Seth Bocknek
@sethbocknek.bsky.social
🌱🚍🚈 public-transport planner
🚴🏻♂️🧘♂️ Les Mills GFI
💈🎵 barbershop nerd
🌏 erstwhile 中英翻译
I have too many hobbies—and am good at none of them.
📍 🇨🇦→🇨🇳→🇳🇿 Pōneke, Aotearoa
🚴🏻♂️🧘♂️ Les Mills GFI
💈🎵 barbershop nerd
🌏 erstwhile 中英翻译
I have too many hobbies—and am good at none of them.
📍 🇨🇦→🇨🇳→🇳🇿 Pōneke, Aotearoa
Reposted by Seth Bocknek
The Embankment cycleway (CS3) in London was purposefully built to be wider than was usual in order to future proof it.
Some said it would hardly be used.
Now there’s a decent case for widening it further.
Induced demand is real.
Some said it would hardly be used.
Now there’s a decent case for widening it further.
Induced demand is real.
September 8, 2025 at 9:11 PM
The Embankment cycleway (CS3) in London was purposefully built to be wider than was usual in order to future proof it.
Some said it would hardly be used.
Now there’s a decent case for widening it further.
Induced demand is real.
Some said it would hardly be used.
Now there’s a decent case for widening it further.
Induced demand is real.
Love how the #CanadaDay anthem singer at this #BlueJays game incorporated both the Martina Ortiz Luis key change AND the Natalie Morris “for thee” embellishment. Excellent read of the home market right there.
July 1, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Love how the #CanadaDay anthem singer at this #BlueJays game incorporated both the Martina Ortiz Luis key change AND the Natalie Morris “for thee” embellishment. Excellent read of the home market right there.
It was year 2 of undergrad when I saw the light, living at Bank & MacLaren in Ottawa—45s walk from a massive supermarket. Haven't looked back since, basing 85% of my housing decisions on grocery access.
Perhaps 85% of my disdain for low-density suburban sprawl spawns from this culinary epiphany.
Perhaps 85% of my disdain for low-density suburban sprawl spawns from this culinary epiphany.
I think this is the first time I've lived walking distance from a grocery store and I'm out of my mind about it. I'll walk there several times a day. Oh did I forget to grab something? No big deal I'll simply Walk To The Store
May 4, 2025 at 5:46 AM
It was year 2 of undergrad when I saw the light, living at Bank & MacLaren in Ottawa—45s walk from a massive supermarket. Haven't looked back since, basing 85% of my housing decisions on grocery access.
Perhaps 85% of my disdain for low-density suburban sprawl spawns from this culinary epiphany.
Perhaps 85% of my disdain for low-density suburban sprawl spawns from this culinary epiphany.
Reposted by Seth Bocknek
Great to see this development in Karori now has resource consent. Twenty houses and apartments plus two commercial spaces. Would LOVE to see more medium density mixed use development like this in our suburbs.
April 28, 2025 at 4:30 AM
Great to see this development in Karori now has resource consent. Twenty houses and apartments plus two commercial spaces. Would LOVE to see more medium density mixed use development like this in our suburbs.
Reposted by Seth Bocknek
HOT RESEARCH NEWS!
Motonormativity ("car brain") is a bias that stops people making rational judgements about driving en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motonor...
Our new study shows where this bias comes from AND how it makes people think they're odd for supporting changes to the transport system 🧵
Motonormativity ("car brain") is a bias that stops people making rational judgements about driving en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motonor...
Our new study shows where this bias comes from AND how it makes people think they're odd for supporting changes to the transport system 🧵
February 17, 2025 at 7:45 AM
HOT RESEARCH NEWS!
Motonormativity ("car brain") is a bias that stops people making rational judgements about driving en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motonor...
Our new study shows where this bias comes from AND how it makes people think they're odd for supporting changes to the transport system 🧵
Motonormativity ("car brain") is a bias that stops people making rational judgements about driving en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motonor...
Our new study shows where this bias comes from AND how it makes people think they're odd for supporting changes to the transport system 🧵
Another recent example of a reporter using “exonerative voice”: apparently, the vehicle was the one who performed the action, not the human operating it 🤷♂️
www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/vehicle-c...
www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/vehicle-c...
Driver dead after car crashes into house, resident injured, taken to hospital
Motorists are to avoid the area if possible and expect delays.
www.nzherald.co.nz
December 24, 2024 at 1:17 AM
Another recent example of a reporter using “exonerative voice”: apparently, the vehicle was the one who performed the action, not the human operating it 🤷♂️
www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/vehicle-c...
www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/vehicle-c...
I’ll never stop beating the drum of how incredible and underrated the bus is:
some kind soul chauffeurs you—and people from all walks of life—around for a dollar while you observe the world through massive windows and intermittently use your phone without a care in the world.
pure mobility bliss.
some kind soul chauffeurs you—and people from all walks of life—around for a dollar while you observe the world through massive windows and intermittently use your phone without a care in the world.
pure mobility bliss.
December 4, 2024 at 8:43 PM
I’ll never stop beating the drum of how incredible and underrated the bus is:
some kind soul chauffeurs you—and people from all walks of life—around for a dollar while you observe the world through massive windows and intermittently use your phone without a care in the world.
pure mobility bliss.
some kind soul chauffeurs you—and people from all walks of life—around for a dollar while you observe the world through massive windows and intermittently use your phone without a care in the world.
pure mobility bliss.
Reposted by Seth Bocknek
NZTA seems to have decided it would like to add another loop to the doom spiral that public transport in NZ has experienced ever since 1950: make a service less attractive, so cuts are made, so it is even less attractive, so more cuts are made, etc., etc.
The government has proposed targets to increase the share of public transport costs from fares (and other revenue like advertising, which is small and not scalable). Our target equates to a 71% fare hike. Our only other option is even more cost cutting, which just cuts patronage and fare revenue. 1/
Bus and train fares may surge by up to 70% to meet NZTA targets
It comes as the New Zealand Transport Agency tells councils to hit higher revenue targets.
www.rnz.co.nz
November 27, 2024 at 4:48 AM
NZTA seems to have decided it would like to add another loop to the doom spiral that public transport in NZ has experienced ever since 1950: make a service less attractive, so cuts are made, so it is even less attractive, so more cuts are made, etc., etc.
really inspiring to see grassroots mobilisation pushing back against Doug Ford's regressive and ignorant approach to transport policy.
the private car is a failed transport mode in urban environments; and the sooner we can move beyond automobility dominance, the better off we'll all be.
the private car is a failed transport mode in urban environments; and the sooner we can move beyond automobility dominance, the better off we'll all be.
Take our lanes, we'll take yours!
Critical Mass is being organized for this Friday. Plan is to leave High Park at 6:30. Join us and put rubber to road in opposition to Bill 212 and efforts to take out our bike lanes. The fight starts now.
Critical Mass is being organized for this Friday. Plan is to leave High Park at 6:30. Join us and put rubber to road in opposition to Bill 212 and efforts to take out our bike lanes. The fight starts now.
November 26, 2024 at 11:54 PM
really inspiring to see grassroots mobilisation pushing back against Doug Ford's regressive and ignorant approach to transport policy.
the private car is a failed transport mode in urban environments; and the sooner we can move beyond automobility dominance, the better off we'll all be.
the private car is a failed transport mode in urban environments; and the sooner we can move beyond automobility dominance, the better off we'll all be.
smouldering hot take: maybe, just maybe, there's no environmentally friendly or sustainable way of propelling township-scale floating resorts through marine ecosystems to give the affluent even more ways of recreationally overconsuming—and maybe cruises just shouldn't be a thing. 🤷♂️
Carnival cruise line emitted more CO2 in 2023 than Scotland’s biggest city – report
Carnival cruise line emitted more CO2 in 2023 than Scotland’s biggest city – report
World’s largest cruise line named Europe’s most climate-polluting, despite investing millions in cleaner technologies
The world’s largest cruise line company is responsible for producing more carbon dioxide in Europe than the city of Glasgow, a report…
www.theguardian.com
November 25, 2024 at 8:39 AM
smouldering hot take: maybe, just maybe, there's no environmentally friendly or sustainable way of propelling township-scale floating resorts through marine ecosystems to give the affluent even more ways of recreationally overconsuming—and maybe cruises just shouldn't be a thing. 🤷♂️
Reposted by Seth Bocknek
Never forget, the electric car is here to save the car industry, not the planet.
November 12, 2024 at 10:18 PM
Never forget, the electric car is here to save the car industry, not the planet.
“too small” is car-brain talk for “the city couldn’t accommodate mass transit while I and everyone I know continue to drive everywhere. It won’t work.”
and that’s true. we must disincentivise automobility, to shift people out of cars and onto the side that has skin in the game of better transit.
and that’s true. we must disincentivise automobility, to shift people out of cars and onto the side that has skin in the game of better transit.
A persistent objection to mass transit through Wellington from the railway station to the hospital and airport is that we are “too small”. Yet somehow we are not too small for multi billion dollar tunnels to slightly widen urban motorways and pump even more congested traffic into the city centre.
The Post
www.thepost.co.nz
November 12, 2024 at 8:33 AM
“too small” is car-brain talk for “the city couldn’t accommodate mass transit while I and everyone I know continue to drive everywhere. It won’t work.”
and that’s true. we must disincentivise automobility, to shift people out of cars and onto the side that has skin in the game of better transit.
and that’s true. we must disincentivise automobility, to shift people out of cars and onto the side that has skin in the game of better transit.
Reposted by Seth Bocknek
This is important.
Years ago, while I was advising the City of Sydney Australia on various things, there was an INFAMOUS day where a particularly bad state-level minister of roads was stuck in traffic and saw bike riders zooming by his limousine in a well-used, safe, protected bike-lane.
Well…
1/
Years ago, while I was advising the City of Sydney Australia on various things, there was an INFAMOUS day where a particularly bad state-level minister of roads was stuck in traffic and saw bike riders zooming by his limousine in a well-used, safe, protected bike-lane.
Well…
1/
November 10, 2024 at 10:41 PM
This is important.
Years ago, while I was advising the City of Sydney Australia on various things, there was an INFAMOUS day where a particularly bad state-level minister of roads was stuck in traffic and saw bike riders zooming by his limousine in a well-used, safe, protected bike-lane.
Well…
1/
Years ago, while I was advising the City of Sydney Australia on various things, there was an INFAMOUS day where a particularly bad state-level minister of roads was stuck in traffic and saw bike riders zooming by his limousine in a well-used, safe, protected bike-lane.
Well…
1/
@chewienz.bsky.social just wanted to say your post-election BHN episode with Pat and Bomber was some of the best [and most therapeutic] post-result analysis I’ve heard out of any nation’s media.
just an excellent conversation making some sense of the whole thing. Love your work!
just an excellent conversation making some sense of the whole thing. Love your work!
November 8, 2024 at 10:33 PM
@chewienz.bsky.social just wanted to say your post-election BHN episode with Pat and Bomber was some of the best [and most therapeutic] post-result analysis I’ve heard out of any nation’s media.
just an excellent conversation making some sense of the whole thing. Love your work!
just an excellent conversation making some sense of the whole thing. Love your work!
félicitations, Paris! vous avez des élus bien sages et courageux (j’essaie d’enfouir ma jalousie de votre progrès).
THIS IS HUGE. Paris City Hall has announced that starting on Monday, Paris will limit (not ban) car traffic in the city centre, as cities like Ghent have done. They’re creating a limited traffic zone (ZTL) about 2 sq miles in size, to clean the air & create more space for people.
November 3, 2024 at 7:47 AM
félicitations, Paris! vous avez des élus bien sages et courageux (j’essaie d’enfouir ma jalousie de votre progrès).
just another #Pōneke morning sitting on the bus daydreaming of Kent/Cambridge’s potential if they had half-decent land use rather than the current litany of auto dealerships…
November 1, 2024 at 8:27 PM
just another #Pōneke morning sitting on the bus daydreaming of Kent/Cambridge’s potential if they had half-decent land use rather than the current litany of auto dealerships…
Our urban system should prioritise our most vulnerable road users (pedestrians, cyclists, etc.), who happen to be our most eco-friendly road users.
Seeing pedestrians here in Aotearoa yield to turning vehicles (even those turning out of small side streets) still hurts my soul—system's backwards.
Seeing pedestrians here in Aotearoa yield to turning vehicles (even those turning out of small side streets) still hurts my soul—system's backwards.
You’ll barely notice, but this arterial road is intersected by several side streets.
Rather than sinking humans down into the space of crossing cars, the foot and cycle paths are raised, continuous and prioritized—reducing driver entitlement.
This should be standard everywhere.
Rather than sinking humans down into the space of crossing cars, the foot and cycle paths are raised, continuous and prioritized—reducing driver entitlement.
This should be standard everywhere.
October 31, 2024 at 8:06 AM
Our urban system should prioritise our most vulnerable road users (pedestrians, cyclists, etc.), who happen to be our most eco-friendly road users.
Seeing pedestrians here in Aotearoa yield to turning vehicles (even those turning out of small side streets) still hurts my soul—system's backwards.
Seeing pedestrians here in Aotearoa yield to turning vehicles (even those turning out of small side streets) still hurts my soul—system's backwards.
HUGE NEWS out of Canada:
federal government planning high-speed rail along a new corridor that would link Toronto to Québec City via Montréal, potentially forking north to an Ottawa connection as well.
needless to say (but I'll say it): would be game-changing.
ici.radio-canada.ca/rci/en/news/...
federal government planning high-speed rail along a new corridor that would link Toronto to Québec City via Montréal, potentially forking north to an Ottawa connection as well.
needless to say (but I'll say it): would be game-changing.
ici.radio-canada.ca/rci/en/news/...
Federal government going ahead with high-speed rail between Quebec City and Toronto | RCI
Trains to reach speeds of up to 300 kilometres per hour
ici.radio-canada.ca
October 29, 2024 at 9:33 PM
HUGE NEWS out of Canada:
federal government planning high-speed rail along a new corridor that would link Toronto to Québec City via Montréal, potentially forking north to an Ottawa connection as well.
needless to say (but I'll say it): would be game-changing.
ici.radio-canada.ca/rci/en/news/...
federal government planning high-speed rail along a new corridor that would link Toronto to Québec City via Montréal, potentially forking north to an Ottawa connection as well.
needless to say (but I'll say it): would be game-changing.
ici.radio-canada.ca/rci/en/news/...
more chef's kiss from @joelmacmanus.bsky.social 🧑🍳🤌
"The fact that Wellington City councillors constantly disagree with each other isn’t a bug, it’s a feature. It’s the point of democracy."
I voted for higher rates and more services/cycleways. And I'd do it again.
thespinoff.co.nz/politics/29-...
"The fact that Wellington City councillors constantly disagree with each other isn’t a bug, it’s a feature. It’s the point of democracy."
I voted for higher rates and more services/cycleways. And I'd do it again.
thespinoff.co.nz/politics/29-...
Windbag: Wellington City Council isn’t dysfunctional – they’re just politicians
No one ever claims parliament is broken because National and Labour don't get along. So why is it different for the council?
thespinoff.co.nz
October 29, 2024 at 12:40 AM
more chef's kiss from @joelmacmanus.bsky.social 🧑🍳🤌
"The fact that Wellington City councillors constantly disagree with each other isn’t a bug, it’s a feature. It’s the point of democracy."
I voted for higher rates and more services/cycleways. And I'd do it again.
thespinoff.co.nz/politics/29-...
"The fact that Wellington City councillors constantly disagree with each other isn’t a bug, it’s a feature. It’s the point of democracy."
I voted for higher rates and more services/cycleways. And I'd do it again.
thespinoff.co.nz/politics/29-...
Reposted by Seth Bocknek
ten years have passed and we’re still being sold the fantasy of self-driving cars instead of getting on with building far better transit and bike lanes. i’m so tired of it all.
Ride-sharing robo-pods are the future of cities
We should be building fleets of these lightweight, low-cost electric vehicles
www.ft.com
October 28, 2024 at 1:04 AM
ten years have passed and we’re still being sold the fantasy of self-driving cars instead of getting on with building far better transit and bike lanes. i’m so tired of it all.
Reposted by Seth Bocknek
The Luxon Govt is fast-tracking NZ's first 'waste to energy' incinerator.
Someone might profit, but it's a terrible way to generate electricity and it's a terrible way to deal with waste.
Burning rubbish now UK’s dirtiest form of power
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Someone might profit, but it's a terrible way to generate electricity and it's a terrible way to deal with waste.
Burning rubbish now UK’s dirtiest form of power
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Burning household rubbish now UK’s dirtiest form of power, BBC finds
Nearly half of waste is now burned for energy, but BBC analysis finds it is as dirty as coal.
www.bbc.com
October 20, 2024 at 11:44 PM
The Luxon Govt is fast-tracking NZ's first 'waste to energy' incinerator.
Someone might profit, but it's a terrible way to generate electricity and it's a terrible way to deal with waste.
Burning rubbish now UK’s dirtiest form of power
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Someone might profit, but it's a terrible way to generate electricity and it's a terrible way to deal with waste.
Burning rubbish now UK’s dirtiest form of power
www.bbc.com/news/article...
This video on motonormativity should be compulsory viewing in our school systems.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_4G...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_4G...
Carspiracy - You’ll Never See The World The Same Way Again
YouTube video by Global Cycling Network
www.youtube.com
October 20, 2024 at 11:06 PM
This video on motonormativity should be compulsory viewing in our school systems.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_4G...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_4G...
another day, another instance of @joelmacmanus.bsky.social doing god's work.
my only gripe is that I feel mildly attacked given that this highly satirical piece is the actual lens through which I view our urban-mobility systems...
I'll forgive you, Joel. nice one.
thespinoff.co.nz/politics/18-...
my only gripe is that I feel mildly attacked given that this highly satirical piece is the actual lens through which I view our urban-mobility systems...
I'll forgive you, Joel. nice one.
thespinoff.co.nz/politics/18-...
‘A ghost town’: Car lanes in the city are stuffing up Wellington
Wellington City Council needs to cut pet projects and non-essentials, like its $1.1 billion car lane budget.
thespinoff.co.nz
October 20, 2024 at 6:36 AM
another day, another instance of @joelmacmanus.bsky.social doing god's work.
my only gripe is that I feel mildly attacked given that this highly satirical piece is the actual lens through which I view our urban-mobility systems...
I'll forgive you, Joel. nice one.
thespinoff.co.nz/politics/18-...
my only gripe is that I feel mildly attacked given that this highly satirical piece is the actual lens through which I view our urban-mobility systems...
I'll forgive you, Joel. nice one.
thespinoff.co.nz/politics/18-...
I shouldn’t call this move shortsighted. that implies it may be justifiable in the short term. it isn’t. it is idiotic, today and all days.
suppressing cycle lanes citing congestion is like swearing off rigorous exercise because it’s hard on your heart & lungs—that is precisely the desired effect.
suppressing cycle lanes citing congestion is like swearing off rigorous exercise because it’s hard on your heart & lungs—that is precisely the desired effect.
halfway through a Master of Urban & Regional Planning, am already contemplating whether a more efficacious career would be one in politics.
just like here in Aotearoa, planning—and all of the research, foresight, and ethics that go into it—is undermined & overruled by myopic political forces.
just like here in Aotearoa, planning—and all of the research, foresight, and ethics that go into it—is undermined & overruled by myopic political forces.
If there is a bad policy lurking around, the Ontario government will find it, embrace it, and ignore all evidence of its defectiveness.
A year from now, urban congestion will be just as bad or worse as it is now.
It’s. The. Cars.
toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-gove...
A year from now, urban congestion will be just as bad or worse as it is now.
It’s. The. Cars.
toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-gove...
October 15, 2024 at 8:36 PM
I shouldn’t call this move shortsighted. that implies it may be justifiable in the short term. it isn’t. it is idiotic, today and all days.
suppressing cycle lanes citing congestion is like swearing off rigorous exercise because it’s hard on your heart & lungs—that is precisely the desired effect.
suppressing cycle lanes citing congestion is like swearing off rigorous exercise because it’s hard on your heart & lungs—that is precisely the desired effect.
halfway through a Master of Urban & Regional Planning, am already contemplating whether a more efficacious career would be one in politics.
just like here in Aotearoa, planning—and all of the research, foresight, and ethics that go into it—is undermined & overruled by myopic political forces.
just like here in Aotearoa, planning—and all of the research, foresight, and ethics that go into it—is undermined & overruled by myopic political forces.
If there is a bad policy lurking around, the Ontario government will find it, embrace it, and ignore all evidence of its defectiveness.
A year from now, urban congestion will be just as bad or worse as it is now.
It’s. The. Cars.
toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-gove...
A year from now, urban congestion will be just as bad or worse as it is now.
It’s. The. Cars.
toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-gove...
Ontario government moving to restrict new bike lanes in municipalities
Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria says the provincial government is introducing legislation that would require municipalities to receive provincial approval before removing traffic lan...
toronto.ctvnews.ca
October 15, 2024 at 5:17 PM
halfway through a Master of Urban & Regional Planning, am already contemplating whether a more efficacious career would be one in politics.
just like here in Aotearoa, planning—and all of the research, foresight, and ethics that go into it—is undermined & overruled by myopic political forces.
just like here in Aotearoa, planning—and all of the research, foresight, and ethics that go into it—is undermined & overruled by myopic political forces.