Which cities have embraced them in your view?

I mean not paying the correct tax rate, not being subject to the medallion system, not running background checks, and etc sure would allow you to innovate and underbid the competition. I'm not a Luddite and ofc competition is good, but fair competition is the key.

Land being finite is a silly cop out- we have elevators. Many of these places have high unemployment! Let's get people in the workforce. Plus hotel money and condo/apt money are two different buckets.

Sentiment is fine, solutions are better.

that's fine. But not building hotels hasn't outsmarted visitors to Barcelona was my point.

I think tourist fees are fine. They seem to be working well in Venice.

Also, it's a decision about whether to accomodate tourists vs. not. Too many people think they can outsmart markets!

Ideally, you have a well functioning transit system and a well regulated & fair taxi system that Uber can be a part of, as well as a robust hotel sector, buttressed by short term rentals comprised of excess housing supply and people making some extra cash on their homes.

This is just a sponsorship though, right?

I'm have a nuanced view on both. Both came into existence by flouting the rules (some good, some bad) & in the case of Uber, are in competition with public services. They also use their considerable $ to lobby against prog causes. I favor the city here.

Yeah. I agree.

These days I only do an Airbnb with a group.

It can make that choice, but that's a lot of jobs. And while there are extreme cases like Venice or niche concerns like your fav ☕️ shop being taken over by 💻, most anti-tourism sentiments are down stream of housing shortages (and hotel shortages).

Right. The list of people who hate Airbnbs and also don't want hotels in neighborhoods is more of an eclipse than a Venn diagram

I hate the anti-hotel sentiment. Young peopyin big cities either rent a room or only have a studio or 1 bed. It makes it hard for family to visit.

bsky.app/profile/kjep...

Also, it's not what the riders are asking for...

Yeah. It's not a policy that gets people out of their cars. That where progressive/moderate pro-transit urbanists have a problem with it.

Every dollar spent on fare relief is one NOT spent on service.

I don't think it's quite that simple. None of those places have particularly good bus service. The mode share is pretty low. And I think you mean the suburbs. DC Metro ended their free bus experiment last year.

The reason the conservative intelligentsia has spent decades pretending that societal shifts in cultural attitudes are the same as state coercion is to justify the use of state coercion against the elements of society they disapprove of.

Well, and I think in a housing crisis, and to maximize open space we need to give up this idea of a step down. This is spitting distance from downtown in a subway. Why aren’t all of the buildings at the FAA limit so that it can open up more space for culture, resiliency, and recreation?

Electrification is bearing fruit in California - the electrification of Caltrain service has resulted in 50% increase in weekday ridership and doubling weekend. The report shows the complementary benefits of level boarding which will make service faster and more reliable.

@fortpointer.bsky.social thought you might find this development interesting. 31% housing by m2, 11 acres of park land, iconic bridges and amphitheater, and a flexible cultural venue.

MARTA recently used a parking deck (on a car-sewer road) as its cover photo on Facebook. It's disappointing, but not surprising.

Too many people in Atlanta's leadership have a windshield perspective on the city, viewing even transit through a skewed, car-oriented lens.

Act like it's a city, y'all.

But I am, we told you so.

“I’d like to give the MTA credit for pushing forward on a cleaner, modern map,” Vanmaps designer (and transit map aficionado) Andrew Lynch told The Groove. “The MTA gets a lot of flack for everything they do, so it’s important to credit a win.”

“Some voters” believe literally every possible conspiracy that supports their worldview you cannot act based on the ludicrous beliefs of ‘some voters’

1975: Vanity Fair writer making $175k spends 8 weeks with unfettered access to a celebrity for a profile piece
2025: A 10-minute Zoom call with Kenan Thompson contingent on explicit mention of his pharmaceutical sponsor in the first 50 words

ew.com/kenan-thomps...

a cartoon of a pikachu sitting at a table with a cup of coffee ALT: a cartoon of a pikachu sitting at a table with a cup of coffee

Waiting for MBTA to start implementing night owl service like….

24-hour service on the Silver Line 1 (SL1) to Logan Airport when?! 🚌

Ooh @capmetroatx.bsky.social is proposing to extend their Route 483 night owl service to the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in August! 🦉✈️

capmetro.org/servicechange

Go Cory! Still going after 13 hours! Looking quite tired but he's still going!

very excited for the communities over highways summit next month

The ribbon-cutting ceremony of Seoul’s Line 1 on August 15,1974. On the far right is Seoul Mayor Yang Taek-sik.

On August 15, 1974, Seoul opened South Korea’s first subway line. But its opening was chaotic and funereal, and even briefly canceled. What happened? I explore how events from that day would not only reshape Seoul Metro, but Seoul and South Korea itself forever www.substack-bahn.net/p/one-bullet...