Me: "Are Singaporean rail passengers wealthier than bus riders?" Singaporean friend: "Of course not. Transit is transit. Everybody rides everything." Me: *sighs in American*

Pictures from some of today's connection points in which I had a seamless journey (🚶 🚍 ✈️ 🚉 🚍) to the @apta-info.bsky.social 2026 Mobility conference in SLC!

A scene from this morning's run: Moran Station Park and Ride ready for service.

Happy Mother's Day! Photo is noted as c. 1930 by the Portland City Archives, but a date of May 10 for Mother's Day means it must be either 1931 or 1936.

My wife needed donuts for a class this morning she is teaching at church. Downhill run followed by a bus journey make for a winning round trip.

Yesterday, APTA wrote to House and Senate leaders, urging them to provide strong FY27 funding for public transit and passenger rail, calling for $26.3 billion for public transit and $24.8 billion for passenger and freight rail. aptapassengertransport.com/apta-urges-c...

A beautiful day to run a race. A fabulous day to be a bus rider.

For many Spokane Transit employees, this is their favorite work day of the year. Big increase in pre-purchase Bloomsday bus passes. Good luck to all runners and walkers!

Twice daily Pasco to Spokane. wheatline.us

Investing in public transit keeps American companies growing. 77% of Federal public transit investment flows to the private sector, backing businesses nationwide. #ThatsTransit Support the 2026 Surface Transportation Authorization Act and fully fund public transportation. 🔗 APTA.com/transitimpact

Today's timely choice of socks. Let's go!

Happy #WorldPublicTransportDay! Learn how Spokane Transit is pursuing its vision to connect everyone to opportunity. youtu.be/l-62DulQ3UM?...

Right now, our members are headed to DC for APTA’s Legislative Conference! Public transportation is one of the smartest investments America can make, and this week is about protecting that progress and keeping our economy moving forward. Follow along at #PublicTransitImpact #APTAleg26 #ThatsTransit

It was my birthday the other day and a work colleague gifted me several books by King County Metro coach operator Nathan Vass. Each stor, an entry recalling experiences driving the bus, is moving and reaffirms to me how transit embodies community in a way that can't be replicated by other means.

NTSB says that Level 2 systems like Ford Blue Cruise and Tesla Autopilot don't improve road safety, In fact, they may worsen it b/c automakers overestimate their capabilities. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy: “These systems function primarily as convenience features rather than safety enhancements."

the ultimate reason of why I do not support free transit is that transit funding has tradeoffs, and using the money to improve service is almost always going to be more valuable enabling people to go from car ownership to transit is always going to be more valuable than cutting their fares

The economic impact of public transit reaches far and wide, from employing workers and supporting a broad supplier network, to encouraging spending in the local economy. Learn more ⬇️ www.apta.com/wp-content/u... #PublicTransitImpact

An earlier 20th century vision a park and resort at "Big Rock." Part of a broader vision of a railway to Moran Prairie and beyond from downtown Spokane. It would take nearly 120 years for the landmark to be purchased for public use and conservation. www.spokesman.com/stories/2019...

Transit ridership in the Paris region is now 5% higher than it was in the pre-Covid period, as car traffic along the Paris ring highway & within the center city is 15 to 20% lower than pre-Covid. www.institutparisregion.fr/mobilite-et-...

Happy Transit Employee Appreciation Day! Spokane Transit's greatest asset is its employees. I am thankful for the great people who serve our community every day and night throughout the year, providing mobility to tens of thousands daily. youtu.be/oaCmDsNIG44?...

As they scale, autonomous vehicles are likely to cause crippling congestion. Two reasons: 1) Their users will take more and longer car trips 2) They often drive around empty Result: More vehicles on the road, more pollution, and more traffic Me in @bloomberg.com 🧵

The printed timetable (c. 2021) is helping compensate for my wardrobe missteps for this 17th of March.

👀 "the recession had extended Americans’ life spans — in part because people ended up driving less, and therefore had fewer fatal accidents, and because less driving and economic activity translated into less air pollution."

Currently working through Nicholas Dagen Bloom’s excellent book “The Great American Transit Disaster” and this is definitely an underlying thread… private owners either underinvested, exited aggressively at the slightest hint of adversity, or were treated by shortsighted cities as tax cows to milk.

I think it's underappreciated how prolonged private ownership of transit systems in America is among the primary roots of its poor positioning in our cities relative to other developed countries.

The Trump administration has yet to sign a contract for a single new transit project www.urban.org/urban-wire/r... Even so, Congress designated 21 transit projects for funding in a recent spending bill. I did a little more investigation to understand the status of some of these projects 🧵

APTA’s new economic report shows how investing in public transit creates jobs, boosts tax revenue, and benefits the economy! #PublicTransitImpact Learn about the impacts: www.apta.com/wp-content/u...

I had lunch with Ben Tobin, a local street photographer, and picked up two prints I ordered from him (personal purchase, FYI). I am really pleased with how these turned out.

Spokane Transit quietly served over 15,200 passenger boardings on Sunday, March 1, the first time ever surpassing 15k passengers for STA on a non-Bloomsday Sunday. Overall, Sunday ridership is running 33% higher than pre-COVID levels, representing the highest growth rate among service days.

I was on a panel last week where I was posed the question, "how are you going to get us out of our cars?" The audience was made up of several hundred developers and real estate brokers. I basically said, "I'm focused on the 80%, not you." 1/2

New meta-analysis of 26 published studies concludes that AVs will lead people to use cars a lot more — which would thicken congestion and worsen pollution (even if AVs are electric). "AV deployment is anticipated to lead to an overall increase in Vehicle Miles Traveled." doi.org/10.1016/j.tb...

Another amazing sunset tonight.

Spokane is Downtown. Just left the Downtown Spokane Partnership meeting and captured this view before hopping on my bus to go home. I love this city!

The 1 and the 4 pacing each other on Sprague Avenue during my commute to work this morning.

Posting this an hour later, but here is the new safety stop and dispatch check-in (with an extra pause to accommodate a stair climb by an employee filming the event). The bus makes an automatic call to dispatch when approaching the viaduct and the operator confirms the street and height.

Good morning EWU Eagles!

Operator is doing his final checks before departure. I will be a passenger on the top deck of the first double decker bus in revenue service in over a month. Additional operating and safety protocols in place to prevent off route occurrences and increase height awareness.

"you look happier" thanks i took the bus here

Weather and traffic conditions can be disruptive to our service, so it's satisfying to see that investments in digital displays and real time data quality are making timely information available to our customers.

The Empire Lines bus network in 1970.

Spokane Transit's fare policy includes the recognition that fare collection is a decidedly "pro ridership" effort.

👇 Metro Ridership continues to grow! Biggest Feb day in 6 yrs, highest day ever @ NoMa Station, almost 1m🚇🚌/day. Traffic is getting worse and worse, join those in the know and speed past all those stuck in their cars. Thanks for riding America’s Metro System.

Walking to the office from the bus stop and noticed they're offering a reduced price on this fantasy-themed estate! 😅

The U.S. Government Accountability Office reports that public transportation can reduce airport road congestion, benefiting travelers, airline workers, and airport staff. The study reviews public transit availability, use, and strategies at 51 airports. aptapassengertransport.com/gao-reports-...

Myst - Spokane Edition

Where is transit expansion happening around the world? Basically everywhere! Brand new on The Transport Politic: The hundreds of metro, light rail, bus, & aerial tram projects planned to open in 2026. 🛤️ 🚋 🚌 www.thetransportpolitic.com/2026/01/20/t...

On my way to the Cheney City Council meeting. From the top deck!

Reaching the first meeting of the day included riding City Line and crossing the Spokane River on the Iron Bridge. Positive momentum for my day.

Sorry, but triumphant claims about autonomous vehicle safety are wildly exaggerated. It's an open question whether today’s self-driving cars are any safer than those driven by humans. And if reducing crashes is the goal, that isn’t even the right question. My deep dive, in Bloomberg 🧵