Josephine Roper @jroper@transportation.social

Of course, just like your typical journal review, the chapter that one reviewer thought was the weakest, the other reviewer thought was the strongest. Which is a good reminder to just keep throwing stuff at the wall and see what sticks, different readers will appreciate different things!

"There is some really incisive analysis of the state of the field when it comes to walkability assessment and accessibility analysis. There is a level of understanding and a depth of knowledge that is very impressive. Some real mastery of the material. It is unusual to read work with this level of synthesis and incision."

😊

Thesis revised, deposited and online! https://doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/30576

Much of it's already published but new introduction, literature review & conclusion chapters.

Some of the overall comments from one of the examiners made my day/week/month. I'm going to copy a bit below, coz I was chuffed, and I really appreciate the effort and understanding put into the reviewing process.

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.