This week I learned that @wesmars.bsky.social really (and I mean REALLY) hates John Forester and vehicular cycling.

Good article. This problem is also rampant with trains - every agency wants custom kit instead of just buying things off the rack.

Great story. Many similar lessons for buying trains, too.

This is the first in a series of stories I’ll be writing to explore how Abundance-based reforms could improve US transportation. Stay tuned

In the US, even a “cheap” transit bus costs 2-3x more than in Asia or Europe -- and one agency may pay twice as much as another for nearly identical vehicles. In Bloomberg, I explored a ripe opportunity to improve transportation by applying Abundance-coded, supply-side reforms. 🧵

Forgot one: “Demand that your local leaders build complete networks of sidewalks and protected bike lanes.”

“You can’t subscribe your way out of poor transit service, dangerous streets, and bad land use planning.” That quote pretty much sums it up! Good episode.

Lord, I’ve seen what you’ve done for other people…

Bologna lowered its speed limit to 30 km/h (19 mph). Italy’s right-wing government declared war. In Bloomberg, I explored how street safety became a political issue in Europe, much like in the US. 🧵 www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Portland, I'm coming your way! On Oct 10 I'll give a keynote at the PacTrans Transportation Conference, discussing ways that cities can future-proof themselves for self-driving cars. Info: pactransconference.com Thanks to @trecpdx.bsky.social for extending the invite.

New research on the impact of British Columbia's e-bike rebates. Encouraging stuff: 🔹 Emissions from travel ⬇️ 17% (equivalent to 1,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide) 🔹 Travel costs ⬇️ 12% 🔹 Physical activity: ⬆️ 13% 🔹 $6.5M in rebates ➡️ $8.7M in new retailer spending

This guy is also trying to block Ontario cities from building new bike lanes (and force Toronto to rip out several popular ones). Want more crashes? Doug Ford is your guy.

RIP to a man who utterly traumatized 8-year-old me

Are multimodal "mobility hubs" a game changer? At APTA TRANSform, I led a panel discussion w/Andy Byford, WMATA's Tom Webster & more. TL;DR: It's not clear that mobility hubs reshape travel choices. But added transit service, better sidewalks, and new bike lanes definitely do. Takeaways ⤵️

Today at 6p EST! Join the livestream (link below), or listen later on any podcasting app.

“The appetite for a less car-dominated community is here in the States.”

The effect of car dependency: in 1940, Basil Rathbone was photographed wearing an overcoat outside his home. As more men relied on cars, overcoats became shorter to accommodate drivers. Today, the right is marketed as an "overcoat," even if it would've been considered more sport coat length in 1940.

“People tend, when they think of their ideal home, to picture one as far as possible from the center of town. How unfortunate!” -- Lewis Mumford, 1963 Source: www.planetizen.com/blogs/135878...

Agree. An SUV that accelerates like a sports car is pointless -- and also dangerous.

This summer, 40 Stockholm streets have gone car-free. Deputy Mayor: “Change makes people nervous, and they don’t like when it feels forced. So, [we] frame these road closures like a fun little experiment that can go away if people don’t like them.” Source: www.politico.eu/newsletter/g...

This was very clever: After collecting fines from speed cameras, Stockholm ran a lottery where non-speeding drivers could win the money. www.wired.com/2010/12/swed...

On the unmet need for safe bike storage: "Results suggest a relative undersupply of bicycle parking at destinations compared with free car parking [and] an increasing need for bicycle parking for costlier e-bikes." findingspress.org/article/1442...

Tuesday's Most Read # 1 - A self-driving car traffic jam is coming for US cities link.theoverheadwire.com/pwvgb @vox.com @davidzipper.bsky.social

Nice discussion about low-speed vehicles that go over 25 mph at the end of @lookbothwayspod.bsky.social Not an area of NHTSA's regulation I've looked at, but it'd be super interesting to get the Microlino and Citroen Ami legalized as an unintentional part of tariff deals

"No more buttons?" "No, just screen."

The guys have now done enough episodes that they have relaxed and the conversation flows well and these guys are both deeply knowledgeable and very engaged in making our streets safer.

On the latest episode of @lookbothwayspod.bsky.social, Wes and I discussed why traffic cameras are more popular than many realize: "A very motivated minority of drivers lose their mind over the perceived inequity...even though speeding or running through a red light is by definition illegal."

I should add: Every single one of these strategies will enhance urban life regardless of when (or even if) self-driving cars become ubiquitous.

Really can't stress this enough: When a city has 1,000 self-driving cars, they might seem like fun, innocuous novelties. But at 100,000+ it's another story entirely.

As autonomous vehicles spread across the US, they could turn urban streets into a congested, chaotic mess. But it’s not inevitable. In @vox.com, I proposed specific ways cities can future-proof themselves for self-driving cars. 🧵

I call bullshit Source: www.vtpi.org/safer.pdf

One benefit of automatic traffic enforcement is that cameras aren't racist. @davidzipper.bsky.social: "​The cameras are not going to be weighing whether or not to give a ticket based on what the driver might look like." From the latest episode: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kft-...

Note that Congress is on the verge of killing DC's right-on-red ban, despite clear evidence that it works.

Trump is trying to force Europe and Japan to import Detroit's gigantic SUVs/pickups that flunk foreign safety tests. My take: Good luck with that. From the new @lookbothwayspod.bsky.social: "There's a lot of reasons why Europeans and Japanese don't really want an Escalade or a Hummer."

🚨NEW RESULTS (w/ Slattery & Nober) - When gov't engineers retire, highway projects cost more: the engineers pay for themselves 6 times over - Improving gov’t engineer quality from the 25th to 75th percentile reduces costs by 14%, equal to 3x avg. engineer pay Paper: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Episode 5 is alive... Find the podcast version for your journey home wherever you like to listen, and if you are stuck at work or prefer the video version, here you go! www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kft-vi7-bWY @lookbothwayspod.bsky.social @davidzipper.bsky.social

You can have fast streets, or you can have safe streets. The current USDOT is clear about its priorities.

Mayor of Paris: "Our streets are gradually being reintroduced to residents, new trees are being planted, and walks are being made easier and safer."

At 4p EST today!

An intriguing statistic: Seattle added 35,000 households btw 2017 and 2023 (11% growth), but saw a net gain of just 3,300 cars (<1% growth). Lots of possible reasons: Improving transit/bike infra? Transit-friendly development projects? The soaring cost of cars? I'd like to know!

Looking forward to seeing transit friends at APTA TRANSform in Boston next week. I'll be leading a session on Tuesday about mobility hubs, with panelists including Train Daddy Andy Byford and Tom Webster, the architect of WMATA's bus redesign. Come say hi!

New livestream tomorrow! Join @wesmars.bsky.social and me at 4P ET. On the agenda: 🔹 The surprising popularity of traffic cameras 🔹 Trump's attempts to export U.S. car bloat 🔹 A little brainstorming session Join us live tomorrow, or listen later later on your favorite podcasting app.

Huh. I hadn't realized Trump killed NYC congestion pricing. From Microsoft Copilot

Score another win for congestion pricing: "The reliability scores for buses operating in the congestion pricing zone improved by 9.2% compared to the five months preceding implementation."

A great thing about bike-friendly streets is that they enhance local transport resilience. Tube down b/c of a strike? A great excuse to cycle.

New livestream on Thurs (Sept 11) at 4p EST Join @davidzipper.bsky.social & @wesmars.bsky.social here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIBtU9kROkw (or listen later on any podcast app) On the agenda: 🔹 How Trump is forcing car bloat on other nations 🔹 Why "traffic camera hate" is a myth 🔹 **Mystery topic**

Working from home seems to reduce emissions in the US: "We find that a 1% increase in WFH corresponds to a 0.17 kilogram or 1.8% reduction of daily average transportation emissions per capita." arxiv.org/abs/2503.00422

It was a police chief (not a traffic engineer) who first used one-way streets as a way to manage congestion. A well-intentioned but ultimately very bad idea. (From the forthcoming book Saving Ourselves From Big Car)

New research finds that 1 in 5 drivers near school zones is distracted. Most were using their phones; some were fiddling with their cars' infotainment systems. Drivers of big SUVs and pickups were more prone to be distracted. doi.org/10.1016/j.tr...

Reupping this one b/c there's lots of Abundance discourse at the moment. My $0.02: Removing supply-side constraints is important. But if Abundance doesn't also address externalities -- especially negative ones, from cars -- it could further screw up US transportation policy.