Once again, there's corpo-political BS going on with light rail. Seems that under some Amazon influence, the ST board is aiming to go against their own staff recommendations for the CID station location. Apparently, Amazon is concerned about their drivers being slowed down by construction. Screw that!
Do the thing. Click the link and send the letter to tell them to do the right thing here.
So, #seattle folks, how do you talk to people who have 1) never ridden our #transit / #lightrail and at the same time 2) constantly belittle it and make obscene jokes about it being riddled with crime, drug, and houseless folks? Because I'm getting... real tired of it.
See, here's why I think the Parramatta light rail should be extended from Sydney Olympic Park to Strathfield.
It's not just that it would allow it to connect directly to many of the train lines serving the western and northern suburbs, including the T1, T2, T3, and T9. Or intercity trains to the Blue Mountains, Central Coast, and Newcastle.
It's not just that Strathfield is a major bus hub with many services across the western suburbs.
It's not just that DFO Homebush (between Strathfield and Olympic Park) is a busy shopping centre that generates a lot of traffic.
No, the big reason I say it's a good idea is because these photos were taken on the 526 bus, between Strathfield and Olympic Park, on a Sunday afternoon.
1/3 I rode my acoustic bike thru the atmospheric river, & by the end I was swimming but had fun! #SEAbikes
-end of the rainbow …is in Bellevue?
-can’t wait for new 8th Ave bridge for Eastrail to open
-signage/markings at 130th St Station
-selfie w @SoundTransit on the Eastside #Seattle#Eastside#Bellevue#Redmond#BikeTooter#PNW#LightRail
2/3 I checked out the new Overlake Village pedestrian bridge (it’s finally open!) that connects 520 Trail & light rail station
Visually, it’s really nice, mural takes you into a lush green forest
Aurally, it’s loud, as you hear all of the freeway noise thru gaps in mural slats #Seattle#Eastside#Bellevue#Redmond#BikeTooter#SEAbikes#PNW#LightRail
Automotive and oil companies have no problem conspiring to destroy public transportation for their own gain. They have a lot of influence in government even now.
My hometown has a population of less than 500 people. 100 years ago the population was around 1.500 people, they had passenger and cargo rail service. Car companies bought the rail company in the 1930s and shut down the line. The tracks were removed but the bridges and railway bed is still there.
Driving 8 hours round trip today to pick up one person, and I'll never understand why Americans think this is more convenient than my colleague taking a train.
I went and rode the new trackless tram vehicle that the Stirling council (in Perth) has on loan from CRRC, It is massive! So much bigger than it looks in photos. It was a pleasant ride but I still have concerns about the technology which are hard to voice without sounding like your are against new transit developments. Mainly, there have been concerns about the weight of the vehicle and it damaging the bitumen surface it runs on, requiring a reinforced concrete track. #Perth#Tram#lightrail
For those unfamiliar with it, Lemmy is basically a federated version of Reddit, distributed across multiple servers like Mastodon. (For anyone who wants to delve further, lemmy.ml, beehaw.org, and aussie.zone are three popular Lemmy instances.)
From Mastodon, you can follow any Lemmy group by following its handle, exactly the same way that you would follow a Mastodon account. Any new posts to that group will then begin appearing in your Mastodon feed.
Even better, if you start a thread on Mastodon, you can also post it to a relevant Lemmy group just by including its handle in your post. (Please note this only seems to work with the first post of a thread.)
To many urban Americans in the 1920s, the car and its driver were tyrants that deprived others of their freedom.
by Peter Norton
"Today it is a commonplace that the automobile represents freedom. But to many Americans in the 1920s, the car and its driver were tyrants that deprived others of their freedom. Before other auto promoters, Charles Hayes saw that industry leaders had to reshape the traffic safety debate. As president of the Chicago Motor Club, Hayes warned his friends that bad publicity over traffic casualties could soon lead to 'legislation that will hedge the operation of automobiles with almost unbearable restrictions.' The solution was to persuade city people that 'the streets are made for vehicles to run upon.'"
@RM_Transit A great video, and lovely to see a smaller UK city featured on the channel.
Now that HS2’s northern leg has been cancelled, the money saved should be going on systems like the one Reece is proposing. Instead, our zombie government is going to spend most of it on our bloody road network. 🤦♂️
When Newcastle had Australia's longest tram route.
Here's a really interesting look at the very extensive tram network that used to exist in Newcastle, stretching as far west as West Wallsend and as far south as Lake Macquarie.
Sadly, the original tram network was ripped up in 1950.
Scientists have found a ‘sleeping giant’ of environmental problems: Earth is getting saltier
#Salt used to de-ice roads is the single biggest source of salt in the U.S.
By Kasha Patel
October 31, 2023
"Human activities are making the globe saltier, specifically in our soils, fresh water and air, according to a study released Tuesday in the journal Nature Reviews Earth & Environment.
"The excess salt has already caused serious issues in freshwater supplies in recent decades. Saltier water led to brown tap water for months in Montgomery County, #Maryland. It also played a part in creating the #toxic lead-laden water in #FlintMichigan.
"Salt pollution isn’t some flashy threat to our existence — like, say, a meteor hitting Earth — but the issue is gravely overlooked and is a 'sleeping giant,' said Sujay Kaushal, lead author of the study. He said it might be the 'most boring but contemporary problem that we have.'
"Most people think of salt as the white specks we put in our food or the salt in oceans, chemically known as sodium chloride (NaCl). That sodium salt can also be found in detergents, other household products and more, but there are many different salts, including calcium, magnesium and other ions used in additional products — and they’re all increasing in places where they don’t normally occur.
"Over the past 50 years, salt ions have increased in #streams and #rivers as people have begun using and producing more salts, the study says. The team found that across the globe, about 2.5 billion acres of soil — an area about the size of the United States — have become saltier. Salt lakes are also drying up and sending saline dust into the air.
“'We use water for everything from growing crops to drinking to industrial processes to heating and cooling,' said Kaushal, a geologist at the University of Maryland. 'But when you have salt in the water, it affects all of those things … and it’s increasing.'"