Brightline's December numbers are out and it's ANOTHER record for the private pax railroad. Dec '25: 292,092, up 11% y/y Nov: 280,136 Oct: 260,370 Sept. '25: 227,851 Aug: 252,425 July: 255,472 June: 254,627 May: 256,633 April: 243,285 March: 280,003 Feb: 247,083 Jan: 266,346 Dec: 264,201

The only ICE I support:

You may not be interested in transportation, but transportation is interested in you.

I've been living in a car-brained area for 7 months after living in walkable cities for 13 years and can confirm the inverse is also true.

I know a lot of people like to pretend like this isn’t an interurban anymore but idk man

I get a lot of crazy looks when I say self-driving cars are designed for lawbreaking. But it’s 100% true.

Good Morning Houston

Yesterday, Tren Maya introduced its newest train, the Pa’tal, on a special run between Cancun and Mérida! 🚆 🇲🇽 These new units are made to run on long distances across the Yucatán Peninsula. Let’s take a closer look at them 👀

“Even more notable:the past three years are now the three warmest years on record.Those are climate-scale shifts people feel in their daily lives, longer AC runs,different outlooks for gardening and outdoor plans, and a growing awareness that what once felt unusual is becoming more common.” #Houston

“Try booking a night train months ahead. You can’t. Demand is through the roof. But customer demand doesn’t drive railway behavior,” said @jonworth.eu. From capital costs to bureaucracy and simple timetabling, Europeans night train renaissance is on the local track.

2025 was brutal for US transit. Agencies faced budget deficits, flat ridership, and open hostility from the White House. I wrote a series of stories outlining ways to help transit endure. Lesson #1: Whatever you do, don’t cut service. Riders will leave – permanently. Here are a few others 🧵

Interesting, CAHSR has dropped their suit over losing federal funding and seems to be signalling they want to make it s fully state project going forward. www.trains.com/pro/passenge...

Houston walkable? Only when it snows elsewhere.

Self-driving cars are the most transformative transportation tech in a century. In 2025, I wrote a slew of stories exploring their effects. 🧵 In @vox.com, I explained why the convenience of self-driven rides could bring crippling congestion. Cities should act now to mitigate the risks.

Savez Vous ? #Bordeaux Le rapport de l'étude Phase 2 est mis en ligne : www.bordeaux-metropole.fr/sites/MET-BX... Le CP : www.bordeaux-metropole.fr/actualites/e... Synthèse : - 20,20km / 16 stations - Coût : 2,70Mds€ - Fréquentation de 157 000voy/j dont 12 500 par Heure de pointe - Ouv 2040

The RFQ is out for CAHSR's new delivery plan. This builds on the August business case update, under which Bakersfield-Merced is out and Bakersfield-SF is in. This higher-revenue connection allows HSR to enter a P3 that will bring forward financing to allow them to complete the Pacheco Pass crossing.

Insane but true fact: making US roads as safe as Canadian, Australian, or European roads would save more lives than eliminating murder from the US.

Can’t wait to see these guys struggle when the launch in Houston next year. Our traffic lights go black all the time 😭

The transformation of Houston’s Shepherd & Durham streets is going to be a game changer for the city! Can’t wait for phase 2 to start construction next year!

Today Montpellier inaugurated its 5th tram line, bringing the network to 83 km. The first line was opened in 2000. The network has grown highly interlined, with multiple trunks crossing the central area.

Did I keep track of all my METRO rides and make my own METRO Rewind… maybe so!

Can’t wait to ride the 102 Bush IAH via I-45 N (on I-45 S to Downtown…) A mess 😭

They de-yassified her :( Before (left), After (right)

Read my column about the state of politics at City Hall: Houston Mayor John Whitmire lost big over the weekend. Here’s three ways he can fix things. www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/outl...

Wow: Harris County Democratic officials voted Sunday 186 to 80 to bar Houston Mayor John Whitmire from seeking the party's endorsement over his handling of ICE and appearing at a fundraiser for Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Tx) Story by @fbugenhagen.bsky.social: www.chron.com/politics/art...

Starting today on the C53 route, we’re rolling out a new plan to manage bus headways that will increase reliability, reduce bunching/crowding, and ultimately make trips faster! 🚍 Watch below.

Houston just elected Alejandra Salinas, a progressive lesbian, over Boykins, a failed candidate for mayor and former city council member. Salinas hit Boykins over a moment from his past when he told a group of teenage girls to "keep their legs closed." www.chron.com/politics/art...

A new era begins for Talgo in Germany with the launch of the commercial service for ICE L trains. The first train, ICE 1548, arrived in Cologne from Berlin on time today. Congratulations to all the Talgo and DB Fernverkehr teams involved on reaching this new milestone!

This is completely unacceptable! AC Transit’s hydrogen fleet has 43%-64% availability depending on model, leading to canceled bus runs and stops in the middle of service. They must address this to retain/grow riders. Transit reliability is even more important to riders than speed or frequency.

Precinct chairs on Sunday will vote on a resolution to bar Houston Mayor John Whitmire from getting the party's endorsement in future elections. bit.ly/4pIMl06

Tomorrow, the Koralmbahn starts with regular passenger service — triggering the biggest overhaul of the Styrian S-Bahn system in years. Lines are reorganised and new routes are introduced. Hence, I’ve fully updated my Styrian rail network diagram. Here’s to day one of a new railway era 🚆✨

Looks like I’m not the only one thinking this! Amtrak is looking into establishing a dedicated through-bus service to Pensacola. Per the SRC, discussions have focused on an Amtrak-branded bus route serving Pensacola & the Beach. The service would provide timed transfers to Mardi Gras trains.

BREAKING: European Sleeper to launch Brussels/Amsterdam-Bern-Brig-Milan sleeper train from June 2026 (after launching Paris-Berlin in March). Press release: mcusercontent.com/5ffbd133c9ab...

Both the Borealis & Mardi Gras launches have been fantastic experiences & ridership results. That’s incredible incredible considering the last whole new Amtrak route launch was Downeaster in 2001. (Yes, Norfolk & Roanoke, but those were more extensions than full route)🚆

Savez Vous ? #IledeFrance #Creteil 1/2 ⬇️ La première ligne de téléphérique d'Île de France ouvre ce jour : - 4,50km et 5 stations - 18 min de trajet - 138M€ - 11 000 voy/j 📸 @IDFmobilites

Tomorrow, Austria’s new Koralm Railway opens. Graz>Klagenfurt cut from over 2h to as little as 41 minutes. Vienna-Klagenfurt cut from 3h55 to 3h10. Also cuts 45 minutes off Vienna-Venice. www.travelmole.com/news/koralmb...

Canada is moving ahead with the first leg of ALTO high speed rail, between Montreal and our Capital Ottawa. Chosen for its easy geography, this segment of HSR will cut travel times on this route to under an hour from 2 hours today. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

I wanted to compare what I saw on Seattle's Line 1 LRT with Toronto's Finch LRT. In Seattle, you can see left turning cars waiting while fast-moving transit gets priority. Help TTCriders make it happen in Toronto: www.ttcriders.ca/greenlight 📸: @wk1998.bsky.social / @kevinrupasinghe.bsky.social

I just moved back to Houston. Please don't run over me. | Opinion www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/outl...

Electro-diesel Stadler Flirts selected to replace Dublin – Belfast Enterprise trains www.railwaygazette.com/traction-and....

Officially have taken 500 rides on METRO this year as of today! Not bad for someone who doesn’t take transit to work (I walk)! Nearly 60% of trips I take are on buses that come every 15 minutes or more, every day, 7-days a week. Frequency is freedom!

Texans take transit!

February 2026 service changes have been approved, so time for a map update! In addition to route and frequency updates, this map version includes new late-night service information and connecting Harris County Transit Routes! Check out the full map here: drive.google.com/file/d/1HL0D...

The idea of FS "conquering" Europe is a bit too emphatic, but it's interesting that the press is acknowledgeding more and more how much competition has changed the mindset of FS from a money-losing "carrozzone" to a major player of the liberalized EU rail market. www.ilpost.it/2025/12/03/f....

Florence tramway hit a new record ridership in october, carrying 4.6 million or 160-170 k per weekday on a network that is just 19km That is around 9,000 daily boardings per km, on the higher end of this metric for trams. www.lanazione.it/firenze/cron...

Mayor John Whitmire and immigrant advocacy group clash over autistic teen’s detention www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston...

Such an elemental yet overlooked reality of planning. If you don't: - Design a new route to add value to the network overall - Make changes to the existing network to incorporate the new asset ...you're kneecapping yourself. A key part of transit hist: homesignalblog.wordpress.com/2024/07/12/t...

One of the biggest barriers to implementing pro-housing policy is the folk wisdom that building new market rate/mixed-income housing increases rents even though study after study shows that the opposite is the case: building more housing lowers rents

“Analysis... has revealed that intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls. A significant number of A320 Family aircraft currently in-service which may be impacted.” Currently ~3,000 airborne A320 family aircraft. www.airbus.com/en/newsroom/...

“Too many families in Houston have lost a loved one to a violent, unexpected event just trying to use the transportation system." Traffic deaths and injuries falling in Houston, but not as sharply as in the rest of Texas www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston...