Urbanists puke and cry while submitting on the government's draft transport policy
Part 1: activism updates, and part 2: life updates!
Hey, it’s Robbie.
Compared to my old transport activism days, it took a long-ass time to get around to looking at the government’s draft plan for land transport (known, boringly as the “GPS 2024”). It’s a privilege to do climate activism, and honestly, I’ve been a bit distracted trying to survive while trans, and trying to support Palestinian liberation.
When I actually read the plan, I was angry. It’s easy to be busy when so many other bad things are happening. The GPS is positioned to sneak through while a lot of us are busy fighting other fires.
I laughed the other week when Stuff’s AI-generated reader comment round-up include this statement:
“There are only three things guaranteed in life: death, taxes, and the National party getting aroused by new roads.”
Thank you to the anonymous legend for the laughs. It’s true. To make such ill-informed, ignorant statements as the ones made in this draft policy, you really might have to be aroused by new roads.
Here’s why you should care:
Big new motorways are approved by default, but they won’t fund walking and cycling projects unless people are already walking and cycling there.
Which means that to build a case for walking and cycling, we need to… go risk our lives and cycle in the crappy scary places where infrastructure isn’t, apparently.
The new funding structure means we could get new roads without footpaths! Just like the little America the ACT party wants us to be.
They’re stating that it’s “unfair for road users to subsidise rail” and are making it even more difficult to promote (sustainable) rail fright over (terrible) road freight.
Even though all of us are subsidising trucks by paying for the damage they cause to roads. “Unfair”, eh.
They’re proposing to expand policing instead of addressing the systemic issues around drug and drink driving. Big yikes.
Yup, pretty much everything you might joke about the National party caring about is true.
If you like walking, cycling, or public transport at all, I encourage you to take 30min to make a written submission, or at least sign the petition. Both options are on Transport for all. If you need moral support to help you submit, you can join their submission parties on Zoom. Do this before submissions close at noon on Tuesday, 2nd April.
The curious case of radical trans gay bicycle activism
I’m also at the rallies for Palestine every weekend at the moment. Emily Writes wrote some lovely words yesterday about the call to activism, and I’m on a pretty similar line of thinking.
I thought I was radical, before. Like there’s one door you step through when you decide to reject the status quo and make the world a better place, then you’re out on the other side.
Turns out it feels more like a series of doors, where you’re always progressing to new levels of understanding.
I passed through one a long time ago when I realised that we don’t do activism to get results or clout or whatever. We do it because it’s about creating hope when things are hopeless. Hope is shaped like a shovel and will give you blisters, because hope is about just doing something that needs to be done.
The last door I stepped through was deciding I never want people to see me as “one of the good ones”. When you’re a marginalized person and people are at pains to tell you they’re an ally and they support the cause but turn around and do things that enable abuses of power – whether it’s white supremacist power, patriarchal power, or anything else.
If you call out the “good guys” you’ll get in trouble, and be pushed into agreeing and affirming them so that you can keep your place in the community.
It’s a no-win situation:
get punished for ruining everyone else’s good time by bringing up the whole “white supremacy patriarchy” problem,
or punish yourself by stuffing it down, and pretending the problem doesn’t exist.
Heck, even just typing this is a lot because it could invite people to come at me with their guilt. Guilt quickly turns into coercion – you’re being unreasonable, it’s not so bad, or “but I’m such a good guy” – and the whole cycle begins again. We live in a capitalist society of instant gratification, and most people don’t realise they’re being dismissive and coercive to protect their own comfort zone.
Instead, I chose to break the cycle and be free.
What I initially thought was a feeling of burnout, was actually that door slamming shut behind me saying “no more”. You’ve spent your entire life setting yourself on fire just to keep other people warm, and it’s slowly destroying you.
So, I stopped trying to fight loads of uphill battles about why things are bad. And in lots of communities, I found myself fading and fading until I just blip’ed right out of existence.
Everyone’s on their own journey, and I wish them all the best. Heck, I was once that ignorant person that came from a sheltered, isolated upbringing. But it’s been 29 years of trying to adapt myself to a society that just wasn’t designed for me, and it’s time for me to focus on other stuff.
Anyway, this one goes below the main topic of this email, because it feels strange to email 150 people with this information…but hey! I figure, some of you might be:
People who know me, and don’t know why I disappeared
Folks who are keen to learn how to be better allies
Peers in my trans/queer/indigenous/disabled/migrant network, and I hope it’s of some comfort (?) to know you’re not alone. Shout out to you.
What’s next for me
I’ve been posting less and less on all the platforms as I gear up for my biggest bicycle activism project ever. It’s still a secret but I’ll be able to tell you all soon (at least, those of you who subscribe to my emails, and the almost 1,000 of you (heck) who follow my Instagram).
I’m still here on Substack for now, with the intention to move platforms at the same time as the new project, probably to Patreon. While Patreon isn’t perfect, it has (notably) banned some nazis, and I can still do a bunch of stuff for free (nice).
Do something useful
Here’s a big list of activism things for your consideration:
Help with transport and climate change
Go to Transport for all and sign the petition (if you’re in a hurry) or make a submission (even better) by mid-day Tuesday 2nd April (the day after easter weekend).
If you’re in Tāmaki Makaurau, submissions on the Long Term Plan / 10 year budget close this Thursday. Tell them that we want to pay for public transport and cycle lanes, and all that good stuff.
Help Palestine
I’m going to work a day for Palestine, and donate a day’s pay to the Amos Trust (you may recognise them as the organisation that supports the Gaza Sunbirds). If you have the means to do so, it’s important to help deliver aid.
Rallies calling for a ceasefire are still happening every weekend, and it would be good to have more non-Muslim folks out to support while many people are resting during Ramadan. Sign up to the PSNA newsletter for regular dates and times.
Oppose Whaikaha disability funding changes
We also need to support our disabled community. Recently Whaikaha’s funding was changed leaving disabled people and their carers in shock, as a number of items (travel, respite, devices like tablets that non-verbal people need to communicate) got removed from funding with no warning.
More than this, politicians used lots of dehumanising language accusing carers of “frivolous” items. Remember that people doing unpaid care work for their loved ones are doing work, and the least we can do is cover the gas to their medical appointments or let them get a haircut so they can keep on going. Seriously. Sign the petition asking Waikaha to reconsider.
Thanks for reading!
Robbie