Copenhagen's deep metro stations have a very lean fire evacuation strategy. Most egress capacity is provided by the 8 escalators (4 paths x 2 levels) normally used for vertical circulation with a single additional enclosed fixed stair at one end of the platform.

“I’m looking to be the Scott Boras of the hedge-fund world…”

“The forced technology transfer agreements meant to prop up China’s state-owned automakers instead robbed their need to invest in their own innovative capacities. China’s automative successes come from companies like privately owned BYD, which had no foreign partners…”

the good old days: "The Blue Line from San Ysidro to Old Town is one of the most productive light rail lines in the country with 20 million annual passengers and a farebox recovery of 64% in FY 2009."

Picked up Dan Wang’s Breakneck. He does not mince words: “Beijing enthralls not because it is nice but because it isn’t….Really, everything that can go wrong in urban design has gone wrong in Beijing.”

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-...

This is an excellent idea!

Today, the Center for Building published “Beyond Zoning” by John Zeanah, Memphis’s Chief of Development and Infrastructure. He chronicles the non-zoning barriers faced by Malone Commons, a low-rise multifam/mixed-use project, and how they worked through them www.centerforbuilding.org/publication/...

Can someone translate this for me?

About half way through @garethdennis.uk “how the railways will fix the future”

Eric Adams is a genius

So beyond exciting to be out watching this historic moment with a crowd of rail fans!

new S(ubstack)-Bahn post: 20 years ago, Seoul was haggling over whether to install platform screen doors at its Metro stations. many called it a waste and an impossibility. now it’s at all Metro stations across South Korea. how did this transformation happen? www.substack-bahn.net/p/how-seoul-...

“Our aim in conversation, then, shouldn’t be to mine for surface-level commonalities or go on a charm offensive. Instead, we should ask ourselves, ‘What could we create together in this moment?’”

North American transit projects are plagued by sound walls. We even put them on elevated guideways along highways. When I looked at some projects abroad, I didn't see nearly as many sounds walls, even in crowded city centers with lots of people. Let's end the tyranny of sound walls once and for all.

sometimes you just need parallel light rail

“At my high school in New York in the 90s, there were basically three kinds of people: the kids who listened to the Top 40 station Z100, the ones who preferred Hot 97 playing rap and hip-hop, and those (like me) who listened to 92.3 K-Rock.” open.substack.com/pub/matthewy...

Thought that this was an interesting read. Not something I was aware of. As a child of parents, we all need to do our part:

“Between 1970 and 2010, the number of households in [SF] grew 36 percent faster than the population. (New York…households grew 3 times as fast as population in that period. In Chicago, population fell during that period by nearly 25 percent, while the number of households dropped by only 9 percent.”

Should I finally start my tree replacement policy Substack? Who else wants a comprehensive database of tree replacement policies?

"During September, passive acoustic monitoring for the western mastiff bat was initiated. This work is to supplement the surveys conducted in August in which the western mastiff bat was not detected."

Who knows why next gen run times are slower than current gen????

“After much sitting around and drinking beer…we came up with two alternatives: DUMBO: Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass DANYA: District Around the Navy Yard Annex”

Look at these public agencies. They get the utility relocation info and they respond. The private entities, not so much.

"...wet season fairy shrimp surveys continued for the two basins within the project impact footprint where dry season survey results were inconclusive."

Americans readers, WSJ has article on cost-effective High Speed Rail using the work of my co-workers @alonlevy.bsky.social @egoldwyn.bsky.social dwyn.bsky.social @ndhapple.bsky.social. Go Read/Call your Congressperson etc www.wsj.com/lifestyle/tr...

Looking through SAS2 contract news: 1) the less NYC experienced team won; 2) the schedule is aggressive, which is good. 4yrs for tunnels and 2 station shells. Phase 1 tunnel took 5 years; 3) costs look comparable to phase 1; 4) TBM labor in-line with conventional staffing, not sure about rest:

I am genuinely surprised that Halmar/Connect Plus won this contract. I don’t know if that’s good or bad, but the losing bidder was essentially a consortium of the contractors from phase 1.

In examining regional planning organizations @urbaninstitute.bsky.social, we've found that their boards rarely reflect the populations they represent proportionally: www.urban.org/urban-wire/m... In new research, we show that this has consequences: boards vastly overrepresent homeowners & drivers ⏬

Got the chance to talk to a room full of really smart people about the Transit Cost Project's rail modernization report — dubbed Momentum — today. The video is up. Watch me talk and then watch me talk with my hands -- www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe10...

If you missed the momentum talk, you can watch @ndhapple.bsky.social distill 150+ pages into a crisp hour+ talk. Thanks to everyone who showed up: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe10...

This really took a turn. I have just inherited over $2.5 million three times over. See you next lifetime.

“In 1978, 57 percent of [NYC] households were paying more than a quarter of their gross incomes in rent, the highest percentage recorded up to that point.”

Can anyone remember a time when the escalator going to the 4th floor at the Union Square Barnes and Noble worked? I’m pretty sure it’s been out order or just turned off for 20+ years.

*Scaling Pedestrian Crossing Analysis to 100 Cities* For better decisions about pedestrian infrastructure, we need data that is both accurate to the block level + scaled up to entire cities. Our new pre-print, pursues this with an advanced computer-vision model arxiv.org/abs/2507.20497 (1/5)

This new rail line, the most ambitious in 90 years, could change the face of New York City. We hopped on a freight train to film the route, and show its potential. Take a look! 🚂 www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

I have turned my thread about the history of planning the route of the High-Speed rail through Florence into a Substack blog post, expanding the discussion and making it easier to refer. I hope you enjoy it. open.substack.com/pub/marcochi...

Any SANDAG heads here? Trying to learn more about SANDAG. It is institutionally very, very different from other project delivery arms in the US transit world. Is that good? Unsure!

"...when evaluating bidders for a CMGC contract, the cost criterion must weigh at least 40%. The Grand Jury found that this mandatory minimum led to the selection of the less technically qualified bidder to award the contract for the Van Ness project, which led to problems throughout the project."

If you want one of these beautiful momentum reports, they’re long, you have to come to our event at NYU Marron on 8/6 at 9am. RSVP here: forms.gle/WZHxtVeVB5C2...

I was excited to work with Stephen on this. We’ve locked ourselves into what is really a very small market when we could have access to the global elevator market. This is low hanging fruit to fix!

Amtrak says it'd cost more than $100 billion to build high-speed rail on the Northeast Corridor. @alonlevy.bsky.social says Amtrak's wrong. New Statecraft on why. www.statecraft.pub/p/how-cheapl...

Come join us o 8/6 at 9AM to talk passenger rail electrification. Send me a note if you'd like to come and see @ndhapple.bsky.social preach about the benefits of electric trains and how to slash travel times between New York City and Albany!

Oh by the way, amid all the mayoral campaign transit proposals, two more congestion pricing lawsuits against the @mta.info were dismissed. #traffic #transit #congestionpricing

Join us on 8/6 at 9am at NYU Marron at 370 Jay Street room 1201 to celebrate the release and *printing* of @ndhapple.bsky.social’s Momentum. The report is about the benefits of passenger rail electrification. Please RSVP here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

We have been working on a Roosevelt Boulevard Subway project for the last year or so. A lot of great data & analysis re: land-use, jobs, transit ridership, walkability, ridership estimation, etc. Really phenomenal work from @eensari.bsky.social & Joao Paulouro: ibx.transitcosts.com/rbs-post/

Speed up the buses and make it the mode first resort! All-door boarding, stop consolidation, dedicated lanes, traffic signal priority. Expand fair fares. Let’s do this New York: www.vitalcitynyc.org/articles/bey...

Vicious. I think @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social, I mean Mr. Cardamom meant to tweet, “Cuomo, like short sleeves, I bear arms…”

The Stewart Review of HS2 holds good lessons for many California projects. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/685291...

If you’re into Abstract Expressionism, check out this small segment about Joop Sanders. More important, check out his retrospective!l at the Milton Resnick and Pat Passlof Foundation: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj46...