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Villages Without Cars

https://www.straphanger.blog/villages-without-cars/

Published: September 30, 2024 17:08

In the Swiss Alps, I Explore an Automobile-Free ParadiseWhen you think about it, there are very few inhabited places in the world that haven't been touched by automobile traffic. The empire of internal combustion and asphalt has stretched its tendrils into…

Small Can Be Beautiful

https://www.straphanger.blog/small-can-be-beautiful-2/

Published: September 23, 2024 16:59

Is Microtransit a Shuck, or an Essential Service?// Some years back, I was walking along the Viale di Trastevere, the main drag of one of my favourite neighborhoods in Rome. Because of my interest in transportation, I'm always on the look-out for anything…

Train-Time Travel

https://www.straphanger.blog/train-time-travel/

Published: August 12, 2024 13:20

A Voyage Back to 1955, When Passenger Rail Still Ruled the Land// After spending some time in Europe—where I almost always get around by rail, usually of the high-speed variety—I'm inevitably beset by a sense of melancholy when I return to North America.…

The Little Station Library

https://www.straphanger.blog/the-little-station-library/

Published: July 25, 2024 17:02

And Other Inspiring Places where Books and Transport Meet// Last week, I wrote about the co-evolution of railways and books. To summarize: railway journeys, often of several hours, often in compartments, were ideal settings for reading a book, a newspaper,…

The Penguincubator and the Railway Journey

https://www.straphanger.blog/the-penguincubator-and-the-railway-journey/

Published: July 17, 2024 15:32

The Express Co-Evolution of Books and Trains// As a child, I dreaded long drives in the family car. I was a bookish kid, but when I tried to read in the backseat of one of a long line of Volkswagens, I was gradually overtaken by a mounting nausea that…

Seven Reasons Not to Own a Car

https://www.straphanger.blog/seven-reasons-not-to-own-a-car/

Published: July 3, 2024 20:40

A Summer-Holiday Listicle, Straphanger-Style // People often ask me: Grescoe, what do you have against automobiles, anyway? I sometimes tell them it all goes back to when, downwardly mobile after university, I worked as a delivery driver. Forty hours a…

My British Railway Nightmare

https://www.straphanger.blog/my-british-railway-nightmare/

Published: June 28, 2024 16:01

The Trials of Trying to Buy a Ticket—Any Ticket—After 30 Years of PrivatizationI was invited to give a talk at a literary festival in Wales last month. I accepted with pleasure, and, though I was advised to rent a car by the festival organizers, I

A Ride on the Liz Line

https://www.straphanger.blog/a-ride-on-the-liz-line/

Published: June 21, 2024 16:54

Why London's (Newish) Elizabeth Line is a Game-Changer// I finally got to take a ride on the Elizabeth Line, or the "Liz Line," as it was quickly dubbed by Londoners. The last time I was in London, it hadn't quite opened. (The late Queen

Riding the "Mail Rail"

https://www.straphanger.blog/riding-the-mail-rail/

Published: June 14, 2024 17:27

An Excursion on the World's First Driverless Electric Underground Railway// Long before Montreal's REM, Vancouver's Skytrain, São Paulo's Metro, and the many automated metro lines in the cities of Asia (not to forget all the People Movers in the world&

Revolution by Double-Decker

https://www.straphanger.blog/revolution-by-bus/

Published: June 7, 2024 15:49

On Riding Dublin's Human Transit-Redesigned Bus Network. // In last week's post, I wrote about the relative lack of rail transit in Dublin, a city with a population of 1.28 million (2.12 million in "Greater Dublin"). Much smaller cities in Europe have