Matthew Froggatt

@Prominent_Bryan We have a Venmo equivalent in Canada through Wealthsimple. Just nobody uses it cuz e-transfer is good enough (i.e. more convenient).

I will never understand why Canadians insist e-transfer is better It isn't. It's always more annoying to use than the US system (or what they have in the rest of the world) I'm not saying interac e-transfer is terrible or unusable but it is objectively less convenient than Venmo, especially if you don't already have this person in your contacts It's weird how defensive Canadians are on this. Weird elbows up stuff. But it's always from people who have never experienced the system in the rest of the world

@observinthecity Thanks! It’s great to have this. Any chance you could add the ability to show cumulative counts? I feel like that gives a better idea of how “on track” the city is to exceed last year.

Try it yourself at observingthecity.ca!

Toronto provides a lot of data on bicycle counts at different intersections, but no visualization. I set out to change that. I present a comparator tool for tracking all the bicycle counters around Toronto. I have also included (unofficial) Bike Share Toronto trip data.

@EricDLombardi The purpose of a digital currency is not to act as a store of value or a “currency” in the traditional sense. It’s to enable digital transactions without paying 3rd parties (e.g. Mastercard and Visa) as you can with normal cash. This is clearly incredibly valuable.

Agree that we don’t need a digital currency from the Bank of Canada (frankly, the government should focus on things we do need, like Open Banking). There are already stablecoin businesses in Canada/Ontario. What we really need is for the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) to stop regulating them as a security. It’s one of those niche regulatory issues with a big impact on what is a real opportunity in Canadian fintech.

@Red_Mage23 Because it’s not based on English, but instead is trying to be an accurate representation of the Chinese pronunciation. “Sh” represents another sound (closer to English “Sh”, “X” doesn’t exist in English), so Xi -> “She” ann incorrect English approximation.

Why is not spelled that way then. Why is Chinese romanization deliberately wrong

@the_UrbanWolf Dutch suburbs do something like this but they are designed with cyclists and pedestrians in mind and/or to get people to the train station as fast as possible. Even then they miss most trips within the city (e.x. largest student housing in Delft has no bus to the university).

@the_UrbanWolf Currently bikes and pedestrians may use any street, and bus routes can be changed to meet demand. Separating in this way prevents emergent demand from being served by transit, cycling, and walking (unless streets are so close they might as well be one).

Why does everything have to share the same street? Why not have a separate -busway -bikeway -carway -walkway The crossings are all smaller and to scale with ANY neighborhood Less stress. More peace.

@Michael56297223 @EricDLombardi @cselley @nationalpost We are doing this. And it should be done. But they are not mutually exclusive.

@mjfrogga @EricDLombardi @cselley @nationalpost Yes, but real world speed of GO is 60-80 kph.Why not just upgrade GO? If 140-160 can be done (with allowance for stops)? HSR will not be faster in the urban areas. So why spend $200 billion for a zero or marginal improvement with HSR . The environmental cost alone is staggering.

It looks like @cselley, one of the chief grumps in the “Canada can’t do it” and “Nothing can ever get better” brigade wrote about my HSR proposal in the @nationalpost yesterday. So allow me to explain exactly why he’s wrong. Five points: 1. The Collenette report he cites did not reject high speed rail (If you’re going to cite a report, it helps to read it). 2. The report underestimated the benefits because it treated HSR too narrowly as a transportation project, not as productivity infrastructure. 3. The economic return is larger than the cost, especially when you include labour market expansion, housing access, regional growth, and land value uplift that translate into productivity growth (not considered). 4. Ontario can afford to build this if we structure delivery properly. What I proposed is a roughly 20-year buildout, not a blank cheque overnight. 5. If we lack the state capacity that other developed countries have to build this kind of infrastructure, then we should fix that. Throwing up our hands is accepting a future where we are simply less advanced than other places and decline continues. Let’s go through it. You can check out my HSR proposal at EricForOLP.ca/hsr (1/7) 👇

@peteremcc @EricDLombardi @cselley @nationalpost By spending I meant workers getting taxed less doing the spending (aka multiplier effect). It exists either way, but not building means you miss the infra and thus lose out on its resultant economic growth, reducing the initial salaries in the long term.

First, reducing taxes is not spending. Second, you're entirely missing my point. I agree that there is a multiplier effect when the government spends the money. But if the government doesn't spend the money, and leaves it with citizens and businesses, and citizens and businesses spend the money instead, there is a multiplier effect of that spending too. Now, you can argue that the thing the government will spend the money on is BETTER, so it will have a HIGHER multiplier effect. But you can't argue that there is NO multiplier effect of citizens and businesses spending the money.

@Michael56297223 @EricDLombardi @cselley @nationalpost GO train is 120km/hr right now, planned to increase to 140-160 with electrification.

@EricDLombardi @cselley @nationalpost Urban 140-170 kph????!!! This is a fairly tale figure. Try GO train speeds. That’s realistic real world. Again, have you actually travelled on HSR in Europe? Your cost figures are unrealistic. Money is better spent electrifying current system & providing more stops than HSR

@peteremcc @EricDLombardi @cselley @nationalpost Because this kind of project (infra development) increases the multiplier effect. We get infra + jobs (people get paid to build this), and those people with new jobs get to spend their money in the private sector again. Reducing taxes gives the spending without the infra.

Even if you're not raising taxes or taking on debt for this specific project, you're still doing this project instead of a different project, or doing this project instead of reducing taxes and debt. What's the multiplier effect and broader economic impact of all the things people would do with that money if you cut taxes by the same amount instead of building it? You can't compare apples with oranges. Either you only count direct benefits and direct costs. Or, if you want to add in indirect benefits, you have to add in indirect costs.

@Lib_Development Skill issue.

Biking is actually uniquely super inconvenient. I can drink a cup of coffee while walking, riding transit, or driving. I can scroll twitter while walking or taking transit. Biking goes 0 for 2 on “things I would like to do with my commute”

@saqshum Are they not open to the public in the US? Most Canadian university libraries are publicly accessible.

universities should open their libraries up to the public. im so sick of working from overpriced cafes with bad music

@ThatOtherZach @PWBaugh It’s been open for about a year. It’s only used for the Saturday market though, otherwise it’s a court building, an office building, and an event space.

@PWBaugh Is it still not open? I swear this was under construction for a decade.

This building is an absolute catastrophe.

@ttcriders I’m disappointed by this. I’m a transit rider, advocate, and supporter of TTC Riders. Fare integration is the modernization the region’s transit network needs. While it should be led by agencies, they’ve proven unwilling. Please advocate to make this better, not to stop it.

Doug Ford is coming for the TTC. Bill 98 proposes massive changes to the transit in Ontario and risks a complete dismantling of the TTC. If this passes the TTC Board and City Council would no longer have control over the system.

@xxxholicatz It’s totally legal. It’s crazy to me that it wouldn’t be/you could be fined for it.

idk what the laws are in canada but matt and jay jaywalk like it means nothing and it shocks me everytime 😭😭😭😭

@facetedcarapace Clearly never been to the Netherlands.

Peanut butter is the other thing that seems insane the rest of the world isn't also obsessed with.

@seltzerprincess Time to kms and start over. Fr tho try Banh Mi Nguyen Hong or Banh Mi Huy-Ky and tell me I’m wrong.

@mjfrogga this mf’er saying “bahn mi” and expects me to listen to his wrong opinion

kind of don’t even want to say where in toronto you can get a banh mi and an iced coffee for $11 bc you’re all going to ruin it but on the other hand this place deserves to be busy so

@ScrapperRural @criticalurban I’d rather be able to take them on $12,000 worth of extra vacations every year (plus added time saving benefits of biking vs driving being in a major city).

@mjfrogga @criticalurban Poor partner . Get them a nice warm car

Bikes are objectively inferior transportation by every metric. Slow, minimal carrying capacity. Can't carry passengers. Exposed to the elements, the rain, snow, sleet, heat, and cold. It's awful. Incapable of practical regional access.