Author of Straphanger | Words @nytimes @natgeomag @guardian @wsj | Latest book @lostsupper | highspeed.blog | Talks: taras-grescoe.com/contact
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"A passionately argued and important book." —The Guardian
In #Straphanger, I travel world looking at best (and worst) in transportation + urbanism.
(NEW: Buying here directly funds my writing—and my new project, about the passenger rail revival.)
shorturl.at/oJpZu
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Not to worry: Straphanger is alive and well! I'll continue to post about transit, bicycles, and alternatives to car-based urbanism under the "Straphanger" tag.
highspeed.blog
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Compare this to #Amsterdam, where 7% of space is allocated for micromobility, and large parts of #Berlin, where 8% is set aside.
The authors conclude Montreal could *double* the space allocated to bike lanes (still just 3%) with no impact on automobile traffic flow.
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Need some positive news?
Around the world, a passenger rail renaissance is well under way.
I document the train-love, as well as the latest in sustainable urban transport, in my weekly newsletter HIGH SPEED.
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For more accounts of my travels by train, as well as dispatches on transit and passenger rail, sign up for my weekly newsletter:
highspeed.blog
#trains
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I've got a #longread in the @globeandmail today about #Florida's Brightline, and the promise of privately-run, for-profit passenger trains in North America.
Spoiler: Not all "high-speed" rail is created equal...
#trains
theglobeandmail.com/opinion/…
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Also, what are you still doing on X? I post here once in a blue moon out of courtesy, but, honestly, it's like being in the Chernobyl Zone of Exclusion.
The real action is over here: bsky.app/profile/taras-gresc…
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They still run in #Philadelphia, San Francisco, and on the Mattapan, the old "High Speed" Line outside #Boston.
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By 1920, the network of interurbans in the US was so dense that a determined commuter could theoretically hop interlinked services from Waterville, Maine, to Sheboygan, Wisconsin—a journey of 1,000 miles—exclusively by electric trolley.
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It's about time Canada stopped building pipelines, highways, + runways.
We should get back to the railways that really built this nation.
We're good at trains, and these days, trains—especially the electric variety, powered by renewables—are good for the world.
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I can't think of a better way of pissing off King Trump than for #Canada to build the Alto high-speed rail line.
A multi-billion high-tech megaproject, that would deliver 186 mph trains, using Canadian steel + aluminum.
Might even kick off a 21st-century space race...
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It's about time Canada stopped building pipelines, highways, and runways, and got back to the railways that really built this nation.
We're good at trains, and trains—especially the electric variety—are good for the world.
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Can't think of a better way of pissing off Trump than for #Canada to go ahead and build its proposed Alto high-speed rail project.
A multi-billion-$ megaproject, delivering faster trains than the US has, using Canadian steel + aluminum.
Might even kick off a new space race.
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And this is my own first-blush reaction to the Alto announcement, on my newsletter.
As someone who thinks Canada should be investing in electric rail, not pipelines and highways, I've got to say I'm beyond intrigued. But I've got a lot of questions...
highspeed.blog/viva-alto/
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Here's the official report. (Not sure why they're using a Russian non-high-speed train to illustrate the concept—moving on.)
altotrain.ca/en/wp-content/u…
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Those travel times would kill high-polluting short-hop flights btwn Montreal + Toronto. (Airport security and transfer makes that into a 5-hr experience.)
Here's a map from report that makes shrinking of distances between cities visible; green loop shows high-speed time savings.
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Canada's proposed high-speed rail project, Alto, would run 300 km/h (186 mph) trains in #Ontario + #Quebec.
It would cut travel times in half.
@alexglista has made this stylized map showing by how much: from 5 hours 30 mn between #Toronto + #Montreal to just over 3 hrs.
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