Josephine Roper @jroper@transportation.social

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.)

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!

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.

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!