Political scientists have a term for how Trump governs: “Competitive authoritarianism.” Like Hungary under Orbán, he was elected but uses the gov't to abuse the law. trib.al/hY3VbAW The DOT is usually immune from this partisanship. Instead, they're using it to advance Trump’s authoritarian agenda.

Why is the Dept of Transportation trying to torpedo NYC congestion pricing? Why - in God’s name - is Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on TV smearing the Minnesotans killed by ICE? For @newrepublic.com, I show Trump has turned USDOT into an authoritarian weapon. newrepublic.com/article/2051...

"Non-violent tactics that waste a company’s time or money are really effective. For Enterprise, we’ve made and cancelled car reservations, saying the roads are too icy. At Home Depot... people [lined] up to buy ice scrapers and then getting in line to return them, in a way that clogs the lines."

The Crossroads conference is tomorrow in DC - I'll be there and hope to see you as well. The transportation equity research the world needs to hear and #TRBAM doesn't want you to see ;)

Times are a changing here in CT. The land "East of the River" (That being the Connecticut River which bisects the state flowing from north to south) is seeing a surge in new long overdue housing projects that rivals far wealthier and far more in demand parts of CT www.ctinsider.com/journalinqui...

this is the most incredible interview i’ve ever read. the aei guy tries so hard to get sliwa to trash mamdani and he simply won’t. he also brings up flaco (rip) unprompted. www.wsj.com/opinion/free...

It’s encouraging to 1) see Mike Flynn named as NYC transportation commissioner and 2) see him standing with Mayor Mamdani at his private swearing-in ceremony, which the NYT found surprising www.nytimes.com/2026/01/01/n...

Thank you to @vanhollen.senate.gov and @fetterman.senate.gov for reintroducing the Moving Transit Forward Act 🚌🚇, which would create a much needed federal program to fund increased transit service across the country. www.vanhollen.senate.gov/news/press-r...

Um, ok... This paper forthcoming at the JOP provides evidence that rent control in Germany actually made tenants MASSIVELY *less* NIMBY. This result was in the opposite direction of the authors' pre-registered expectations. And the effect sizes are, truly, massive.

"any savings for car buyers will vanish quickly as drivers are forced to shell out more cash at the fuel pump..."

The trucking industry contributes $60 billion to surface transportation every year. A fair share would be closer to $150 billion. Important fact to keep in mind as Congress debates a new transportation bill and the trucking industry lobbies for lower taxes.

Was glad to see this. As @davereichmuth.bsky.social wrote for @ucs.org, Toyota has called for the end of EV tax credits; it even asked its employees to lobby Congress to kill California's clean car rules blog.ucs.org/dave-reichmu....

Last summer, I took a road trip through the Adirondacks in an electric car. It was drama-free - as I wrote for @ucs.org - largely because of a recently added fast charger near "Frontier Town," a convenience store that sells camping supplies and Pakistani food blog.ucs.org/steven-higas...

It's a sad day when our leaders turn their back on long established science to try and roll back public health protections while the dangers of climate change are palpable on a daily basis. We cannot let this stand. www.ucs.org/about/news/t...

TONIGHT tune in to learn how to make your city's bus system better as we host a book talk with the author of "Better Buses, Better Cities" @stevenhigashide.com actionnetwork.org/events/bette...

Excited to host a virtual book talk with the author of "Better Buses, Better Cities: How to Plan, Run, and Win the Fight for Effective Transit" @stevenhigashide.com. Register today! actionnetwork.org/events/bette... Get your book through @islandpress.bsky.social at islandpress.org/books/better...

useful piece for people who might be wavering on Zohran. from the outside he seems like a smart guy who is willing to build alliances with more experienced folks like Lander, I think that is key

"The Elizabeth Line in London is used by more than twice as many people as expected, for example. For some reason, this is not being treated as a massive embarrassment, nearly as bad as a 100% cost overrun." backofmind.substack.com/p/department...

Cuts have consequences, illustrated. As seen on TV 📺

“Everybody will say, ‘Silicon Valley’s reinventing the bus again.' But it’s more like they’re reinventing a worse bus”: @kevshen.bsky.social in @grist.org grist.org/transportati...

Powerful non-partisan moment on the Weather & Climate Livestream as fired NOAA employees address the popular belief that voters in red states should "get what they voted for." wclivestream.com/watch/

For decades, U.S. residents have had the experience of traveling, riding public transportation networks that blow ours out of the water, and asking "Why can't we have that here?" Would be ironic to see the same thing happen to the experience of driving!

Some toplines: 🔌EV brake wear PM 83% lower than combustion vehicles; tire wear PM ~20% higher due to higher weight ☁️40% of brake PM goes airborne compared to 1-5% of tire PM 🚇Model: 5x reduction of non-exhaust emissions (in London) from shifting trips to public transit vs. faster electrification

Actual quotes from the Dallas Fed's monthly manufacturing report: "Business sucks" "DOGE has killed us. Our customers are fighting tariff increases and dramatic funding cuts from USDA and USAID." "We have a large order delayed until 2026." www.dallasfed.org/research/sur...

For reference, this show is taped 4 blocks from a train station in Hollywood, one of the places in LA with excellent transit connectivity! I bet at rush hour, @awalkerinla.bsky.social could easily get to the show faster than other guests driving there!

Demand for transportation options is growing - people are increasingly choosing transit 🚌🚇. But still over half of the country’s population does not live near any transit whatsoever. Meanwhile, agencies' hard-earned recovery faces the threat of fiscal cliffs. Read more: blog.ucs.org/kshen/how-mu...

“This could be the start of a new kind of freight system. One that’s better for our health, as well as delivering significant operational savings to fleets. So, let's not undercut this remarkable advance in technology at this critical moment.” www.govtech.com/transportati...

The Prius has given #Toyota a pro-environment reputation that covers up the fact that the company does more than any other automaker to fight climate solutions. Toyota is even asking its own employees to lobby Congress to kill California's clean vehicle rules.

Last week I received notice that FHWA’s INVEST tool—a resource launched in 2012 to help transportation agencies evaluate the sustainability of their programs and projects—will no longer be available starting this June. www.sustainablehighways.org

100 days of this administration, over 200 separate documented attacks on science (as tracked by @ucsusa.bsky.social - blog.ucs.org/jules-barbat...) savesciencenow.org

The US declared the interstate highway system complete in 1992 and last raised federal fuel taxes in 1993. Since then, the US has continued to massively expand roads, and the cost of building those roads has increased. Three decades of expanding the road network while keeping the gas tax unchanged.

Most rail services in the US still use polluting diesel locomotives. Recently, our commuter rail system in San Francisco, @caltrain.com, was electrified. Good news: we found DRAMATIC air quality improvements once the electric trains replaced the diesels. pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

People might think this is an exaggeration but it’s a literal description of what happened in New York, where Cuomo partnered with a small group of turncoat democrats to hand control of the NY Senate to Republicans

There's lots of uncertainty surrounding EV policy right now. However, it's important to remember what we can be certain of: EVs are a critical technology for reducing pollution from transportation. blog.ucs.org/dave-reichmu...

we live in an extraordinarily wealthier society than our parents and grandparents. our problem is that we have not invested enough of that wealth in social goods, but i don’t think anyone actually wants to return to a time when even a “good” factory job was backbreaking labor

asterisk because i think we look at that period of stability deeply red rose-colored glasses. when people think prosperity they don’t think “family of six sharing a 1200 sq ft home living largely on canned goods and hand me downs” but that was the reality

I spent yesterday at the CA Senate Environmental Quality Committee pushing for 3 @ucsusa.bsky.social priority bills and testifying against one bill undermining a CA Clean Air Rule! Read this thread to learn how it went!

Come for the fast trains, stay for the recommendations to build state capacity via new departments at MTA, CUNY, SUNY, and libraries

Big "mask-off" moment for several automakers - supporting legislation to neuter EPA and states' ability to cut vehicle pollution.

I bet an undergrad class called "Political Science in the Age of Dril" would be wildly popular and enlightening.

In honor of International Transgender Day of Visibility, we’re shining a spotlight on a familiar subway voice: Bernie Wagenblast. 🏳️‍⚧️🚇 Join Bernie at the NY Transit Museum on Thursday, April 24 at 6 p.m. for “The Subway Is…Storytelling with Pride,” to hear stories from the MTA LGBTQIA+ communities.

"California is the only state that recognizes the mall as a protest site," says @strugar.bsky.social, who once sued Rick Caruso over the Grove's draconian protest policies. At the Americana, however, the city of Glendale owns the open space at the center — ensuring the mall is a true public square

🚝 Ever seen The Simpsons episode “Marge vs. the Monorail”? Turns out, life imitates art. Remember when Elon Musk won a bid for high-speed transit in Chicago? He pitched futuristic tech that didn’t exist—and, surprise, his proposal was never built. Sound familiar?

They* knew *me blog.ucs.org/steven-higas...

Just looked back at my @ucsusa.bsky.social blog post on how Musk and team tried to sell cities on nonexistent tech (blog.ucs.org/steven-higas.... and there's Steve Davis (DOGE hatchet man profiled in the NY Times today).

When did Elon lose your respect? It depends on when he first showed up in YOUR field and claimed to know all about it. For social media people, that was 2022. For cave rescuers, 2018. And for transport professionals, around 2017. Fine @shigashide.bsky.social piece. blog.ucs.org/steven-higas...

My latest blog for UCS. Transportation professionals saw Elon Musk's lying and disdain for the public years ago. It was important to speak up then and it's absolutely essential now.

"The car-centric transportation system we have today is economically and environmentally unsustainable. The general public is already on the hook for its cost—it’s time we think harder about what it is we are paying for, for whom and why, and how we pay for it."

At the end of the day, all of us will bear the cost of the administration’s decision to prioritize the interests of its political allies and the oil industry above the well-being of people and the planet. www.ucs.org/about/news/e...