#publictransit — Public Fediverse posts

It will be impossible for Ontario to implement innovative (in terms of North American standards) and effective #PublicTransit as long as Ford remains in office. Ripping out #BikeLanes so we can add more cars means he would never replace vehicle lanes with a Tram or LRT network.

And recently they have drastically reduced Go Train schedules on important transit corridors, forcing more people into cars on highways.

#FordMustGo #Metrolinx
https://youtu.be/NZMWj7XxVPU

It will be impossible for Ontario to implement innovative (in terms of North American standards) and effective #PublicTransit as long as Ford remains in office. Ripping out #BikeLanes so we can add more cars means he would never replace vehicle lanes with a Tram or LRT network.

And recently they have drastically reduced Go Train schedules on important transit corridors, forcing more people into cars on highways.

#FordMustGo #Metrolinx
https://youtu.be/NZMWj7XxVPU

It will be impossible for Ontario to implement innovative (in terms of North American standards) and effective #PublicTransit as long as Ford remains in office. Ripping out #BikeLanes so we can add more cars means he would never replace vehicle lanes with a Tram or LRT network.

And recently they have drastically reduced Go Train schedules on important transit corridors, forcing more people into cars on highways.

#FordMustGo #Metrolinx
https://youtu.be/NZMWj7XxVPU

It will be impossible for Ontario to implement innovative (in terms of North American standards) and effective #PublicTransit as long as Ford remains in office. Ripping out #BikeLanes so we can add more cars means he would never replace vehicle lanes with a Tram or LRT network.

And recently they have drastically reduced Go Train schedules on important transit corridors, forcing more people into cars on highways.

#FordMustGo #Metrolinx
https://youtu.be/NZMWj7XxVPU

It will be impossible for Ontario to implement innovative (in terms of North American standards) and effective #PublicTransit as long as Ford remains in office. Ripping out #BikeLanes so we can add more cars means he would never replace vehicle lanes with a Tram or LRT network.

And recently they have drastically reduced Go Train schedules on important transit corridors, forcing more people into cars on highways.

#FordMustGo #Metrolinx
https://youtu.be/NZMWj7XxVPU

Good Morning #Canada
Toronto's Line 5, referred to as the Eglinton Crosstown, has been open for over 6 months and the general consensus locally is that it's pretty good. This excellent video provides a review of the LRT, including the supporting network, benefits, negatives, and Toronto's overall design philosophy for #PublicTransit. It rightly points out Canada is generally bad at design and is still in love with cars.

#CanadaIsAwesome #UrbanDesign #WalkableCities.
https://youtu.be/QJ9aiT-kXVU

Good Morning #Canada
Toronto's Line 5, referred to as the Eglinton Crosstown, has been open for over 6 months and the general consensus locally is that it's pretty good. This excellent video provides a review of the LRT, including the supporting network, benefits, negatives, and Toronto's overall design philosophy for #PublicTransit. It rightly points out Canada is generally bad at design and is still in love with cars.

#CanadaIsAwesome #UrbanDesign #WalkableCities.
https://youtu.be/QJ9aiT-kXVU

Good Morning #Canada
Toronto's Line 5, referred to as the Eglinton Crosstown, has been open for over 6 months and the general consensus locally is that it's pretty good. This excellent video provides a review of the LRT, including the supporting network, benefits, negatives, and Toronto's overall design philosophy for #PublicTransit. It rightly points out Canada is generally bad at design and is still in love with cars.

#CanadaIsAwesome #UrbanDesign #WalkableCities.
https://youtu.be/QJ9aiT-kXVU

Good Morning #Canada
Toronto's Line 5, referred to as the Eglinton Crosstown, has been open for over 6 months and the general consensus locally is that it's pretty good. This excellent video provides a review of the LRT, including the supporting network, benefits, negatives, and Toronto's overall design philosophy for #PublicTransit. It rightly points out Canada is generally bad at design and is still in love with cars.

#CanadaIsAwesome #UrbanDesign #WalkableCities.
https://youtu.be/QJ9aiT-kXVU

Good Morning #Canada
Toronto's Line 5, referred to as the Eglinton Crosstown, has been open for over 6 months and the general consensus locally is that it's pretty good. This excellent video provides a review of the LRT, including the supporting network, benefits, negatives, and Toronto's overall design philosophy for #PublicTransit. It rightly points out Canada is generally bad at design and is still in love with cars.

#CanadaIsAwesome #UrbanDesign #WalkableCities.
https://youtu.be/QJ9aiT-kXVU

It's now on @[email protected] 's YouTube channel

#toronto #Eglinton #LRT #publictransit

RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:cxsbjrer3xb5adavm4wua52a/post/3murop6ia2c2d

They Finally Built Good Transi...

New from @[email protected] on @[email protected]

"The Eglinton Crosstown LRT recently opened in #Toronto ... it stretches across the middle of the city, it intersects with several other rapid transit lines, the trains are comfortable, and the service is frequent. What's not to like?"

#publictransit

Not Just Bikes — They Finally ...

At her town hall meeting at Alameda High School, Congresswoman Lateefah Simon laid out a broad progressive agenda. Karin K. Jensen reports that Simon pledged to fight for disability rights, affordable housing, and healthcare. She also opposed war, cuts to social programs, and coal in Oakland. https://alamedapost.com/news/simon-lays-out-progressive-priorities-at-alameda-town-hall/

#alameda #AlamedaHighSchool #DisabilityRights #EdenChan #education #LateefahSimon #PublicTransit #RyanLaLonde

@crazyeddie @aworkinglibrary
It is probably about car dependency, car-centered areas. Like in the US where in many towns without a car one would struggle to do anything: getting to the grocery store, getting back from the store, reaching the other river bank as many bridges are motor vehicles only.

People can’t live without cars in such places. Even food banks have huge lines of cars, four "lanes". Some homeless people drive cars as well. Imagine the closest grocery store being 1 hour walking distance away, and the weather may be extremely hot/cold.

Many such areas don’t even have sidewalks or anything for walking at all. At the same time so called "jay-walking" is prohibited by law. The term "jaywalking" actually was invented by the cars lobby in the early 20th century. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaywalking
Moving around by walking is extremely inconvenient, dangerous, taking ridiculous amounts of time, basically incompatible with everyday activities.

Also the parking lots, roads, intersections take up huge chunks of the city. Consider how much longer it takes to walk somewhere compared to what it could be without all these. Urban areas could look very different if they were human-centered and Points Of Interest were packed tightly.

And the bigger the city, the more space car infrastructure takes up. More lanes, wider intersections, parking lots can have up to many thousands spots, highways, freeways, interchanges of ridiculous sizes and shapes.

The topic is huge, what I mentioned is just the tip. Think of what you see around every day. Also all the noise. And danger it brings to everyone, not just drivers. The number of so called "accidents", another convenient term for the horrible things that happen everyday.

The areas which are pedestrian-friendly, bicycle friendly, have public transportation tend to have happier residents, more attraction points, more small businesses, more street life, way better air quality, less noise among other benefits.
Also social connections and interaction happen there and not on a 4-lane highway.

#Cars #Car #City #Urban #Streets
#Cities #CarFree #Roads #CarDependancy #StreetLife #Safety #Bycicles #Walking #UrbanSprawl #OneMoreLane #InducedTraffic #PublicTransport #PublicTransit #Access #PublicTransportation #Accessibility #Accessible #PublicSpaces #Socialization #Capitalism #Subsidies #Lobbying #WordsMatter #History #CarsAreDangerous #FuckCars

Canadian governments are taking different paths back to the office
#Canada #ReturnToOffice #RemoteWork #HybridWork #Government #PublicService #PublicServants #WorkFromHome #Politics #PublicPolicy #Labour #Employment #GovernmentPolicy #PublicTransit #Equity #Economy
https://the-14.com/canadian-governments-are-taking-different-paths-back-to-the-office/

the past and the future

#carriage #pixelart #publictransit #train #pixel_dailies @pixel_dailies

✮ Thirty Minutes ✮

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✮ Thirty Minutes ✮

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Become a paid subscriber to get access to the rest of this post and other exclusive content.

✮ Thirty Minutes ✮

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Just another of my public-transportation-themed social posts.

Nutfield, Surrey, UK, where the c-word lands differently.

HT Xitter @joangreeneaz

#StreetArt #ElonMusk #HerrPlugs #PublicTransport #PublicTransit #SustainableTransport #Metro #HalfHeartedFanatic

[ Manĝu Rizon Lavu la Bovlon ]

Finfine mia sezono finiĝis.

Mi rememoras pri la monaĥon serĉantan saĝon de majstro ... la zen-majstro anstataŭe demandis:

"Ĉu vi skiis la tuta sezono?"...
"Do portu viajn valizojn." !!!

Kaj en tiu momento al mi ili sentis pli malpezaj.

~dolĉa kaj acida~

\eZ

#miksang #dailypic #aphotoaday
#Esperanto #photography #photo
#winter #ski #skibum #endofseason #seasonend #travel #traveling #transit #publictransit #publictransport #koan #zen #zenkoan #MasterJoshu
#EatRiceWashBowl
#sweetandsour #bittersweet

#caturday #kenton #nopo #portland #streetphotography #walkingthecat #backsides #publictransit #CatsOfMastodon #shirtlessdude #fridaynight

North Portland Friday Night

what the fuck the go train announcer just said my commute was sponsored ?!?!

#transit #GOTransit #TorontoON #OnPoli #CanadaPoli #PublicTransit

#bike #biking #bicycle #bicycling #cyclists #bus #PublicTransit #walk #walking #pedestrians #walkers #commuters #commuting #DC #WashingtonDC #elections #candidates #event #forum #social #WABA #GGW #PAC

Attempted and successful library tourism in Edinburgh and Northern England

Beyond the NLS, Scotland has various libraries within the country. There’s over twenty public libraries in Edinburgh alone. The day after I visited the NLS, I traveled to Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RGBE) by bus. This garden is akin to Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania. It has a beautiful plant collection, and a special library. However, the library isn’t accessible from the garden, a clear barrier to entry. Furthermore, the science, learning and archives section is only accessible by appointment. That is too bad. If it had been accessible from the garden I may have visited it. There are museums and various collections within the garden as well. Every plant has a specific identifying number associated with it.

Note: This serves as the beginning of my series, which begins, chronologically, with my guest post on Reel Librarians, on February 11th, entitled “Edinburgh and the National Library of Scotland: Library tourism redux.” It will be reposted on here over a month later. There will be two more parts of this series, focusing on my continued library tourism in London and Belgium coming later this year. Links to those will be added to this post later.

The RGBE website describes the library as providing the “basic tools” to support research and organization of biodiversity into a “manageable framework to underpin ecological and biological research.” This makes it even more unfortunate that the “extensive” library, said to be the Scottish national reference collection for “specialist botanical and horticultural resources” with over one million items, cannot be accessed from the garden itself. A pamphlet purchased for two pounds says directly: “no access from Garden,” putting this barrier into writing.

The second part of my vacation involved staying one week at HF Holidays’ Derwent Bank house, which sits on Derwent Water lake, to hike throughout the acclaimed and well-known Lake District, in Cumbria. Some of the hikes were arduous, although that might not be the case if you were physically fit, unlike myself, who wasn’t as fit as other hikers. I wanted to hike there as it was blazing hot in Baltimore, where I live. Other hikers were primarily from England and the Netherlands. The hikes often involved going through sheep grazing areas, avoiding sheep poop in the process, with beautiful views, and a visit to the Castlerigg Stone Circle.

On the fifth day of hiking, on July 31st, the coach bus I was riding in, with fellow hikers passed by the Keswick library. It looked to be one big room filled with desktop computers. Further research indicated that this library offers printing, loanable dementia bags and storysacks, hearing aid batteries, and more. It’s located off the town’s main street, with some nearby parking lots (they call them “car parks” in England), plus a bus station 200 yards from the library. It also hosts board games, a Lego club, jigsaw puzzle building, mindful coloring, books to help with well-being and health, and more.

Lastly was a bookshelf almost akin to the Little Free “Library” collections in the U.S. (but without serving a physical manifestation of a “desire to privatize the world”), at the Penrith train station. See you at the next post, where my journey continues, in London!

© 2025-2026 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

Sources used

• “Derwent Bank Lake District,” HF Holidays, 2025.
• Hermann, Burkely. “Blogposts, fictional archives, Ancestry’s monopoly on federal records, the Little Free “Library” deception, powerful ICJ decisions, and the DNC’s sidelining of pro-Palestinian voices,” History Hermann, 3 Sept. 2024.
• Hermann, Burkely. “Here’s four photos I took from my third-floor room at the Derwent Bank house of @hfholidays.co.uk on August 1st, the last day I was there, looking down at the beautiful garden, and down across the Derwent Water lake to the beautiful landscape across the lake. I revised the image slightly from the original using an Instagram filter on here. I only stayed for a week, and this was only the second part of my trip (the first part was going to #edinburgh) but I throughly [sic] enjoyed my time there, even if the hikes could be rigorous at times,” Instagram, 9. Aug. 2025.
• Hermann, Burkely. “Photos of the Castlerigg Stone Circle which I took on July 28th, a place also known as the Druids Circle. I used some photo tools on here to make these images even better and pop out more, as the originals were rather dark. #castleriggstonecircle,” Instagram, 9. Aug. 2025.
• “Keswick Library,” Cumberland Council, 2025.
• “Libraries,” City of Edinburgh, 2025.
• “Library & Archives,” Longwood Gardens, 2025.
• Miline, Simon. “Why our work matters,” Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 2025.
• “Our History,” Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 2025.
• “Penrith (North Lakes) (PNR),” National Rail, 2025.
• “What We Do,” Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 2025.

#CastleriggStoneCircle #castleriggstonecircle #Cumbria #DerwentBank #Edinburgh #England #gardens #HFHolidays #Keswick #LakeDistrict #lakes #libraryTourism #LongwoodGardens #maps #memory #museums #NationalLibraryOfScotland #Penrith #publicTransit #ReelLibrarians #restrictions #Scotland #shortBlogs

Attempted and successful library tourism in Edinburgh and Northern England

Beyond the NLS, Scotland has various libraries within the country. There’s over twenty public libraries in Edinburgh alone. The day after I visited the NLS, I traveled to Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RGBE) by bus. This garden is akin to Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania. It has a beautiful plant collection, and a special library. However, the library isn’t accessible from the garden, a clear barrier to entry. Furthermore, the science, learning and archives section is only accessible by appointment. That is too bad. If it had been accessible from the garden I may have visited it. There are museums and various collections within the garden as well. Every plant has a specific identifying number associated with it.

Note: This serves as the beginning of my series, which begins, chronologically, with my guest post on Reel Librarians, on February 11th, entitled “Edinburgh and the National Library of Scotland: Library tourism redux.” It will be reposted on here over a month later. There will be two more parts of this series, focusing on my continued library tourism in London and Belgium coming later this year. Links to those will be added to this post later.

The RGBE website describes the library as providing the “basic tools” to support research and organization of biodiversity into a “manageable framework to underpin ecological and biological research.” This makes it even more unfortunate that the “extensive” library, said to be the Scottish national reference collection for “specialist botanical and horticultural resources” with over one million items, cannot be accessed from the garden itself. A pamphlet purchased for two pounds says directly: “no access from Garden,” putting this barrier into writing.

The second part of my vacation involved staying one week at HF Holidays’ Derwent Bank house, which sits on Derwent Water lake, to hike throughout the acclaimed and well-known Lake District, in Cumbria. Some of the hikes were arduous, although that might not be the case if you were physically fit, unlike myself, who wasn’t as fit as other hikers. I wanted to hike there as it was blazing hot in Baltimore, where I live. Other hikers were primarily from England and the Netherlands. The hikes often involved going through sheep grazing areas, avoiding sheep poop in the process, with beautiful views, and a visit to the Castlerigg Stone Circle.

On the fifth day of hiking, on July 31st, the coach bus I was riding in, with fellow hikers passed by the Keswick library. It looked to be one big room filled with desktop computers. Further research indicated that this library offers printing, loanable dementia bags and storysacks, hearing aid batteries, and more. It’s located off the town’s main street, with some nearby parking lots (they call them “car parks” in England), plus a bus station 200 yards from the library. It also hosts board games, a Lego club, jigsaw puzzle building, mindful coloring, books to help with well-being and health, and more.

Lastly was a bookshelf almost akin to the Little Free “Library” collections in the U.S. (but without serving a physical manifestation of a “desire to privatize the world”), at the Penrith train station. See you at the next post, where my journey continues, in London!

© 2025-2026 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

Sources used

• “Derwent Bank Lake District,” HF Holidays, 2025.
• Hermann, Burkely. “Blogposts, fictional archives, Ancestry’s monopoly on federal records, the Little Free “Library” deception, powerful ICJ decisions, and the DNC’s sidelining of pro-Palestinian voices,” History Hermann, 3 Sept. 2024.
• Hermann, Burkely. “Here’s four photos I took from my third-floor room at the Derwent Bank house of @hfholidays.co.uk on August 1st, the last day I was there, looking down at the beautiful garden, and down across the Derwent Water lake to the beautiful landscape across the lake. I revised the image slightly from the original using an Instagram filter on here. I only stayed for a week, and this was only the second part of my trip (the first part was going to #edinburgh) but I throughly [sic] enjoyed my time there, even if the hikes could be rigorous at times,” Instagram, 9. Aug. 2025.
• Hermann, Burkely. “Photos of the Castlerigg Stone Circle which I took on July 28th, a place also known as the Druids Circle. I used some photo tools on here to make these images even better and pop out more, as the originals were rather dark. #castleriggstonecircle,” Instagram, 9. Aug. 2025.
• “Keswick Library,” Cumberland Council, 2025.
• “Libraries,” City of Edinburgh, 2025.
• “Library & Archives,” Longwood Gardens, 2025.
• Miline, Simon. “Why our work matters,” Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 2025.
• “Our History,” Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 2025.
• “Penrith (North Lakes) (PNR),” National Rail, 2025.
• “What We Do,” Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 2025.

#CastleriggStoneCircle #castleriggstonecircle #Cumbria #DerwentBank #Edinburgh #England #gardens #HFHolidays #Keswick #LakeDistrict #lakes #libraryTourism #LongwoodGardens #maps #memory #museums #NationalLibraryOfScotland #Penrith #publicTransit #ReelLibrarians #restrictions #Scotland #shortBlogs

Attempted and successful library tourism in Edinburgh and Northern England

Beyond the NLS, Scotland has various libraries within the country. There’s over twenty public libraries in Edinburgh alone. The day after I visited the NLS, I traveled to Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RGBE) by bus. This garden is akin to Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania. It has a beautiful plant collection, and a special library. However, the library isn’t accessible from the garden, a clear barrier to entry. Furthermore, the science, learning and archives section is only accessible by appointment. That is too bad. If it had been accessible from the garden I may have visited it. There are museums and various collections within the garden as well. Every plant has a specific identifying number associated with it.

Note: This serves as the beginning of my series, which begins, chronologically, with my guest post on Reel Librarians, on February 11th, entitled “Edinburgh and the National Library of Scotland: Library tourism redux.” It will be reposted on here over a month later. There will be two more parts of this series, focusing on my continued library tourism in London and Belgium coming later this year. Links to those will be added to this post later.

The RGBE website describes the library as providing the “basic tools” to support research and organization of biodiversity into a “manageable framework to underpin ecological and biological research.” This makes it even more unfortunate that the “extensive” library, said to be the Scottish national reference collection for “specialist botanical and horticultural resources” with over one million items, cannot be accessed from the garden itself. A pamphlet purchased for two pounds says directly: “no access from Garden,” putting this barrier into writing.

The second part of my vacation involved staying one week at HF Holidays’ Derwent Bank house, which sits on Derwent Water lake, to hike throughout the acclaimed and well-known Lake District, in Cumbria. Some of the hikes were arduous, although that might not be the case if you were physically fit, unlike myself, who wasn’t as fit as other hikers. I wanted to hike there as it was blazing hot in Baltimore, where I live. Other hikers were primarily from England and the Netherlands. The hikes often involved going through sheep grazing areas, avoiding sheep poop in the process, with beautiful views, and a visit to the Castlerigg Stone Circle.

On the fifth day of hiking, on July 31st, the coach bus I was riding in, with fellow hikers passed by the Keswick library. It looked to be one big room filled with desktop computers. Further research indicated that this library offers printing, loanable dementia bags and storysacks, hearing aid batteries, and more. It’s located off the town’s main street, with some nearby parking lots (they call them “car parks” in England), plus a bus station 200 yards from the library. It also hosts board games, a Lego club, jigsaw puzzle building, mindful coloring, books to help with well-being and health, and more.

Lastly was a bookshelf almost akin to the Little Free “Library” collections in the U.S. (but without serving a physical manifestation of a “desire to privatize the world”), at the Penrith train station. See you at the next post, where my journey continues, in London!

© 2025-2026 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

Sources used

• “Derwent Bank Lake District,” HF Holidays, 2025.
• Hermann, Burkely. “Blogposts, fictional archives, Ancestry’s monopoly on federal records, the Little Free “Library” deception, powerful ICJ decisions, and the DNC’s sidelining of pro-Palestinian voices,” History Hermann, 3 Sept. 2024.
• Hermann, Burkely. “Here’s four photos I took from my third-floor room at the Derwent Bank house of @hfholidays.co.uk on August 1st, the last day I was there, looking down at the beautiful garden, and down across the Derwent Water lake to the beautiful landscape across the lake. I revised the image slightly from the original using an Instagram filter on here. I only stayed for a week, and this was only the second part of my trip (the first part was going to #edinburgh) but I throughly [sic] enjoyed my time there, even if the hikes could be rigorous at times,” Instagram, 9. Aug. 2025.
• Hermann, Burkely. “Photos of the Castlerigg Stone Circle which I took on July 28th, a place also known as the Druids Circle. I used some photo tools on here to make these images even better and pop out more, as the originals were rather dark. #castleriggstonecircle,” Instagram, 9. Aug. 2025.
• “Keswick Library,” Cumberland Council, 2025.
• “Libraries,” City of Edinburgh, 2025.
• “Library & Archives,” Longwood Gardens, 2025.
• Miline, Simon. “Why our work matters,” Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 2025.
• “Our History,” Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 2025.
• “Penrith (North Lakes) (PNR),” National Rail, 2025.
• “What We Do,” Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 2025.

#CastleriggStoneCircle #castleriggstonecircle #Cumbria #DerwentBank #Edinburgh #England #gardens #HFHolidays #Keswick #LakeDistrict #lakes #libraryTourism #LongwoodGardens #maps #memory #museums #NationalLibraryOfScotland #Penrith #publicTransit #ReelLibrarians #restrictions #Scotland #shortBlogs

Attempted and successful library tourism in Edinburgh and Northern England

Beyond the NLS, Scotland has various libraries within the country. There’s over twenty public libraries in Edinburgh alone. The day after I visited the NLS, I traveled to Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RGBE) by bus. This garden is akin to Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania. It has a beautiful plant collection, and a special library. However, the library isn’t accessible from the garden, a clear barrier to entry. Furthermore, the science, learning and archives section is only accessible by appointment. That is too bad. If it had been accessible from the garden I may have visited it. There are museums and various collections within the garden as well. Every plant has a specific identifying number associated with it.

Note: This serves as the beginning of my series, which begins, chronologically, with my guest post on Reel Librarians, on February 11th, entitled “Edinburgh and the National Library of Scotland: Library tourism redux.” It will be reposted on here over a month later. There will be two more parts of this series, focusing on my continued library tourism in London and Belgium coming later this year. Links to those will be added to this post later.

The RGBE website describes the library as providing the “basic tools” to support research and organization of biodiversity into a “manageable framework to underpin ecological and biological research.” This makes it even more unfortunate that the “extensive” library, said to be the Scottish national reference collection for “specialist botanical and horticultural resources” with over one million items, cannot be accessed from the garden itself. A pamphlet purchased for two pounds says directly: “no access from Garden,” putting this barrier into writing.

The second part of my vacation involved staying one week at HF Holidays’ Derwent Bank house, which sits on Derwent Water lake, to hike throughout the acclaimed and well-known Lake District, in Cumbria. Some of the hikes were arduous, although that might not be the case if you were physically fit, unlike myself, who wasn’t as fit as other hikers. I wanted to hike there as it was blazing hot in Baltimore, where I live. Other hikers were primarily from England and the Netherlands. The hikes often involved going through sheep grazing areas, avoiding sheep poop in the process, with beautiful views, and a visit to the Castlerigg Stone Circle.

On the fifth day of hiking, on July 31st, the coach bus I was riding in, with fellow hikers passed by the Keswick library. It looked to be one big room filled with desktop computers. Further research indicated that this library offers printing, loanable dementia bags and storysacks, hearing aid batteries, and more. It’s located off the town’s main street, with some nearby parking lots (they call them “car parks” in England), plus a bus station 200 yards from the library. It also hosts board games, a Lego club, jigsaw puzzle building, mindful coloring, books to help with well-being and health, and more.

Lastly was a bookshelf almost akin to the Little Free “Library” collections in the U.S. (but without serving a physical manifestation of a “desire to privatize the world”), at the Penrith train station. See you at the next post, where my journey continues, in London!

© 2025-2026 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

Sources used

• “Derwent Bank Lake District,” HF Holidays, 2025.
• Hermann, Burkely. “Blogposts, fictional archives, Ancestry’s monopoly on federal records, the Little Free “Library” deception, powerful ICJ decisions, and the DNC’s sidelining of pro-Palestinian voices,” History Hermann, 3 Sept. 2024.
• Hermann, Burkely. “Here’s four photos I took from my third-floor room at the Derwent Bank house of @hfholidays.co.uk on August 1st, the last day I was there, looking down at the beautiful garden, and down across the Derwent Water lake to the beautiful landscape across the lake. I revised the image slightly from the original using an Instagram filter on here. I only stayed for a week, and this was only the second part of my trip (the first part was going to #edinburgh) but I throughly [sic] enjoyed my time there, even if the hikes could be rigorous at times,” Instagram, 9. Aug. 2025.
• Hermann, Burkely. “Photos of the Castlerigg Stone Circle which I took on July 28th, a place also known as the Druids Circle. I used some photo tools on here to make these images even better and pop out more, as the originals were rather dark. #castleriggstonecircle,” Instagram, 9. Aug. 2025.
• “Keswick Library,” Cumberland Council, 2025.
• “Libraries,” City of Edinburgh, 2025.
• “Library & Archives,” Longwood Gardens, 2025.
• Miline, Simon. “Why our work matters,” Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 2025.
• “Our History,” Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 2025.
• “Penrith (North Lakes) (PNR),” National Rail, 2025.
• “What We Do,” Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 2025.

#CastleriggStoneCircle #castleriggstonecircle #Cumbria #DerwentBank #Edinburgh #England #gardens #HFHolidays #Keswick #LakeDistrict #lakes #libraryTourism #LongwoodGardens #maps #memory #museums #NationalLibraryOfScotland #Penrith #publicTransit #ReelLibrarians #restrictions #Scotland #shortBlogs

Attempted and successful library tourism in Edinburgh and Northern England

Beyond the NLS, Scotland has various libraries within the country. There’s over twenty public libraries in Edinburgh alone. The day after I visited the NLS, I traveled to Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RGBE) by bus. This garden is akin to Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania. It has a beautiful plant collection, and a special library. However, the library isn’t accessible from the garden, a clear barrier to entry. Furthermore, the science, learning and archives section is only accessible by appointment. That is too bad. If it had been accessible from the garden I may have visited it. There are museums and various collections within the garden as well. Every plant has a specific identifying number associated with it.

Note: This serves as the beginning of my series, which begins, chronologically, with my guest post on Reel Librarians, on February 11th, entitled “Edinburgh and the National Library of Scotland: Library tourism redux.” It will be reposted on here over a month later. There will be two more parts of this series, focusing on my continued library tourism in London and Belgium coming later this year. Links to those will be added to this post later.

The RGBE website describes the library as providing the “basic tools” to support research and organization of biodiversity into a “manageable framework to underpin ecological and biological research.” This makes it even more unfortunate that the “extensive” library, said to be the Scottish national reference collection for “specialist botanical and horticultural resources” with over one million items, cannot be accessed from the garden itself. A pamphlet purchased for two pounds says directly: “no access from Garden,” putting this barrier into writing.

The second part of my vacation involved staying one week at HF Holidays’ Derwent Bank house, which sits on Derwent Water lake, to hike throughout the acclaimed and well-known Lake District, in Cumbria. Some of the hikes were arduous, although that might not be the case if you were physically fit, unlike myself, who wasn’t as fit as other hikers. I wanted to hike there as it was blazing hot in Baltimore, where I live. Other hikers were primarily from England and the Netherlands. The hikes often involved going through sheep grazing areas, avoiding sheep poop in the process, with beautiful views, and a visit to the Castlerigg Stone Circle.

On the fifth day of hiking, on July 31st, the coach bus I was riding in, with fellow hikers passed by the Keswick library. It looked to be one big room filled with desktop computers. Further research indicated that this library offers printing, loanable dementia bags and storysacks, hearing aid batteries, and more. It’s located off the town’s main street, with some nearby parking lots (they call them “car parks” in England), plus a bus station 200 yards from the library. It also hosts board games, a Lego club, jigsaw puzzle building, mindful coloring, books to help with well-being and health, and more.

Lastly was a bookshelf almost akin to the Little Free “Library” collections in the U.S. (but without serving a physical manifestation of a “desire to privatize the world”), at the Penrith train station. See you at the next post, where my journey continues, in London!

© 2025-2026 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

Sources used

• “Derwent Bank Lake District,” HF Holidays, 2025.
• Hermann, Burkely. “Blogposts, fictional archives, Ancestry’s monopoly on federal records, the Little Free “Library” deception, powerful ICJ decisions, and the DNC’s sidelining of pro-Palestinian voices,” History Hermann, 3 Sept. 2024.
• Hermann, Burkely. “Here’s four photos I took from my third-floor room at the Derwent Bank house of @hfholidays.co.uk on August 1st, the last day I was there, looking down at the beautiful garden, and down across the Derwent Water lake to the beautiful landscape across the lake. I revised the image slightly from the original using an Instagram filter on here. I only stayed for a week, and this was only the second part of my trip (the first part was going to #edinburgh) but I throughly [sic] enjoyed my time there, even if the hikes could be rigorous at times,” Instagram, 9. Aug. 2025.
• Hermann, Burkely. “Photos of the Castlerigg Stone Circle which I took on July 28th, a place also known as the Druids Circle. I used some photo tools on here to make these images even better and pop out more, as the originals were rather dark. #castleriggstonecircle,” Instagram, 9. Aug. 2025.
• “Keswick Library,” Cumberland Council, 2025.
• “Libraries,” City of Edinburgh, 2025.
• “Library & Archives,” Longwood Gardens, 2025.
• Miline, Simon. “Why our work matters,” Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 2025.
• “Our History,” Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 2025.
• “Penrith (North Lakes) (PNR),” National Rail, 2025.
• “What We Do,” Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 2025.

#CastleriggStoneCircle #castleriggstonecircle #Cumbria #DerwentBank #Edinburgh #England #gardens #HFHolidays #Keswick #LakeDistrict #lakes #libraryTourism #LongwoodGardens #maps #memory #museums #NationalLibraryOfScotland #Penrith #publicTransit #ReelLibrarians #restrictions #Scotland #shortBlogs

Public transit users in the Houston area will ride for free every Friday throughout September as the transit agencies for Harris County, Fort Bend County, The Woodlands Township and Conroe offer “Free Fare Fridays” in an effort to boost ridership. 

https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/transportation/2025/09/04/530097/houston-area-public-transit-agencies-to-offer-free-fare-fridays-throughout-september/

#Environment #FortBend #HarrisCounty #Houston #Local #News #Traffic #Transportation #ConroeConnection #FortBendCounty #FreeFareFridays #Metro #PublicTransit #TheWoodlandsTownship

#Cowichan Valley residents adapt to life without #PublicTransit as strike enters 4th month.
#PeopleWithDisabilities , #students & #seniors struggle with the lack of options for #transportation in the Cowichan Valley.

#UniforLocal114 & #UniforLocal333BC the union representing 44 drivers, mechanics& cleaners, have been on strike since Feb. 8. They are advocating for wages similar to their counterparts in Victoria, better access to washroom facilities & more consistent breaks. #Workers have since voted against a new contract with their employer, #TransDev & the strike reaches 105 days, there is still no end in sight. As a result of the strike, #transit in the Cowichan Valley has been on hold, interfering with where and how people move through the community. #HandyDart services are still available but only for medical appointments related to renal dialysis, cancer treatment & multiple sclerosis.

https://thediscourse.ca/cowichan-valley/cowichan-valley-residents-adapt-to-life-without-public-transit-as-strike-enters-fourth-month

#BusStrike #Unions #WorkerRights #BusRiders #VancouverIsland #VanIsle #PublicTransportation

@nwchapman And this is announced right after #CBS did a glamor segment on their news doc program #SundayMorning promoting #Waymo this past weekend . . . 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

I'm not a Luddite but I am one of those who say they'll never use an #AutomomousVehicle or #SelfDrivingCar no matter how safe they say they are.

There are other options & if I need to get somewhere & I can't use my own car to do so, I'll #Walk and/or take #PublicTransit and/or #RideSharing and/or #Uber or #Lyft instead. 🤷‍♂️

I *really* don't like these Veo scooters in my city. Everything from having public transit provided by a private company, to the fact you have to download an app to use them, to the fact people leave them in the worst places (as shown here) annoys me.

#PublicTransit #ElectricScooter #Scooter #Veo

New survey shows growing support for new transportation options in Northwest Arkansas
https://www.nwahomepage.com/news/new-survey-shows-growing-support-for-new-transportation-options-in-northwest-arkansas/

#northwestarkansas #nwa #arkansas #fayetteville #fayettevillear #urbanism #publictransit #walkablecities

Oyez, je vous présente… le sélecteur de titres de #transportcollectif de #ARTM pour la grande région de #Montréal, zones A+B+C.
La stupidité absolue d'avoir une technologie comme la carte Opus, le futur de demain de l'an 2008, et maintenir l'incompatibilité entre les régions avec… 5 types de cartes Opus. On ne peut mettre des billets "zone C" sur une carte Opus standard montréalaise.

Le #Québec n'a jamais rattrapé son retard face à la carte Octopus de Hong Kong de 1997.

#publictransit

It's somewhat rare to discuss autonomous vehicles (AVs) in the global South context. A PhD candidate in computer science is studying how AVs could enhance mobility for female passengers

https://buff.ly/4f2hd5W

#informaltransport #populartransport #Asia #Bangladesh #FieldResearch #gender #InclusiveResearch #innovation #ParticipatoryResearch #publictransit #research #TrufiAssociation #AVs #AutonomousVehicles

Integrate OpenTripPlanner seamlessly into your solution, anywhere in the world, with Trufi's expertise. Contact us!

https://www.trufi-association.org/services/opentripplanner/

#informaltransport #populartransport #opendata #opensource #sustainabletransport #transportation #innovation #MaaS #MobilityAsAService #mapping #GIS #mobileapp #OpenStreetMap #OpenTripPlanner #publictransit #TrufiAssociation

Public transport in the global South could leapfrog into a sustainable future with battery swapping.

Technologies like this have the potential to revolutionize urban mobility.

Video by Linkedin: Ashley Dudarenok 艾熙丽
HT: Benjamin de la Peña

#publictransport #sustainabletransport #Asia #China #bus #Climate #climateaction #climatechange #ict4d #innovation #MaaS #MobilityAsAService #publictransit #TrufiAssociation #electrification #swapping #baas #trucks #technology #transformation

We offer Mobility as a Service (MaaS) integrations that provide seamless access to sustainable transport options. Contact us to enhance your transport data and services.

https://buff.ly/47jlcs5

#MaaS #MobilityAsAService#informaltransport #populartransport #opendata #opensource #publictransport #sustainabletransport #transportation #ActiveMobility #ActiveTransport #apps #developer #digital #digitaldevelopment #GTFS #GTFSFlex #OpenStreetMap #OpenTripPlanner #publictransit #TrufiAssociation

Sri Lanka needs effective digitization in public transport. Trufi can build the necessary apps and provide the data. Geography doesn't stop us advancing sustainable transport solutions in the global South.

https://buff.ly/3XpLhm5

#Asia #SriLanka #GlobalSouthTransportMapping #MaaS #MobilityAsAService #mapping #GIS #mobileapp #publictransit #publictransport #sustainabletransport #TransportationJustice #TransportCarbonEmissions #TrufiAssociation

Some European countries are making employers pick up employees’ public transport bills. Trufi's MaaS integrations can help promote these models – anywhere, including the global South.

https://buff.ly/4dNDqUt

#Belgium #France #Austria #Europe #MaaS #MobilityAsAService #publictransit #publictransport #sustainabletransport #TransportationJustice #TransportCarbonEmissions #TrufiAssociation

The union for employees of #BritishColumbia's #HandyDART #transit service says it's suspending all job action pending a vote on a final contract offer from employer #TransdevCanada.

There had been the possibility of strike action on the door-to-door service on Monday if a deal wasn't struck.

Joe McCann, president of #Local1724 of the #AmalgamatedTransitUnion, says the vote will happen soon after information meetings being held Sunday and Monday for members.

TransLink, Metro #Vancouver's regional transit provider, warned that the service could be disrupted next week as the deadline for contract negotiations was set to expire Sunday evening.

#TransLink said that even if the strike went ahead, service would continue for those needing rides to medical treatments for cancer and other illnesses.

https://www.richmond-news.com/health/union-for-handydart-workers-suspends-job-action-pending-votes-on-new-contract-9405083

#YVR #DisabledTransportation #PeopleWithDisabilities #AccessibleTransit #YVRpoli #PublicTransit

Hey overachievers! Do you want to show up to our GTFS-Flex webinar today prepped, and ready to ask great questions of our experts? Check the comments for three articles you can read in advance.

https://www.linkedin.com/events/localsolutions-globalimpact-how7181313513288536069/theater/

#informaltransport #populartransport #opendata #publictransport #sustainabletransport #transportation #bus #developer #GTFS #GTFSFlex #ict4d #ict4dev #MaaS #MobilityAsAService #masstransit #minibus #publictransit #technology

GTFS-Flex opens new horizons for mobility in underserved areas by combining fixed routes with on-demand services. Our webinar explores this revolutionary transit data standard.

https://tinyurl.com/24p6424r

#informaltransport #populartransport #opendata #publictransport #sustainabletransport #transportation #bus #developer #GTFS #GTFSFlex #ict4d #ict4dev #MaaS #MobilityAsAService #masstransit #minibus #publictransit #technology

I just boarded an #Avanti train to Milton Keynes, sat down, tapped to access onboard Wi-Fi.

To connect to Wi-Fi, I must first deal with a survey about the cleanliness of the onboard toilets. I boarded 30 seconds ago; how likely is it I'll have any relevant information?

I'm going to guess this survey has a #validity problem. (Validity is the ability to measure what you intend to measure.)

#research #SurveyDesign #survey #methodology #rail #trail #statistics #data #PublicTransit #transportation

🛣️ Christoph's bus journey through #Kigali unveils tech gap between cashless payments and uncertain bus arrivals.

https://tinyurl.com/23t9cz2v

#informaltransport #populartransport #publictransport #sustainabletransport #transportation #Africa #Rwanda #Kigali #KigaliMobilityLab #SmartMobilityLabRw #AfricanCities #bus #MaaS #MobilityAsAService #publictransit #technology

En Route to Kigali, 🚌 Christoph's pitstop in Addis Ababa strengthens Trufi's partnership with AddisMap. A virtual meeting with Alazar Tekle.

https://tinyurl.com/297tnc7h

#informaltransport #populartransport #opendata #opensource #publictransport #sustainabletransport #transportation #Africa #Ethiopia #AddisAbaba #Rwanda #Kigali #KigaliMobilityLab #SmartMobilityLabRw #AfricanCities #DecolonizeTransport #innovation #MaaS #MobilityAsAService #publictransit

🚀 Christoph's first dispatch from #Kigali unveils our transformative approach to #African transport with real-time data!

https://tinyurl.com/27hcxa9h

#informaltransport #populartransport #opendata #opensource #publictransport #sustainabletransport #Africa #Ghana #Accra #Africa #Rwanda #Kigali #KigaliMobilityLab #AfricanCities #ict4d #MaaS #MobilityAsAService #publictransit

Informal transport is a climate solution waiting to be leveraged – using systems that are already deeply ingrained in society. Register for our Webinar!

http://tinyurl.com/24co9g69

#informaltransport #publictransport #sustainabletransport #transportation #MaaS #MobilityAsAService #publictransit #populartransport #DecolonizeTransport #innovation #bus #minibus #masstransit #Volunteer #research

Super cool and in depth video about Montréal public transit (walking, cycling, metro, bus, REM and train!). Also a bit about Longueuil, etc.

It covers both the good and the bad and compare it to the best cities around the world. So now we know what to improve and how!

I Visited the Best* City in North America
https://vid.puffyan.us/watch?v=_yDtLv-7xZ4&t=464

#Montreal #Longueuil #publictransit #metro #STM #transportCollectif #urbanism #REV #REM #velo #urbanisme