of the city. www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-p...

Cassie from @envirocentre.bsky.social does a great job discussing the benefits of a bikeshare program. We're very excited to see the positive results from the study. For a tiny cost we're able to provide a great service that increases our transportation connecitvity. www.cbc.ca/listen/live-...

"Heritage" 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

Okay CTA. This is a good sign.

Such an amazing turnout last night at our monthly meeting! Great conversations about next steps for bus lanes on Bank Street, the upcoming election, and our future advocacy! If you're looking to join in on the fun, check out our next events at luma.com/STO We look forward to seeing you there!

Here's a map of the current congestion around the core of the city of Ottawa today right around noon. As you can see, pretty much the only place that is backed up with congestion is in the area where the pilot study for bus lanes is. Yet apparently this isn't "peak hours" to some? 🤔🤔

Describing gutting the hours that the bus lanes will be in effect by 33% (2 of the 6 hours) as "cleaning up a few things around data collection in particular" is certainly a very interesting way to tell the public/other councillors what you're trying to do... Please contact your local councillor.

Today Ajay of @bettertransitottawa.ca had a wonderful delegation at Transit Committee about the decision to cut back on the already watered down Bus Lanes on Bank Street pilot. We highly recommend watching it! www.youtube.com/live/p09lCEc...

Thinking about this one today 😔😥

Disappointment at council today. Council just passed a motion from Councillor Menard for the Bank Street bus lane study which will restrict bus lanes even further from staff's proposed 3 hours to 2 hours. This means we will get no data about how parking affects bus flow in the area.

Tomorrow City Council will discuss and vote on the final approval for the Bank Street bus lane pilot. We still think it is a huge mistake that the city took out their planned event day bus lanes. Every side seems to support this, here's Darrell Cox (BIA Executive Director) saying it's a great idea

One concerning piece from the city's proposal for Bank Street bus lanes is that they seem to have removed large event bus lanes. Even though according to their own report, this is probably the most important time for bus lanes to be present. Please sign up to delegate for the March 30th meeting!

Wow, whoever the Glebe BIA hired for their retail analysis really knows what they're talking about! They directly tell the BIA that the on-street parking on Bank Street is not needed for local businesses, and that there are plenty of available spaces around that are cheaper to use!

The Glebe BIA had a report done about the area. We think this image perfectly encapsulates the reason for hesitancy by the business owners to get rid of parking. While 86% of the respondents who come to shop said they get there by means other than driving, 94% of the owners said they drove.

Here is the report on the underground parking facilities that states in no uncertain circumstances that the facility would be cash flow negative to the tune of almost SEVENTY MILLION DOLLARS. "its capital and lifecycle costs exceed its revenue potential". We cannot continue to ignore reality.

The video from last year is more relevant than ever. David Hill and Cyril Rogers are incorrectly claiming the underground parking is cash flow positive over the long run. All of the evidence we have from City Staff goes against what this is saying. We've attached the staff report refuting this.

Join us this Thursday, March 12th at 6:15 pm, 400 Sparks Street for our monthly meeting! We'll be discussing how to accommodate the expected 500,000 new residents in the next 2 decades, and how to build livable neighbourhoods. RSVP and more info at the following link : luma.com/rm9tqsjy?tk=...

This cartoon of Goofy playing as Mr. Walker and Mr. Wheeler does a great job of highlighting the mindset shift that occurs when we get behind the wheel. It is interesting to note that this cartoon came out over 75 years ago, yet is just as accurate as ever. youtu.be/5WYRmjgPF4U?...

Good afternoon! Your call @mayormarksutcliffe.bsky.social! Create a #BetterByWard as a #PlaceForPeople or parking. Two G7 capital cities; two different visions.

The no new wars president started a new war? Colour me absolutely shocked!

After delegating at PWIC yesterday, we chatted with Kristy Cameron on CFRA about right turns on reds. As always we appreciate the opportunity, Kristy does a great job of asking important questions that lead to productive dialogue. You can listen to the convo here: drive.google.com/file/d/187FI...

We spoke today at PWIC on the topic of a ban on right turns on red. This is a common sense solution that has been tried all over the world and proven to increase safety. We do not need to reinvent the wheel at every intersection. Watch the delegation below drive.google.com/file/d/1owT3...

We are very frustrated that this is continually being delayed over and over again. People who want to sign up to delegate have to set aside time to be able to do so, constantly pushing things back makes things harder for the people trying to make their communities better.

Couldn't be more proud of this group! Crazy turn out every single time we have anything going on. Such passionate members that clearly care about creating the best city to live in!

Interested in learning about the impacts of the new zoning bylaw on the neighbourhoods in our city? How they'll be evolving over time, or how some might stay stagnant? We have BuildingIn coming to present at our next monthly meeting! Join us Thursday to learn more! luma.com/n4ap5kek?tk=...

Join us for our first social of the year tonight! Everyone is welcome, we always have a great time! Come out for some socializing, drinks, food, and great conversations! luma.com/t13rin2r?tk=...

Last Saturday Carleton held their BPAPM Case Competition where they looked at the Bank Street Study! It was amazing being part of the process, seeing all of the wonderful ideas from the students, and seeing them present it in a room filled with friends, family, and even some city Councillors!

Thanks to everyone who came out to another great Ottawa Urbanism Book Club! Great turnout for a snowy day to discuss Ottawology by Tonya K. Davidson. If you're interested in joining us for next month's book The Unaccountability Machine check our events section on our site strongtownsottawa.ca#Events

Interesting to see Alex Lawson scrubbed from the PoliticalIntel consultants site amidst running for mayor web.archive.org/web/20251221... #ottnews

The future is bright!

It was a pleasure to host a workshop on the Bank Street Study for Carleton students of BPAPM's case competition! They had some wonderful questions and engagement with the topic. Local politics has a huge impact on our everyday lives, so it's great to see youth taking an interest in it!

Dangerous policies will lead to dangerous outcomes. Completely backwards policies when looking at what the data supports.

Reminder we have an e-mail template on our site that you can use for inspiration to contact your councillor! Here are some other ways you can get involved too. If you're interested in delegating, don't hesitate to reach out, we'd love to help you with it! strongtownsottawa.ca/bank_street_...

Thank you to everyone who came to our monthly meeting last night to work on our push for Bus Lanes on Bank Street. What a great turnout! If you haven't been, anyone is welcome to join us for our monthly meetings! You can find info for the next one on our website, strongtownsottawa.ca

If you're not aware, we have our first monthly meeting of 2026 coming up this Thursday, 6:15-7:45 pm, at St. Peter's Church (400 Sparks), where we'll be discussing our final push for Bus Lanes on Bank Street! Come get involved with fellow Strong Towns members! luma.com/gxt9qt3u

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.

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.

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!

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.

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...

This was a campaign event. I have great respect for Chief Stubbs, Chief Hutt, and Chief Poirier, and I think that it was inappropriate to use them like this. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

You would think the mayor was being ironic here when he says that we can't acquiesce to demands of wealthy sports owners, right before he says we need to be careful we don't lose the other wealthy sports owners in the same stadium 🤣🤣 #Ottawa #Lansdowne2.0

It's empowering knowing how many people are passionate about this. Makes fighting for change so much easier! Don't be afraid to get involved! And if you have any feedback on the event or thoughts to share, don't hesitate to reach out!