Vancouver: The Grid Thickens — Human Transit Vancouver, Canada is a great transit city not just because it pioneered driverless rapid transit, or because of its commitment (somewhat enforced by geography) to a dense and walkable urban form.  It’...

Vancouver, Canada: The public transit grid is thickening! humantransit.org/2026/04/vanc...

They’ve got their hands full sanewashing DJT.

There’s your problem.

If the @nytimes.com , the American paper of record, is any indication, Americans believe the North Atlantic Treaty Org. is in fact the North *American* Treaty Org.

(And I remember the days when I feared their fact-checkers.

Sic transit gloria mundi.)

trike (truth bike)

(Combine at will with frequent electric-powered transit and intercity rail.)

Here's the ultimate solution to this—and all future—oil price shocks:

The Non-Polluting,
Autonomy-Building,
Fitness-Enhancing,
Non-Middle-East-Oil-Burning,
Happiness-Producing,
Self-Driven Vehicle.

Here's the English-language original in my High Speed blog:

www.highspeed.blog/why-your-tra...

Pourquoi votre train est-il si lent ? Au Canada, le fret a la priorité sur les personnes. Cela ne devrait pas être le cas.

J'approfondis le sujet dans cette chronique publiée dans @lactualite.com :

lactualite.com/societe/pour...

...sur les trains de marchandises. Ce n'est pas le cas au #Canada, où les trains VIA Rail sont mis à l'écart par les compagnies de fret de première classe comme CPKC.

Est-ce vraiment inévitable ?

Lors d'un voyage en train entre #Vancouver et #Toronto, j'ai passé beaucoup de temps sur des voies d'évitement, à attendre le passage d'un train de marchandises qui avançait lentement.

Aux États-Unis, les trains Amtrak ont la priorité légale...

(English follows)

🧵

Here's the English-language original in my High Speed blog:

www.highspeed.blog/why-your-tra...

Pourquoi votre train est-il si lent ? Au Canada, le fret a la priorité sur les personnes. Cela ne devrait pas être le cas.

J'approfondis le sujet dans cette chronique publiée dans @lactualite.com :

lactualite.com/societe/pour...

...sur les trains de marchandises. Ce n'est pas le cas au #Canada, où les trains VIA Rail sont mis à l'écart par les compagnies de fret de première classe comme CPKC.

Est-ce vraiment inévitable ?

Lors d'un voyage en train entre #Vancouver et #Toronto, j'ai passé beaucoup de temps sur des voies d'évitement, à attendre le passage d'un train de marchandises qui avançait lentement.

Aux États-Unis, les trains Amtrak ont la priorité légale...

(English follows)

🧵

A purple billboard that says these machines fight traffic with two bicycles on it

These Machines Fight Traffic.

Our @thebikinglawyer.bsky.social billboard is live.

No hints from the peanut gallery!

In which I call B.S. on the presence of Waymo in the cities of the world:

www.highspeed.blog/waymo-trouble/

Robotaxis: Silicon Valley's found another way to endanger children!

A School District Tried to Help Train Waymos to Stop for School Buses. It Didn’t Work

www.wired.com/story/a-scho...

Where do these tracks lead? To a platform on this little wooded island. It's one of #Japan's "hikyō" (secluded) stations. People travel all over the country trying to visit them all...

Here's a video of the line:

Its only purpose is to allow passengers to stop, get out, and enjoy the view of the Nishiki River.

Sigh...I love Japanese rail culture.

This train platform in #Japan's Yamaguchi Prefecture has no ticket booth, no entrance or exit.

Why does it exist?

🇯🇵🚉🧵

Great! Those classic streamliners are gorgeous

VIA Rail Canada announces $150 million modernization program for its entire fleet of 56 Chateau + Manor series sleeping cars, a 5-year program to extend life of the stainless steel cars built by the Budd Co. in 1954-55.

www.trains.com/pro/mechanic...

I dig into what's behind the attempts to make modern, sustainable transport (high-speed trains now run in 28 countries) into a culture-war issue in this High Speed dispatch:

www.highspeed.blog/not-in-my-ba...

Failing Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has urged cancellation of the project—in spite of the fact that high-speed rail was CPC policy, and only 25% of Conservatives polled oppose it.

www.thestar.com/news/canada/...

The study was commissioned by AltNo, a protest group, who can't be happy with the results. The project is especially popular with young people, who are hungry for transport alternatives.

Here's a link to the full report:

www.altno.ca/_files/ugd/f...

Is there opposition to high-speed rail in #Canada?

Yes. The media, loving a conflict narrative, amplifies the voices of the few property-owners who are protesting Alto.

But guess what? A new Abacus poll shows broad, cross-party support for the project.

62% for, only 18% against...

🧵

Yeah, I think the only MR-90 left is on display at Exporail outside #Montreal.

There was a time, incidentally, when Philadelphia-made rolling stock was the envy of the world. Now they rely on Canadian hand-me-downs. Sic transit...

There's More to Speed than Meets the Eye High Speed Rail, Done Right, Is About Moving People Efficiently, Not Breaking Records

I take a deeper look at the state of High Speed rail around the world in this newsletter post (it’s free):

www.highspeed.blog/theres-more-...