Josephine Roper @jroper@transportation.social

😊 One of my main PhD papers is out: 'Incorporating diminishing returns to opportunities in access: Development of an open-source walkability index based on multi-activity accessibility'.

https://jtlu.org/index.php/jtlu/article/view/2308

What it's about 🧵

It's so friendly here I sometimes feel awkward following people - like I should introduce myself - so a general #introduction. Also, hashtags.

I research #transport #access in #Sydney, Australia, using a lot of GIS, #python, #rstats, #OSM.

I probably followed you because I liked your thoughts about Australian #urbanism, #bikepacking, #ebikes, #choralmusic or #rockclimbing, or you work at #UNSW too and seem cool.

Je suis aussi capable de toot un peu de l'#urbanisme, #vélo et j'aime suivre ça.

I put the baby in his most bike-themed outfit to celebrate :)

Husband's new ride for his metro + bike commute. Haven't got to try it yet - it better be comfortable! (We're sharing for now as I figure anytime I'm going out without the baby, he'll be with the baby, so no need for two bikes.)

There are also a lot of cyclists, like more people cycling around during the day than in Sydney, despite hardly any delivery cyclists.

Could be flatness, or a summer only phenomenon, could be because the public transport is inferior, could be lack of helmet laws, could even be that the grid street network is highly navigable? Easy to remember which streets have bike lanes (and they aren't afraid of putting them on 'main' streets) and to work out which streets will be quiet local streets.

First day in Toronto! Trying not to be too disturbed by the number of bloated vehicles 🤐

On the plus side I really like this bike lane design. Level so you can easily get off and boost the local economy, but with trees and street furniture between bikes and the footpath to provide a bit of separation.

Paris day was baby’s first train trip - yet another advantage of the train over the car is feeding him. Time saving and no sadness 👌

Paris today: the appropriate width for a one-way bike lane, and where to put the parking if you don't want bikes on the footpath. Not like anything we're building in Sydney!

Redid my website: https://josephineroper.com/ feedback welcome.

The maps which were the main purpose are still a work in progress but happy with the rest for now. Had fun doing it 'from scratch' where I'd used a website building tool before.

Also just got 'minor corrections' back for my thesis so will need to change it from 'PhD candidate' soon!

Been very quiet here as hanging out with my new baby. Taking lots of walks around the French village where we’re living with our in-laws (only another month thankfully).

It's picturesque but reminds me how we are, generally, doing a better job with basic walking infrastructure in Australia!

Although traffic volumes are low, speed limits here are 50k in the village and 90k outside, and most drivers are trying to speed most of the time. So it's hard to relax while walking without footpaths.

This morning in Paris, busy bike lane outside my great-aunt’s place 😍🚴

I really like these bike lanes that are level with the footpath. Don’t quite get why we’re so intent on building awkward little channels in Sydney. The cyclists weren’t encroaching on the footpath even when they were backed up, just queuing politely (though it seemed like the more impatient types use the road here instead).

📢 New paper: A participatory mapping approach to capturing perceived walkability
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2024.104133

🖌️ Perceived walkability in Sydney collected by 'spraypainting', because who needs polygons?

🚶 Compared results to a previously published walkability index

🗺️ Method, with comments, can capture rich knowledge about walkable areas and streets, and reveal gaps in walkability models

Last paper out from my PhD, very happy to see it in print.
#geospatial #urbanism #walkability

My university's sustainability report contains several acknowledgements that the post-COVID return to high levels of business travel is a problem, but absolutely 0 plans to do anything about it. Inspiring stuff.

https://www.sustainability.unsw.edu.au/sites/default/files/documents/Environmental%20Sustainability%20Report%202023.pdf

Because thinking about Broadway: every time I use the underpass at Railway Square I feel like some sort of distance contraction is at play.

Arrows for non-Sydney people to show where the ramp leading up to Railway Square is located in the tunnel, and roughly where it emerges.

I find my brain can't quite reconcile how short the tunnel seems vs how wide the road.

I think it shows how the brain (correctly) perceives the 8 lanes of traffic like a dangerous gulf to avoid crossing at all costs.

It's a bit anti-climactic, the modern thesis submission - no 300 page book all printed out - but on the plus side one can do it from France :)

Now for a few days off!

I've been a bit quiet here lately so general life update: recently moved to France where I'm aiming to finish my thesis, have a baby, and find a postdoc, hopefully in that order.

Here enjoying the European luxury: trains with power points! on the way to Brittany to visit some of my French in-laws.

"The moves must appear in the right order or sequence to become a dance. If you start with your hands down to your hips instead of out in front of you, you ARE dancing, but it’s NOT the Macarena.

So it is with the Macarena as it is with writing the discussion section of your thesis"

- thank you @thesiswhisperer, this bit of lightness is exactly what I needed right now!

Impressive commitment from someone so young. Shame this kind of thing doesn't make the mainstream news. https://www.crikey.com.au/2023/01/27/innes-fitzgerald-runner-greta-thunberg-australia/