Samantha Pearson

design for a better world
climate - active transpo - conservation - ending gun violence - racial justice - media literacy - repro justice - democracy
she/her

[Samantha Pearson @samzpearson]

@CoachBalto Welcome to the great NACTO-MUTCD smackdown. It is good and it works and is in the NACTO manuals. It is not adequately studied by the people who make the other manuals and because they have not studied it, they don't include it. This is changing. Slowly.

[Michael Harriot @michaelharriot]

Let me explain why this narrative is stupid:

A thread.

[Dutch Cycling Embassy @Cycling_Embassy]

"Cycling is considered to be first-class infrastructure here because Amsterdam recognizes every single person who shows up to the train station by bicycle is ultimately saving the city money, so it's encouraged as much as possible." @NotJustBikes

WATCH: https://t.co/4Ed5BBZTcf

[Samantha Pearson @samzpearson]

@jordisunshine Yes! @tomflood1 hit it out of the park with that one, to use an inapt sportsing metaphor. Tom was the first speaker in the series of webinars we did last fall promoting Safe Routes to School in PA. Exhortation & inspiration. https://t.co/dD4YycYZaK

[Samantha Pearson @samzpearson]

@_holyspokes It’s good for places that are given over to cars, like parking spots, but as a road surface, it’s bad for bikes, wheelchairs and people unsteady on their feet either moving along it, crossing, or even getting out of their cars at destinations.

[Samantha Pearson @samzpearson]

@the_transit_guy Also, if street space is limited, the goal is to prioritize active modes and the cars are the ones that should be squeezed out, not the bikes! That’s also where we tend to have our functional classifications and densities all wrong. 2/2

[Samantha Pearson @samzpearson]

@the_transit_guy The article reveals the NU blind spot. Connected networks are good for walking, biking, transit, and emergency vehicles, but we want the driveshed for cars to be longer. So overlay different patterns for different modes. 1/2

[Hayden @the_transit_guy]

Now you might love the street network types highlighted as "good" and that's most certainly your right, but for density and transit, it makes productivity quite difficult. Look at the 5 min walkshed (blue) from a train stop (red) given different street patterns.

[Elie Mystal @ElieNYC]

I feel like people who are *surprised* that the cops who did this are black are about to learn a part of "the Talk" that my parents at least always emphasized: The race of a cop is "cop." *Never* be under the illusion that a Black cop is less likely to brutalize you or kill you.

[LeVar Burton @levarburton]

I have not seen the video. Those who love me most have urged me not to. One of the truths playing Kunta Kinte taught me is that the dehumanization of Black people was necessary to the success of our enslavement.

[Samantha Pearson @samzpearson]

@KaseyKlimes While simply pointing to the car-centrism of US culture is not what the OP is about, I do think that the relatively high level of familiarity with the potential for alternative models of urban mobility in the cities' populations enables the rapid changes.

[Daniel Moser @_dmoser]

Passenger Capacity for Different Transport Modes 👇

HT @NACTO

[Samantha Pearson @samzpearson]

@CodyC_02 @IsItABikeLane Alternative view of the future -- one that is actually achievable. The idea that everyone could be traveling around in individual vehicles without massive gridlock, danger for those outside the cars, and wasted street space is a pipe dream.

[Samantha Pearson @samzpearson]

@CodyC_02 @IsItABikeLane Self-driving EVs are a recipe for future municipal insolvency and destruction of the public realm. Individual motor vehicles simply take up too much space. Translates to costing a huge amount in infrastructure. Which is also why weight matters, per OP.

[Samantha Pearson @samzpearson]

@JodyBrownArch Piranesi

[Samantha Pearson @samzpearson]

@somershade1 I remember the chaos of biking through there regularly 25 years ago. Looks a lot better now, but still plenty of room for improvement!

[Maarten VdA @maartenvda]

A Dutch supermarket chain introduced slow checkouts for people who enjoy chatting, helping many people, especially the elderly, deal with loneliness.
The move has proven so successful that they installed the slow checkouts in 200 stores.

[Samantha Pearson @samzpearson]

@BikeCuriousLive Assume they have it and test instead for the less prevalent, but easier to spot ability to perceive the humanity of all road users.