Sign in

Matt Carrington

@mattcarrington.bsky.social
327 followers 230 following 391 posts

Book editor, poetry and cultural policy researcher. I edit Holocaust survivor memoirs.

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Matt Carrington
Mike Schreiner @mikeschreiner.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Put another way, Ford wants to spend more on removing bike lanes in Toronto ($48M) than he's spent protecting all of Ontario's businesses from an international trade war. Ontario deserves serious leadership, that follows through on promises, and actually puts people before profits.
4280132
Matt Carrington @mattcarrington.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
I have no idea what the intended meaning of the Apple double-exclamation message reaction half the time it’s used in chats. Are you surprised? Are you agreeing? Are you amazed?
000
Matt Carrington @mattcarrington.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
cbc.ca
Ontario health-care coalition denounces province's plan to remove bike lanes across Toronto | CBC News
A coalition of Ontario health-care workers gathered in downtown Toronto on Tuesday to denounce the provincial government’s plan to remove bike lanes on three major roadways across the city.
021
Reposted by Matt Carrington
Marina Bolotnikova @mbolotnikova.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I became very angsty about the great dying of vegan restaurants after my neighborhood spot announced its closure this month. I wanted to know whether this is a real trend (& found that it's indeed probably real) & to what degree it actually matters for the animal movement, beyond 1/
vox.com
Where did all the vegan restaurants go?
And what does it mean for the plant-based movement?
8347
Reposted by Matt Carrington
Xela Hart @xelahart.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
334213596405
Matt Carrington @mattcarrington.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I got a new phone and now my appliances have stopped texting me :(
122
Reposted by Matt Carrington
John Michael McGrath @jm-mcgrath.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
When Shachi Kurl called Quebec's laws "discriminatory" (the most neutral possible term for them) in a federal leaders debate the federalist parties and their hangers-on in the media rushed to condemn her for crassly cynical reasons, it was gross.
0338
Reposted by Matt Carrington
Shawn Micallef @shawnmicallef.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Is it weird the police have never said why they couldn’t catch a criminal who returned to the same place to commit the same crime over & over? Is it curious? We will never know in secret Canada.
411111
Reposted by Matt Carrington
Shawn Micallef @shawnmicallef.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
I often think about the speed camera chopping vigilante who returned to the scene of their crime on Parkside Drive multiple times but Toronto police didn’t catch them & it led to Doug Ford banning speed cameras for 16 million people & now speeding is at epidemic levels & people will die.
2331080
Matt Carrington @mattcarrington.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
I love that 17C feels like soup and sweater weather in September but feels like shorts and waterpark weather in April
010
Reposted by Matt Carrington
404 Media @404media.co · 18/09/2026
It’s easy to see why the AI companies wanted to hide this from the public. The statements are some of the most damning indictments of the ways LLMs were trained, how they work, and the immediate threat they pose to human labor. @jasonkoebler.bsky.social reports. www.404media.co/doom-loop-op...
181375748
Matt Carrington @mattcarrington.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Story: A grown man urged me to fight him yesterday. I was driving my two kids home from school, turning left off a side street onto a busy thoroughfare.
Busy left turn during rush hour. This intersection is now tighter, with flexiposts recently added to this corner force wider, slower turns onto the sidestreet, making the corner safer for pedestrians and tighter for cars.
200
Matt Carrington @mattcarrington.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
This is so sad 😕 Time-change days are one of the few shared rituals we have. We should cherish it. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
cbc.ca
Manitoba adopts permanent daylight time | CBC News
Manitobans no longer need to remember to spring forward or fall back one hour on their clocks.
000
Reposted by Matt Carrington
Gravel Influencer @gravelinfluencer.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Once again, absolutely incredible how people view advocacy for safe infrastructure and mobility options as akin to an attack on their right to drive
3853
Reposted by Matt Carrington
Rich @hoxtonrich.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Suggested ground rules for the ‘debate’ on 'bad' cycling 🧵: 1) Cyclists or cycling advocates are not collectively responsible for the bad behaviour of individuals. What’s your actual point? You want less cycling or rules that have that effect? Be clear.
49840
Reposted by Matt Carrington
Madeleine Bonsma-Fisher, PhD @mbonsma.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Not to mention that in places with a bikeway, bikes are easily approaching and exceeding car volumes. It's a very efficient use of road space.
19823
Matt Carrington @mattcarrington.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
I’m predicting a resurgence in attention to Sara Jeanette Duncan’s novel *The Imperialist*
100
Reposted by Matt Carrington
andrea bennett (they/them) @akkabah.bsky.social · 09/10/2025
Definitely crisp time! Galas definitely do stay firmer. (You could try a mix?)
011
Reposted by Matt Carrington
Madeleine Bonsma-Fisher, PhD @mbonsma.bsky.social · 20/11/2024
I have removed the bike lanes that were in the road and which you were probably using to get to work Forgive me they were delicious so crunchy and so cold
19713122
Reposted by Matt Carrington
Shawn Micallef @shawnmicallef.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
I have a column this weekend asking: where is the rest of civil society. Where’s the CEOs asking for safe streets for their employees? Where’s the foundations taking a stand, putting some money behind countering this? Where’s the establishment? Everyone is sitting it out. Just like w Rob ford.
1417354
Reposted by Matt Carrington
Matthew Hayek @matthewhayek.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Another great perspective from @jandutkiewicz.bsky.social. "without factory farms there would be far less meat and it would be far more expensive...if the MAHA movement were remotely coherent, it would push for this less-but-better meat vision" newrepublic.com/article/2141...
newrepublic.com
MAHA’s Meat Obsession Exposes the Movement’s Delusions
Robert F Kennedy Jr. and his acolytes say we should eat more meat, but that would only worsen the very problems Make America Healthy Again claims it is trying to solve.
153
Matt Carrington @mattcarrington.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
And fourth, he continued his policy to end remote work, encouraging other companies to end remote work. Commuting is a lot easier when half the workers are not commuting. It’s a geometry problem, and there’s only so much space.
010
Reposted by Matt Carrington
Shawn Micallef @shawnmicallef.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
In one of Sarkaria's early op-eds about removing bike lanes he talks about his drive from Brampton to Queen's Park. A stupid drive when there is a GO Train connecting the two. If the train service isn't good enough, you're the minister of transportation. Yet....
15211
Matt Carrington @mattcarrington.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
I commute by bike every day, all year in Toronto, and admit to feeling a bit snobby about ebikes—that is, great for other people! However, visiting Montreal last week I tried ebike bixis and it really did feel like magic. I passed people pushing their non-e bixis up hills as I zipped by. Great tech
050
Matt Carrington @mattcarrington.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
How perfect to bike to work on this rainy morning past a cyber truck with the driver just texting away (a few minutes before a right-turning driver cuts me off as he turns across the Yonge bike lane).
020
Reposted by Matt Carrington
Dumb Megan @dmbmeg.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
It’s crazy now because that I just mostly bike I can see how many people are on their phones and we all just treat this as a non-issue
3559754
Reposted by Matt Carrington
Matt Carrington @mattcarrington.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Remember when we stumbled on a great solution to traffic congestion in Toronto that maintained or even improved worker productivity, but then the banks and the government decided there was some problem with remote work?
131
Matt Carrington @mattcarrington.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
The daily bikeshare stats are amazing, especially considering most cyclists use their own bikes.
001
Reposted by Matt Carrington
Tom Flood @tomflood.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Let’s remove speed cameras and rip out bike lanes - then let’s ticket cyclists without helmets to keep our roads safe. 🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌
3426
Matt Carrington @mattcarrington.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Remember when we stumbled on a great solution to traffic congestion in Toronto that maintained or even improved worker productivity, but then the banks and the government decided there was some problem with remote work?
131
Matt Carrington @mattcarrington.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Hypothetical (fictional) androids can “suffer” now? We have fields of science that acknowledge non-human animal sentience and absolutely no doubt that non-human animals suffer, but instead of looking at that people are excited to extend personhood to computer algorithms. The future!
000
Reposted by Matt Carrington
Lanrick Bennett @lanrickbennett.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Play it again @jaycockburn.bsky.social 'Pedal politics: How Toronto’s bike lanes became so divisive' h/t @mbonsma.bsky.social @uoftcities.bsky.social @thebikinglawyer.bsky.social @theglobeandmail.com www.theglobeandmail.com/podcasts/art...

Jay Cockburn

  • 1st

I tell stories about cities and the people in them as a freelance journalist and podcast producer.

4h • 


Given the news on Toronto's bike lanes, maybe now is a good time to revisit this episode of City Space.

Myself and the team tried to unpack why the debate around bike lanes is the way it is. 

The evidence couldn't be clearer: bike lanes make streets safer for cars, bikes and pedestrians, and they don't make traffic worse. So why are they such a hard sell to some?

It's such a lopsided debate. One side is furious about a perceived inconvenience, the other remembers their dead with painted white bikes. If you haven't ridden a bike in Toronto that might sound hyperbolic, but it's scary and legitimately dangerous. Ford's actions and last week's judicial decisions will lead to deaths, and it will be for nothing.

The first part of this episode even looks at the last time bike lanes were the big story in Toronto: when Doug Ford's brother, Rob, tore out the bike lanes on Jarvis St. Traffic congestion got worse on Jarvis in the years that followed.

It doesn't have to be this way. If we can answer the question on bike lanes, we'll be able to build better, safer and more livable cities. This was our attempt to get there.

https://lnkd.in/g7XxgKbD
0239
Reposted by Matt Carrington
Louis Peitzman @louispeitzman.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Lot of people younger than me lately. What are we doing about this.
381235222
Matt Carrington @mattcarrington.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
These bike lanes are so busy. I have a specific memory of November 28 last year, quite a cold and windy late November Friday evening, dark out, I biked from Yonge/St. Clair to an event in Roncesvalles, taking Bloor much of the way. The bike lanes were absolutely crowded, almost as in this video...
020
Reposted by Matt Carrington
Observing The City @observingthecity.ca · 18/08/2026
Morning commute on a bike lane that Doug Ford wants to rip out. 21 bikes and 4 cars clearing an intersection in 23 seconds. Which mode fights congestion?
13506137
Matt Carrington @mattcarrington.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
I feel like the same people who were against the (proven effective) speed cameras in Toronto are also the people against the bike lanes. The same people who are against getting speeding tickets don't think cyclists should get a lane because bad behaviour. Maybe they care *too much* about road safety
020
Reposted by Matt Carrington
Rodney 🚧🚇 @chanface.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Thread about the Ontario bike lane ruling, based on @edwardrow.com on X When all the evidence shows that more car lanes don't help congestion, and the gov's own reports show that removing bike lanes no won't help congestion, the judge ignored that and goes off his own vibes as "common sense” (1/6)
A Court of Appeal for Ontario
[59] The question, then, is this: is there a rational connection between the purpose of reducing traffic congestion and the decision to increase the number of lanes for motor vehicles by removing
bicycle lanes? The respondents were required to establish that there was no such connection. The appellants were not required to establish that the legislation will prove effective in reducing traffic congestion.
[60]
Common sense provides the answer here: increasing the number of lanes available for motor vehicles must, at least to some extent, and for some period of time, be capable of contributing to reducing traffic congestion. The legislation is therefore rational.
Assumptions grounded in everyday experience and common sense need not be established empirically: Gosselin v. Québec (Attorney General), 2002 SCC 84, [2002] 4 S.C.R. 429, at para. 56.
[61] The application judge acknowledged that "increasing the number of lanes available to motor vehicles may allow more cars to travel on a road" and that the respondents' expert "recognized the
possibility of a short-term benefit" from the removal of the bicycle lanes. But instead of accepting that a rational connection had been established and leaving the policy debate about the efficacy of the law to the political process, he went on to consider the expert's predictions of what would happen to motor vehicle traffic "over
75519
Matt Carrington @mattcarrington.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
My kid loved learning the recorder last year. She totally learned about musical notes and how to play a simple song, can even play simple versions of a couple pop songs on a recorder. It has her wanting to learn to play piano. Brilliant way to introduce these things to everyone.
000
Reposted by Matt Carrington
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
The bike lane decision is extraordinary. The Ontario Court of Appeal flat out saying: more lanes make cars go fast and “induced demand” is just a theory. Aggressively hostile to 80 years of theory and empirical evidence. coadecisions.ontariocourts.ca/coa/coa/en/i...
916549
Reposted by Matt Carrington
Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 17/08/2026
14 hours later and my mentions are still full of angry treatises about badly behaved cyclists. Bike lanes are not a reward for good cyclist behavior! They are infrastructure proven to make cities safer for ALL ROAD USERS. Whatever way cyclists have wronged you is irrelevant to the discussion!
303109251845
Reposted by Matt Carrington
Cycle Toronto @cycletoronto.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Friday: Courts rule Doug Ford can rip out bike lanes Saturday: Bike Share Toronto sets daily ridership record
06429
Reposted by Matt Carrington
Cycle Toronto @cycletoronto.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Michael Longfield, executive director of Cycle Toronto, said the decision is a step back for evidence-based decision making. 'I want to be clear that bike lanes do not cause traffic congestion. Removing them will put people's lives at risk,' he said." www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
cbc.ca
Ontario appeal court says Ford can rip out Toronto bike lanes | CBC News
Premier Doug Ford’s government can rip out 19 kilometres of protected bike lanes in Toronto, the Court of Appeal for Ontario has ruled in a decision released Friday, reversing a lower court decision m...
613643
Reposted by Matt Carrington
Colleen @cbailey6.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Whatever happens, it has been a great few years, easily cycling down Yonge and then sometimes down Bloor, without having to plan out a bespoke, less stressful route to every new location. Life-changing, as someone in midtown, to just hop on my bike and know the best route there.
1518
Reposted by Matt Carrington
Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
This is BAD NEWS for public safety & mobility in Ontario. Make no mistake what this ruling means—the lower court decision established that ripping out protected bike-lanes WILL cost lives & that was unconstitutional. This Appeal decision says Doug Ford is constitutionally allowed to ENDANGER LIVES.
cbc.ca
Ontario appeal court says Ford can rip out Toronto bike lanes | CBC News
Premier Doug Ford’s government can rip out 19 kilometres of protected bike lanes in Toronto, the Court of Appeal for Ontario has ruled in a decision released Friday, reversing a lower court decision m...
24334122
Reposted by Matt Carrington
J. Kelly Nestruck @nestruck.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
The real problem is that cities have no real powers in Canada. This is disenfranchisement. Torontonians should be able to decide these things for themselves at the municipal level. Have not seen any politician other than @joshmatlow.bsky.social grapple with this. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
cbc.ca
Ontario appeal court says Ford can rip out Toronto bike lanes | CBC News
Premier Doug Ford’s government can rip out 19 kilometres of protected bike lanes in Toronto, the Court of Appeal for Ontario has ruled in a decision released Friday, reversing a lower court decision m...
78633
Reposted by Matt Carrington
Gravel Influencer @gravelinfluencer.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Motonormativity is removing installed bike lanes but acting like people are crazy for suggesting we should take away space from cars
112112
Reposted by Matt Carrington
Massimo (mirror) @rainmaker1973-m.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Public drivers from San Luis Potosí, Mexico, were put on bicycle to know how bad it is to pass by scraping cyclists. Original post
1024869
Reposted by Matt Carrington
Madeleine Bonsma-Fisher, PhD @mbonsma.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
A shirt in a shop in Paris (ON) that says "DOUG FORD HATES YOU"A tote bag that says "DOUG FORD HATES YOU"
36113
Matt Carrington @mattcarrington.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
I have two kids and I drive them around a lot, do errands in our car, but I also bike to work every single day, all year long. There are no bike lanes on my route from St. Clair West to Yonge. And it's terrible and full of conflict with drivers, even (especially) on back streets. We need more lanes.
Picture of my bike with pannier and fenders. We live in a dense city, but it's not safe to ride here.
100
Reposted by Matt Carrington
Toronto Mike @torontomike.com · 14/08/2026
The thing about ripping out bike lanes is it doesn't stop us from biking, it just makes it more dangerous. And if I feel unsafe, I take the lane.
2942963