Here’s an idea for Zohran Mamdani to create more jobs in NYC: he could ask Julie Menin and City Council to relegalize the construction of new hotels, which Bill de Blasio banned citywide as a parting gift to the hotel workers union on his way out of office in 2021 www.nytimes.com/2026/06/02/n...

Some interesting bits of RRIF/TIFIA reform here, that would strengthen, streamline, and expand these high-potential programs (🧵) transportation.house.gov/news/documen...

MPOs can use federal funding for preliminary design. I hope MPOs realize this means they can carry transit designers/engineers on payroll and not just procure consultants.

Is the ROAD to Housing Act an anti-housing bill? More than it was in February, at least. @willpoffwebster.bsky.social and I explain the anti-institutional-investor provision, its many loopholes and unintended consequences, and how to fix it: ifp.org/road-section...

Enjoyed this video on some British autonomous bus trials (with safety drivers for now). Honestly could be transformational for bus service in high wage suburban areas (e.g. North America) www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJFD...

Excellent speech from @schatz.bsky.social Schatz on the importance of fixing anti-build-to-rent provision in the ROAD to Housing Act (h/t @pewilliams.bsky.social) (1/3)

The real problem is we would have no idea how to spend this.

Jansen Ganesh is on fire in this column on the UK’s role in the Iran conflict www.ft.com/content/eaee...

Single-stair gets the New York Times treatment. @holz-bau.bsky.social reminds us why they call the last line the kicker: www.nytimes.com/2026/03/04/b... (gift link)

thanks Claude! very cool

This California practice of awarding construction funding prior to design maturity destroys value. 87% of TIRCP ($2.6bn) construction awards are unallocated, sitting in a bank account during a period generalized infrastructure inflation — waiting for completion of design and funding plans.

Traction is never more critical than when on ice!

In rail and skating, fast and smooth acceleration matters!

Absolutely ridiculous stuff from both Amtrak and ConnDOT that will ***slow down*** service between New London and New Haven.

Ugh. Like seriously, ugh. And this is on Amtrak. How much are they overcharging ConnDOT for electricity to make them prefer running diesels? And this will make Amtrak have to deal with slower, lower performing SLE trains! www.ctinsider.com/connecticut/...

Conventional mainline rail projects don't have to take decades?? 🤯

credit where credit is due!! rare and admirable

I am struggling to think of any country this describes that doesn’t *also* let homeless people die on the street.

The way to increase construction productivity is to have a long pipeline of small, repetitive projects where crews become efficient by constructing the same building over and over and over. This requires by-right approval and small scopes. The canonical example: Houston townhouses.

"We don’t face some kind of formidable foe of the sort Lincoln imagined. We have been unable to defeat the designs of a second-rate demagogue and grifter, aided by third-rate bigots and authoritarians, and surrounded by fourth-rate opportunists and conspiracists." open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

It was a pleasure to speak with @bentongraham.bsky.social about passenger rail in the US. We discussed what makes the Northeast Corridor so (relatively) successful, what can be accomplished on other publicly-owned rail lines, and, of course, what’s going on with CAHSR.

Helsinki is reviving its automation program. No cost figure on that yet, but the CBTC signaling is budgeted at 60 million € for a 43 km long system. www.railwaygazette.com/metro/helsin...

The same circumstances are true when it comes to metro systems. China opened more metro lines in 2025 alone than exist in the entire countries of Russia, UK, or France. Over the past 4 years, China built 2.5x as much metro lines as the US has in total.

$10 flat fee for all deliveries

"'The future of rail in Bayern is electric" A few years ago Germany led the world on hydrogen train deployment - now they are pivoting to overhead electrification and batteries after H2 trains proved to be a dud. Will CA do the same? www.railwaygazette.com/infrastructu...

A good corollary to the Transportation for America's piece on moonshot transit investment from 2 weeks ago is Eno's piece from today on predictability in passenger rail investment. enotrans.org/wp-content/u...

"The secret fear of the morally depraved is that virtue is actually common, and that they’re the ones who are alone."

Will America build transit using the latest design best practices, like automation, electrification and through-running service? Or will it continue to build slow, at-grade light rail lines; infrequent diesel commuter trains; and short, impossibly expensive heavy rail subway extensions?

The IRA launched a manufacturing renaissance, Trump is working hard to cancel it.

vc next to me at the cafe "that's a great insight, and I see the same thing with the robotic tennis business we've had for five years"

See also: Moulton v. Markey

A surefire way to make transportation more abundant and affordable? Increase density. In Bloomberg, I explained why. 🧵

Lipkin says prioritizing full, programmatic funding can unlock other process reforms and risk management. "Other counties’ parliaments debate whether they can fund a full HSR segment. They don’t partially fund a single segment." See also: calelectricrail.org/against-patc... 12/

"Sen. Catherine Blakespear, who represents coastal North County, said... that California needs to employ more professional rail experts to reduce its reliance on consultants." #JustTransitionForCaltrans Missed Monday's webinar? Check out the coverage here on KPBS! www.kpbs.org/news/quality...

Don’t Back Down, Europe open.substack.com/pub/persuasi...

HARDHAT HOCHUL: Guv’s transit ambitions could put MTA on track for biggest expansion in decades “She’s building a transit legacy for herself.” NEW Sunday read in @thecity.nyc www.thecity.nyc/2026/01/18/t...

I really wish we would do something like this again, except instead of prefabrication, focusing on experimenting with concepts not currently in the building codes or applying building codes used in other parts of the world with support from int’l peers and a review committee.

BUBBLE OR NOTHING NEWS: Not only is there a securities fraud case against Oracle for its massive AI capex, but it's being led by a *pension fund* which is clearly quite exposed to AI debt from one of the more, uh, overleveraged builders.

Every additional capital source adds $5-10k in additional costs per unit and delays project start and completion. Policymakers need to internalize this and start acting like they’re investing public equity in projects rather than chipping in for a pizza.

Great to see RRIF and TIFIA reforms moving forward. Next step: doing for transit what this does for TOD. Electrification + automation stand out as good candidates for capital, not grants.

One reason it's hard to use federal financing for transit-oriented dense housing development is restrictions on federal underwriting. Good summary of a bill that would make these programs more flexible from @jmooreotto.bsky.social!

Great news on meaningful RRIF/TIFIA for TOD streamlining+strengthening (🧵)

want buses to be fast? have fewer stops worksinprogress.co/issue/the-un...

"Like an elderly man whose powers are failing, the Habsburg Monarchy sought to recover its youth by a display of vitality...internal action had come to nothing; action in foreign affairs had to take its place."

Gov. Hochul's SEQRA reforms appear very similar to the CEQA reforms California passed last year. This looks more and more like the new Democratic playbook: Don't let environmental laws block things that are good for people and the environment. www.wsj.com/real-estate/...

I know Jay Powell and have a lot of respect for him. Even when we disagree on policy, he (a) understands that his voice has the power to move markets and (b) zealously defends the independence of the Fed. He is not a person who would make a statement like this lightly. Will say more shortly.

Missed yesterday's webinar? Watch the video here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIka... @seamlessbayareaca.bsky.social

Airport authorities do spend a ton of money on this roadway infrastructure, so if they're going to charge for transit, I don't see why they shouldn't charge for using the road networks they're building and maintaining too

Interesting floor plan that shows what mitigations are possible that are not a second stair or sprinklers (neither of which are common in new apartment buildings in France). The lower floors have a short double-loaded corridor with five units of up to 4BR, which I... divisare.com/projects/548...

The Biden admin had great domestic picks across the Fed, WH policy staff, NEC, Treasury, CHIPs Office, DOE & LPO. Contrary to many criticisms on its industrial policy especially, the bureaucrats largely share the desire for more authority to plan, transact, permit, finance, and build state capacity.