@essentialtransitnl.bsky.social
One of the most thorough discussions of the pros and cons of free buses in a North American context.
NEW EPISODE: "Should the Bus Be Free? With Yonah Freemark."
Zohran Mamdani has promised fast, free buses if he becomes mayor of NYC. It's a big idea, but is it a good one? @yonahfreemark.com walks us through the pros and cons, with examples from around the world.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...
Zohran Mamdani has promised fast, free buses if he becomes mayor of NYC. It's a big idea, but is it a good one? @yonahfreemark.com walks us through the pros and cons, with examples from around the world.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...
August 12, 2025 at 3:32 PM
One of the most thorough discussions of the pros and cons of free buses in a North American context.
Reposted
More of this kind of travel writing please.
“On the whole, travel by public bus was a joy.”
“En route to Little Compton in Warwickshire, I found myself the sole passenger on the bus and the driver told me she was happy to drop me anywhere, as long as it was safe to do so”
“On the whole, travel by public bus was a joy.”
“En route to Little Compton in Warwickshire, I found myself the sole passenger on the bus and the driver told me she was happy to drop me anywhere, as long as it was safe to do so”
I travelled by local bus from London to the Cotswolds for under £40
Wending his way from the city to the countryside on the UK’s local bus network, Gabriel Stewart found an authentic slice of Cotswolds life, away from the crowds
www.independent.co.uk
August 9, 2025 at 7:07 AM
More of this kind of travel writing please.
“On the whole, travel by public bus was a joy.”
“En route to Little Compton in Warwickshire, I found myself the sole passenger on the bus and the driver told me she was happy to drop me anywhere, as long as it was safe to do so”
“On the whole, travel by public bus was a joy.”
“En route to Little Compton in Warwickshire, I found myself the sole passenger on the bus and the driver told me she was happy to drop me anywhere, as long as it was safe to do so”
Reposted
And it's done! 6 days, 9 provinces, 6 time zones, and 20 buses later, we've made it to the end of the Trans-Canada Highway!!!!! Thanks so much to everyone who followed along on this insane adventure across this amazing country!
June 26, 2025 at 12:49 AM
And it's done! 6 days, 9 provinces, 6 time zones, and 20 buses later, we've made it to the end of the Trans-Canada Highway!!!!! Thanks so much to everyone who followed along on this insane adventure across this amazing country!
Reposted
Interesting new study from @smfthinktank.bsky.social finds a correlation between car dependency & loneliness, particularly in rural towns.
This might be due to there being “fewer ways to reach others” and space given to cars creating “barriers in what might have been walkable neighbourhoods.”
This might be due to there being “fewer ways to reach others” and space given to cars creating “barriers in what might have been walkable neighbourhoods.”
People lacking good public transport more likely to feel lonely, UK study finds
Research finds correlation between car dependancy and loneliness, particularly in rural towns
www.theguardian.com
July 6, 2025 at 12:54 PM
Interesting new study from @smfthinktank.bsky.social finds a correlation between car dependency & loneliness, particularly in rural towns.
This might be due to there being “fewer ways to reach others” and space given to cars creating “barriers in what might have been walkable neighbourhoods.”
This might be due to there being “fewer ways to reach others” and space given to cars creating “barriers in what might have been walkable neighbourhoods.”
Reposted
This is a brave endeavour considering the current state of bus connectivity between provinces:
WE ARE CROSSING THE ENTIRETY OF CANADA EXCLUSIVELY BY BUS!!!
We just left Victoria, BC; if all goes according to plan, we'll be arriving in St. John's, NL on Wednesday night after six days, seven bus companies, and nine Canadian provinces - all but PEI!
We just left Victoria, BC; if all goes according to plan, we'll be arriving in St. John's, NL on Wednesday night after six days, seven bus companies, and nine Canadian provinces - all but PEI!
Our biggest adventure yet starts tomorrow. Watch this space!
June 30, 2025 at 2:55 PM
This is a brave endeavour considering the current state of bus connectivity between provinces:
Reposted
Brighton & Hove where I am currently living just received $29m of capital funding for transit from the UK government, spread over four yearshttps://www.gov.uk/government/p... St John's received almost double that in 2024 - mostly to electrify its network. But... www.stjohns.ca/en/news/fund...
June 11, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Brighton & Hove where I am currently living just received $29m of capital funding for transit from the UK government, spread over four yearshttps://www.gov.uk/government/p... St John's received almost double that in 2024 - mostly to electrify its network. But... www.stjohns.ca/en/news/fund...
This sounds very much like St John's Council, most of the Transportation Commission and Metrobus management itself...
Interesting study from Canada on transport equity.
Finds that “… elected officials have little direct experience with transportation barriers, with few experiencing issues such as unaffordability, disability, or harassment, and evidence that this influences their values related to equity.”
Finds that “… elected officials have little direct experience with transportation barriers, with few experiencing issues such as unaffordability, disability, or harassment, and evidence that this influences their values related to equity.”
Transportation barriers and equity: Values and experiences of elected officials
Despite the importance of elected officials in shaping transportation policies, there has been little direct research on their values and experiences. Understanding the values of elected officials ...
www.tandfonline.com
June 2, 2025 at 9:35 AM
This sounds very much like St John's Council, most of the Transportation Commission and Metrobus management itself...
Reposted
Transit leaders here in Canada could learn from this - for starters, we should be regularly benchmarking and trying to improve our transit systems' inclusivity too!
Evaluation of the DfT's inclusive transport strategy released yesterday.
The strategy's goal is "that disabled people should be able to travel confidently, easily and without extra cost."
Despite some good initiatives, key outcomes didn't improve over this period (although this is complicated)
The strategy's goal is "that disabled people should be able to travel confidently, easily and without extra cost."
Despite some good initiatives, key outcomes didn't improve over this period (although this is complicated)
Inclusive Transport Strategy evaluation
Findings from an evaluation into the Inclusive Transport Strategy that ran from 2020 to 2024 and considered whether the strategy met its objectives.
www.gov.uk
May 30, 2025 at 10:39 AM
Transit leaders here in Canada could learn from this - for starters, we should be regularly benchmarking and trying to improve our transit systems' inclusivity too!
Reposted
Equally applicable to the Canadian federal government and provincial and municipal governments across the country.
The UK gov should follow the EU’s lead on this and a) establish a national definition of transport poverty & transport related social exclusion, b) target reducing it, c) embed this in local transport plan guidance and d) put £s in the right place to widen access to decent transport options
A few years ago "transport poverty" was just a niche academic concept.
Now the EU has published its recommendations on how to tackle it & a helpful data dashboard transport.ec.europa.eu/news-events/...
I have made a thread with my first impressions here: threadreaderapp.com/thread/19270...
Now the EU has published its recommendations on how to tackle it & a helpful data dashboard transport.ec.europa.eu/news-events/...
I have made a thread with my first impressions here: threadreaderapp.com/thread/19270...
May 27, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Equally applicable to the Canadian federal government and provincial and municipal governments across the country.
The draft plan for Metrobus' electrification called for just four fully electric buses this year and 49 by... 2032. And it's clearly not even keeping to that schedule.
Halifax's full fleet of 60 electric buses are on the road at last! Emissions savings equivalent to taking 650 gas cars off the road - even more if the buses are more popular than the diesel ones they replace. www.ctvnews.ca/atlantic/nov...
Halifax Transit adds 60 electric buses in push toward zero emissions
Halifax Transit announced Tuesday that it has added 60 battery-electric buses to its fleet as part of a $112 million project aimed at cutting carbon emissions and modernizing public transit in the cit...
www.ctvnews.ca
May 26, 2025 at 6:36 PM
The draft plan for Metrobus' electrification called for just four fully electric buses this year and 49 by... 2032. And it's clearly not even keeping to that schedule.
Reposted
We're still big fans of buses, but if you believe it takes light rail to get passengers on board, maybe this lower cost construction technique has a role to play!
👀 Coventry’s very light rail pilot.
“Traditional light rail systems can cost between £50 million and £100 million per km, often due to the need for deep excavations and utility diversions. The Coventry VLR team estimates its system could be delivered for around £10 million per km”
“Traditional light rail systems can cost between £50 million and £100 million per km, often due to the need for deep excavations and utility diversions. The Coventry VLR team estimates its system could be delivered for around £10 million per km”
Coventry’s low-cost rail test track begins - Cities Today
Construction is under way on the UK’s first Very Light Rail (VLR) test track, part of a pilot project in Coventry that aims to develop a lower-cost, zero-emission alternative to traditional tram syste...
cities-today.com
May 26, 2025 at 5:53 PM
We're still big fans of buses, but if you believe it takes light rail to get passengers on board, maybe this lower cost construction technique has a role to play!
Reposted
Today is International Day of Persons with Disabilities. For those in the transportation ecosystem, drop some coins on fellow @islandpress.bsky.social author @nondriver.bsky.social “When Driving is not an Option”.
islandpress.org/books/when-d...
islandpress.org/books/when-d...
When Driving Is Not an Option
islandpress.org
December 3, 2024 at 2:24 PM
Today is International Day of Persons with Disabilities. For those in the transportation ecosystem, drop some coins on fellow @islandpress.bsky.social author @nondriver.bsky.social “When Driving is not an Option”.
islandpress.org/books/when-d...
islandpress.org/books/when-d...
Reposted
Brampton, ON (pop 700,000) has 226,500 bus riders on an average weekday. How? Simple. The core bus network runs every five minutes and secondary routes run every 30 well into the late evening. Ridership went up 288% (!) between 2004 when they started and 2018 www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
How Did This Suburb Figure Out Mass Transit?
Transit ridership is off the charts in Brampton, Ontario, despite its typical low-density suburban layout. Here’s how the city got residents to get on the bus.
www.bloomberg.com
April 15, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Brampton, ON (pop 700,000) has 226,500 bus riders on an average weekday. How? Simple. The core bus network runs every five minutes and secondary routes run every 30 well into the late evening. Ridership went up 288% (!) between 2004 when they started and 2018 www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
It looks sturdier and more comfortable than anything on offer in Newfoundland!
I'm for fruit-themed bus infrastructure.
April 15, 2025 at 2:14 PM
It looks sturdier and more comfortable than anything on offer in Newfoundland!
Here in St John's it's not even that people fight against these things - many just don't fight for them. The status quo is so poor people need to take an interest in better transit now before they discover they are no longer comfortable driving and don't want to have to nag their friends and family.
You fought against walkable neighborhoods, housing variety, and transit for decades…and now you’re stuck alone in sprawl, no car, no bus, no friends nearby. Who could’ve seen that coming?
April 11, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Here in St John's it's not even that people fight against these things - many just don't fight for them. The status quo is so poor people need to take an interest in better transit now before they discover they are no longer comfortable driving and don't want to have to nag their friends and family.
Terrible. But also here in Newfoundland and Labrador a reminder we don't have a publicly supported, scheduled, inter-community bus service at all! (unless you count the meagre local St John's/Mt Pearl/Paradise route)
Dozens of intercommunity bus routes across Ontario have been lost as a result of the end of provincial funding this month. This is a severe blow to rural communities and residents. Many of these service were launched in 2020 only really getting known now.
TGO Inter-Community Transit Discontinued
As of April 1st, TGO buses will no longer take people to Woodstock, Ingersoll and other local municipalities.
www.heartfm.ca
April 7, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Terrible. But also here in Newfoundland and Labrador a reminder we don't have a publicly supported, scheduled, inter-community bus service at all! (unless you count the meagre local St John's/Mt Pearl/Paradise route)
Reposted
"If Canadians pride themselves on their universal healthcare system, why isn’t it equally important to ensure that people can get to where they need to go, even if they can’t afford a car?" #transit #publictransit #Canada
thephilanthropist.ca/2025/03/good...
thephilanthropist.ca/2025/03/good...
Good transit is essential to good cities – we need more people speaking up for it - The Philanthropist Journal
Public transport is an essential service that promotes equity and health and reduces pollution. Non-profits can help mobilize riders and fund research and advocacy to support meaningful change.
thephilanthropist.ca
March 25, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Reposted
As populations across the Atlantic provinces continue to age, we need to make sure that our elderly don't feel they have to keep driving if they want to stay active and independent without avoid forcing friends and family to act as chauffeurs
80+ year old drivers are as dangerous as 16-17 year old ones.
We really need to do something radically different in Berkeley.
We really need to do something radically different in Berkeley.
March 1, 2025 at 2:49 PM
As populations across the Atlantic provinces continue to age, we need to make sure that our elderly don't feel they have to keep driving if they want to stay active and independent without avoid forcing friends and family to act as chauffeurs
Reposted
Wow - UK-focused but much will surely be applicable to 🇨🇦 as well - topics include transportation poverty, disabled people's access transport needs, a just transition for transit and more. Downloading now!
📣 Delighted to launch @ippr.bsky.social's transport issue of Progressive Review today
Many thanks to the authors who have provided such diverse and timely perspectives on transport's impact on our lives, the places we live and the environment
The below 🧵 has the direct links to the articles
Many thanks to the authors who have provided such diverse and timely perspectives on transport's impact on our lives, the places we live and the environment
The below 🧵 has the direct links to the articles
The great enabler: Transport’s role in tackling environmental crises and delivering progressive change: IPPR Progressive Review: Vol 31, No 3
Click on the title to browse this issue
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
December 16, 2024 at 3:30 PM
Wow - UK-focused but much will surely be applicable to 🇨🇦 as well - topics include transportation poverty, disabled people's access transport needs, a just transition for transit and more. Downloading now!
Reposted
In case you needed a city-making smile. A #Christmas metro train in Warsaw, Poland decked out for the holidays, shared by @adambielitz.bsky.social.
How you create a #CityOfSmiles.
How you create a #CityOfSmiles.
December 11, 2024 at 6:33 AM
In case you needed a city-making smile. A #Christmas metro train in Warsaw, Poland decked out for the holidays, shared by @adambielitz.bsky.social.
How you create a #CityOfSmiles.
How you create a #CityOfSmiles.
The city's budget was also passed today. Still no sign of the two-years-overdue Metrobus growth plan. Financial support from the city was raised 2.8% from last year... making it still $837,670 lower than 2023 - a 5.6% decrease inc inflation while the service is suffering from its own success...
December 10, 2024 at 10:20 PM
The city's budget was also passed today. Still no sign of the two-years-overdue Metrobus growth plan. Financial support from the city was raised 2.8% from last year... making it still $837,670 lower than 2023 - a 5.6% decrease inc inflation while the service is suffering from its own success...
It's a 🎄miracle! Metrobus announced a new bus route 33 - an express between the Village Mall, Avalon Mall and Memorial University. Not until the new year, not on weekends or in the evenings but better than a lump of coal! www.metrobus.com/33/33details...
December 10, 2024 at 9:51 PM
It's a 🎄miracle! Metrobus announced a new bus route 33 - an express between the Village Mall, Avalon Mall and Memorial University. Not until the new year, not on weekends or in the evenings but better than a lump of coal! www.metrobus.com/33/33details...
Reposted
When NL negotiated in 1988 the shutdown of the railway in exchange for road improvements, we were promised we'd "always have passenger services comparable to those provided in the rest of Canada". Roadcruiser had 25 buses and carried 161,000. Its successor DRL runs two coaches a day, without subsidy
December 10, 2024 at 5:01 PM
When NL negotiated in 1988 the shutdown of the railway in exchange for road improvements, we were promised we'd "always have passenger services comparable to those provided in the rest of Canada". Roadcruiser had 25 buses and carried 161,000. Its successor DRL runs two coaches a day, without subsidy
Reposted
🍁🔋 Oakville, Ontario, will soon roll out another dozen-plus electric transit buses—putting the municipality on track to electrify 50% of their 135-vehicle fleet by 2026.
"It really is exciting to be a part of the transition," says Oakville's transit director. #onpoli #EV
"It really is exciting to be a part of the transition," says Oakville's transit director. #onpoli #EV
Oakville bus fleet on track for 50 per cent electrification by 2026
Oakville, Ont.'s electrification plan includes putting 74 electric transit vehicles on the road in two years — out of a bus fleet of 135
electricautonomy.ca
December 9, 2024 at 8:08 PM
Halifax Transit's first three electric buses to carry passengers are on the streets today! Metrobus has eight hybrid buses which are just arriving on the roads but it looks like our first four fully electric buses will be four years away...
www.halifax.ca/transportati...
www.halifax.ca/transportati...
Zero Emission Bus Project
Zero Emission Bus Project
www.halifax.ca
December 9, 2024 at 5:41 PM
Halifax Transit's first three electric buses to carry passengers are on the streets today! Metrobus has eight hybrid buses which are just arriving on the roads but it looks like our first four fully electric buses will be four years away...
www.halifax.ca/transportati...
www.halifax.ca/transportati...