A cranky old guy who has been places and seen things. No, I am not going to bridge to Bluesky, and I am not going to create a PeerTube channel. Do not re-post my posts (or screenshots of my posts) on other platforms. These posts are meant only for Mastodon.
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2026-08-14T17:21:15Z Event JSON
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Last Notes npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 Ferdinand Bolstraat is one of my favourite streets in Amsterdam, but the history of how it got that way was way more complicated – and interesting! – than I thought. My latest video (out early on Nebula & Patreon) is about the history of this nearly car-free street. https://nebula.tv/videos/notjustbikes-the-crazy-story-of-my-favourite-street-in-amsterdam npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 Since releasing my oil video I've had so many people claiming that renewables will never work and we need nuclear power instead. What's odd is that almost all of the messages mention that nuclear power is the only solution for the "base load". I have a degree in Electrical Engineering and I took several nuclear science electives. I like nuclear energy. But I received so much "base load" gaslighting that I started to doubt my own understanding of the situation. npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…nn5l a great example of this is the infamous "15-Minute Cities" conspiracy, which was started by an anti-climate change group: https://www.desmog.com/2023/02/16/revealed-the-science-denial-network-behind-oxfords-climate-lockdown-backlash/ They spread lots of disinformation about supposed "climate lockdowns" that were coming and the 15-Minute City was just the one that stuck. Their goals had nothing to do with cities; good urbanism was just collateral damage. npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…nn5l and some of his associates have started the "Urban Truth Collective", an organisation dedicated to combatting lies about good urbanism: https://usa.streetsblog.org/2026/03/05/urban-truth-collective-straight-talk-about-the-joy-of-cities-in-an-age-of-disinformation Most of these lies are collateral damage from the fossil fuel industry's anti-climate change efforts. This is one way that urbanists are fighting back. More to come ! npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 This post at the top of /r/greenland was very relatable, and it's the same opinion I heard from a lot of Canadians when I was back for Xmas. https://www.reddit.com/r/greenland/comments/1qhhijq/to_every_american_whos_sorry/ The average American has NO idea how much the rest of the world hates the US, and will for decades to come. npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 I remember when the DMCA was first being proposed and I was trying to tell anyone and everyone that anti-circumvention would be disastrous. I must admit that I had no idea how bad it would be. I knew that media companies would use it to enforce DRM, but I had no idea that John Deere would use it to brick tractors or that Medtronic would use it to stop hospitals from repairing ventilators. npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 Nebula is putting on a Christmas Charity Stream today to raise money for World Central Kitchen! Come join the stream and help donate, or just share, like, and join the chat to help promote it! I plan to hop on the stream later today (with Ray from CityNerd!) but it will be around 7PM Eastern time, as I'll be in Toronto (which means 1AM Amsterdam time). Hope to see you there! https://www.youtube.com/live/MpVYz3hCRcA npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 I had a great conversation on The Urbanist Agenda Podcast with @nprofile…nkz0 , an urban planning consultant and the former chief planner of Vancouver. Brent regularly works with cities to implement great urbanist projects, and he has some good advice about how to actually achieve positive change in cities. Check it out on YouTube or your podcast application of choice! https://youtu.be/w9Xevlt7aes npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 omfg McDonald's Netherlands hired a company to make a shitty AI Christmas ad for them and it's SO BAD. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SROxy7KxFpw Even if it wasn't AI garbage, why would any company want to associate their brand with being anti-Christmas!? npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 And here's an American Ford F-350 next to the most popular car in Europe (Dacia Sandero). There's a reason why we need to do everything we can to prevent people from driving these stupid American trucks in Europe. https://cdn.masto.host/socialnotjustbikescom/media_attachments/files/115/645/846/346/017/175/original/10ee012613474251.png npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 So many Europeans are telling me that they've been seeing a lot of the "huge" Ford Ranger trucks appearing in their cities. Wait until they find out that the Ford Ranger is the small Ford pickup truck, and all of the rest of them are significantly larger. 😬 https://www.carsized.com/en/cars/compare/ford-ranger-2022-4-door-pickup-vs-ford-f-350-2016-4-door-pickup-crew-cab/ https://cdn.masto.host/socialnotjustbikescom/media_attachments/files/115/645/831/572/451/676/original/2addd9204307ce4e.png npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 Copenhagenize has just dropped their list of "Most Bike-Friendly Cities" (the "Copenhagenize Index"). I just got back from another trip to Copenhagen on Saturday, and I still can't understand by what metric Copenhagen deserves to be above Amsterdam. At least for the past few years they've been willing to admit that Utrecht is #1 though! :) Also, I'm glad to see no American cities made the list time time, because I always thought that was too much "grading on a curve". https://momentummag.com/the-30-most-bike-friendly-cities-in-the-world-the-2025-copenhagenize-index-arrives/ npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 Adam Something joined me on the Urbanist Agenda podcast to talk about a new political party in Czechia, the "Motorists for Themselves" party, and it was even crazier than I expected. The far-right is being actively funded by fossil fuel billionaires and they're attacking climate change legislation ... and good urbanism is being caught in the crossfire. https://youtu.be/JwwDFsdBol4 npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 I registered the domain name https://harmathanatophobia.com. npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 This wasn't supposed to be an hour and a half long, but as the insane shit piled up, I just couldn't bring myself to cut any of it, because the insanity IS the message here. I always knew that vehicular cycling as a design philosophy was questionable and based on shaky research. I had NO idea that it was founded on lies and misleading data from the start. By the way, Nebula now has free trials! Sign up now and see how much you can watch in 3 days. 😂 https://nebula.tv/videos/notjustbikes-this-is-why-cycling-is-dangerous-in-america npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 D66 became the largest party in the Netherlands by only 15 thousand votes. 😅 This is why I get annoyed when people say "my vote doesn't matter". Yes it does! Sometimes margins are super-thin like this, but even if they're not, they signal trends that can make a big difference in future elections. https://nos.nl/liveblog/2588474-aanwijzen-verkenner-uitgesteld-tot-dinsdag-d66-na-telling-amsterdam-15-000-stemmen-voor-op-pvv npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 I voted today! Now that I'm a Dutch citizen I am eligible to vote in the general elections for the first time! It's comical how big the voting paper (stembiljet) is, but thankfully I'm old enough to have used paper maps, so I was able to easily re-fold it like a pro. Photo by 1Veertje (CC-BY-SA 3.0) https://cdn.masto.host/socialnotjustbikescom/media_attachments/files/115/457/339/399/567/690/original/db8dfded55cb7369.png npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 Of all the excuses I get for why we can't build better cities, the laziest one – by far – has got to be "the weather". ☔️ The weather was so bad in Amsterdam the other week that it finally motivated me to make a video about it! 😆 https://nebula.tv/videos/notjustbikes-the-laziest-excuse-for-bad-cities npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 Does anyone know where there's a (signed) woonerf in Amsterdam? I need a short clip of a woonerf, but I need the woonerf sign in the shot. I thought I has some from my videos of Groningen, but apparently not, and I don't have time to head out there on short notice! So where can I get a shot of this sign in action in or around Amsterdam? https://cdn.masto.host/socialnotjustbikescom/media_attachments/files/115/346/914/029/605/887/original/24d22374196fae82.png npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 Do you love public transit? Nebula is looking for a contract researcher for a new show about public transportation. We're looking for someone who really enjoys public transit and would love uncovering the best parts of transit systems around the world. Having direct experience riding international public transit systems is definitely a plus. You should already be a freelancer, capable of invoicing for your work. If that sounds interesting to you, fill out the form: https://bit.ly/NJBresearch npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…27nd Nebula is mostly on mobile and desktop (browser), but I will let the team know that it's not easy enough to click links in the description on the TV. npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…rcqa I've had that before, but no, this time it was "there is a car for you" and we didn't find out what it was until we got to the garage. npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 I had planned to make another full-length video about the rest of my public transit journey across Canada, but that did not work out and I ended up having to take a taxi 😬 If you'd like to see the results of that (failed?) trip, I've put it up as a bonus video on Nebula: https://nebula.tv/videos/notjustbikes-i-tried-to-take-the-bus-to-the-beach-and-failed npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 Here's the link to the Patreon post, in case you prefer to watch there: https://www.patreon.com/posts/train-from-to-138654870 npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 So I took the 24 hour train between Halifax and Montréal ... I have very mixed feelings about this. On one hand, the train trip itself was pretty good and we enjoyed it. On the other hand, it's obvious that this train used to be so much better, and it's only getting worse. Check out my latest video (up early for Nebula & Patreon supporters) about the slow decline of train travel in Eastern Canada. https://nebula.tv/videos/notjustbikes-this-train-just-keeps-getting-worse npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 The Intercolonial Railway of Canada really did have the best logo of any railway, ever. https://cdn.masto.host/socialnotjustbikescom/media_attachments/files/115/177/210/092/961/562/original/db00fe1e79e5cf69.jpg npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…2gwe A city does not normally have the authority to ban a nationally legal vehicle from their streets. There have already been problems with this when cities want to enforce different emissions standards. A country can't really function if different cities have differing vehicle requirements. That's why these things are done at a national level. npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…3jyf Read my second post in that thread. Those have been (illegally/grey legally) imported under IVA in small volumes. Road safety advocates are already trying to close this loophole as it shouldn't be possible. This change would make these dangerous trucks 100% legal in large volumes. npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…z9sw these aren't popular in the US because they're practical, they're popular because car manufacturers make more money by selling them, and so they spent billions to market them over several decades. You think the same thing can't happen here if we drop regulations? npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…vat3 yes, absolutely. The Cybertruck could be imported if this goes into law. npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 It's bad enough that small volumes of these stupid pickup trucks have been (illegally) imported into the EU under the IVA (Individual Vehicle Approval) lately. The mutual safety standards recognition would totally open the floodgates. Just a reminder that this is the most popular-selling car in Europe next to the most popular-selling car in the US. We don't want these dangerous trucks in EU cities. https://cdn.masto.host/socialnotjustbikescom/media_attachments/files/115/174/180/981/650/119/original/5ae975108b5e3885.png npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 I've been following this "mutual safety standards recognition" stuff out of the US/EU talks. This could be really, really bad. It would mean that US vehicles, like those giant dangerous SUVs and pickup trucks, could be freely imported into the EU in volume without having to pass EU vehicle safety standards (like pedestrian safety). I haven't seen any organised resistance to this. Does anybody know any other organisations that are fighting this? https://etsc.eu/etsc-mutual-recognition-deal-with-u-s-will-cost-lives-on-europes-roads/ npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…8s5g Oh, cool, I'll have to check it out. I love her stuff! npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…9n02 Yes, I know that. But what you missed is that my explanation is a lot funnier. npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…sec4 That is interesting! And the US doesn't have anything like the Netherlands' 3500kg limit, so they would never build it with that in mind. Of cousre, I suspect Dutch drivers just load it up with over 700kg anyway and drive it illegally. They're already using a grey-market import hat doesn't meet EU safety standards, so I doubt they care about other rules. npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…s0sr that was intentional. I want people to hear it too, not just see it. npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 I was searching stock footage sites for aerial video of VIA Rail and came across this clip of the UP Express in Toronto. It really shows how desolate the land use is near the Toronto Airport. 🤢 https://cdn.masto.host/socialnotjustbikescom/media_attachments/files/114/977/546/788/914/477/original/411d61ae321d0a90.mp4 npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 If you'd prefer to watch via Patreon the link is here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/seoul-metro-135789733 Or you can wait until Sunday to watch it on YouTube. npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 My final video from my trip to South Korea is about the Seoul Metro and the regional train system. It's always been good, but it's now even better than it was the last time I was there (15 years ago). https://nebula.tv/videos/notjustbikes-this-might-just-be-the-worlds-best-metro-system In 1974, the first metro line was opened in Seoul, South Korea. Dozens of lines were built over the past few decades and today it's so advanced and comprehensive that it might just be the world's best metro system. npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…4l2x lol, exactly. "I don't like your aggressive tone. It's not the Dutch way. We use the poldermethode" 🤣 https://cdn.masto.host/socialnotjustbikescom/media_attachments/files/114/966/024/626/878/859/original/3b898d1f980053cf.png npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…ups0 lol yeah I had a good laugh at that one. I would wear that t-shirt. 😆 npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 Looks like AD.nl wrote an article about Houten and featured my video: https://www.ad.nl/houten/dit-nederlandse-fietsparadijs-wil-een-voorbeeld-zijn-voor-iedereen-op-aarde-hier-is-alles-op-zijn-plek-gevallen~a6544bc0/ I enjoyed the reader comments. Nice to see that newspaper comments are just as trash in the Netherlands as they are anywhere else. Nothing but the finest complaining from the crankiest Boomers! 😆 npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…qgx8 what city is that? Do you have any articles about it by any chance? I plan to talk about this in a video sometime in the near future. npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…2e79 Interesting! Thanks! Where did you see this sign (approximately)? npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…0e5n yes, absolutely! I plan to make a video on Ghent sometime soon. Well, as soon as I can find the time to get there for a few days to film, anyway. npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 I'm happy to have helped you save money on salt. 😐 https://cdn.masto.host/socialnotjustbikescom/media_attachments/files/114/930/813/432/000/250/original/5025351f95fa3182.png npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 Marco te Brömmelstroet has a great article in NRC. He talks about how the radical change of the 70s and 80s has become a technocratic approach of "Sustainable Safety" that assumes a "neutral" engineering approach to street design with make everything better. I occasionally get Dutch people upset at the tone of my content when I talk about restricting cars, saying it's not the Dutch way. I always laugh. What would the Dutch of the 1970s say to that? https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/07/23/wie-durft-de-straat-weer-op-te-eisen-a4901060 npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…d2ln in my first job in the semiconductor industry I worked with wafers pretty often, and one time I accidentally dropped one on the floor. It made the most incredible sound. The wafers are nearly perfect crystals, so when it hit the ground it sounded like glass breaking, except at only one frequency. Absolutely bizarre sound. I'll never forget it. My point is, if you've got a spare, you should try dropping it on a hard floor. But also understand it's a real pain to clean up. 😁 npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…s35e thanks! npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…zf3m One of the ridiculous regulations Toronto has, is if any street has a transit line on it, then any changes to that street need to be agreed upon by the entire city council. But almost all non-trivial streets have a bus (or at least, a night bus) on them, so that means the suburbs control the decisions of almost every change on almost every street. npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…t5h7 the biggest problem in Toronto is that it's impossible to get around. It takes AGES to get ANYWHERE. And it's not like it's better if you drive, because traffic is atrocious. Toronto is going to have to learn the only way to make driving better is to make it harder to drive. Blocking cars to speed up the streetcars is the most obvious decision Toronto could make, but they just won't do it. npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…zf3m @nprofile…6v9z Yes, I literally mentioned that in the video. I have a whole other video about it that I also referenced, too: https://youtu.be/KkO-DttA9ew npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…4727 Rapido make very high quality models for sure. Unfortunately I have n scale, not HO. npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…ge79 and I only had to censor swear words twice! I clearly have SOME level of self-control! npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 As usual, the video is available early for my supporters on Nebula and Patreon. It will release to YouTube soon, likely on Sunday. If you'd rather watch via Patreon the post is here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/134405452 npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 When I set out to make a video about everything that's wrong with the design and operation of the Toronto streetcars, I did not expect it to be 50 MINUTES LONG!? Turns out I have a lot to say about streetcars. As usual, what makes me so angry about Toronto is not that it's a bad city - far from it - but because I know how much better it could be, and that is so immensely frustrating. https://nebula.tv/videos/notjustbikes-trams-are-great-so-why-are-the-streetcars-so-bad npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 I managed to find the source of this image. It's from a 2015 post about the streets in Boston by Bikeyface: https://bikeyface.com/2015/10/08/different-roads/ She has made lots of great artwork about cities. It's worth checking out her work! npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…47jc yes, that is exactly the problem. My solution has been to ignore the ⅓ who can't keep up, and growing the ⅔. I've already reduced my audience from 45% Americans to 30%, so it's working. This has made some people upset, especially American advocates who want me to do their work for them, but there is lots of other basic urban planning content targeted at Americans that they can watch instead. Plus maybe some of those people can graduate to watching more advanced content in the future. npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…47jc the problem is that I've made those videos already but the way the YouTube algorithm works, nobody sees those videos. They only see the new ones. So to on-board new Americans, I would need to dumb-down every single video with a bunch of concept that would be absurd to Europeans. For example, many American suburbs and towns have no public transit. I don't mean "bad" transit, I mean literally none. I cannot bridge that gap in every video without turning away the other ⅔ of my audience. npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…47jc you missed the point. ⅔ of my audience is at the end of this graphic. npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 This graphic illustrates a major problem I have making videos: The last street is still absolute garbage. There isn't even public transit. The US (⅓ of my audience) is so far behind in city design that this is all they can reasonably hope for. Meanwhile the rest of my audience is starting from the last street and trying to build something better. It's like if I had a maths channel and wanted to talk about calculus, but ⅓ of my audience was still debating if multiplication actually works. https://cdn.masto.host/socialnotjustbikescom/media_attachments/files/114/834/298/925/780/983/original/7421a94c6f297219.jpg npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…taps and Dave, who gave her the sweater, is the CEO of Nebula.tv. 😉 npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…4sy9 I've talked about this many times before. I believe that if you have the desire and the ability to move, you should move. Either to a better country, a better city, or even just the best neighbourhood in your city. Then you should join your local advocacy group in that area. Moving is not for everyone, but neither is advocacy: it takes a lot of work (I know, I did it for many, many years). My thoughts on this are summarised at the end of this video: https://youtu.be/4uqbsueNvag npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…f486 yeah, that's a really old video. 5 years ago! Wow. It's pretty fucked up how many times I saw cars crashed into buildings around my kid's preschool and nobody seemed to care? They just brushed it off as one of those things you need to deal with. I'm so glad we don't live there anymore. npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…m5n2 whenever I've used an LLM for coding I'll get to a certain level of complexity of the project and it just breaks. I'll ask it to add 3 features. It will add 2. I ask it to add the 3rd, it will add it, but remove one of the previous 2. It will decide to randomly rename variables that were working previously, or refactor code that's irrelevant. I get that context windows are getting larger and the tools are getting better but it's just so fundamentally unpredictable. npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…5jwt I would love to get a shared blocklists feature! Also, people who say they want "free speech" are lying. They already have free speech and can post anything they want online. What they actually want is "free access to my audience". They want their comment to be read by the thousands of people who follow me, for free. I should be able to decide who has access to my audience. If they want an audience, they should get their own, by regularly having something worthwhile to say npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…0kkm thanks! I think you're being too American with your question. I can't even fathom what laundry has to do with anything. Are you implying that laundry has to be done with a car? When I didn't have laundry at home I would walk to a nearby laundromat or dry cleaners. I have never done that by car, ever. npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…pz8a I love that video so much. I recorded the voiceover, sent it to my editor, and told him to be creative ... and he came up with that masterpiece. He was filming a TV commercial with professional equipment and took a day out to record a real CRT monitor in a pile of garbage at the side of a stroad with a high end camera dolly. It's a work of art. npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…xn96 I have yet to find any alternative that is any better. Duckduckgo for example is *wildly* skewed towards American results, so finding any information that's not about the US is even harder than sifting through Google slop. npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…j779 Yes, the "AI Summary" is absolutely full of factual errors. If there wasn't a "source" link to each of these, it would be impossible to know what was correct and what wasn't. It blows my mind that a search engine used by billions of people has this tool enabled by default that is just blatantly wrong. npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 I am trying to research the operating policy for intersections for the Eglinton Crosstown LRT in Toronto. Google gives a giant "AI Summary" which is completely wrong, as usual. It confidently claims that there will be speed restrictions of 10 km/h through intersections. The "source" of that? A *forum post* of somebody saying they *hope* there isn't a 10 km/h speed limit like there is on the Spadina streetcar. This AI slop makes doing actual research SO much harder. 😩 https://cdn.masto.host/socialnotjustbikescom/media_attachments/files/114/795/225/585/859/679/original/88f89b519e6a256f.png https://cdn.masto.host/socialnotjustbikescom/media_attachments/files/114/795/233/110/753/171/original/535fb1a10bfddafb.png npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…h632 maybe! But in my experience, planners already knew most of the stuff I talk about in my videos, and they always wanted to implement it. The things holding them back were always the politicians and the traffic engineers. Make sure you go to any community engagement meetings and when they open the floor to questions, be the first one to say something and be really positive about it! I always found that was the best way of de-arming the angry boomers who claim "nobody" wants this. npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 I'm so glad this shit is not legal in the EU. Car manufactures should not be able to release unsafe cars to the public and hide behind "it's just a beta, bro" excuses. https://www.engadget.com/transportation/tesla-blows-past-stopped-school-bus-and-hits-kid-sized-dummies-in-full-self-driving-tests-183756251.html npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…tes3 Somebody else asked me the same question, so I looked up the URL: https://youtu.be/kYHTzqHIngk Warning, this video is from the very early days of the channel so it's kinda boring and not produced very well. 😂 npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…tes3 people all over Europe buy groceries without a car. Most people live within a short walk of a grocery store or market and they just buy what they need for the next day or two on their way home. The idea that grocery shopping is a trip done every two to four weeks, where you stock up on huge amounts of food to stuff in your car, is a weird American thing. The rest of the world does not do that. One of the first videos on my channel was about grocery shopping for that reason. npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 How the fuck does someone steal 600 *metres* of signalling cable from a railway!? You can't just walk off carrying that. My wife was supposed to be on a Eurostar train right now. That didn't happen! :( I'm very curious to find out what the motive was here. This article implies that it could be sabotage. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/jun/25/eurostar-severe-delays-cable-theft-france npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…3ukl thank you! I am also actively de-Americanising all of my online services, but unfortunately there isn't anything that can come close to replacing YouTube and/or Nebula for me. Regardless, I am definitely willing to make an exception for Nebula, because it's not owned by big tech or VCs. Although it is painful that Nebula pays me in USD, which means I'm at the mercy of exchange rates. 😭 https://cdn.masto.host/socialnotjustbikescom/media_attachments/files/114/734/263/931/246/117/original/ffdb9f12fc4444e5.png npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…8kev I alerted the Nebula web team and they're updating the FAQ now. Thanks for noticing it! 🙏 npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…8kev glad to clarify! Normally I don't like talking about this stuff because every time I do, some bad-faith scumbag comes along, starts to pick apart everything I say, and tries to twist it to make Nebula look bad. People are so desperate to find the "hidden evil" in everything. It's exhausting. Nebula is way more open about this stuff than most companies (except maybe a company like Buffer). Suffice it to say, Nebula is a pretty good deal for creators and I'm happy to be part of it. npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…0345 Standard Broadcasting (now Nebula Entertainment and Broadcasting LLC) is the parent company of Nebula LLC. It is owned by creators, including Dave Wiskus, the CEO (who is also a creator himself, FWIW). The "parent company" / "operating company" model is super common and done to keep accounting clean. Even Not Just Bikes is run by an operating company with a parent company. Standard did and does lots of other things besides Nebula, so it made sense to make Nebula its own sub-company. npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…8kev all of this corporate structure is irrelevant to the point at hand though. When Nebula splits up watch time, 50% goes to the creators and 50% goes to the company. Nebula (the company) also provides services to the creators, so even part of that 50% "withheld" still ends up going to creators in one way or another. And even the money they keep is invested back into the business to grow Nebula, with creators signing off on the major decisions. It works out very well for creators. npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…8kev yes, "Standard Broadcasting" was renamed to "Nebula Entertainment and Broadcasting" last year. It only just finalised recently, so I guess some FAQs still need to be updated. Standard does many things and Nebula is just one of them, but since Nebula has become so successful it makes sense to rename the company. It's like how "Research in Motion" renamed the company "BlackBerry" 😂 npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…vat3 oh yeah for sure. I don't blame anybody for pulling back on spending right now. I think it's a smart thing to do! It just sucks that we have to do it at all, just because some trust-fund kids want to play with the economy. npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…8kev "Standard Broadcasting" is the name of the company that owns Nebula. Basically it means that Nebula takes 50% and creators take 50%. Watch time is just time watched. How many minutes/hours of a creator's videos you watch. You do need to actually watch a video for it to be counted as "watch time" for a creator. It may sound complicated, but it's actually quite simple, and much more straightforward than YouTube (nevermind Instagram or TikTok). npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…vat3 yeah, everybody is hurting right now. Patreon has "exit interviews" for people who stop supporting a creator and right now every single one of them (at least for me) is selecting the "my financial situation has changed" option. The dotcom crash happened right when I was graduating from University, then when I finally got my career on track we got the 2008 global financial crisis. I've had enough experience to weather this one, but wouldn't it be nice if we didn't have to? 😩 npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 Here's the link to his Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tomnicholas And his Nebula: https://go.nebula.tv/tomnicholas And here's the podcast episode I did with him a few years back! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWadiYLIAps https://nebula.tv/inductionpod/the-unstoppable-rise-of-urban-planning-content?ref=notjustbikes npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 Yet another creator I know has had to admit that they can't pay the bills. The entirely-manufactured financial crisis has resulted in every business holding almost all spending: they're not hiring, and they're also not doing any advertising or sponsorships. I'm able to weather it better than most, but even I've had two months of, uh, "negative profit." Tom is a good guy though, so if you like his videos and you have a few bucks, check out his Patreon or Nebula pages. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQToWE53O98 npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…qhs9 they were promising that even when I lived in London (over 10 years ago!) but I'll be really glad to see it if it actually happens! It's long overdue! npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…epcv probably not. What's the incentive for me to do that? My experience with Odysee was awful. It was like whack-a-mole with Nazi and racist comments. I don't want another channel to have to babysit and moderate. npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 I'm livestreaming right now on Twitch & YouTube! Come join the chat! https://youtube.com/@njblive/live https://www.twitch.tv/notjustbikes npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 I'm livestreaming right now on Twitch & YouTube! Come join the chat! https://youtube.com/@njblive/live https://www.twitch.tv/notjustbikes npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 I'm livestreaming right now on Twitch & YouTube! Come join the chat! https://youtube.com/@njblive/live https://www.twitch.tv/notjustbikes npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…fm7a Utrecht as well. npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…rjas no. this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVEjc9ezE7M npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 Does anybody know the schedule of the boat that fish trash/bicycles out of the Amsterdam canals? I've seen it once before, but I've never caught it on video, and I could use some footage for an upcoming video. npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…u64c it's down 38% for Canadians, and many of the people who did go say they only went because the trip was booked several months prior and was non-refundable. The Canadians are PISSED at the US because of the "51st state" nonsense. https://www.forbes.com/sites/suzannerowankelleher/2025/06/10/canadian-tourists-to-us-down-nearly-40-in-may-new-data-says/ npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 Although it would be very funny (afterwards) to have DHS go through my social media accounts. "I see here you said American cities are, quote, 'car-infested shitholes'. Could you explain what you meant by that?" 🤣 npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 I had already basically written-off ever going back to the United States ever again, but these (repeated) stories of completely innocent travellers getting detained and deported are the nail in the coffin. https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-lede/how-my-reporting-on-the-columbia-protests-led-to-my-deportation npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 @nprofile…h0t6 SUV’s horen niet thuis in Nederland. npub1rpmlchn9mgxw8a6hc7rwaj56pj8y49uapnqe0x5nlf7x0j4j6wcqrcrax4 Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 In case you're not familiar with the original "Chattanooga Choo Choo", it's from this 1941 movie, but it's been re-done dozens of times: https://youtu.be/V2aj0zhXlLA?t=158