Yes this is somehow real. The BART fare gates went down because Cubic failed to pay the AT&T bill. They had another Clipper outage last month because they let the disk fill up on the database server Just absolute clownshow stuff

@mayor.nyc.gov You're fucking up with this. You had a clear opportunity to make more Mamdani voters, instead you're appeasing the people that hate you and will oppose your every other move.

This is an incredibly poor decision from the Mamdani administration. AFAIK the QueensWay park proposal exists almost entirely to block QueensLink. Blocking an existing right-of-way that travels through dense, under-served neighborhoods is an own goal that no city can afford.

Extremely disappointing and a clear broken campaign promise from @mayor.nyc.gov. Short-sighted and empowers a bunch of NIMBYs.

Mayor Mamdani is going full speed ahead with plans to build the QueensWay park over abandoned train tracks in Central Queens, after his administration decisively told advocates for bringing transit to the right of way that he won’t change course.

ICYMI, the recording of the launch event of our Transit Priority Atlas is now online: youtu.be/bmnVwb_uhHU?...

Here we are again. We thought @mayor.nyc.gov @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social would be different. But unfortunately on the issue of Queens' Next Subway, he isn't budging. Fortunately, it's not over yet. City Council is holding their FINAL public hearing on the budget on JUNE 10th @ 9:30am @ City Hall.

The LIRR has some of the highest operating costs of US commuter rails, and the current strike centers on one key reason: work rules dating back to the steam era. Modernizing these agreements is critical to expanding service & ensuring fiscal stability. ETA's analysis: www.etany.org/statements/l...

With the strike, NYCTA has the opportunity to do the funniest thing ever: seize the railroad

Even on our straightest, highest speed track in America that's also recently been refurbished for 160mph running, US-adapted European trains are no match for our country's iconically horrific road quality

CityTicket is a revenue positive program. They made MORE money by implementing it. Both railroads would blow past 2019 ridership levels if the CityTicket had a free transfer on both sides of the trip. Even without it being lowered to $3. OMNY will *technologically* support this later this year.

Washington DC’s transit system plans to automate its trains, removing the need for human operators. As I explained in @bloomberg.com, this could be a watershed moment for US public transportation. Gift link & 🧵

Deinterlining, an internal debate since about 1970

NY's Penn Station is clogged by trains. Thankfully, there's a solution that does not involve costly reconstruction: through-running. In a newly public report, ETA illustrates how the region can use Metro-North Penn Access to build a truly regional rail network. www.etany.org/reports/thro...

It's happening. On Friday, 5/15, we are soft-launching our Transit Priority Atlas 1.0 website. Come join us in person at 370 Jay Street to explore this knowledge-sharing tool and get lost in circulation planning layouts and intersection management strategies for better on-street transit.

liamblank.com/rpa-penn-sta... Great take-down of the @rpa.org's very disappointing recent anti-through-running report

Monthly passes are one of the strongest ways to encourage transit ridership and reduce fare evasion, but the MTA retired the pass when it retired the MetroCard last year. Read ETA's latest report: www.etany.org/reports/mont...

why don’t they try this with trains that could easily through-run (e.g., New Haven line) and just see how long it takes people IRL. instead of pinning their entire analysis on this specific assumption I don’t see why we can’t just test it under real-world conditions?

Is it too soon to ask whether these elevators will be designed with the future 2nd Ave Subway extension in mind? What if Columbia and the MTA spend tens of millions of dollars for elevators here, only to have to knock them down and rebuild them in the context of a new underground Q station?

This is incredibly disappointing. In the past, the RPA has been one of the leaders in pushing for through-running regional rail service. This is simply incorrect, as proven by rail operations across the world: www.etany.org/penn-station...

Honestly, this reads like someone at Amtrak using their RPA contract to mount a rear-guard action against Andy Byford. www.archpaper.com/2025/11/regi...

Well, I guess there's a second reason to do Penn Station discourse today, and that's the new RPA report on through-running, which is bad. And I think this schematic nicely highlights how obtuse the RPA is being. Because, obfuscating the existence of both Jamaica and THE MAIN LINE is a choice.

Washington Metro @wmata.com board this morning unanimously approved the agency's $913 million plan to automate the Red Line, which will also include platform screen doors at 20 of 27 stations. Automation could come online by 2032 at the earliest. The plan needs federal funding support.

I want to know why @rpa.org thinks passengers need 5 minutes to get off a *train* when our simulation finds they can clear the *train and platform* in less time than that--and that two-way flow on platforms and stairwells is fine. github.com/effective-tr...

Sound Transit can halve the cost of light rail to Ballard and West Seattle by building them as a connected automated light rail line with slimmer stations, according to two transit experts who have launched the Sound Transit Now campaign. Guest op-ed: www.theurbanist.org/op-ed-reconn...

Fun find this afternoon: In 1957, the Port Authority did the engineering work to link the downtown PATH to the Lexington Avenue subway local tracks.

ETA and other civic orgs are urging NY not to require two operators on every train. One-person train operation (OPTO) is a standard practice used on every subway system around the world—including on the MTA. This bill would hurt riders and lock NY's transit system in the past. tinyurl.com/etatpto

Whoa! As I've been pushing for/predicting for years now, it seems CAHSR is abandoning the underground BUR station (whose site has now been fully redeveloped). It looks like the plan is now for a site on the AV Line ROW at BUR instead... but I bet we can get them to push it to DT Burbank.....

I can't believe they're shutting down the DC streetcar. And on Trams Day of Visibility, to boot.

A 125th St Q extension is the right route, but with a price of > $7B/mi and deep stations forcing 5+min escalator trips, the current plan doesn't work. ETA sat down with @jointtransit.bsky.social to talk fixes for this vital link. Watch!: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Fgy...

The IBX was initially envisioned as part of a grand regional rail network for the Tri-State. The current plan will be useful for Brooklyn and Queens, but nowhere beyond. With a few complimentary projects, the IBX can live up to its original promise: benjaminschneider.substack.com/p/unlocking...

Thank you, Janno, for the recognition of QueensLink's Initial Business Case and Ridership Report! We look forward to the MTA's review of our findings on this transformative project. #BuildtheQueensLink

QueensLink Fast Facts 🚈💨 - 75,000 daily riders, or nearly double the ridership-per-mile of IBX - 50% more service on Queens Boulevard and 165% more through-service to the Rockaways - 60-70% faster travel through Queens and into Brooklyn resulting in $4.9 billion in time savings for New Yorkers

In a new piece early this morning from the @nytimes.com on QueensLink’s report release, @mayor.nyc.gov's office declined to comment on whether the Mayor still supports transit on the Rockaway Beach Branch. Is @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social turning his back on Queens riders?

God damn. Building over the Rockaway Branch without room for the @queenslink.org is incredibly dumb policy. Right-of-ways like this don't just grow on trees.

Looks like Mayor Mamdani is proposing to keep funding the Queensway's Metro Hub. As designed, this will block future reactivation of the LIRR Rockaway Branch. This goes against his previous support. So if other parks need $43 million, I know where they can get it.

NIMBYs in Del Mar have pushed SANDAG to add *another* alternative to the Del Mar Tunnel EIR - now not set to finish until 2028, 3 years after the draft. Rather than the 110 mph alignments that would tunnel under their town, their preference is to slow down the US's #2 rail corridor to 25 mph.

Despite their in-station PSAs, the MTA clearly isn't trying very hard to prevent subway surfing, or they'd buy 100% open gangway cars

Sad to see @ridersalliance.org signing up for this 💩

Making up the difference by running trains more frequently would be “constrained by the lack of grade separation on the Metrolinx system,” the draft report states. Madness. www.thetrillium.ca/news/municip...

@governor.ny.gov every closed gangway subway car means another kid killed subway surfing. Tell the MTA they cannot buy any more closed gangway cars. 60% is not enough, that's still 40% of subways continuing to kill kids. It must be 100% open gangway. bsky.app/profile/etan...

I'd rather wait a few months for @governor.ny.gov to yell at whoever needs yelling at, than wait for years for bad purchases to age out. Remember, open gangway = no subway surfing. One phone call, gov, and you can end this scourge once and for all, no celeb voiceovers needed.

While it's exciting that the MTA is ordering new trains, there is no excuse not to buy all of them as walk-through (open-gangway) cars. Walk-through cars are the standard worldwide: they're not only higher capacity, but safer. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/19/n...

For those that missed the metro board committee meeting today: Karen Bass is officially moving full steam ahead on trying to ratfuck what would be the highest ridership light rail line in the country next week, over unscientific tunneling concerns identical to fred rosen's in bel air.

if every global transit system switched to two person train operation, it would result in service decreases, more people driving, and increased emissions, driving tons of death all across the globe

Holy crap! He brought a gas powered battery charger for his electric truck.

I'm sorry WHAT

US-based researcher: does a study, use some obscure US place as a study case, generalizes the finding as universally relevant. Reviewers: ✅️ -- Non US researcher: does a study, use non US place as a study case, present findings as context-bound. Reviewers: HoW iS tHis RelEVaNT for tHE DeBATe?

Got a hold of PANYNJ’s latest JFK AirTrain MetroCard replacement plan. IT HAS NO PLAN. It’s still only “architecting a solution” with @mta.info as its own stockpile of 10-trip and unlimited MetroCard runs out. On top of that they only seem to be planning a 10-trip OMNY replacement, NOT unlimited.

Elizabeth Warren hates renters and just teamed up with republicans to pass MAGA policy that will curtail rental housing production reason.com/2026/03/10/c...