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.

Coming up this Thursday!

And also procure common ship classes rather than artisanal mini-carriers (hi, Italy). Time to bring the industrialists onside and start building up the identical copies of the EUS We Homologated This Yesterday instead of have them fantasize about going back to 2013 relations with Russia.

For @themorningnews.org's 2025 Recap edition—"The Year that Was and Wasn't"—I wrote 200 words about the most important and least important things to happen in the last year. Really grateful to be on the page with so many other amazing writers, analysts, and journalists.

tbh "we need monarchy for efficient government" is funny when you've read the NYU research on transit construction because you learn "hyper efficient" China is kinda... perfectly average at building trains. They just aren't as good as Sweden, S. Korea, or Turkey.

I’m pleased to share a new project I’ve been cooking up these past couple of months. Welcome to "Tailings: Lessons from the frontlines of America’s quest for critical minerals security". 🔌💡🔌🚗 tailings.substack.com/p/introduction

8 years before the Great Depression, the Department of Commerce created a building and housing division within the National Bureau of Standards to solve issues with high labor and material costs, obstructive building codes and zoning regulations. Affordability solutions are right there waiting.

Rep. Seth Moulton comes on CNN and starts by saying: "Is anyone going to just stop for a second and be honest? This is insane. What the hell are we doing? We've got a lot of problems in America today, and invading / occupying / running Venezuela does not solve any of them."

Head of the Revolving Door Project is baselessly accusing Jesse Jenkins of being a hyperscaler shill. No path to decarb that is this hostile to private sector engagement. You can’t transform sectors, deploy technology, or build state capacity this way.

Took a pic of a friend’s shirt and wanted to check back in to say 👋 🎄. More climate action via transit oriented development and housing in ‘26!!

Turning campaigns into mutual aid hubs isn’t good for campaigns or mutual aid! Your campaign manager should be entirely too busy to schlep around 5600 tampons!

Republicans blowing up the SPEED Act with unforced targeting of wind energy and then threatening to undo the filibuster in response is just hilarious. Uniting Dems and threatening to hand them their parliamentary white whale all at once.

Long and miserable commutes are a function of bad zoning policy and not enough housing supply (and an outdated hub and spoke mass transit system) #mapoli www.bostonglobe.com/2025/12/22/m...

Caravanserai Volume 1 was a great success and so much fun to produce. As we wrap up, we have published a table of contents as well as three letters to the editor responding to previous issues. Read once more on Palantir, affordability, and LLMs. caravanseraiforum.substack.com/p/letters-vol1

someone tell the California ACLU who is disproportionately more likely to be killed in traffic accidents including those involving people under the influence

One of the biggest barriers to delivering major transit projects faster and cheaper is the molasses of the Federal environmental review process or NEPA. This could be positively consequential for getting more transit sooner. Will be watching. aptapassengertransport.com/sen-lee-bill...

Progressive politics puts far too much stock on “getting by with less” as a value, goal, or necessity. If anything, Trump’s de-growthism should illustrate there’s no way to get people to live on less in aggregate without becoming that which we’re meant to oppose. open.substack.com/pub/adamtooz...

It would cost the country n o t h i n g for the next transpo authorization bill to take discretion away from USDOT to grant permission to pursue cordon pricing. It’s been proven here, let our cities cook.

There isn’t a lot of money at the state or federal level to do feasibility, business case, or conceptual planning for transit or regional rail. The tried & true way to advance a program or project is to promise it in a local self-help county sales tax — just to unlock planning/enviro review funds.

“Environmental review is not planning” is one of those statements that is so obviously true but nearly every thing about transportation institutions and environmental review in California/US pushes against it.

This Thanksgiving we're thankful for: - the staggering success of Caltrain electrification - CA's continued funding commitment to high-speed rail - Cancellation of the ONT Connector Tesla tunnels creating space for better transit projects in the Rancho/Ontario area.

A really welcome reinvention of a fairly standard five story infill apartment building from a newish local architecture firm, Org chicagoyimby.com/2024/10/plan...

Strong message from Congressman Moulton: “Mark my words: It may take some time, but Americans will be prosecuted for this, either as a war crime or outright murder.”

Still thinking about this article. It’s always been a sore spot in YIMBY circles that so many progressive foundations pour money into NIMBYism, and I’m glad it’s finally being aired in public. Keep talking about it. www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/philant...

"We have a 2000s housing bubble level of financial engineering on top of a 1920s level of private unregulated lending on top of something bigger than a 1990s internet (or 1870s railroad) level of technology and infrastructure build-out." prospect.org/2025/11/19/a...

Happy Victory for US Arms and Down With Treasonous Slavers Day!

Investments in public transit have failed to provide the right incentives for infrastructure projects to get completed in an affordable and timely manner. Join this webinar to learn how reforms to the shape, type, and speed of investment can transform project delivery and service outcomes.

My column in today’s FT: the vision since 2016 has been that the lever British governments pull to fight poverty is to increase the minimum wage. Time for government to start pulling its weight again too:

Highly recommend this report on AI finances. @katemac.bsky.social & I interviewed the lead author bsky.app/profile/did:...

They're debating 50,000 year mortgages

GL Stearns doesn’t want us negatively polarized against liberal democracy. If other democracies can build transit, we really can here, too.

For Caravanserai Volume 1 Issue 7, our writers dove into proposals for public transit―the good, the bad, and the ugly. We don't actually think tap-to-pay is a bad idea, by the way: caravanseraiforum.substack.com/p/transit-vol1

This is such a ridiculous, overzealous, ham-handed rent control ballot question it's almost as if it is being set up to lose (which it should). commonwealthbeacon.org/politics/the...

So excited to be joining the stellar team @publicenterprise.bsky.social !

Center for Public Enterprise now has a transportation vertical! Congratulations to @jmooreotto.bsky.social on joining us as its Program Manager. He’ll be focusing on transit and TOD value capture, rail electrification, and state capacity development. publicenterprise.org/author/jacks...