Xavier Harmony
@transitharmony.bsky.social
1.5K followers 1.2K following 230 posts
Australian-American 🇦🇺🇺🇸 | Transport Politics and Policy | PhD | Lover of cities 🌃, buses 🚌, trains 🚊, nature 🌳, and cats 🐈‍⬛ | He/him
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transitharmony.bsky.social
What if your ability to vote depended on your transport options? What if your ability to vote also shapes your transport options?🚍🗳️ My new Transport Reviews paper shows how democracy and transport are more connected than we think 👉 www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...
A screenshot of the first page of a new Transport Reviews article titled "Transport, elections and voting" and authored by Xavier Harmony.
Reposted by Xavier Harmony
volts.wtf
Combustion is the past, electricity is the future, pass it on.
Reposted by Xavier Harmony
transitharmony.bsky.social
What if your ability to vote depended on your transport options? What if your ability to vote also shapes your transport options?🚍🗳️ My new Transport Reviews paper shows how democracy and transport are more connected than we think 👉 www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...
A screenshot of the first page of a new Transport Reviews article titled "Transport, elections and voting" and authored by Xavier Harmony.
Reposted by Xavier Harmony
davidzipper.bsky.social
You might think that the mayor of Yellowknife, the capital of Canada's vast Northwest Territories, would be a fan of giant pickups.

Nope. He's disgusted by car bloat.

www.linkedin.com/posts/benjam...
transitharmony.bsky.social
Driving people to polls was also really important in Australia. One of the papers I covered explored the history of this. It was one of the reasons Australia eventually introduced compulsory voting.
transitharmony.bsky.social
The findings highlight important biases across the literature with a focus on cars, developed countries, and local politics. Transport and electoral politics also create feedback loops that could affect transport options.

Let me know if you want to read the paper and have trouble accessing it!
transitharmony.bsky.social
My review of nearly 15 years of research identified four key areas where transport and electoral politics intersect:

1️⃣ How transport systems enable or restrict voting
2️⃣ How transport features in election campaigns
3️⃣ Voting for transport policies/projects
4️⃣ How elections shape transport systems
transitharmony.bsky.social
What if your ability to vote depended on your transport options? What if your ability to vote also shapes your transport options?🚍🗳️ My new Transport Reviews paper shows how democracy and transport are more connected than we think 👉 www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...
A screenshot of the first page of a new Transport Reviews article titled "Transport, elections and voting" and authored by Xavier Harmony.
transitharmony.bsky.social
I saw this neat Australian train book for kids on my lunch today
Front cover of the book “The Train at the End of my Street” by Tom Jellett Back cover of the book “The Train at the End of my Street” by Tom Jellett
Reposted by Xavier Harmony
thewaroncars.bsky.social
Fascinating study. Note that this is 1 in 10 adults. Factor in children and the percentage of non-driving Americans is much higher. Cities and towns need to account for their mobility needs too.
1 in 10 Americans rarely or never drive a car
Among U.S. adults, those who live in the Northeast (17%) are more likely than those in the South (10%), West (8%) and Midwest (7%) to be nondrivers.
www.pewresearch.org
transitharmony.bsky.social
This group includes me now
Reposted by Xavier Harmony
davidho.bsky.social
When it comes to road deaths, we often put the onus on people doing the dying rather than people doing the killing.
npr.org
NPR @npr.org · 14d
In 2024, 7,100 pedestrians were killed on the road, and in recent years, more than 1,000 cyclists have been hit and killed annually. Safety experts explain how bikers and walkers can stay safe.
8 walking and biking safety tips that just might save your life
In 2024, 7,100 pedestrians were killed on the road, and in recent years, more than 1,000 cyclists have been hit and killed annually. Safety experts explain how bikers and walkers can stay safe.
n.pr
Reposted by Xavier Harmony
justinmikulka.bsky.social
The US secretary of energy says the following.

“We will double the natural gas exports from where they are today in the next four or five years,” Wright said in Italy. LNG, he noted, is “the fastest growing source of energy on the planet.”

Who wants to tell this MIT-educated man?
graph showing how fast wind and solar are scaling up
Reposted by Xavier Harmony
ninobucci.bsky.social
In 2023, I spent a few months investigating why so many Aboriginal pedestrians were killed in road accidents in the NT. There was a lingering sense that racism played a part in this over representation, and that some drivers were dehumanising Aboriginal people. And lo: www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...
Fatal hit-run driver condemned for bragging about running men down
The Northern Territory's Director of Public Prosecutions is considering whether to appeal a decision to allow a young fatal hit-and-run driver who bragged to his friends afterwards to avoid jail time.
www.abc.net.au
Reposted by Xavier Harmony
justinwolfers.bsky.social
Critical part of the President's new $100,000 charge for H1-B visas: The Administration can also offer a $100,000 discount to any person, company, or industry that it wants. Replacing rules with arbitrary discretion.

Want visas? You know who to call and who to flatter.
Reposted by Xavier Harmony
kevinmkruse.bsky.social
Terrific piece, especially this part.
I see no reason why you and I won’t be next on the list, because well-resourced opposition is all but nonexistent. All this country needs is one leader of industry, just one, to tell this administration to go f—k itself. To date, not a single one of them has. Not even Disney chair Bob Iger, whose company has willingly defied MAGA persecution in years past. Iger is the most powerful man in Hollywood, and Trump still found a way to cow him anyway.
Reposted by Xavier Harmony
pbump.com
When someone says one thing to gain power and then a contradictory thing when exercising that power, the most useful lens for understanding it is power, not hypocrisy.
Reposted by Xavier Harmony
yoshikoherrera.bsky.social
Respectfully disagree: 1) in fact it is unusual for a democracy w/ this level of GDP to turn authoritarian & so quickly; 2) the weakness of both institutions (congress & courts) and individuals (Schumer etc) is shocking. Would take less than 10 people in congress or 2 SC justices to stop all this.
donmoyn.bsky.social
What America is going through is not unusual in historical terms. Plenty of examples like it today elsewhere in the world.
What makes it unusual is the rapid collapse from a set of widely espoused norms and values that centered on liberty. It is the sacking of the shining city on hill that shocks.
Reposted by Xavier Harmony
giuliomattioli.bsky.social
Interesting-looking new article mapping the different strands of transport policy research doi.org/10.1016/j.tr...
Reposted by Xavier Harmony
nickevershed.bsky.social
Millions of Australians at risk from rising sea levels and heat deaths could soar, landmark climate report warns

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
chart showing that heat-related mortality will rise by over 400% in some Australian cities with 3 degrees of warming
Reposted by Xavier Harmony
ddiamond.bsky.social
Dr. @ashishkjha.bsky.social, who led Biden’s coronavirus response, on what the Trump administration’s MAHA report leaves out.

www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/12/o...
The number one cause of death for kids in America is gun violence, a fact that the MAHA report makes no mention of. It's been the leading cause of death in children since 2020. In fact, a report from Johns Hopkins found that in 2022 alone, 2,526 children under 17 years old died from firearm-related injuries. The other leading cause of child mortality is motor vehicle accidents, which have killed more than 1,000 children under the age of 14 each year since 2013.
Despite these jarring figures, the MAHA strategy report is silent on these topics, offering no solutions for preventing gun deaths or making our roads safer for kids. How do we take seriously a report on children's health that fails to acknowledge the two leading causes of death?
Reposted by Xavier Harmony
ketanjoshi.co
Not only are combustion engine "hybrid" cars a pretty nasty marketing scam run by car companies to trick well-meaning consumers into burning fossil fuels, the gap between reality and their claims is getting *worse* every year:

www.transportenvironment.org/articles/plu...
a chart showing that between 2000 and 21 and 2023, the gap between actual greenhouse gas emissions and made up emissions reported by companies has been growing, meaning companies are selling fossil fuel engine cars, as quote hybrid cars. But it's all a giant lie. And the lie is getting worse as time goes on
Reposted by Xavier Harmony
volts.wtf
Best thing California could do to fight fascism is build more housing.
Reposted by Xavier Harmony
brenttoderian.bsky.social
Attention Aussies & Kiwis (or folks from anywhere who like Aussie & Kiwi city-building): Here’s a new Starter Pack from @philipthalis.bsky.social you should check out!

Wherever you are, I hope you’ll consider creating a “local” starter pack to help grow the global urbanist community! I’ll share it!
philipthalis.bsky.social
Here is my starter pack of @bluesky people across urbanism/architecture/climate/culture/environment… with a bit of humour & art thrown in.
Would be good if people became more active here, & avoided other XXXX
🙏 @brenttoderian.bsky.social

go.bsky.app/LJyi6W8