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Ralph Garboushian

@ralphgarboushian.bsky.social
692 followers 1.3K following 8 posts

Trains, transit, bikes, and cities…🚞🚇🚲🌇

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Reposted by Ralph Garboushian
Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
To carry 50,000 people per hour in each direction, a city needs a 175m wide road for cars. Even if those cars are electric. And then there’s all the parking. OR a city can move A LOT MORE people in a lot less space, with A LOT LESS public money, emissions, pollution, noise etc. Choices. Simple.
Graphic showing a single lane 9 m wide track for metros, a 35 m wide road for buses with four lanes, and a 175 m wide road for cars with seven lanes, making the point that one single track of Metro replaces seven lanes of car traffic. Mobility in cities is about space.
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Reposted by Ralph Garboushian
David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
"Cycling and walking to work were associated with better physical health, mental health, and life in general than driving." doi.org/10.1016/j.tr...
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Reposted by Ralph Garboushian
Brandon - "Fietser" @americanfietser.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Cities everywhere are discussing the dangers of ebikes in cities and passing swift legislation to tightly control them. Meanwhile:
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Reposted by Ralph Garboushian
Hackney Cyclist @hackneycyclist.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Gerard Douplein, Amsterdam in 1987 and today
Split-image comparison of Gerard Douplein in Amsterdam, showing the same street in the 1980s and today. The historic black-and-white photo is dominated by parked cars and moving traffic, while the modern colour photo shows the street transformed into a lively public space filled with bicycles, cyclists, pedestrians, trees, cafés and outdoor seating.
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Reposted by Ralph Garboushian
Taras Grescoe 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · 28/09/2026
“Bicycling is a big part of the future. It has to be. There's something wrong with a society that drives a car to work out in a gym." —Bill Nye, Science Guy.
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Reposted by Ralph Garboushian
Yonah Freemark @yonahfreemark.com · 29/09/2026
Gas prices have risen dramatically this year. For the typical driver, that's $65 more spent on gas monthly. If you're a typical F-150 driver in states like Alabama, Kansas, Mississippi, or Missouri, you're spending >$350 a month on gas now. We've got to give people other options.
urban.org
Rising Gas Prices Are Punishing Household Finances. Policymakers Should Invest in Transit to Reduce Household Costs.
Amid months of rising gas prices, a typical driver now spends $65 more on fuel each month today than they did a year ago.
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Reposted by Ralph Garboushian
EmmanuelSPV @emmanuelspv.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Before (1960s ?) / After (2026) Rue du Mont-Cenis in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. The dead-end street was a parking until around 2005.
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Reposted by Ralph Garboushian
Andrew @drw4d.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Yes! I just spent an afternoon in Copenhagen and a few days in Gothenburg. Streetcars! Pedestrian streets! Bike lanes! Markets! Places for people to actually be and spend time (and money), as opposed to just drive through. Why can’t we have these nice things?!?
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Reposted by Ralph Garboushian
Gravel Influencer @gravelinfluencer.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
A delightful day walking around Nice. I loved the use of streetcars and the huge parks cutting through the city, as well as the markets in car-free squares. It's a joy to experience places designed with people and not just cars in mind. It felt so vibrant.
A square filled with market stallsA two-way separated cycle track running alongside a streetStreetcar tracksA pedestrian only street absolutely packed with people
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Reposted by Ralph Garboushian
Tom Flood @tomflood.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Hard to explain how normalized not just cycling is but the use of the cargo bike is here in Munich.
People biking on the street with a bus
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Reposted by Ralph Garboushian
Urban Truth Collective @urbantruth.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
The WAR ON WALKING has taken many forms around the world. It’s often as simple as how we signal who space is and isn’t for. Once our eyes are opened to all the ways we’ve prioritized cars over people, we can’t unsee it. Frustrating photo contributed by @stadsplanering.bsky.social. #WarOnWalking
Background photo from North Macedonia, where “sidewalks are mostly used to park cars” as explained by photo contributor Carl-Henrik Barnekow. Text says “Don’t buy the lie that there’s a war on cars. They’ve been waging a war on walking for a century.” Via the Urban Truth Collective. #WarOnCars #UrbanTruth
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Urban Wabi Sabi @urban-wabi-sabi.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
We were in a local street where there is no practical need for a separate sidewalk, no need for traffic lights, bollards, or any of the other safety mechanisms. Moving vehicles will need to move slowly and give priority to pedestrians. This is a typical use of urban space in Japan’s neighbourhoods .
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Reposted by Ralph Garboushian
Gravel Influencer @gravelinfluencer.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
An aspect of motonormativity I've been thinking about a lot lately is the fact that there is widespread acceptance in the U.S. (at least on the left) that gun violence is a public health issue, but we just haven't gotten there yet with traffic violence.
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David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
New study finds the social cost of driving a car 1 km—including pollution, crashes, infrastructure, and noise—is more than *triple* the private cost paid by the car owner. doi.org/10.1016/j.tr...
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Brandon - "Fietser" @americanfietser.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
The same thing happens with us as well. People's heads explode when I tell them the cost without internalizing that these bikes have made car-lite living possible and kept us from having a car payment for years now. They've paid for themselves.
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Tab C @drtcombs.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
3 separate people asked me about my #ebike today while I was out running errands. My answer to all three of them when they asked how much it cost: "more than you think, but probably less than you'll pay for gas this year"
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Reposted by Ralph Garboushian
Brandon - "Fietser" @americanfietser.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Consider for a moment just how much of our emergency services are tied up in managing the fallout from the violent overabundance of car culture. Police, firefighters, medics, and hospitals, all constantly under the strain of injury and death brought on by motorists.
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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
“Local stores next to the protected bike-lane have seen a 49% increase in sales, compared to an average of 3% for Manhattan as a whole.” (Among MANY other public benefits.) Want To Make More Money? Build A Business On A Bike Lane. #CityMakingMath via @fastcompany.com #BikeLanesMeanBusiness
fastcompany.com
Want To Make Money? Build A Business On A Bike Lane
Research from New York City notes that newly installed protected bike lanes do more than keep bikers safe--they raise the income of the stores they are in front of.
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Reposted by Ralph Garboushian
Tom Flood @tomflood.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
the study
white text or red 
Every Study Ever:
Reliable transit, safe active transportation options and fewer cars will improve cities.
City:
Hmm, can we really trust every study ever done?
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Reposted by Ralph Garboushian
Rob Toftness @nosquish.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Protected bike lanes ensure this kind of delivery behavior. Build more of them.
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Marc Hedlund @marcprecipice.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
And, things have gotten significantly worse since 2020. The red bars on this chart (which I added) show the timespan of the chart in @kwilsonhfx.bsky.social's post. Source: bikeleague.org/another-year...
A line graph headed, "Number of Annual Bicyclist Fatalities," showing deaths by year, 1975 to 2024. The period after 2020 shows a steep increase overall, from approximately 800 deaths a year in 2015 (the end of the chart in the quoted post) to 1,110 deaths a year in 2024.
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Oh The Urbanity! @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Breaking news: cities are bad for families.
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Tom Flood @tomflood.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
All the hysteria and rhetoric that consumed a community around these bike lanes ended and now no one talks about them and people use them (including those with mobility devices) all the time for work, school, play and everything in between. Change is hard for some people but we all adapt.
A parking protected bike lane
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Allison Gill @muellershewrote.com · 30/07/2026
When Justice is blind, bad guys take the fifth. When justice is corrupt, good guys take the fifth. Feel free to share.
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Reposted by Ralph Garboushian
Tom Flood @tomflood.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
the steps.
white type on fuchsia background 

Step 1.
let's design our cities to prioritize cars at all costs, everywhere, at all times and over everything else.
Step 2.
Now let's complain that kids are inside on screens all day
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Reposted by Ralph Garboushian
Second Ave. Sagas @2avesag.as · 29/07/2026
This is what the new generation of Paris Metro SIELs look like. There's room for alert information without cannibalizing train arrival time display.
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Reposted by Ralph Garboushian
Tom Flood @tomflood.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
People get hella mad when you suggest adult drivers should be more responsible than children walking/biking
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Melissa & Chris Bruntlett @modacitylife.com · 26/07/2026
10,000 fewer on-street car parking spaces. That's the pledge from Amsterdam's new coalition government over the next four years. While many cities still argue whether change is possible, Amsterdam is reclaiming its public realm one tree, bench, bike rack, terrace, playground, and garden at a time.
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bettybarcode (she/her) @bettybarcode.com · 27/07/2026
The people who complain about empty bike lanes do not want full bike lanes. They want no bike lanes.
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The War on Cars @thewaroncars.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Flip the script so that what's extreme is requiring people to buy a $50,000, dinosaur-juice-burning, 6000-lb machine to take the kids to school or get a gallon of milk... ...while riding a $5,000, 70-lb bike powered by a combo of a trickle of electricity and your own two legs is just normal.
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Tom Flood @tomflood.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Bicycles deliver the freedom that auto ads promise. Love to see this banner as the backdrop for new bike day. 📸 @ldnontbikecafe.bsky.social
A person standing with a cargo bike and a banner behind that says Bicycles deliver the freedom that auto ads promise
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Katelyn Burns @katelynburns.com · 21/07/2026
eliminating public transportation systems forced most American families to buy a second car. that was a government decision made for you before you were born.
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Peter Norton @norton.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Car dependency was not a choice. It was and is the deprivation of choice.
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Push The Needle @pushtheneedle.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
World cup stadium urbanism 2026. Vs. 2030.
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Sean Granigan @twogoblinsinacoat.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Before, I couldn't imagine using a bike as my main mode of transportation, let alone take 2 kids to Costco. With the right infrastructure its not only possible, but better. I'm in better health and save a ton of money.
A photo of a cargo bike with 2 kids sitting on the back. A box of bulk diapers is hanging off the side
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shauna @goldengateblond.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
i worked in several casinos and later for an online sportsbook. the best advice i can give you is to stay the hell away from all of it.
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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Next time someone tries arguing that it’s “social engineering” (cue ominous music) to give people more CHOICE to walk, bike & take public transit in their city, tell them that designing our current car DEPENDENCY has been the largest and most damaging social engineering experiment in human history.
Highway filled with car congestionLow density suburban sprawl filled with roads and cookie cutter subdivisions.
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Julian Sanchez @normative.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
If they went to more libraries, they might learn how to use commas correctly.
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Brandon - "Fietser" @americanfietser.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
✅ "Get a car, loser!" ✅ "EVs will fix the problem of cars." ✅ "Bike lanes cause traffic." ✅ "Public Transit should pay for itself." Motorists hate to see other motorists, but don't want to support anything that will result in fewer motorists.
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inahays.bsky.social @inahays.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
I've been in Montreal the past few days to escape the insanity in Washington DC and by far the thing that has surprised me about the city the most is how many cyclists there are and the cycling infrastructure. DC is in a lot of ways a bike city but Montreal is a step above, hope our new Mayor helps.
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Urbane Cyclist @urbanecyclist.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
Wait until you hear about how much space cars take up. road.cc/news/malcolm...
road.cc
Cyclists are "greedy" for taking up more space than pedestrians, claims leading architect who feels "guilty" when riding bike
A leading Edinburgh architect has claimed the city’s active travel policy is prioritising “greedy” cyclists over pedestrians, adding that he feels guilty over the space he gets cycling across the city...
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Yonah Freemark @yonahfreemark.com · 03/07/2026
Rennes, France will increase frequencies on its Metro A Line to every 60 seconds (down from every 80 seconds), perhaps making it the most frequent metro in the world. The automated light metro line has 140,000 daily riders, in a city with a population of 230,000 (Line B carries ~80,000/day).
20minutes.fr
Avec une rame toutes les minutes, le métro rennais va accélérer la cadence
En 2028, un métro circulera toutes les minutes en heure de pointe sur la ligne A du métro rennais, contre 80 secondes aujourd’hui, ce qui permettra d’augmenter la capacité de 25 %
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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
“The city’s transition away from the car, tho fantastically chaotic, has become a global role model. Under mayor @annehidalgo.bsky.social, Paris was ‘the most influential city in the world’ says Canadian urbanist Brent Toderian. Hidalgo, stepping down after 12 yrs, exulted: ‘The bike beat the car.’”
ft.com
How Paris beat the car
Though chaotic, the city’s transition has become a global role model
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Wajahat Ali @wajali.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
The US Men's Soccer Team is crushing right now thanks to birth right citizenship.
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 02/07/2026
Folarin Balogun, who is a US citizen because he was born here, scores a go-ahead goal for the US team in a knockout game. Score one for birthright citizenship.
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Nissa Mitchell @nissamitchell.com · 02/07/2026
How often, when driving a car, do you run across a friend, and then slow down and chat for a bit? It happens kind of a lot when you use bikes for transportation.
Two kids in the front of a (Bunch) cargo bike, next to another child and adult in a bakfiets (front box cargo bike).
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The War on Cars @thewaroncars.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Happy Father's Day, especially to the fathers who bike.
Man riding on blue long cargo bike with two kids on the back and one kid in a seat on the front between his arms. Another person on a bike is going the other way in the background.
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Ms. Alex @xelamercedes.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
And don't forget: we don't have to help Bezos get richer. A lot of products on the Amazon site can be purchased directly from the vendor on their own website.
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