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Neil Barratt

@neilbarratt.bsky.social
156 followers 344 following 6 posts

I bike, I cook, I clean up after my kids. I’d like a better Ottawa

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Reposted by Neil Barratt
David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
Three months after Ottawa removed its automatic safety cameras, the share of drivers following the speed limit plunged from 87% to 41%(!). "High-end speeding" is up 10x. Automatic enforcement saves lives. If you remove it, people will die.
globalnews.ca
‘A clear setback’: More drivers speeding in Ottawa with photo radar gone, city says - Ottawa | Globalnews.ca
The City of Ottawa says more drivers are speeding in school zones five months after the Ontario government shut off automated speed enforcement (ASE) cameras.
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Ariel Troster @arieltroster.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Building proper public infrastructure that can withstand the challenges of downtown Ottawa is expensive — but the alternative is unacceptable. Public washrooms are a human right and a basic need. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
cbc.ca
City councillor pushes for downtown public washroom plan | CBC News
Somerset Coun. Ariel Troster says public urination and defecation is becoming an increasingly serious issue downtown
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PressProgress @pressprogress.ca · 02/04/2026
Jesse Brown insists he’s done nothing wrong Banned from Reddit and accused of phishing critics, Canadaland’s founder is leading a chaotic 'investigation' into an army of sockpuppet accounts
pressprogress.ca
Jesse Brown Insists He’s Done Nothing Wrong
Banned from Reddit and accused of phishing critics, Canadaland’s founder is leading a chaotic 'investigation' into an army of sockpuppet accounts
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Pat Bickerton @pbickerton.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
City staff recommend dedicated bus lanes through the Glebe in both directions, during peak and off-peak hours, and during more Lansdowne events. The same staff have also developed a bus-lane pilot study that does none of these things. The study is set to begin summer 2027.
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It's Jamie @sjamieit.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
If Glebe business owners think parking availability is their key to success and losing just 17 on-street parking spaces will ruin them, they're fools. They absolutely cannot compete on parking. That is not anywhere in their business model. They need to understand that to truly succeed.
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William van Geest @wvangeest.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
“Don’t start taking farmers’ land and everything else out.” * Stares in Highway 413, the Bradford Bypass, Ontario Greenbelt expansions, Ottawa urban boundary expansions, etc., etc. * #ONpoli #Hwy413 www.ctvnews.ca/ottawa/artic...
ctvnews.ca
Premier wants high-speed rail built along Ontario’s Hwy. 401 corridor
The proposed high-speed rail line connecting Ottawa and Toronto should be built along the Highway 401 corridor, and “maybe make a stop in Kingston,” according to Premier Doug Ford.
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Bruce @davisonbruce.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
This is why local politicians need to show leadership and vision Nose and bluster gives way to economic evidence
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Guillaume @gguillaume.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
@en.ottawa.ca wants to have it both ways: no traffic calming because drivers are such law-abiding citizens, but we can't ban right-turn-on-red because drivers, like toddlers, can't handle the frustration.
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Neil Barratt @neilbarratt.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
This seems like the purest form of @edzitron.com rage bait. 😆
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Luke LeBrun @lukelebrun.ca · 12/01/2026
Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe is promoting a “study” that is actually a user-generated Serbian website The website includes a disclaimer that its data is unvetted and cannot guarantee its information is “accurate or reliable” The website’s data claims Sudbury, Ontario is more dangerous than Baghdad
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Strong Towns Ottawa @strongtownsottawa.ca · 15/10/2025
We heard from many groups today about the Tewin development. This is unfortunately going to be a development that further entrenches us into unsustainable sprawl. Property taxes have not and will not be able to provide long-term support for these types of developments. We have decades of evidence.
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Tom Flood @tomflood.bsky.social · 11/10/2025
PSA: People on bikes aren’t swerving to annoy drivers, they’re just trying not to die or destroy their mode of transportation. This is generally what the bike portion looks like of our “shared” roads. Glorious.
 broken up piece of road next to the sidewalk.
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Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · 10/10/2025
Premium: The AI Bubble's promises are impossible. NVIDIA's customers are running out of money, GPUs die in 3-5 years, most 1GW data centers will never get built, and OpenAI's Abilene data center doesn't won't have the power it needs before 2028 - if it ever does. www.wheresyoured.at/the-ai-bubbl...
wheresyoured.at
The AI Bubble's Impossible Promises
Readers: I’ve done a very generous “free” portion of this newsletter, but I do recommend paying for premium to get the in-depth analysis underpinning the intro. That being said, I want as many people ...
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Sean Devine @seandevine9.bsky.social · 21/06/2025
This is a vital conversation that City of Ottawa needs to have with residents. Through density and property valuation, we see massive discrepancies in tax revenue/hectare across the city. Organizations like @strongtownsottawa.bsky.social make this clear. But there are other discrepancies, too! 1/
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Neil Barratt @neilbarratt.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
Hey @ncc-ccn.bsky.social - any news on a reopening of the Ottawa River Pathway behind Parliament? #ottbike
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Jeff Leiper @jleiper.bsky.social · 30/12/2024
Yep. We can no longer accept that the production of new plastic is a matter for the market to decide.
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Ottawa Transit Riders 🇨🇦🍁 @otttransitriders.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
OK – we need some answers here. A) if the problem is lack of mechanics – Amilcar should say so. B) if the problem is that the buses are just too damn old, well that’s not going to get fixed in 2 weeks. So WHAT is the plan? www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
cbc.ca
Breakdowns causing more delays for Para Transpo users | CBC News
Para Transpo users are being warned to expect continuing delays over the holidays as the transit service grapples with a rash of breakdowns in its minibus fleet.
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Toon Dreessen @toondreessen.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
This is the balance our city thinks is appropriate. It completely is not. We spend millions on cycling infrastructure and close it for half the year. What if we did this to roads? Shoukd we close Strandherd ($112m) from Dec-April? 1/ @brenttoderian.bsky.social ottawacitizen.com/news/carleto...
ottawacitizen.com
Rideau River bridge at Carleton University closed for winter — unexpectedly
Only opened in June, the bridge connecting Carleton University to Vincent Massey Park has been blocked off.
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Kevin Dorse @kdorse.bsky.social · 13/12/2024
Well said. Why does maintaining active infrastructure always require a fight in Ottawa? I’m soooo tired. #ottawalkers #ottbike
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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 09/12/2024
“Reconsider this word ‘balance.’ Let’s say, for argument’s sake, your goal is balance. Picture a 100-yard dash where you’ve given the car a 90-yard head start. Even if your goal is balance, by definition u have to prioritize the other modes even to just catch up.” — Still key in @usa.streetsblog.org
denver.streetsblog.org
Brent Toderian: Don’t “Balance” Modes — Prioritize Walking, Biking, and Transit
“I’m capable of saying some pretty harsh things — I’m very un-Canadian that way. But most of the time, I would say that if a city hires me, it’s because they know that the s…
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Neil Barratt @neilbarratt.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
Hi @glengower.bsky.social today was the second day this week that I walked from Queen St to Lansdowne without a single bus passing me. Does this service justify a fair increase? @occtranspo.bsky.social @otttransitriders.bsky.social @arieltroster.bsky.social @shawnmenard.bsky.social
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Ottawa Transit Riders 🇨🇦🍁 @otttransitriders.bsky.social · 29/11/2024
A quick reminder, bad transit costs money too. I'm hoping that voters will take note of which councillors are advocating for better transit, and which are voting for status quo (transit death spiral). ottawa.ctvnews.ca/dude-where-s...
ottawa.ctvnews.ca
'Dude, Where's My Bus?' Ottawa man fed up with OC Transpo makes documentary exploring transit troubles
Gio Petti put together a documentary on OC Transpo, asking how we got here. How did a city that was once lauded as an example of how to do transit right, and that boasted some of the highest per capit...
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Hans on the Bike @hansonthebike.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
If you haven’t been to Dow’s Lake in #Ottawa for a while. How it started and how it is going on this prime lakefront property.
A mix of sun and clouds. Overlooking an intersection with a park in the background. A dark sky over an intersection with a large 4 storey car park being built
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Laskinator @laskinator.bsky.social · 29/11/2024
Riding south on Trillium pathway, and the way you know you're almost at Dow's Lake, is an ugly concrete behemoth appears before you. Just breath-taking (ly terrible). #Autowa
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Tom Flood @tomflood.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
Years ago we had the mayor bike to school with my 6 year old, within the first :30 seconds they were almost hit by a driver on live TV. Every leader should be required to ride a bike (if able) with a 6 year old before they provide any direction on bike infrastructure.
4 people on bikes riding in a contraflow lane with a driver in a white car about to cross it making a left.
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Carolyn Whitzman @cwhitzman.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
Soaring development taxes punish new renters and buyers, while benefiting existing homeowners as free riders. They must be eliminated, in favour of progressive property wealth taxes and/or conditional transfers from provinces and feds. www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/edit...
theglobeandmail.com
Globe editorial: The true cost of soaring development charges on new homes
Ontario cities need to wean themselves from the habit of hiking fees on new builds in order to subsidize low property tax rates for current residents
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Jeff Leiper @jleiper.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
Our parents and grandparents didn't gradually set aside the tax dollars to eventually maintain the assets they built, so we borrow to do it. Politicians are short-term planners and it's always easy to defer setting money aside for maintenance and replacement to keep taxes low.
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Paolo @internetpaolo.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
Our leaders fight us for every square inch of bike lane but everywhere you look you can find millions in taxpayer dollars wasted on car travel, the most expensive, inefficient and dangerous form of travel in cities.
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Cassie Smith (she/her) @cassiesmith.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
Ottawa's climate targets rely on 20-30% of all trips in the city to be taken on OC Transpo. Currently it's 8.5%. How do they plan to get there? I'd recommend nurturing young riders - something I spoke about at transit commission today and wrote about here: www.envirocentre.ca/the-future-o...
envirocentre.ca
The future of transit IS kids on the bus - EnviroCentre
The things we learn when we are young stick with us. Can you still remember your childhood phone number and […]
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Neil Barratt @neilbarratt.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
@octranspo.bsky.social I took the bus to work this morning. The GPS said that two #6 busses were 0 minutes away, and a 7 was eight minutes. But there were no 6s in sight, and a 7 pulled up 3 minutes later. When will the GPS actually work? Who can use a system like this?
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Henri Bréboeuf @henribreboeuf.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
Important 🧵
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Toon Dreessen @toondreessen.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
… to spend half $1 billion subsidizing, private sports teams and franchises? Who has the courage to lead in the public interest and move a budget for people, core services, tourism, reputation, and the sort of city we aspire to be. Who’s willing to lead?
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Toon Dreessen @toondreessen.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
Who has the courage to move that to Tewin should be scrapped so that we don’t embed a $600 million initial Cost to permanently subsidize sprawl that we will never be able to afford? Who has the courage to move that Lansdowne 2.0 should be paused until we can actually afford… 3/
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Hans on the Bike @hansonthebike.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
#ottbike news: the new, wider and flatter bridge across the #Nepean Creek along the Ottawa River in #Ottawa is open. Thx Zlatko for the pics.
Several people cycle on a wide pedestrian and bike bridge across a bay. A map of the Nepean Bay Area with a red circle where the bridge has been replaced.
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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 11/11/2024
HERE IT IS! My 1st Urbanism & City-Building Starter Pack. I’ll keep adding to it as more city champions arrive here on Bluesky & I discover more of you. Please share this far & wide to support and grow our urbanism community here. Our cities need all the help they can get! go.bsky.app/G7isZfk
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