The chief benefit of the Star Wars landspeeder was local governments didn't have to bankrupt themselves building roads.

Rumblings to reconsider Virginia Beach's decision not to extend Norfolk light rail to the beach. www.whro.org/local-govern...

Among the many things that doomed modern streetcars in America, the concept of "minimal operable segment" is underdiscussed. Maybe it was a bad idea to push policy that built the shortest possible version of everything.

This would have been (and still would be) glorious.

You've probably seen this thread today. If not, buckle up and dive in.

Richmond, VA widened bus stop spacing to nearly 1300 feet a few years ago as part of a redesign we did. Des Moines and Louisville are doing the same as part of projects of ours rolling out soon. Bigger cities -- where the benefits of respacing are even greater -- should study these examples.

US government's policy toward the Big 3 automakers—encouraging them to invest in massive, US-only SUVs & trucks, now encouraging them to underinvest in EVs—has reinforced their global irrelevance. Ford sold 33% fewer vehicles worldwide in 2024 than 2015! GM sold 40% fewer vehicles!

Do any US cities have big urban windfarms like Antwerp here? Not just 1 or 2 windmills, and not way out in the sticks or sea. Big windfarms with several, reasonably "in the city." 📸globalphotos.org

IDK man maybe we shouldn't've canceled the plan to give our existing rail line there a tramway, and then stopped running it entirely. And maybe we shouldn't've canceled the plan to connect it with an awesome downtown transitway? What will do here that we haven't already planned & then canceled?

New Baltimore Metro railcars are in service!

Public rec centers should have indoor playgrounds. They don't need to be big. Some foam climbing equipment would be fine. Outsourcing winter playgrounds to fast food & shopping malls is an unnecessary blind spot in our public infrastructure.

Does anyone else get the thing where occasionally Google Maps decides Pigeon Forge is a major city?

Oh, wow. NPS is fixing *several* broken DC fountains. Not just Meridian Park. Also Columbus Circle, Rawlins Park, Freedom Plaza... more washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

When Faster Than Cars is Rule 1 of transit, you get lines that bypass dense communities to speed thru nowheres. The whole Obama streetcar era was a reaction to that exact failure. Putting lines where riders want to go is Rule 1. The mistake of the streetcar era was not keeping speed as Rule 2.

Post a transit selfie from 2025 (Hopping on board the "not actually a selfie train" and there's nothing you can do to stop me!)

Suburbs trying to make stroads work for people outside cars—without ever making drivers slow down—are yielding... let's say interesting experiments.

Transit's main competition is cars. If you raise fares from $2.50 to $3, you're still way more affordable than driving. But if you cut the bus from every 15 to every 20, you're screwed because cars have infinity frequency and 24 hr service span.

"The Big Dig was finished when I was a baby" says adult, shooting an arrow into my aging torso.

TIL there was almost a 2nd railroad bridge from DC to VA, near what's now Chain Bridge. What would VRE look like today if it had happened? ggwash.org/view/101896/...

The promise of safe & law-abiding self-driving cars is rapidly proving to be a lie.

We literally had a project to do this too and the mayor & council killed it in 2023. It was killed when it was light rail. Then it was killed again when it was bus. We spent a decade planning it and were ready to build so now we'll start over, I guess.

We literally had a project to give the streetcar & buses dedicated lanes, and mayor Bowser killed it to get cars to the stadium faster.

'Tis the season for Junctions — one more before the holidays.

Housing abundance sub-tweet.

I genuinely think Esri intentionally makes each new GIS release less intuitive. Before you scoff, consider that its planner user base establishes its professional legitimacy by gatekeeping "building a shed" into an arcane ritual requiring multiple levels of specialization.

Buffalo city hall's council chamber is, uh, pretty impressive. www.flickr.com/photos/bpawl...

VA's next Transportation Secretary! Best possible choice. Unquestionable multimodal & Virginia legislative bona fides. Really great news

Interesting: Urbanist group @ggwash.org is suing @ddotdc.bsky.social over its refusal/failure to release a study the city conducted on congestion pricing possibilities in downtown D.C. The study was finished in 2020, but has never been made public – even in response to FOIA requests.

Reports of crashes all over the region right now, as snow comes down heavier than expected right at 8:00. I don't know who needs to hear this, but you are allowed to just not take your kids to school right now, regardless of what @dcpublicschools.bsky.social failed to call.

Caroling at Court House Metro.

Spent Black Friday going to the park and looking at murals. Recommend.

Bowser not seeking another term 🚨🚨🚨

Top destinations for Amtrak riders @ DC Union Station in 2024: 1 NY 2 Phila 3 Balto 4 Newark Penn 5 Wilmngtn 6 BWI 7 RVA Stples Ml 8 Metroprk 9 Trentn 10 Norflk 11 New Havn 12 Stamfrd 13 Charlottsvlle 14 Boston South 15 RVA Main St 16 Chicago www.bizjournals.com/washington/n...

@caseybanderson.bsky.social, a person who knows from public meetings, issues this treatise on why public meetings don't work and how they can work better

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.

Forgive my foaming, but y'all, you can see the #PurpleLineMD trains outside the Glenridge railyard.

Updated for 2025: timeline maps of every metro system in the world transit-timelines.github.io

Transport yourself with this week's Junctions word puzzle:

Am I insane or does ~~Newark, NJ~~ just not have a bus system map?

The per capita density of Teslas affixed with anti-Elon stickers in Takoma Park has got to be highest in the world, don't you think?

Nerfing the scooters & ebikes with software-imposed speed limits is completely fine with me. Now let's do cars. www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

This morning's bike lane leaf sweeper is the least objectionable vehicle to ever block my bike lane.

SF Muni saying goodbye to its iconic Breda trams www.sfmta.com/blog/bye-bye...

Algorithm based feeds are toxic are tiring and nobody wants to see them after awhile. This has been obvious from day 1 but every platform has insisted on it anyway.

Staring into the void of an empty Moscow metro train with its open gangways. 📸 u/Mediocre_Ebb_1133 www.reddit.com/r/transit/co...

Nice dedicated median busway in [checks notes] Provo, Utah. DC's still waiting on a mayor who's willing.

Found Waldo in Loudoun County

Have you played GGWash Junctions, the urbanist-themed browser game? Take 10 minutes and give it a try. ggwash.org/view/101191/...

Just listened to some car lobby dude say transit is a "22nd century solution" bc it takes a long time to build, which is an interesting shift from the usual tactic of calling it a 19th Century solution because it was invented before cars.

Aw, I was on #WMATA railcar number 3001 just now. Second oldest one remaining. Presumably it's married to 3000 but I didn't check. 🫶