on the issues with how we view the role of tramways in canada (US, too), i am reminded of a very recent paper showing how modal shifts vary by transit mode in european cities, and how much higher they are for cities with metro systems than tram-only systems in larger, sprawling cities

Queens residents — especially those in the Rockaways — need another train line. Streetsblog contributor Samuel Santaella hopes that the new mayor will put his weight behind the concept.

The Turnpike Trap Coalition publishes the following statement in response to NJTA's Friday announcement. The "cancellation" is misleading: ❌ Proceeding with 4 new lanes adding >20K cars and trucks a day to Newark & Jersey City ❌ Tear down and rebuild plans after 14A are murky ❌ No dollars for NJT

This is BIG news for JC and proof that advocacy works! I’m thrilled to hear that the Turnpike Authority finally listened to everyone who spoke out against the Turnpike widening. Now we have to keep the pressure on and get more funding for the PATH and NJT t.e2ma.net/message/rix1...

SURPRISE! PANYNJ completely unprepared for the end of MetroCard sales & transition to OMNY. MetroCard vending machines will go dark Dec 29 with no OMNY vending machines installed to replace them. Cash users need to jump through hoops. Oh, and 10-trip/30-day unlimited cards? There's no replacement.

Great news: Gov Hochul has reportedly decided to veto a bill requiring two-person train operation. This poorly-considered bill would've mmediately impacted services that are currently run with one person, and would've make it impossible to fully automate new lines like the IBX.

Gov Hochul will veto a bill to require both a conductor and a driver on every subway train, according to two sources familiar with the decision. Story to follow. Details on the bill here: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/n...

Still waiting on Hochul to veto the mandatory two-person train crew bill. It has to happen today I think.

The bill on Hochul's desk mandating 2PTO on the MTA, Assembly Bill A4873, still hasn't been vetoed. If it's not by the end of the day it will automatically be law and worsen service on small shuttle trains and off-peak services as a result Call her office at (518) 474-8390 and demand she veto this

New York's IBX project could more than just a transit line. It has the potential to be a city-building force, bringing thousands of new riders onto transit and creating walkable neighborhoods. And that's precisely what opponents are concerned about... www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

The Interborough Express has the potential to be a transformative piece of infrastructure, but to truly live up to its potential, it needs to be constructed to global standards: as an automated light metro. ETA talked with Ben Schneider about the future and potential of the IBX:

Every new train purchased without open gangways is the MTA saying they're ok with teens getting hurt or dying

Congestion pricing is working: it's not only lowering traffic and generating valuable funds for transit, but as a recent study out of Cornell shows, it's reduced air pollution by a whopping 22% in the zone, with significant improvements also seen across the city (8%) & region. tinyurl.com/rb6xk3h7

In a baffling and unacceptable move, the MTA announced that its purchase of 378 new R268 subway cars will not include walk-through open-gangway trains. As ETA's Blair Lorenzo explained to Streetsblog, walk-through trains are the global standard for good reason. nyc.streetsblog.org/2025/12/09/m...

The MTA's latest order for hundreds of new subway cars shows that the agency is still shying away from wholly embracing the open gangway cars that have been testing in live service for almost two years on the C and G trains.

This morning, the MTA swapped the F/M trains at 8 stations in Manhattan & Queens. This is an example of "deinterlining," a technique which improves the frequency & reliability of subway service. Read ETA on why deinterlining is so valuable & where else it can be used: www.etany.org/statements/d...

Gov Hochul should VETO the bill that carves out Co-op City from bus lane enforcement. It slows buses and worsens pollution. The state Legislature should not be getting involved in local transit decisions. buff.ly/01VdEUW

Join us next Thursday (Dec 11th) for an open meeting with the Richmond Hill Historical Society on the past, present, and future of the Rockaway Beach Branch! The event is at 7:30pm at the Leonard Center (86-13 112th St). #BuildtheQueensLink

While NY is considering mandating two-person trains, the DC Metro not only already operates with one person, but recently reactivated its automatic train operation system. Now, continuing to follow best practices, Metro has announced plans to move towards driverless trains. tinyurl.com/yft73mru

Car Size xkcd.com/3167/

Do you want to learn more about through-running, and why it's the clear solution to improve service at Penn Station? There are few better places to start than with this short documentary from the @jointtransit.bsky.social, featuring two of ETA's own! www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0xR...

Major announcement in just-posted board documents: DC's Metro is moving fast toward automation. Over 15 years, Metro plans full automation & platform screen doors, which the agency says will improve safety, reliability, & travel times—at reduced costs. www.wmata.com/about/board/...

Notably, OPTO/ZPTO is the standard in every single city across the world besides NYC. Tokyo is the closest, but even they're in the process of upgrading many lines to OPTO as part of signaling upgrades, and by 2030, they should be mostly OPTO. bsky.app/profile/etan...

ETA talked to the NY Times about a bill on Gov Hochul's desk that would mandate two crew on every subway train—something not required by any other metro in the world. This bill threatens existing service, frequency on the new IBX, and would leave NYC in the past 🧵: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/n...

also so funny they have much ado about Almost (only Almost!!!) shipping one (1) memory safety bug in 5 million lines of rust code (they had 5000 such bugs in the equivalent amount of C(++))

Does the subway still need conductors? Much of the world say no, but union leaders say it's a safety issue. Gov. Hochul has to decide by year end whether to sign a bill that would mandate two-person train crews, even on lines that already moved to one operator www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/n...

We dropped a new report re: train operations, everyone’s favorite topic. There’s some backstory that we will get too. But, the basic takeaway is modern train systems have moved away from two-person train ops. New York should, too! transitcosts.com/Train_Operat...

A really good column on housing and the Mamdani mayoralty by Alex Armlovich, who is on the Rent Board -- www.vitalcitynyc.org/articles/a-h...

By learning from other countries and adopting international best practices, California High Speed Rail was able to cut its costs by $14 billion and cut 70% of tunnels. This is a big lesson for transit projects both in NY & around the US: start by learning from other countries. tinyurl.com/mvsmfxa2

One thing the mayor-elect could do between now and January 1 is to call on Kathy Hochul to veto the bill on her desk that would ban one-person train operations in the NYC subway. Mamdani was absent the day of the vote, and banning OPTO is incompatible with lower cost (or free) transit.

1. In a major shadow docket ruling from the Supreme Court, the court has ruled against trans people's passports, giving a stay to the Trump administration. The admin has previously indicated it intend to revoke some passports if it got this ruling. Subscribe to support our journalism.

seeing this image used as an argument against driverless cars is hilarious considering the fact that we don't hold human drivers accountable for killing people unless they're exceedingly reckless (drunk, speeding, texting, etc.)

However, the MTA hasn't yet confirmed that it's next train order, the R268, will be all open gangway—and recently, the MTA decided to order a majority of its new R211s as closed-end trains. These trains will be in service for decades: the MTA cannot afford to live in the past.

The MTA is installing experimental anti-subway surfing barriers on the 7 train. While this is a good interim step, the real solution is to ensure that all new subway cars are walk-through (known as open gangway), as has been common practice across the world for years. pix11.com/news/transit...

The MTA will try anything to stop subway surfing except ordering the same open-gangway trains that the rest of the world has been using for decades

It's good to see MTA Chair Janno Lieber contemplating all-door bus boarding, an easy win for bus service. All-door boarding and proof-of-payment enforcement speed bus service significantly. What's more, the agency is ready to go having already installed back door OMNY readers on all its buses.

MTA Board Chair Janno Lieber on the NYS legislature's bill that would require two-person crews for every train: "I think would outrage a lot of people, and I don’t think it’s a serious proposal." He rightly points out that shorter, more frequent trains can offer better service for many places.

Not often you see the MTA let it all hang out re: Amtrak like this. Provided just 7 of 48 planned outages in the first two years; then only provided required Amtrak supervision for work about half the time for the subsequent outages. Requiring 17 Amtrak staff to supervise *each* gantry replacement.

Excited to host the next Transit Techies with some transit data heavy hitters as speakers. If you’re free on November 5, come through! www.meetup.com/transit-tech...

Earlier this month, NYC's Independent Budget Office (IBO), released a report on the Rockaway Beach Branch. Among it's findings, the top destinations for commuters along the abandoned line would be served by QueensLink. In the meantime, head to the 🔗 in bio to tell leaders to #BuildtheQueensLink !!

We have a new website for the Northeast Corridor High-Speed Rail project, with illustrative graphics. nec.transitcosts.com

I just can't get over the differences in scale between Ballard Link's Westlake Station as proposed and the original Westlake Station, off to the left.

Here are the Subway/Metro Station design guidelines that were compiled by UMTA/USDOT in the 1970s in an attempt to prevent WMATA-style cost overruns again. It got shelved when everyone at UMTA got laid off and we forgot it. But it's prescient about cost drivers -- rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/11352

My column from last year about how we can use better train design to not only improve service but also save lives. A PSA campaign will never be able to keep up with TikTok serving up thrill seekers videos — www.curbed.com/article/subw...

Today, CER launches our paper “ElectroLink: Modern Passenger Rail Service for Southern California.” ElectroLink shows how electrification, level boarding and through running can speed up trips, improve access for all riders, and bind together the region. ⚡♿🚴 calelectricrail.org/electrolink-...

Once again, it seems that the MTA's EAGLE teams are punishing normal riders because they are not using the common fare verification tools (handheld scanners) used by almost every other proof-of-payment system in the world. www.reddit.com/r/nycrail/co...

TIL parking restrictions date back to 700 BCE. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parking...