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Week in review: October 24, 2017

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Consultations, feedback, and events

Transit

  • Paperwork leaves ION train in shed (The Record)
  • Overhead wires go live, LRT road test may cause traffic slowdown (CBC)
  • Don’t let LRT divide the Region (The Record)
  • How Seattle bucked a national trend and got more people to ride the bus (CityLab)
    Hint: when buses get priority, riders prioritize the bus
  • Canberra: good planning can lead to more service (Human Transit)
  • Pittsburgh tests out red bus lanes downtown (Streetsblog)
  • Boston MBTA Tests Out All-Door Boarding, With Systemwide Implementation Coming By 2020 (Streetsblog)
  • Amazon’s challenge shows the importance of good transit for cities (City Fix)

Intercity

  • Ontario announces High Speed Rail Planning Advisory Board (Ontario)
  • New Metrolinx CEO Phil Verster on Bombardier delays and what to do about Union (Globe and Mail)
  • Hydrogen fuel technology analysis/evaluation (Metrolinx)
  • Number of collisions on 401 between Cambridge and Milton ‘taxing’ OPP (CBC)

Vision Zero

  • Colourful crossings created outside Wilson Public School (Kitchener Post)
  • We know SUV design kills pedestrians, but we still let carmakers sell them (Streetsblog)
  • Portland Crosswalk Shows How Drivers Think (or Don’t) About Pedestrians (Next City)
  • Distracted driving: a silent killer? (SSTI)
  • Drunk driver Marco Muzzo killed three kids and their grandpa. He’s now eligible for unescorted absences from jail (The Record)
  • Toronto has a deadly traffic problem, and it’s time to change (Globe and Mail)
  • Levels of ambient air pollution according to mode of transport: a systematic review (The Lancet)

Cycling

  • Enough with the data, we already know bike lanes work (Metro)
  • These people lost their minds over a bike lane (Streetsblog)
  • Can tech’s take on bike sharing help infrastructure and equity? (People for Bikes)
  • Winter is coming: Here are 5 things to think about to keep riding through the cold (Tom Babin)
  • UPS to deliver packages by bike in Toronto (BlogTO)
  • Making signals work for bicyclists and pedestrians (PBIC webinar)

Land use: Googlazon edition

  • Land-use policies contribute to GTA’s housing shortage (The Star)
  • More rental stock housing needed to support the missing middle (Waterloo Chronicle)
  • LRT ‘opportunity of a lifetime’ for housing diversity, says expert (CBC)
  • Former glove factory to be redeveloped into 23 storey tower (CTV)
  • Waterloo again freezes parking fees in core lots (The Record)
    When are we going to get a transit fare freeze?
  • Google’s founders wanted to shape a city. Toronto is their chance (NY Times)
  • Seattle has 5 big pieces of advice for Amazon’s HQ2 winner (CityLab)
  • Back to the future: Google’s vision for Toronto is straight out of the 19th century (TVO)

Road ahead

  • If you drive less than 10,000 miles (16,000 km) a year, you probably shouldn’t own a car (CityLab)
  • Our cities need fewer cars, not cleaner cars (The Guardian)
  • Owning a car will soon be a thing of the past (The Guardian)
  • Ten rules for cities about automated vehicles (CNU)
  • Self-driving cars could ease traffic, but increase sprawl (The Record)
    Which really just means it will also increase traffic.
  • Autonomous vehicles and urban contexts: it’s time to engage all stakeholders (Planetizen)
  • Will microtransit be the next wave in commuter services? (Globe and Mail)
    Well…
  • Commuter shuttle bus Chariot halts services in SF (TechCrunch)