Brutkey

𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇
@straphanger@urbanists.social

Need some positive news?

Around the world, a passenger rail renaissance is well under way.

I document the train-love in my weekly newsletter HIGH SPEED.

🚅🧵

𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇
@straphanger@urbanists.social

The reviews are in, and the reviews are good!

My latest book, The Lost Supper: Searching for the Future of Food in the Flavors of the Past, is out.

I'm busy imagining it as a doc series. (Option, contact: https://www.taras-grescoe.com/contact/)

Here's a round-up of what the critics are saying:

https://www.taras-grescoe.com/the-lost-supper-food-writer/

𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇
@straphanger@urbanists.social

Then there was that time I put everything in storage for a year and traveled from Spain to China to look at the impact cheap, fast travel has on our planet.

I started by walking the Camino de Santiago in the wrong direction—from west to east.

"A gloriously trivia-strewn history of tourism."
— The New Yorker

E-book of The End of Elsewhere here:

https://shorturl.at/nqzGU

𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇
@straphanger@urbanists.social

I'm the author of Straphanger—which recounts my adventures travelling to 14 cities around the world, including #Shanghai, #Paris, #Tokyo,#Vancouver, #Phoenix #Bogotá #Philadelphia, #NYC #Copenhagen, looking at transit, bicycles, and alternatives to the car.

http://shorturl.at/ftKY7

𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇
@straphanger@urbanists.social

OC Transpo, the transit agency of #Ottawa, has really been knocking it out of the park lately. (Out of the park, and into the sewer grate.)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/out-of-service-oc-transpo-bus-gets-stuck-under-shopping-mall-sign-1.7608325

𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇
@straphanger@urbanists.social

NEW RESEARCH: Parked cars can account for 10 percent of the surface areas of some cities. It turns out that their albedo (reflectivity) can significantly contribute to the urban heat island effect.

Dark-coloured cars are the worst, making the air around them 3.8°C hotter vs nearby asphalt road.

🧵

𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇
@straphanger@urbanists.social

Note to Doug Ford, premier of #Ontario: we had this figured out 60 years ago. Yet somehow you still don't get it.

A vintage reminder, courtesy of #Toronto subway, of how much pain (and congestion, and pollution...) public transit spares our cities.

𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇
@straphanger@urbanists.social

The beautiful city of #Bordeaux already has the largest downtown pedestrian zone in #France: all told, 46 kilometers of streets are car-free.

As of Jan. 1 2026, all cars and motorcycles will be excluded from the centre.

https://www.bordeaux.fr/le-secteur-pieton-de-bordeaux-en-5-points

𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇
@straphanger@urbanists.social

Mayor of #London writes: Dear Britain, it’s now clear. 20 mph zones save lives. Implement them.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/aug/12/britain-20mph-zones-save-lives-traffic-safe-streets

𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇
@straphanger@urbanists.social

Word to the wise: police in #Montreal are handing out $140 tickets to people caught using blue Bixis without a helmet. These are the e-bikes: they can go up to 32 km/h (20 mph). I like what cops have done in NYC and other cities—they give out helmets when they stop people.

𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇
@straphanger@urbanists.social

Cities aren’t inherently loud—but automobile traffic raises noise pollution to 60 decibels+.

In #France, the city of #Lyon has set aside four “zones calmes,” where decibel levels regularly go as low as 28.

They’ve strung up hammocks to welcome people...

🤫🧵

https://www.leprogres.fr/economie/2025/08/08/on-se-sent-comme-dans-une-bulle-au-domaine-de-lacroix-laval-des-zones-calmes-pour-fuir-le-tumulte-urbain

𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇
@straphanger@urbanists.social

To make things even more peaceful...

Last month, it became illegal to drive across the centre of #Lyon (entry limited to authorized vehicles). The ZTL, or zone à trafic limitée, is enforced with retractable bollards.

The police were on hand the first few days to explain the system.

𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇
@straphanger@urbanists.social

Cities aren’t inherently loud—but automobile traffic raises noise pollution to 60 decibels+.

In #France, the city of #Lyon has set aside four “zones calmes,” where decibel levels regularly go as low as 28.

They’ve strung up hammocks to welcome people...

🤫🧵

https://www.leprogres.fr/economie/2025/08/08/on-se-sent-comme-dans-une-bulle-au-domaine-de-lacroix-laval-des-zones-calmes-pour-fuir-le-tumulte-urbain

𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇
@straphanger@urbanists.social

Love this!

Cities aren’t inherently loud—but automobile traffic raises noise pollution to 60 decibels+.

In #France, the city of #Lyon has set aside four “zones calmes,” where decibel levels regularly go as low as 28.

They’ve strung up hammocks to welcome people…

https://www.leprogres.fr/economie/2025/08/08/on-se-sent-comme-dans-une-bulle-au-domaine-de-lacroix-laval-des-zones-calmes-pour-fuir-le-tumulte-urbain

𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇
@straphanger@urbanists.social

"In a quality city, a person should be able to live their entire life without a car, and not feel deprived."

—Paul Bedford.