Guest host, Emily Stremel!

Denis and Emily alongside guest, Anna discuss transit news in Vancouver, Edmonton, and Seattle plus how disability and transit intersect.

Anna Zivarts is a visually impaired parent and author of When Driving Is Not an Option: Steering Away from Car Dependency (Island/Princeton University Press, 2024). She is also the founder and executive director of the Nondrivers Alliance, and earned undergraduate and master’s degrees from Stanford University. Zivarts sits on the boards of the League of American Bicyclists and the Pacific Northwest Transportation Consortium, and serves as a member of TRB’s Implications of Transportation Choices and Access on Public Health committee.

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More about Anna:
https://annazivarts.com/

More about Emily:
https://edmontontransitriders.org/

Episode 8 - When Driving is Not an Option (with Anna Zivarts)

We're joined by Arden English, who is an undergraduate student studying planning at Simon Fraser University. He also produces educational videos on his YouTube channel “The Greater Discussions” covering topics around city planning and transportation within the context of British Columbia and has also been collaborating with the CBC Creator Network, bringing his YouTube style to a national audience.

Arden and Denis discuss their local insights into the closure of Granville Street for the duration of the 2026 World Cup so to allow a pedestrian zone, which includes Vancouver and Toronto as host cities. And on the subject of Toronto, Rodney discusses the closure of Church Street as a pilot project for its pedestrianisation.

Ever journeyed across the country on rail? Arden recently travelled on VIA Rail's The Canadian, travelling from Vancouver to Toronto. We discuss why he did this and what his impression was of this service that only runs twice weekly between two of Canada's largest cities.

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Church Street pedestrianisation:
https://www.experiencethevillage.ca

FIFA 2026 World Cup Granville Street closure:
https://vancouver.ca/news-calendar/granville-street-pedestrian-zone-june-2026.aspx

The Greater Discussions:
https://youtube.com/@TheGreaterDiscussions

Contact us!
mailbag@dwelltime.ca
https://dwelltime.ca
https://bsky.app/profile/dwelltime.ca
https://www.instagram.com/dwelltimepod/

Episode 7 - Church Street, the big soccer (football) game, and travelling on VIA Rail (w/ The Greater Discussions)

Emily Stremel of Edmonton Transit Riders (ETR) joins us in how transit advocacy came to be in Alberta's capital city and the challenges and strengths the region has in making transit great for everyone. We also learn about her insights into the music scene in Toronto and Montréal.

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https://edmontontransitriders.org/
https://www.instagram.com/edmontontransitriders
https://www.tiktok.com/@edmontontransitriders
https://bsky.app/profile/etriders.bsky.social
https://www.linkedin.com/company/edmonton-transit-riders/

Episode 6 - Transit in Edmonton (with Emily)

Advocacy matters and it can lead to wins even with losses elsewhere.

We discuss the expansion of the R4 RapidBus in Metro Vancouver, the return of late-night bus service in Waterloo, Ontario, and a survey performed by Abacus around support for ALTO's high speed rail service between Toronto and Quebec City.

Damian Mikhail is a Waterloo community organizer, deeply focused on activating young people in politics. Getting his start in municipal politics as founder and president of the University of Waterloo NDP Club, he spearheaded two student transit coalitions that protected Waterloo from cuts to off-peak Ion service and brought Night Transit to the city. At time of recording, he is at the tail end of his term as President of the Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association.

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Student advocacy saves evening ION LRT service
https://uwaterloo.ca/news/environment/student-advocacy-saves-evening-transit-service

GRT bringing back late night bus in Waterloo after advocacy
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/late-night-loop-route-91-grand-river-transit-university-district-1.7184466

R4 expansion in Metro Vancouver, linking North Vancouver and Burnaby
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/north-shore-metrotown-expanded-rapidbus-9.7157034

TriTAG
Website: https://www.tritag.ca/
Instagram & Bluesky: @tritag.ca

Damien:
@MikhailDamian for Twitter
@damian7m for Instagram

Abacus Data Survey on ALTO HSR Support
https://www.altno.ca/_files/ugd/f1a60d_f91a3f0ada144cb981f03a0da603e347.pdf

Episode 5 - Advocacy wins and setbacks (with Damian)

In 2025, both Metro Vancouver and Philadelphia faced tremendous budget cuts only to have them cancelled at the last minute through the age-old method of kicking the can down the road.

We're joined by Justin Roczniak, one of the hosts of Well There's Your Problem podcast where we discuss not only the budget troubles transit agencies face, but calamities such as trolley poles that have no business being used in places they don't belong or the current state of affairs with the bus manufacturing industry in North America.

This episode will be a bit chaotic due to our audio recording software having a mind of its own. Please excuse any weirdness with how parts of the episode are segued!

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Justin's links:
https://www.wtyppod.com/
https://bsky.app/profile/donoteat.bsky.social
https://www.youtube.com/user/donoteat01

https://www.transitforwardphilly.org/
https://blvdsubway.com/

Mayor Chow Announces Phase 1 TSP for Lines 5 and 6
https://www.reddit.com/r/toronto/comments/1rqd87j/transit_signal_priority_update/

https://ontariotrafficman.wordpress.com/

Metrolinx Documents Leaked: Series by Jack Hauen:

 * Shorter, more frequent GO train plan ‘unlikely to materialize’: leaked document
   * https://www.cambridgetoday.ca/local-news/shorter-more-frequent-go-train-plan-unlikely-to-materialize-leaked-document-12023949
 * Metrolinx could run first electric GO trains in 2036: leaked document
   * https://www.cambridgetoday.ca/local-news/metrolinx-could-run-first-electric-go-trains-in-2036-leaked-document-12019017
 * GO trains in ‘poor’ condition and could ‘begin to fail’ in 2026, says leaked report
   * https://www.cambridgetoday.ca/local-news/go-trains-in-poor-condition-and-could-begin-to-fail-in-2026-says-leaked-report-12011777

Three door buses for Vancouver
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/translink-new-solaris-trolley-bus-three-doors

Episode 4 - What can we learn from SEPTA and Philly? (with Justin Roczniak)

While a Canadian did not make it on a round trip from Earth to the Moon just yet, the Eglinton Crosstown or simply "Line 5" did in fact finally open! Joined by August from TTCriders, we discuss our first impressions and how monumental this is for the Greater Toronto Area.

Denis talks about his time travelling across warm and sunny Mexico while Rodney speaks about his simultaneous visit to Halifax, which admittedly was nowhere near as warm.

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Learn more about August!
https://bsky.app/profile/auguststreet.ca
https://www.auguststreet.ca
https://bsky.app/profile/ttcriders.bsky.social
https://www.ttcriders.ca

Olivia Chow’s Thread on signal priority https://www.threads.com/@mayoroliviachow/post/DVHTrvbEqzh?xmt=AQF0OQVPeUKbmxz3XcQnAIMwRXtrl8GEL8-9HZMayk6ZlA
Canada Public Transit Fund cut by $5 billion https://environmentaldefence.ca/2026/02/02/statement-5-billion-in-transit-cuts-a-huge-step-backwards/
Halifax Transit Advocacy Group: It’s More Than Buses https://morethanbuses.ca/
Activate Transit Windsor Essex https://activatetransitwindsoressex.ca/
HFX by Bike https://www.youtube.com/@hfxbybike
Denis’s Thread about Mexico https://bsky.app/profile/denisagar.bsky.social/post/3megqagnqis2a
Jonathan English’s report for CSA for the show notes:  https://www.csagroup.org/article/public-policy/making-the-grade-recommendations-for-addressing-the-high-cost-of-canadas-transit-infrastructure/



Episode 3 - Talking Mexico, Halifax, and Eglinton Crosstown (with August)

Nearly every city in the country that doesn't experience rain all winter has been inundated with so much snow and it has brought problems to transit riders especially in Southern Ontario. 

We're also joined by our guest, Reece Martin of RMTransit, where we discuss the nuances and challenges of building a transit advocacy movement, culture, and education. Plus we also provide the big reveal: what is a "dwell time"?

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Snow Clearing:

 * Grand River Transit working to enhance bus stop snow removal times
   * https://www.cambridgetoday.ca/local-news/grand-river-transit-working-to-enhance-bus-stop-snow-removal-times-11765595?ref=tritag.ca
 * Toronto residents are frustrated with slush-filled sidewalks, city responds
   * https://nowtoronto.com/news/toronto-frustrated-slush-filled-sidewalks/

Vancouver Broadway Subway Bus Detour (Instagram Explainer) - https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUCNt3Oj794/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

RPA (Regional Plan Association for the Tri-State Area) Triboro Line/Interborough Express - https://rpa.org/work/campaigns/ibx

Rider’s Alliance (NYC) - https://www.ridersalliance.org/

Transit Engineering & Planning: Needs and Perspectives in Canada - https://ojs.library.queensu.ca/index.php/PCEEA/article/view/19671

Reece Martin - https://reecemartin.ca

Bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/dwelltime.ca

Episode 2 - Interview with Reece Martin

It's our first step! Rodney Chan of TriTAG and Denis Agar of Movement have come together to discuss transit advocacy in Canada. Rodney brings up the new Line 6 Finch West LRT that just opened in Toronto and how its shortcomings are bringing transit priority front and centre at city hall. 

As well, Denis and Rodney have a conversation about how they ended up in the transit planning and urbanism scene plus how they both have contributed to being micro-celebrities on social media.

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Denis promoting a new bus service for Metro Vancouver - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eltnLcyP8AU [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eltnLcyP8AU&pp=ygURZGVuaXMgdGhlIHBsYW5uZXI%3D]
Steve Munro Blog Post on TTC Board discussion on Line 6 Finch West LRT - https://stevemunro.ca/2025/12/10/ttc-board-debates-finch-lrt/
Motion to speed up light rail transit and street cars - https://secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda-item.do?item=2025.MM35.15
Results of the motion - https://bsky.app/profile/graphicmatt.com/post/3ma4xkekyhk2o

Tri-Cities Transport Action Group (TriTAG) - https://tritag.ca
Movement: Metro Vancouver Transit Riders - https://movementyvr.ca/

Bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/dwelltime.ca

Episode 1 - Meet Rodney and Denis!

Join Denis Agar and Rodney Chan in their discussions around transit in Canada. From buses to trains and everything else transit, learn about advocacy happening in Canadian cities and beyond.

Dwell Time, a transit podcast