David Brake
@drbrakeyyt.bsky.social
Journalist, policy wonk, urbanist, PhD, dad, CFA.
@EssentialTransitNL.bsky.social and @TransportactionATL.bsky.social
Vice Chair of @HappyCitySJ.bsky.social, founder of EVs in Real Life
Follow @drbrake for my "old life" (media academic, UK/World affairs)
@EssentialTransitNL.bsky.social and @TransportactionATL.bsky.social
Vice Chair of @HappyCitySJ.bsky.social, founder of EVs in Real Life
Follow @drbrake for my "old life" (media academic, UK/World affairs)
Reposted by David Brake
Routes with fewer stops that don't loop through side streets could help make transit work more effectively but only if the city also makes it easier to get to and from bus stops... preferably with shelters!
Longer gaps between stops mean faster buses but longer walks and as winter sets in, keeping sidewalks and crossing clear is essential so people can get to transit. Not everyone can leap a snowbank and even fewer of us want to!
winnipeg.citynews.ca/2025/11/24/s...
winnipeg.citynews.ca/2025/11/24/s...
Some Winnipeggers say transit redesign has hindered those with mobility issues
Some Winnipeg residents say they have been let down by the new Winnipeg Transit redesign, as it puts people who have varying mobility and use mobility devices in the city at a serious disadvantage…
winnipeg.citynews.ca
November 27, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Routes with fewer stops that don't loop through side streets could help make transit work more effectively but only if the city also makes it easier to get to and from bus stops... preferably with shelters!
Reposted by David Brake
Get outside kids, enjoy the fresh air with your friends!
Just kidding, stay the F inside.
Just kidding, stay the F inside.
November 27, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Get outside kids, enjoy the fresh air with your friends!
Just kidding, stay the F inside.
Just kidding, stay the F inside.
Reposted by David Brake
This is the outcome I have been quietly hoping for all along - ditch the economically dubious green hydrogen but keep building the wind turbines and use them to displace polluting electricity sources. Or serve energy intensive industries. Just not AI datacentres or bitcoin mining, please!
Pattern Energy executive Frank Davis says the company is ‘fully committed’ to Argentia Renewables, which will take the form of a wind-only project — for now
#nlpoli #wind #energy
theindependent.ca/news/lji/com...
#nlpoli #wind #energy
theindependent.ca/news/lji/com...
Company behind proposed wind-hydrogen project withdraws from environmental assessment, returning with ‘phased approach’ – The Independent
Pattern Energy executive says company is 'fully committed' to Argentia Renewables, which will take the form of a wind-only project — for now
theindependent.ca
November 25, 2025 at 7:34 PM
This is the outcome I have been quietly hoping for all along - ditch the economically dubious green hydrogen but keep building the wind turbines and use them to displace polluting electricity sources. Or serve energy intensive industries. Just not AI datacentres or bitcoin mining, please!
Reposted by David Brake
I am not sure I would want to try walking or cycling through along that road either TBH!
when we say we want more streets to be pedestrianized, this is what we mean
November 25, 2025 at 7:14 PM
I am not sure I would want to try walking or cycling through along that road either TBH!
Reposted by David Brake
When your kids don't need you as their chauffeur everyone is better off.
by bsky @tomflood.bsky.social
#bike #cycling #cyclinglife #commutebybike #NotJustBikes #urbanism #motonomativity #fuckcars #carfree #lowCar #walkability #walkablecities #peopleovercars […]
[Original post on mas.to]
by bsky @tomflood.bsky.social
#bike #cycling #cyclinglife #commutebybike #NotJustBikes #urbanism #motonomativity #fuckcars #carfree #lowCar #walkability #walkablecities #peopleovercars […]
[Original post on mas.to]
November 23, 2025 at 7:53 PM
When your kids don't need you as their chauffeur everyone is better off.
by bsky @tomflood.bsky.social
#bike #cycling #cyclinglife #commutebybike #NotJustBikes #urbanism #motonomativity #fuckcars #carfree #lowCar #walkability #walkablecities #peopleovercars […]
[Original post on mas.to]
by bsky @tomflood.bsky.social
#bike #cycling #cyclinglife #commutebybike #NotJustBikes #urbanism #motonomativity #fuckcars #carfree #lowCar #walkability #walkablecities #peopleovercars […]
[Original post on mas.to]
Great to see journalism making a difference in Newfoundland. The profession is definitely on its last legs - this is one more reminder of why the media is important. Though I hope asking the company responsible for the report to account for the errors is only the first step from the government.
UPDATE: The provincial gov. says it has "directed Deloitte to confirm the accuracy of the citations and literature review” and that Deloitte "stands by its conclusions and findings” in the Health Human Resources Report, which cost the province $1.6 million. #nlpoli
theindependent.ca/news/lji/pro...
theindependent.ca/news/lji/pro...
November 22, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Great to see journalism making a difference in Newfoundland. The profession is definitely on its last legs - this is one more reminder of why the media is important. Though I hope asking the company responsible for the report to account for the errors is only the first step from the government.
Reposted by David Brake
from government by consultant to government by consultants using generative AI.
decades of degrading government capacity to actually govern has left it open to further degradation through ai hype and perceptions it enables further cost cutting.
decades of degrading government capacity to actually govern has left it open to further degradation through ai hype and perceptions it enables further cost cutting.
Major N.L. healthcare report contains errors likely generated by A.I. – The Independent
$1.6 million Health Human Resources Plan from Deloitte cites research papers that don’t exist, making it the second major government policy paper called into question in as many months
theindependent.ca
November 22, 2025 at 10:09 PM
from government by consultant to government by consultants using generative AI.
decades of degrading government capacity to actually govern has left it open to further degradation through ai hype and perceptions it enables further cost cutting.
decades of degrading government capacity to actually govern has left it open to further degradation through ai hype and perceptions it enables further cost cutting.
Reposted by David Brake
I think @ketanjoshi.co first pointed me to the @iea.org claim AI-led energy efficiencies would more than compensate for the industry's actual usage. I just looked up the claim to find the justification behind the pretty graphs... and there doesn't seem to be any?! www.iea.org/reports/ener...
November 21, 2025 at 6:50 PM
I think @ketanjoshi.co first pointed me to the @iea.org claim AI-led energy efficiencies would more than compensate for the industry's actual usage. I just looked up the claim to find the justification behind the pretty graphs... and there doesn't seem to be any?! www.iea.org/reports/ener...
I'm imagine he'll tackle this later but the word "collection" is doing a lot on this @parismarx.com' s slide. A lot of AI data was theft and there's plenty of work going on to retroactively legitimise it and give AI companies legal cover for future theft or forced content purchase "deals".
November 21, 2025 at 6:27 PM
I'm imagine he'll tackle this later but the word "collection" is doing a lot on this @parismarx.com' s slide. A lot of AI data was theft and there's plenty of work going on to retroactively legitimise it and give AI companies legal cover for future theft or forced content purchase "deals".
I've been here in Newfoundland for 7 years now- I think @parismarx.com may be my first public lecture by a Newfoundlander public intellectual with an international following not talking about NL things (mainly the politics of resource extraction). Probably I missed a few? Better late than never?
November 21, 2025 at 6:16 PM
I've been here in Newfoundland for 7 years now- I think @parismarx.com may be my first public lecture by a Newfoundlander public intellectual with an international following not talking about NL things (mainly the politics of resource extraction). Probably I missed a few? Better late than never?
TL;DR it looks awfully like a fraudulent freelancer probably using AI to help their inventions managed to get published across the Internet, including at some top tier publications like The Guardian. *sigh.
do you want to feel depressed thelocal.to/investigatin...
Investigating a Possible Scammer in Journalism’s AI Era | The Local
A suspicious pitch from a freelancer led editor Nicholas Hune-Brown to dig into their past work. By the end, four publications, including The Guardian and Dwell, had removed articles from their sites.
thelocal.to
November 20, 2025 at 2:40 AM
TL;DR it looks awfully like a fraudulent freelancer probably using AI to help their inventions managed to get published across the Internet, including at some top tier publications like The Guardian. *sigh.
Reposted by David Brake
Freight transport was 14.7% of NL's emissions in 2023 and considered "hard to abate" (www.gov.nl.ca/eccc/files/2...). But we have lots of electricity and most travels along the TCH so maybe we should be examining how to support truck electrification if the Chinese are making it work?
Perhaps heavy trucks shouldn't be considered "hard to decarbonise" after all? In China in 1st half of 2025, battery-powered heavy trucks accounted for 22% of new purchases says Commercial Vehicle World. BMI forecasts nearly 46% of new sales this year and 60% next. finance.yahoo.com/news/chinas-...
November 19, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Freight transport was 14.7% of NL's emissions in 2023 and considered "hard to abate" (www.gov.nl.ca/eccc/files/2...). But we have lots of electricity and most travels along the TCH so maybe we should be examining how to support truck electrification if the Chinese are making it work?
Reposted by David Brake
Ontario to spend money to rip out bike lanes and speed cameras to disconnect people and hurt school children. 🙌
The Netherlands is to invest up to €1 billion in cycling infrastructure to connect hundreds of thousands of new homes nationwide.
Read more: zagdaily.com/trends/dutch...
Read more: zagdaily.com/trends/dutch...
November 17, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Ontario to spend money to rip out bike lanes and speed cameras to disconnect people and hurt school children. 🙌
Reposted by David Brake
Car dependency is a hell of a drug.
November 14, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Car dependency is a hell of a drug.
Reposted by David Brake
Oh, Canada...
November 13, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Oh, Canada...
Reposted by David Brake
it’s not just suburbs either. Even relatively dense cities can be car dependent - I live in one!
This is a joke, but this is one reason car-dependent suburbs are actually terrible places to raise kids. You have to drive them everywhere. Kids resent the lack of autonomy. Parents resent the drain on their time.
i just want my kids to be able to walk to the store to get stuff so I don't have to.
November 13, 2025 at 9:12 PM
it’s not just suburbs either. Even relatively dense cities can be car dependent - I live in one!
This looks strangely familiar to those of us in NL - but since our "future of education" report was produced internally I guess we don't get a refund? pivot-to-ai.com/2025/10/07/d...
Deloitte Australia retracts ChatGPT report, refunds government
We noted in August how Deloitte Australia did a report for the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) that looked extremely chatbot. It was full of fake references, and some of the…
pivot-to-ai.com
October 8, 2025 at 4:07 PM
This looks strangely familiar to those of us in NL - but since our "future of education" report was produced internally I guess we don't get a refund? pivot-to-ai.com/2025/10/07/d...
Reposted by David Brake
If your school zone infrastructure doesn't look like this, maybe it's time to start asking why not.
Fahrradfahren verlernt man nicht. Und in den Niederlanden gibt man den Menschen erst gar keine Gründe, damit aufzuhören
🇳🇱❤️🚲
🇳🇱❤️🚲
October 7, 2025 at 7:56 PM
If your school zone infrastructure doesn't look like this, maybe it's time to start asking why not.
I have little insider knowledge but Drew Brown's analysis of the state of NL politics rings dismayingly true. His first step to a solution - keep big money donations out of provincial politics - is as obvious as it is necessary. It's a minor tragedy he's bowing out of covering the scene here.
We’re cutting through the undergrowth to find out why our political parties feel dead — and what might liven them up
Read Part 2 of Drew Brown's analysis of N.L.'s political system ahead of the 2025 provincial election on Oct. 14.
#nlpoli
theindependent.ca/commentary/a...
Read Part 2 of Drew Brown's analysis of N.L.'s political system ahead of the 2025 provincial election on Oct. 14.
#nlpoli
theindependent.ca/commentary/a...
How N.L. became the life (and death) of the party – The Independent
We’re cutting through the undergrowth to find out why our political parties feel dead — and what might liven them up
theindependent.ca
October 6, 2025 at 5:22 PM
I have little insider knowledge but Drew Brown's analysis of the state of NL politics rings dismayingly true. His first step to a solution - keep big money donations out of provincial politics - is as obvious as it is necessary. It's a minor tragedy he's bowing out of covering the scene here.
Impressive - one of the region's few remaining independent news outlets managed (with Federal help) to get reporting about the Inuit community from an Inuk journalist actually living there.
"We’re seeing the culture slowly fade away,” says Rex Holwell, an Inuk elder from Nain.
Read Part 1 of a new 2-part feature from Frey Blake-Pijogge about how climate change is impacting Inuit in #Nunatsiavut.
#nlpoli
theindependent.ca/news/lji/bea...
Read Part 1 of a new 2-part feature from Frey Blake-Pijogge about how climate change is impacting Inuit in #Nunatsiavut.
#nlpoli
theindependent.ca/news/lji/bea...
Bearing the brunt of climate change in Nunatsiavut – The Independent
Inuit in the self-governing region of Labrador speak about the ways climate change is impacting their mental health, food security and culture
theindependent.ca
September 19, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Impressive - one of the region's few remaining independent news outlets managed (with Federal help) to get reporting about the Inuit community from an Inuk journalist actually living there.
Reposted by David Brake
There's always a local angle.
September 18, 2025 at 8:18 PM
There's always a local angle.
My favorite fact from the @happycity.ca issue guide: In 2024 only 80 new housing units have been started in St John’s itself, according to the CMHC (up from 48 the previous year). Meanwhile, across the St John’s Metropolitan Area excluding the city itself 791 housing units were started in 2024.
September 18, 2025 at 2:17 PM
My favorite fact from the @happycity.ca issue guide: In 2024 only 80 new housing units have been started in St John’s itself, according to the CMHC (up from 48 the previous year). Meanwhile, across the St John’s Metropolitan Area excluding the city itself 791 housing units were started in 2024.
As the ballots start to go out for St Johns' council election, here's an issue overview from @happycity.ca for voters to consider. There are some under-discussed facts there and it's not too late to ask candidates for their thoughts! stjohnsvotes.ca/2025/09/18/e...
Elections 2025 Issues Overview – stjohnsvotes.ca
stjohnsvotes.ca
September 18, 2025 at 2:08 PM
As the ballots start to go out for St Johns' council election, here's an issue overview from @happycity.ca for voters to consider. There are some under-discussed facts there and it's not too late to ask candidates for their thoughts! stjohnsvotes.ca/2025/09/18/e...
Reposted by David Brake
Join us for a walk exploring how urban infrastructure impacts pedestrian safety, comfort, and enjoyment in St. John’s. Hosted by a member of Challenge Car Culture, this walk invites conversation about building a city that puts people first.
Parking (ironically) is available in Churchill Square.
Parking (ironically) is available in Churchill Square.
September 17, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Join us for a walk exploring how urban infrastructure impacts pedestrian safety, comfort, and enjoyment in St. John’s. Hosted by a member of Challenge Car Culture, this walk invites conversation about building a city that puts people first.
Parking (ironically) is available in Churchill Square.
Parking (ironically) is available in Churchill Square.
🧵I helped @happycity.ca track coverage of candidates and issues in the last city election. We linked to 8 issue-based pieces in the Independent, five by the CBC, three by the Telegram, multiple interviews of candidates and more. This year there's been almost nothing. web.archive.org/web/20211016...
Meet The Candidates – St. John's Votes
web.archive.org
September 17, 2025 at 1:28 PM
🧵I helped @happycity.ca track coverage of candidates and issues in the last city election. We linked to 8 issue-based pieces in the Independent, five by the CBC, three by the Telegram, multiple interviews of candidates and more. This year there's been almost nothing. web.archive.org/web/20211016...