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Can a bankrupt city like Detroit (not) afford light rail?
Tom Jankowski, all around fabulous guy, and one of the leading lights at Wayne State’s Institute of Gerontology passes along this story from the Detroit Free Press about the cancellation of Detroit’s...
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The House Transport Bill is anti-federalist, not anti-transit
Transit advocates should thank gridlock the transport bill from the House is more symbolic than anything. It’s not going to go anywhere, not because the bill has no supporters, but because nothing is...
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And November just got interesting again—Villargaigosa’s Measure R extension
So just when Santorum leaves and I’m faced with the possibility that reading about politics won’t be interesting enough to keep me away from doing real work (gasp! work!), LA’s mayor decides he’s going...
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NY Writers Coalition Offers an Opportunity on a Subway Car – NYTimes.com
I can not form words on how much I love: NY Writers Coalition Offers an Opportunity on a Subway Car – NYTimes.com: The man, Aaron Zimmerman, is the executive director of the NY Writers Coalition, and...
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“White people won’t ride the bus”, if true, is racism, not a rationale for...
I’ve heard “white people just won’t ride a bus” roughly a million times during my career. It’s conventional wisdom. I also hear it used for why we need more rail investment to attract choice riders out...
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Why transit advocates should avoid the “what white people want” card
So I got plenty of blowback on yesterday’s post (and not from the gentle and insightful commenter here) about what a mean meany meanpants I am for not being nicer about the “need” for light rail as a...
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Transit, we love you, but you bring us down: service problems from a patron’s...
Peter Gordon and I were chatting at party yesterday about my difficulties writing an introductory chapter about public transit. Why the trouble? The topic has become so politicized that no matter what...
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Eric Eidlin blogging on HSR and land use in Europe
Eric Eidlin is a friend of mine from back in the day at UCLA; he’s currently a community planner with FTA up in San Francisco. He is currently on a fellowship in Germany and France and he is writing...
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Noble lies and transit
Attention Conservation Notice: I may have just come up with a rationale for overly optimistic ridership and cost forecasts, and having sprouted horns and a tail, may need to go bathe in holy water or...
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USC’s Rachel Junken visualizes David Levinson’s Accessibility Lab data on...
I toss out vague assignments to my master’s student and give them some data. This way, I see what they come up with–it’s often much better than if I had told them exactly what I wanted. This is what...
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USC just ended its transit subsidy program, and the cost of my bus pass went...
My employer, USC, decided to eliminate their alternative commuter program, and as a result, the cost of my pass is jumping to $100 a month from roughly $30, and I can’t justify that cost every month...
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Why USC should support employee (and student) transit use based on both...
I’m a little rushed this morning, so forgive any typos. So why, exactly, should USC support employee and student transit? As I grumpily posted the other day, the cost my monthly transit pass went from...
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My students’ super visualizations of construction cost escalations on the...
I have my students examine Flyvbjerg’s Megaprojects work, and I ask them to do some of the legwork on a forensic budgeting exercise. This time out, we did the Expo Line Phase 1 LRT. It’s a difficult...
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USC Transport Faculty respond to the LA Times Metro Ridership story
Metrans Transportation Institute asked a group of us to respond to the LA Times Ridership story, which you can find here. Genevieve Giuliano is the Ferraro Chair in Effective Government at the Sol...
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Part 3. David Levinson’s CityLab discussion on transit: Farecards and technology
Today I continue with my response to David Levinson’s How to Make Mass Transit Sustainable Once and For All. Monday I discussed the institutional structure Levinson suggested. Tuesday I discussed...
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Part 4. David Levinson’s CityLab discussion on transit: Capital Cost Recovery...
Ok, continuing on with my responses to David Levinson’s important contribution via CityLab on How to Make Mass Transit Funding Sustainable Once and For All. The series so far: Part 1: Institutional...
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Part 5. David Levinson’s CityLab discussion on transit: Asset values
I’m almost done with my responses to David Levinson’s important contribution via CityLab on How to Make Mass Transit Funding Sustainable Once and For All. My responses so far: Part 1: Institutional...
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Part 6. David Levinson’s CityLab discussion on transit: Local funding (mic...
This is last one of my reflections on David Levinson’s important contribution via CityLab on How to Make Mass Transit Funding Sustainable Once and For All. My responses so far: Part 1: Institutional...
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David Levinson responds to my responses, and I respond some more
Ok, so while the World Cup is going on, David Levinson and I are arguing about transit policy, which proves two things: 1) transit policy is very complicated and people of genuine good will (and very...
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