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In case you’re not in the loop, over the last several days I’ve begun the process of migrating my website and Substack onto this new site thanks to the unfortunate statements being made by Substack regarding what is allowed on its platform. My posting schedule and the like has not changed, though if you want to support me that will all now happen by way of Patreon — where I will also post exclusive articles like those in my Toronto and Chicago series.
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2023 was a crazy year for my blog and for my YouTube channel: I travelled a lot, met new people, and saw amazing things. Probably more importantly though, in almost every city I visited I saw public transport getting better.
While I’m not sure exactly what new public transport, public spaces, and urban change we will see this coming year, what I am sure of is that we will see a lot. People often underrate how much impact a small change can have on people’s lives, but better public transport is hugely impactful. It seems inevitable that in 2024 new high speed rail, sleeper train, metro, and track projects will kick off all over the world, and as new projects open we will see slashed carbon emissions, cars dumped, and lives changed.
But, perhaps even more important though oft forgotten, we will also see policy changes and new initiatives and improvements to our existing systems. These changes aren’t always earth-shattering, but even the smallest things have an impact. For example, this year Toronto started taking contactless debit and credit on the entire regional transit system — and this is a big deal. I think one of the flaws of human nature is we often don’t look beyond the way a change impacts things for us personally — but simply making it easier to pay for transit in Toronto has made it so much easier for me to take visitors around the city and show them the great things it’s doing (and the very real holes we’ve left to patch). It’s also meant getting on transit with family more, which has meant some really special moments.
Getting involved in public transport has been probably the most important thing I’ve done in my life. Being able to push for more and better transit means so many lives can be enriched, but it’s also enriched my own life — I’ve met so many close friends through a shared love of our cities and transport systems. Transport is something that you can nerd out on, and it actually has an enormous effect on our societies and planet when the rubber hits the road. That’s why it’s so special.
So with that, Merry Christmas (if you celebrate), happy holidays and here’s to lots more public transport, better cities, and more great friendships.
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