Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Jocelyn Lambert Squires @jocelynsquires.bsky.social · 7m

Thoughtful thread on the challenges BIXI has faced to achieve the success it has today (and explains a lot I've wondered about Toronto's system, which was founded on the same tech).

Brian F. Kelcey @stateofthecity.bsky.social · 12h

Praise for Montreal's bike-share system, from TIME. Worth a holiday thread on a couple of operational + political aspects of Bixi's history that are intriguingly left unsaid.

Cult MTL @cultmtl.com · 14h

“Montreal revolutionized the bicycle-sharing trend. The tech behind BIXI became the backbone for bike-sharing programs in London, New York, Chicago and dozens of other places, turning two wheels into a genuine option for navigating cities.”

Reposted by Jocelyn Lambert Squires

Brian F. Kelcey @stateofthecity.bsky.social · 8h

15. As a non-profit, Bixi in Montreal was able to pull in other funding to backstop the City's initial 5-yr subsidy deal, including Loto-Quebec + Manulife. I'll add for cycling geeks: one of their recent moves (2023-24) was to end a longstanding practice of shutting the system down for the winter.

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Jocelyn Lambert Squires @jocelynsquires.bsky.social · 17m

I moved away almost 15 years ago, and I can't believe the shift that's happened since

Jocelyn Lambert Squires @jocelynsquires.bsky.social · 23m

The article touches on some of the challenges to multiplexes in the suburbs, but one it doesn't cover in depth is parking, which I suspect is a huge barrier. Eg in Scarborough, on-street parking is not allowed. You'd need a lot of space/or money for a sixplex with six car spots.

Jocelyn Lambert Squires @jocelynsquires.bsky.social · 8h

Only one word: 👻 PROCUREMENT 👻

🏰meg⚔️ @Birthright Audiobook! @impavid.us · 3d

In honor of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand

I'll go first: Six page commercial lease.

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Reposted by Jocelyn Lambert Squires

Lanrick Bennett @lanrickbennett.bsky.social · 9h

Bike Lanes Cause Traffic

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Reposted by Jocelyn Lambert Squires

Daniel Reynolds @akareynolds.bsky.social · 8h

We support this, BUT

🏰meg⚔️ @Birthright Audiobook! @impavid.us · 3d

In honor of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand

I'll go first: Six page commercial lease.

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Reposted by Jocelyn Lambert Squires

How-Sen Chong @how-sen.com · 8h

When I was a student here over twenty years ago, this was four lanes exclusively for cars.

Now children play here while parents go shopping.

And for the ‘but Toronto has winter!’ people, this is Montreal. Which is colder than Toronto.

Photo of St. Catherine Street in Montreal in 2025.

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Jocelyn Lambert Squires @jocelynsquires.bsky.social · 8h

I miss these guys and didn't realize they've been accessible all along through the north Don Valley Trail access ❤️

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Jocelyn Lambert Squires @jocelynsquires.bsky.social · 13h

Yes!!! That one is brilliant!

I'm sure you know this one too: the Borden Park Pavilion, also by gh3. It's not pure infrastructure in the same way as it's habitable, but still such a delightful, whimsical structure.

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Jocelyn Lambert Squires @jocelynsquires.bsky.social · 14h

It's important to celebrate our infrastructure! The RC Harris Water Treatment Plant is our most iconic example.

Edmonton does this well (and gh3 have won a lot of work there!).

Jason Thorne @jasonthorne.bsky.social · 14h

Great design isn’t just for iconic buildings. This is a stormwater treatment facility, but it’s nicely designed by gh3* architects!

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Reposted by Jocelyn Lambert Squires

Lanrick Bennett @lanrickbennett.bsky.social · 15h

No yelling but as Black man with a wife & kids living in Canada "Twitter may be horrible, but it's still shaping policy" I can assure you 110% the anti-Black / anti-Indigenous racism that is celebrated there has no relevance to shaping any policy period. We as a society do better without it. Cheers!

Jonn Elledge @jonnelledge.bsky.social · 1d

The platform formerly known as Twitter may be horrible, but it is still shaping policy. So were we all wrong to leave?

Was the left wrong to leave X for BlueSky?

The platform formerly known as Twitter may be horrible, but it's still shaping policy

www.newstatesman.com

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Reposted by Jocelyn Lambert Squires

Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 1d

Interesting, but Canadians shouldn’t be too proud; much of the “urban” in Canada is still car-oriented SFH.

Canadian suburbs are denser than American ones. Density does not always translate into transit use or walkability.

Marcus P. @reluctantaxe.bsky.social · 1d

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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Jocelyn Lambert Squires @jocelynsquires.bsky.social · 1d

What a great day on Bluesky!

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Jocelyn Lambert Squires @jocelynsquires.bsky.social · 1d

Spacing is such a great value for a publication. What else can you get now for $26? You can barely get a meal for that anymore!

Shawn Micallef @shawnmicallef.bsky.social · 1d

Long walk on Eglinton for the next print issue of Spacing. Some highlights 1/~ (Do you subscribe? It’s not expensive. spacingstore.ca/products/new... )

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Jocelyn Lambert Squires @jocelynsquires.bsky.social · 1d

I hope the anti-immigration sentiment doesn't stick as it's genuinely one of the great things about Canada (and a return to a more moderate policy will continue helping the country in the long run). But I expect this new polarization is here to stay.

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Jocelyn Lambert Squires @jocelynsquires.bsky.social · 1d

100% agree! That wasn't quite the focus of the article though, it looked more at higher level policy and the change in numbers rather than the ripple effects of the immigration boom. It frames a switch from a historical approach of skilled immigrants to temporary foreign workers (many students).

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Jocelyn Lambert Squires @jocelynsquires.bsky.social · 1d

The equity based expansion plan is one of the coolest things about Bike Share!

I'm really curious to know, in a quantitative and researched way, how much Bike Share has influenced the increase of cycling in Toronto.

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Jocelyn Lambert Squires @jocelynsquires.bsky.social · 1d

On a related subject, there was a pretty interesting Globe and Mail article today about Canada's recent immigration policy. Nothing you don't already know, but seeing the per capita numbers vs the US over the past century was astonishing.

(paywall)

www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...

How Canada got immigration right for so long – and then got it very, very wrong

Canadian immigration was stable, popular and uncontroversial. But a series of changes after 2015 broke the national consensus, and the system

www.theglobeandmail.com

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Reposted by Jocelyn Lambert Squires

Marcus P. @reluctantaxe.bsky.social · 1d

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

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Jocelyn Lambert Squires @jocelynsquires.bsky.social · 1d

Gorgeous photo!

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Jocelyn Lambert Squires @jocelynsquires.bsky.social · 1d

I read that as "vegan human hair" at first and was extra confused

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Jocelyn Lambert Squires @jocelynsquires.bsky.social · 1d

That said, I don't fully disagree with your point, but I would suggest Palmerston/Bathurst south of Dupont as a better case. Palmerston is truly a parallel route and is close to Bathurst, and Bathurst already shares cars with transit. Queen and Richmond/Adelaide is another case.

Jocelyn Lambert Squires @jocelynsquires.bsky.social · 1d

I actually wonder if bike lanes on Avenue and Mount Pleasant could be a viable alternative to Yonge, and the wider ROW on those two streets would make more room for shared use. There's just not a lot of continuous north/south corridors in that part of the city with all the ravine geography.

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Jocelyn Lambert Squires @jocelynsquires.bsky.social · 1d

I've lived/commuted this route for years and I respectfully disagree. Poplar Plains/Russell Hill as a route is much steeper than the average cyclist can handle, the grade is more manageable on Avenue. The Dupont/Davenport intersection is a cyclist death trap. Plus it's quite a detour.

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