Many people would agree that it's absurd that children in the USA wear bulletproof vests to school, and are trained how to behave in an event of a shooting. The same people see nothing absurd in their own children wearing safety vests to school, and being trained how not to murdered by oversized trash cans on wheels.

Making the most of my new environs amidst *gestures at dumpster fire*.
Did some bikepacking in the Oakland hills. Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve.

New blog post: on protests, nearing 3 years car-free, my birthday, and, of course, gardening https://astoneintheriver.net/2025/04/06/energize/ #gardening #protest #resistance #carfree

Would be great to have fewer cars around, wouldn't it? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEFBn0r53uQ #carsruincities #carfree #carfreeholyroodpark #holyroodpark #edinburgh

Fun but rather windy walk along the Great Highway and Ocean Beach today in San Francisco with the husky. Walked over 4 car free miles up and down the whole stretch. So amazing that the city is making this former stretch of highway a public park, and filling it with art and other fun things for people to enjoy.

The Great Highway, welcome to @TheWarOnCars

A suburb of Phoenix is not where one might expect to see a residential development based on emancipation from the dominion of the car.

Reducing car dependency in Arizona matters beyond the borders of the state. All too often those working for more human and environmentally sound planning and transit policies in the USA are met with a simplistic and thought stopping cry of "It might work in Europe, but our geography makes it impossible!"

https://youtu.be/ljdg11X8YBg?si=Ch4BNepoLbPpiDl3

1001 miles (1611km) on the ebike! And most of that is to work or groceries, completely replacing car trips. Here's to another 1k.

Hé oui c'est pas avec des bagnoles électriques qu'on va sauver le monde. Mais avec en réduisant drastiquement nos besoins d'énergie. Essentiellement en occident.

– « Plus on électrifie le monde pour lutter contre le réchauffement climatique, plus on crée de nouveaux usages qui accroissent la consommation d’énergie » -
#carfree #decroissance #frugalité
https://www.lemonde.fr/economie/article/2025/03/24/plus-on-electrifie-le-monde-pour-lutter-contre-le-rechauffement-climatique-plus-on-cree-de-nouveaux-usages-qui-accroissent-la-consommation-d-energie_6585559_3234.html

There used to be a Polish comedy series called "Rodzina zastępcza" (roughly, "Foster care"). In one of the episodes, a woman called Alutka suddenly decided to start living a thrifty life. As part of that, she decided to buy everything at sale, if possible — and in order to reach all these sales, she took taxis.

Most people don't have a problem in finding the irony in this. However, they are simultaneously incapable of noticing an irony in their own lifestyle, where on one hand, they go as cheap as possible on groceries and their own health, and on the other run to their cars whenever they'd need to walk 10 minutes.

Trying to solve going fully #carfree, working on grocery pickup. I think there's a few problems I need to solve:

* Efficient Storage. I have panniers but they don't fit well with the pegs I have (which aren't removable without removing the rear wheel).

* Bike security. A couple of the stops I'm looking at have good spots to park the bike, but others don't.

* Grocery security. If I stop at two places, I want to keep my groceries from the first secure while sitting in my bike.

Great news for #Norwich to be hailed as one of the UK’s best #CarFree destinations for a break…and I can just imagine the wails of anguish from #Archant’s Norwich Evening News readership.

Most stories are now hidden behind a paywall, which only the most ardent of rightwing Boomers can be bothered to subscribe to.

Hey Toronto! Make good trouble. I wish I could join you (but I'm in Madagascar).

HT Reddit u/Marslettuce

As someone who has been living #carfree in #Vermont for over 3.5 years—I am now in my 4th Winter with no car—it's very important to me to have better #bicycle #infrastructure, and I am not alone.

#Brattleboro needs to do much better in this regard. We need to find ways to divert motor vehicle traffic from our downtown. We need protected bicycle paths to replace on-street parking. We need more and better places to park and secure bicycles with weather protection, and we need snow removal. #VTpol

On my way back from a completely #carfree #ski and #snowboard trip in Les Masses, #Switzerland. The folks at the vacation rental were quite confused that we didn't need any parking :D.
I have to admit, it's not the easiest way to do it. Groceries were tricky, but the store was very close to the slopes, as was our rental. So we could fill our backpacks at the end of the day and just (carefully!) ski and board back home.

#CarBrain mentality makes assuming that everyone ought to own a car, or at least be able to drive one, the new normal. It involves privileges to drivers, and discrimination to everyone else. It means optimizing for private cars, and dismantling the public transport.

However, exclusion of #CarFree people is not the biggest problem — whether they're excluded on financial, medical or ideological basis. The real threat is the pressure to use cars, even when you clearly shouldn't be driving.

And so carbrain mentality wins over reason. Driving a car is a necessity to preserve your lifestyle, you just can't imagine any other way of living. Medical checkups become a joke. Court driving bans pile up. People die. Yet carbrains keep saying: "good drivers often cause accidents too." And never stop to ponder what that really implies.

Bicycles Deliver The Freedom That Auto Ads Promise

Via:
Mstdn @StreetsForward
Threads @streetsforward
Bsky @streetsforward.org @tomflood.bsky.social
Xitter @StreetsForward

Theory: increased mobility enables people to find better work.

Reality: people find the same or worse kind of jobs, further away from home. At the same time, equivalent jobs nearby are taken by other people commuting from places that are more distant.