Josephine Roper @jroper@transportation.social

writing my thesis in VSCode today... feels like I've become some kind of VSCode addict

Things I really don’t need a month before submitting thesis: swollen laptop battery and now it’s crashing on power (battery removed) too 😨

#ClimateDiary - Writing research plans for postdoc applications -> anxiety and guilt about whether I am working on climate change to the extent that I could be.

Only real reassuring thing is remembering I am just one part of a whole community of people who care about this, especially on here. Thankful for that.

Bonus! #Bouldering without a car, is it possible?

https://carlesscragging.wordpress.com/2023/11/18/bouldering-without-a-car-is-it-possible/

New post on my #climbing by train and bike blog that I tend to forget to promote very much: Mt Alexandra and Mt Gibraltar, Mittagong https://carlesscragging.wordpress.com/2023/11/18/crag-mt-alexandra-mt-gibraltar/

Writing a paper for the Greater Cities Commission = trying not to get sucked down the path of governmental garble. Today's highlight: "This page summarises the relevant NSW Government policies that frame the development of options to address issues and opportunities associated with achieving a project or plan’s vision and objectives."

aaaaahhh

And if the robots are all chill, below-the-speed-limit drivers, it will become much more difficult for other drivers to speed around them, and people will have to unlearn aggressive driving even if they still want to drive themselves.

I'm now kinda looking forward to a future where I take over Mitchell Road, side by side with my fellow cyclist, without fear or guilt. Got to be optimistic about something in this messed up world!

... I felt much safer than in Australia, and it took a remarkably little time to build that trust, based on the behaviour of a subset of drivers, and apply it to the drivers as a whole. Without being able to speak to or in some cases even see drivers, you can get a vibe of whether you are respected as just another person getting down the road, or an aberrant other getting in the way.

Why do I think it won't be too hard to gain that trust - note I'm not talking about the technical side of identifying cyclists. I have no idea about that and how close we are.

I mean from the human side, why will I feel safe knowing autonomous cars are driving around me? Well, it's not like I get to make eye contact with every human driver and assess whether they seem sane, competent and calm, particularly drivers behind me. Some trust is already involved. I've cycled in countries where [...]

Random thoughts. I'm actually pretty optimistic about AVs as far as comfort for other people on the roads, especially cycling.

*If* we get to a point where I feel at least as much trust that the robot will see me as the average driver - and building this trust is probably easier than people imagine - I can cycle without worrying about abuse, harassment and unsafe passing from drivers who are irrationally upset by the presence of cyclists. Robots will have no such feelings :)

their vehicle, even when it's objectively expensive and inconvenient - and these people nowadays are overwhelmingly choosing these high-fronted SUVs and 'trucks'.

So we have streets where the parked cars, mostly used for occasional weekend trips, are a mix of smaller and older cars. But the vehicles actually passing me (as I stand at the bus stop musing) are on average larger.

Is this effect inevitable with any increase in sustainable mode share?

Thinking about the big cars/SUVs/utes in Sydney at the moment. I think there's probably an evaporative cooling effect (thanks https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/ZQG9cwKbct2LtmL3p/evaporative-cooling-of-group-beliefs) that makes things look even worse than they 'are', in areas like mine.

Erskineville has really high rates of people cycling, walking and taking public transport to work. So who's left in vehicles? People who need them - so genuine tradie utes, heavy vehicles, etc. And people whose identity is involved in driving and (...)

Seen on this street last night but I did not take a photo because it involved other people's children: groups of largish (10-12yo) kids doing trick or treating with high vis vests over their costumes 😞

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