There is just one bad thing about tomorrow: So many long-awaited improvements are launching at once I can’t see them all on the first day, gotta pick my favorite 🚍

Guys you have to believe in the AI code or else it stops working

A hot dog with mustard on it outside the pickup window at Home Depot (in Michigan). I’m holding a ketchup bottle over it, threateningly

nice knowing you chicago bluesky

Okay CTA. This is a good sign.

April 20, 2026 Service Changes A new route, 350 Wixom, will enter service along with extensions to Routes 430, 494, 610, and 780. Route 796 will be eliminated.

SMART’s newest route, the 350 Wixom, enters service on April 20th! The 430, 494, 610, and 780 will also see long-awaited extensions.

Route 796 will be discontinued. Alternative service is available to these riders in the Pontiac area.

Learn more and view the schedules:
smartbus.org/About/News/a...

A mural on the side of a building along a prominent bike route between Ferndale and Royal Oak, lit by a floodlight. My bike is in front of it. The mural depicts a man in a sweatjacket and knit cap with a camera slung over his shoulder on a strap sitting on a sandy beach at twilight next to his dog, gazing at clouds and the starry sky in the distance. Behind him is a bright yellow motorbike with plate “JICOY” piled high with possessions bungeed together with ropes including a small stuffed dinosaur, a watering can, several suitcases, a boombox, a fern, a soccer ball and crate, a tambourine, multiple books including “The Buildings of Detroit: A History” by W. Hawkins Ferry, and multiple records including the “Giant Steps” jazz album by John Coltrane. The mural is signed “Wilson” in the lower left.

I’ve never noticed this mural before. It’s beautiful

No April Fools here – Ride SMART for free all day tomorrow!

Artemis II lifts off

Me holding up a turkey and swiss sandwich on the platform outside the Cafè Car

Happy to report I’m back in Metro Detroit with absolutely no incident. Bang on time. Even got a lavish 15 minute off-train break in Battle Creek during the crew change.

When it works, it really really works ✨

About to head back east, which is when the blowouts typically happen… hate to say I’m nervous but can everyone send positive energy to Amtrak Midwest please lol

The weather going from 70° to feels like 19° when I only packed for low 40s is the biggest April Fools’ joke that’s ever been played on me.

“Transfer to Amtrak and Metra trains at Quincy” how about no

South Shore Line extends service to Munster, Dyer with new stations

The South Shore Train Line runs east-to-west from Millennium Station in Chicago to the South Bend Airport. A new line now runs north to south, reaching Munster and Dyer.

Have a running joke with my friends that if I ever spend more than 48 consecutive hours in Chicago, they’ll need to pull me back into Michigan with a tractor beam because I might not come home willingly..

I love it here so, so much but I must go. My Metro Detroit transit people need me

Chicago: That went from “It’s a beautiful day for a bike ride” to “Current Objective: Survive” REAL fast 😭

I will have a video/blog post of my own online in, like… 7 to 10 business days once I have a couple weekends to turn this heap of footage into something with a narrative

I’m also pretty sure I ended up a background extra in at least three prominent transit youtube channels 😅

One of these high-profile service launches was finally close to home lol

My bike in a quick release rack inside the train

My bike on the opposite side of the platform from the train at Munster/Dyer Station

The Monon Corridor is up and running! If you see a bike with a Detroit sticker in any press releases, hiya 🚲 🛤️

My bike in front of the yellow smiley face water tower with a bow tie behind River Oaks Center in Lansing, Illinois

🙂

A Metra Electric gallery car on a two-car South Shore Line train from South Bend

An updated system map with the Monon Corridor added. Lines and stops are reflective with braille text

I am told I rolled a very rare experience for my first-ever South Shore Line ride

I haven’t been west of Kalamazoo on Amtrak in over 4 years. ONWARD 😁

I will never fly when the train is an option

Even with all of their recent faults I have endless love for the “throw it in the back, we’ve got room” mentality of Amtrak.

Oh, got a bulky bike? Just secure it against the wall in the vestibule. We’ll grab your pannier too, head on in and find a seat. And we pulled up your ticket, we gotcha ✌️

I can’t remember the last time I was on any Wolverine or Blue Water when I DIDN’T hear the crew make this announcement

self care is booking train 353 to chicago (8:45am departure) instead of my usual train 351 (5:45am departure)

waking up after dawn? actually eating breakfast? what a concept

High of *74 degrees* in Munster for the Monon Corridor opening and then 46 degrees on Wednesday lol. March Midwest Madness

I can't believe I'm packing my bike shorts for this but sure enough

Four years ago I tested it by asking it for a summary of transit options in Michigan (what else would I ask it) and watched in mild amusement as it hallucinated multiple agencies that do not and have never existed.

*skywalker voice* it didn’t scare me enough then. it does now

Marketing email from the most prominent large language model trying to convince me to “just start typing whatever’s on my mind”. I’ve never received a promo message from them before.

Thank you, marketing team, for reminding me I never deleted my account after I played with it one time on launch in 2022 and then left it to collect dust. This has been corrected 🚮

My electric bike next to a sign for Palmer Park off Seven Mile

Wide shot of the Palmer Park bandshell with my bike framed in the center

My bike next to the Carhartt mural on the side of the flagship store on Cass

My bike in the green viaduct under the railroad tracks on Cass with the café car on the Amtrak Wolverine passing overhead

Checkride 2026 complete, ready to roll!

Just two days away from a trip I’ve had planned in some form or another for years: We’re headed to The Region. NW Indiana, here I come 🚃

the official end of the three-month kitchen cart saga

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