From Australia:
"New research has found public transport fares have not been a decisive factor in pushing people to shift from car to public transport."
"Better public transport access, coverage, reliability, and travel time have a greater impact than price in changing long-term commuting habits."
Transit construction costs in the US keep rising, and projects keep taking longer and longer to build.
One possible explanation? Ineffective, inefficient community engagement processes, we argue @urbaninstitute.bsky.social ⏬
Atlanta: It's the first weekday for the new bus network that we helped design. Let us know how it's going. itsmarta.com/nextgen2.aspx
In 1999/2000 Amtrak proposed numerous new routes under the "Network Growth Strategy" Very few where implemented and the few that where didn't last long. Such routes included a new cross country luxury train, rerouting the International through Detroit and service to Monterrey Mexico:
I've been harping on this, but the Texas grid continues to have days where renewables make up the overwhelming majority of the fuel mix.
This is the famously deregulated Texas grid, with some of the cheapest natural gas in the country, with zero state subsidies for renewables.
Cities like Copenhagen, Turin, Rome, Paris, Lille, Brescia, Honolulu, Rennes, Toulouse, Lausanne, Vancouver, Montreal, etc., have all built automated light metros…
Seattle could do the same, to great effect!
SNCF, the French railway operator, will operate domestic high-speed trains in Italy beginning in 2027 on Naples–Turin/Venice routes. It will compete with Trenitalia, the Italian operator, & Italo, a private operator.
High-speed service in Europe is increasingly subject to this sort of competition.
100% disagree
This is my politics
Okay CTA. This is a good sign.
Flyer for the LINK Houston CAN meeting on April 22 at 12 p.m. noon with METRO Vice President Michael Andrade. Register at bit.ly/2026CAN
We're hosting METRO VP of Specialized Transit Services, Michael Andrade for a healthy discussion on specialized transit offerings.
Make sure you register for this Zoom meeting at bit.ly/2026CAN before April 22.
Send questions ahead of the call to info@linkhouston.org!
Key issues:
1) Yes, should be more trains. But get busy living or get busy dying. There are no trains to Boulder now.
2) No fed $ = quicker implementation, no admin malfeasance
3) They're gonna need some high/low platform-capable coaches relatively quickly, maybe some aging NE commuter rail cars?
Pennsylvania just paid $200m for one additional passenger round-trip from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh. Colorado is paying ~$100m per round-trip (on a route 1/4 the length of PA’s). At these prices, the “low-hanging fruit” of US intercity pax rail expansion are a lot higher up than they appear.
Bicycling increases and crash rates decline in cities that invest in cycling infrastructure.
Ralph Buehler, J. Pucher, et al. (2026), "Cycling in New York, London, Paris, and Berlin" International Journal of Sustainable Transport (www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/15568318.2026.2649315)
Uber and Lyft have been cutting driver compensation. This can only lead to a less skilled and reliable workforce, which means a worse service for customers.
Leading transit agencies, meanwhile, are doing the opposite.
Trend in average number of cars per household. City of Paris shown in light blue; Paris metropolis overall in middle blue; Paris metropolis outside of Paris in dark blue.
Trend in gas sales in Paris and the near suburbs, in thousands of tons.
Gas stations in Paris metropolis. Light blue dots show stations that were open in 2024. Dark blue dots show stations that closed between 2019 and 2024.
Paris metropolis: Striking reductions in car use due to proactive efforts to encourage bike, walking, transit:
—Less car ownership: From 0.5 cars/HH in Paris to 0.36, 1999–2022. Outside of Paris: 0.88➡️0.8
—35% less gas sold 2005–24
—15% fewer gas stations between 2019–24
www.apur.org/sites/defaul...
Long may they continue!
MOST of their capital budget is repaving roads.
Then there are bus stop and sidewalk improvements as part of their universal accessibility programs.
They are acquiring only enough buses to maintain current service levels.
@link-houston.bsky.social did a deep dive into how service has shifted post covid in their 2024 report: linkhouston.org/equity-in-tr...
If only we had the frequent NETWORK that existed pre-2019.
While total service level are back to pre-covid levels, we lack a lot of service on routes that would make connections easier.
The 27, 33 (now 433), 50, 56, & 80 are still not frequent everyday, limiting the utility of the entire system.
For UP, knowing Amtrak is definitely using their route near New Orleans is better than Amtrak maybe using their route.
(UP & BNSF have parallel routes west of the Huey Long Bridge into NO; the Sunset Ltd will still have access to both routes if needed)
www.trains.com/pro/passenge...
So just to get this straight: people buy cars and expect the municipal government to provide them with a convenient space within a finite streetscape to park the car. And they expect to enjoy this service free of any charge. Do I have that right?
The RM is also a a private luxury entertainment company, not a nationalised transport company. They have a bit more financial incentive to develop bespoke cars.
They also DO NOT use their bilevels on their American services right now. They use these:
They are more or less the same rules. The idea is EVERYONE should be able to use and enjoy every amenity of the train. On a commuter train, that’s just seats and a bathroom. On an intercity train that’s also the bedrooms, cafe, lounge, etc.
The bilevel requests they put out had observation/lounge cars. Not sure why the single level request would not.
I’m sure they have a nice observation car. Stadler makes good ones today! I’m sure others could make one or team wire Stadler to make them.
Goodnight Houston
We need to get you on an Aclea asap!
