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Denis Agar (he/him)

@denisagar.bsky.social

2.1K followers 1.7K following 840 posts

Transit polls well. We use that popularity to push for more reliable and abundant transit. Let's make it better than driving. I'm in Vancouver - unceded xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səlilwətaɬ land. Executive Director of @movementyvr.bsky.social

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Denis Agar (he/him) @denisagar.bsky.social · Nov 10

Here's a starter pack of all the transit rider groups that have popped up so far on BlueSky. Reply if I've missed a group!

go.bsky.app/6Pw2jpk

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Denis Agar (he/him) @denisagar.bsky.social · 38m

Kudos to the funders who are willing to get behind this work, which include:
@environmentaldefence.ca
Houssian Foundation

Denis Agar (he/him) @denisagar.bsky.social · 38m

Groups like @movementyvr.bsky.social exist to lobby on behalf of transit riders (aka you), to at least try to level the playing field.

Few funders want to get into this kind of work in Canada, which is why it remains a struggle to sustain paid staff.

Pls send help.

Movementyvr.ca/donate

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Reposted by Denis Agar (he/him)

Marco Chitti @chittimarco.bsky.social · 1h

Traffic is also a flow problem, which is why circulation planning matters as much as reallocating space in section.

It is also why buses can be more "efficient" than bikes; in some cases, they need to get priority over bikes and pedestrians, contrary to what the various transport pyramid suggests.

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Reposted by Denis Agar (he/him)

Bethany Lindsay @bethanylindsay.bsky.social · 20h

This is such exciting news for the region! Congrats to these talented journalists for bouncing back and creating a new, desperately needed outlet.

Freshet News @freshetnews.bsky.social · 23h

🚨 EXTRA! EXTRA! Freshet News is now online 🚨

🗞️ We’re bringing local news back to New Westminster, Burnaby and the Tri-Cities!

👉 Visit freshetnews.ca

#newwest #newwestminster #burnaby #tricitiesbc #coquitlam #portcoquitlam #portmoody #anmore #belcarra #news #localnewsmatters #journalism

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Denis Agar (he/him) @denisagar.bsky.social · 1d

Yesssss!! On the Canadian side we do not have any subsidy for intercity bus, and almost no railways at all, so the result is shocking prices for intercity transport. It is regularly more expensive to take a bus between Vancouver-Kelowna (240mi) than to fly.

Reposted by Denis Agar (he/him)

LINK Houston @link-houston.bsky.social · 1d

Our advocacy is working! Most intersections now give the Red Line signal priority again, but we’re not done yet!
Join us at the METRO Board meeting Thurs. Oct. 23, at 9 a.m. and tell them to prioritize transit riders.
Sign & share our petition: bit.ly/RestoreRedLine #Houston

Graphic showing which intersections along the Red Line have had traffic signal priority reinstated. This is alongside screenshots of media covering this issue.

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Denis Agar (he/him) @denisagar.bsky.social · 1d

EVs significantly reduce the marginal cost of driving, which is going to be a disaster for our cities. It now costs me $15 round-trip to drive from Vancouver to Seattle with up to 5 people. Why would I park my car and take transit once I get there? Road pricing will eventually prove essential.

West Seattle Bike Blog @westseattlebikeblg.bsky.social · 1d

I was thinking of taking the fam on the train to Leavenworth to see the Christmas lights this winter, but it would be $544 dollar for the four of us...

It would cost about $5.50 to drive our EV that distance.

Amtrak ticket showing $136 per person for a round trip to Leavenworth from Seattle

Map showing 45 kWh to drive from Seattle to Leavenworth. At $.13 a kilowatt that's about $5-6.

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Reposted by Denis Agar (he/him)

Shawn Micallef @shawnmicallef.bsky.social · 1d

"Safe Parkside" filed a Freedom of Information request to get top speeds from the ill-fated & much abused Parkside camera. The speed limit is 40km/h.

Killers, all of them, with the ear & heart of Premier Doug Ford.

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Denis Agar (he/him) @denisagar.bsky.social · 1d

Yeah, I agree that cancelled projects are bad. But as prices drop, I think that was inevitable. Whoever was stuck owning the land will lose money on it but eventually land value will drop and development will become viable there again. Anyway, now's the time for the gov to build a ton of housing.

Reposted by Denis Agar (he/him)

Gordon Padelford @gordonofseattle.bsky.social · 1d

👀 "An entire lane of solo drivers on Denny Way between Seattle Center and I-4 can fit into one articulated Route 8 bus, and a dedicated transit lane would allow that bus to be over four times faster than driving along this section"

Cars just don't scale well, especially in dense cities.

200 people in different modes on 2nd ave demonstration

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Reposted by Denis Agar (he/him)

Brandon @bedubble.bsky.social · 1d

You love to see it. Now do it everywhere

cta @chicagocta.bsky.social · 1d

Starting October 15, six CTA buses will operate with Automated Bus Lane Enforcement systems as part of the City of Chicago’s Smart Streets pilot.

Automated bus lane, bus stop, and bike lane enforcement starts Wednesday, October 15th

Keeping bus stops clear is essential to ensuring that transit is accessible to everyone especially people with disabilities.

Bus lanes and bus stops are for buses. Bike lanes are for bikes.
Keeping them clear is essential to ensuring everyone in Chicago gets where they need to go, safely and on time.

That's why we're launching automated bus lane, bus stop, and bike lane enforcement to improve rider safety and transit efficiency.

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Denis Agar (he/him) @denisagar.bsky.social · 1d

This is WHAT WE ALL WANTED.

It's telling to me that the article is written as though its reader would fear this, instead of welcoming it.

Tyler Olsen @tyolsen.bsky.social · 1d

No amount of incentives* will get these condos sold.

*except giving up on a government bailout and just reducing the prices to the market's level.

vancouversun.com/business/rea...

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Denis Agar (he/him) @denisagar.bsky.social · 2d

There are so many lessons from this:

1-transit signal priority (TSP) works when you're brave

2-why has Houston had aggressive TSP whereas we have almost none in Vancouver?

2- Transit mixed with car traffic is never safe from dilution

m.youtube.com/watch?v=2cE5...
@transittangents.bsky.social

Is Houston's Mayor Sabotaging The City's Light Rail?

YouTube video by Transit Tangents

m.youtube.com

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Reposted by Denis Agar (he/him)

Ryan @classicryan17.bsky.social · 12d

In the spirit of a #WeekWithoutDriving, I'd like to highlight a project I've been working on with Houston METRO to give a "BOOST" to people using our region's local bus network.

The BOOST (Bus Operations Optimized System Treatments) program aims to provide riders with the following:

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Reposted by Denis Agar (he/him)

mtsw @mtsw.bsky.social · 2d

You're living through one of the biggest technological transformations in world history and it has nothing to do with AI

Jan Rosenow @janrosenow.bsky.social · 3d

Grid scale batteries are changing our electricity system. Excellent new visual story on batteries in FT today shows just how far this technology has evolved.

Fasten your seatbelts, this is just the beginning.

ig.ft.com/mega-batteri...

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Denis Agar (he/him) @denisagar.bsky.social · 3d

This blog post from former mayor of Edmonton @doniveson.bsky.social is so, so good.
civicgood.substack.com/p/the-big-pi...

The big picture on housing, density and affordability

How Edmonton's approach fights for affordability and fiscal efficiency

civicgood.substack.com

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Denis Agar (he/him) @denisagar.bsky.social · 3d

What do the colours reflect?

Reposted by Denis Agar (he/him)

august 🍂 @auguststreet.ca · 3d

can never go one day in this city without witnessing a trolleybus in distress

(last time, my local bus de-wired twice in one day of using it)

dewired trolleybus in the evening, with the trolley poles split between two parallel wires

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Reposted by Denis Agar (he/him)

George Anderson @georgeandersonbc.bsky.social · 3d

The Island Corridor and all of BC’s rail corridors serve as corridors of opportunity.

Strengthening our corridors means opportunity for workers, businesses, and the next generation.

youtu.be/cPypiiAlOx8?...

#IslandRail #SupplyChains #BCJobs #Nanaimo #Lantzville #Bcpoli

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Reposted by Denis Agar (he/him)

Mike F @mikefeaver.bsky.social · 3d

Balcony railings are starting

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Denis Agar (he/him) @denisagar.bsky.social · 4d

This is fascinating! Ottawa appears to have way more rural than anyone else in its class (which is exactly where I grew up). Is that because of where they chose to draw the regional boundaries or is there something else at play? Is it perversely because of the Greenbelt?

Marcus P. @reluctantaxe.bsky.social · 4d

A Redditor made a graph of the percent of population of US and Canada metro areas over 1 million that live in a given density. When they ordered them by average density the lowest ranked Canadian metro area, Edmonton, was ranked 14th between Miami and Washington. 6 of the top 15 were Canadian metros

Graph of Canada and US metro areas with a breakdown of percentage of people that live in density density bands

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Reposted by Denis Agar (he/him)

kanchan m @kayehm.bsky.social · 4d

15 currently installed & 20 more will be installed & activated over the coming months. Including another display.

Palmerston/Bloor should be approaching One Million people cycling so far this year in the coming weeks. 💥

We verify this data with a 2nd counting source 2x/yr before we release it.

Observing The City @observingthecity.bsky.social · 4d

Did you know Toronto has 15 permanent bicycle counters around the city? I have created a portal that should be updated monthly when the city updates their open data. It's live now at: observingthecity.ca

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Reposted by Denis Agar (he/him)

Rebecca Bollwitt @miss604.com · 4d

I love the West End

#vancouver #canada #cities

A collection of bikes on a rack along the sidewalk. One has red flowers in its basket. Beyond the sidewalk is a little bit of grass and then a four storey apartment building painted two shades of orange. Two palm trees flank the orange staircase leading up to a big wood and glass door.

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Reposted by Denis Agar (he/him)

Kezl 🏄GFM @kezl.bsky.social · 5d

One of the issues I've been seeing with online urbanism is an over-reliance on "vibes" to determine funding priorities

No, we should not replace a bus with a streetcar solely because "only streetcars give off walkability vibes"

That's how you kill an underfunded transit system

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Reposted by Denis Agar (he/him)

WIRED @wired.com · 5d

The country’s grid operator says shifting from coal to clean power is not only possible but inevitable. The work there could provide a road map for other countries.

Australia’s March Toward 100 Percent Clean Energy

The country’s grid operator says shifting from coal to clean power is not only possible but inevitable. The work there could provide a road map for other countries.

wrd.cm

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