Josephine Roper @jroper@transportation.social

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.

Had a week off showing the in-laws (over from France for the first time) around Sydney and environs. Here's me having my morning coffee in 'bed' at Little Beach, Bouddi National Park :)

The sort of break that takes your mind off work effectively... but also makes you quite happy that it's over!

Another Erskineville spring evening, in this photo:
- jacarandas
- a lovely bike cut-through creating a safe route home for me and
- streets so quiet that people are walking in the roadway, and
- a share bike, parked well out of the way (I think)
- a delivery cyclist wearing hi-vis clothing as is the law nowadays in NSW, because that's easier to impose on the poor souls than making more streets like this

Thanks for all the new follows ☺️ Always finding new interesting people here.

Here's a little window into (or rather out of) my life in Erskineville ❤️ always special in spring!

😊 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 🧵

Lovely weekend #rockclimbing around Mittagong by train and bike. Sent one of my projects (last picture).

It's a funny contrast bike camping in the land of cars though, and looking out over the sprawl between Mittagong and Bowral from Mt Gibraltar.

Your correspondent taking 'walking' holidays at a young age.

(Mum is going through old photo albums).

Hadn't been to Burwood for ages, forgot how lively it is, there's about a year's worth of food I want to try on the main street.

But also forgot about these pedestrian fences, or are they new? Such an ugly solution to what should be a positive 'problem' (a popular town centre where lots of people are getting around on foot).

Slowly building the group of friends who are willing to go #climbing by train :)

We get up to Blackheath a little later and theoretically miss out on some of this beautiful winter sunshine... but much more relaxed and enjoying the whole package of the day. And I still climb enough to be exhausted!

Visiting mum - got to be one of the nicest located bus stops in Sydney.

Ofc the bus only comes every half an hour and one of the neighbours has campaigned to remove it because they don't like the noise and hardly anyone gets on here (except mum). The vicious cycle of low frequency. But for now, it exists.

From Pete Dyson’s ‘Transport for Humans: Are we nearly there yet?’, which I haven’t yet read, but looked like a good read from the parts I flicked through at #utsg2023

Saw a classic example of excessive turn radius / curb extensions needed today - corner of Queen Margaret Drive and Kelvin Drive, Glasgow.

Kelvin Drive is 20mph in both directions, so just a local road. But set up like people are trying to turn into it at 50. I was quite nervous to cross the first time, but eventually realised hardly anyone was turning in.

Found some plans to fix it as part of a bike lane project a few years ago, but not yet implemented.

Took the train to Salzburg on the weekend to see a friend from Slovenia.

The historic centre of Salzburg is a pedestrian area controlled by bollards, but with some car access as you can see.

From what I can find: disabled people with a Euro-key can park inside, taxis can enter anytime (saw quite a few) and the bollards are down for deliveries before 11am. I guess before 11am the risk of confused/lazy tourists driving in is considered lower.

It seemed like a good balance.

Staying in Gilching, a sort of commuter village 30 mins outside Munich. I always find it interesting as a place that seems very bikable, but not that walkable.

First picture is the triplex we are staying in, middle building. Right is a duplex (I think), not sure about left. Sneaky density that looks like traditional houses.

Others show parts of my route to the climbing gym. On a bike it would be great - straight, flat and fast. On foot... eh, it's a little bit dull and far.

I took a bus 🧵

Train of the day: Paris to Munich, ~8 hours including local connections

Train snack: cake salée with nettles and brie, from my belle-mère, coconut, from the station

French boyfriend complaints: the reduction in train speed after crossing the border. “Germans are *paying* to go this slow?”