capntransit

capntransit, 4 months ago to random

Periodic reminder: the way libertarians talk so much about birth rates is creepy, and you don't have to participate. It has no place in urbanism or environmentalism.

Birth rates only matter if you're a nationalist competing with other nationalists to be the most powerful nation, or a racist competing to be the most powerful race. Both of those are creepy, and antithetical to efficiency and social justice.

Obsession with birth rates is also a prime motivation for homophobia and transphobia.

capntransit, 4 months ago to random

Burning wood contributes to global warming and pollutes the air around. That might be slightly more acceptable in rural areas, because the number of people breathing in particulates is probably smaller. But it's the same amount of carbon dioxide released.

People like this college professor don't deserve "a pass" on burning wood because it's cheaper, just like people driving into Manhattan don't deserve one because they might not have much money. Lives are at stake.

https://www.wnyc.org/story/new-york-makes-energy-transition-fireplace-users-get-pass/

capntransit, 9 months ago to random

People have presented congestion pricing as though its only benefits were funding the MTA or reducing congestion, but Sadik-Khan has at least one more:

"To reap a huge street dividend. Congestion pricing is projected to reduce traffic by 20 percent. That means one in five cars will disappear. So there’s an opening for the city to innovate and create separate lanes for e-bikes, scooters, and mopeds that don’t belong in regular bike lanes or mixed in with traffic."

https://www.curbed.com/2023/09/janette-sadik-khan-nyc-congestion-pricing-rollout.html

capntransit, 1 month ago to random

RT @streetsblogkea Having feelings about the secretary of transportation applauding "America's first high speed rail project" not for providing alternatives to driving/flying, but for … giving people who work on it money to put "a new car or truck in the driveway."

Feeling #1: I get, politically, this kind of framing is sometimes necessary to get rail projects funded. Feeling #2: makes me nervous for future projects that might more meaningfully challenge automobility.

https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/secretary-buttigiegs-remarks-historic-groundbreaking-las-vegas-brightline-west-high

capntransit, 8 months ago to random

RT @aarmlovich: Big difference between 2000s London vs. post-covid NYC is that the London Tube was full! They had to add buses.

NYC today has 30% spare capacity on trains cleared out by hybrid commuting.

Hybrid work gave the huge capacity boost that will accommodate people who stop driving

capntransit, 9 months ago to random

Bike advocate: Here's my proposal for a new bike lane…
Other bike advocates: Woohoo! I'll show up to your rally with all my friends! I created a petition! Build all the bike lanes!

Transit advocate: Here's my proposal for a new train line…
Other transit advocates: That'll never work! The politicians don't want it. The transit agency isn't interested. The neighbors will NIMBY it. Nobody's going to fund construction. If somehow your proposal were to get built, nobody would ride it. You suck!

capntransit, 10 months ago to random

Large swaths of Long Island were built with dense, walkable neighborhoods around train stations. It's really the Long Island Expressway and the north-south roads that have been built since 1953 that drove the LIRR out of business and allowed politicians to cut bus funding.

RT @regionalplan Long Island was built to be a car-dependent bedroom community. As population and job growth have changed, people without cars struggle to get around or afford transit.

@newsday

https://www.newsday.com/long-island/transportation-high-cost-no-car-f30r2q2y

capntransit, 14 days ago to random

New blog post: There's an approach to climate change that focuses on "Making Polluters Pay" for the cost of carbon pollution. But who counts as a polluter? Why are they so insistent that it's just a handful of corporations?

https://capntransit.blogspot.com/2024/05/making-all-polluters-pay.html

capntransit, 7 months ago to random

RT @naqiyny Sad how much passenger rail service has been lost since the creation of Amtrak, hope to see funding for restoring old routes soon instead of just upgrading the NEC

capntransit, 4 months ago to random

The Regional Plan Association comes out against the NY State Department of Transportation's anticipated proposal to widen Route 17 in Orange County:

"To achieve the State’s climate goals, to promote choices across the state, and to ensure a healthy future, we must say no to any highway widening, including along Route 17. Investments in safety, transit, bicycle, and walking infrastructure where appropriate, and commitments to alternative land use patterns are essential."

https://rpa.org/latest/lab/evaluating-the-route-17-highway-widening-project

capntransit, 5 months ago to random

Periodic reminder that getting good bus service is not necessarily any easier, politically, than getting good train service.

https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2023/12/22/mayors-year-end-self-praise-neglects-the-bus-which-makes-sense-given-how-little-there-is-to-praise

capntransit, 5 months ago to random

Over the past three years I've said several times that private transit companies should get at least the same COVID bailout per passenger-mile that the airlines did.

If you read this and feel sad about the loss of train and bus service to small towns in Kansas, and throughout the country ... where have you been the past three years? What have you said while the airlines and public transit agencies were getting billions?

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/dec/25/christmastime-can-be-a-sad-reminder-that-many-towns-in-the-us-are-left-behind

capntransit, 5 months ago to random

New blog post: Ten things to remember about public and private transportation

https://capntransit.blogspot.com/2023/12/ten-things-to-remember-about-public-and.html

capntransit, 4 months ago to random

On the latest Mondays, @TheOverheadWire paraphrases a study assuming that driving and flying less are "not as intuitive" ways to reduce climate change. I gotta say I don't have an "intuitive" belief that either recycling plastics or composting is a primary way to prevent global warming.

I'm repeatedly baffled as to how these connections got drummed into so many people, particularly in California, and I don't think it has anything to do with intuition or common sense.

https://streetsblog.libsyn.com/episode-146-mondays-at-the-overhead-wire-into-2024

capntransit, 2 months ago to random

RT @travis_robert: I am becoming rapid-fire radicalized against all these “rails to trails” projects. An intact rail right-of-way is exceedingly precious and every single one should be restored to RAIL

https://www.sfchronicle.com/outdoors/article/great-redwood-trail-master-plan-19376023.php

capntransit, 5 months ago to random

Charles Komanoff does the math: Drivers steal $310,000 a day in tolls from the MTA by defacing their plates.

• In 2022, the MTA collected $2,332,380,000 at its toll crossings
• That year, the MTA reported that its “toll revenue collection rate” is 93.7 percent.
• That makes the uncollected 2022 revenue $156,800,000.
• Then take that number and divide it by 365 to get the per-day figure

https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2023/12/19/komanoff-mtas-three-day-blitz-on-toll-scofflaws-is-not-nearly-enough

capntransit, 5 months ago to random

RT @mateosfo: In the United States you can get a $7500 tax credit to buy a $55,000 electric car but you can’t get a $7500 tax credit to rent a condo in a walkable neighborhood where you don’t need a car.

And they call it “climate policy.”

capntransit, 6 months ago to random

And so many transit advocates refuse to talk about highway teardowns and insist they're "not anti-car."

RT @dmtrubman Every time a big piece of auto-infrastructure goes down in an American city transit ridership shoots up...and yet many people will tell you the presence of so many highways and roads (usually without tolls!) in our metro areas isn't a barrier to permanently growing ridership

capntransit, 7 months ago (edited 7 months ago) to random

In NYC election news:

Justin Brannan, who is generally in favor of pedestrian and transit improvements, won over Ari Kagan, who is absolutely not, 58-41.

Marjorie Velazquez, who is usually pretty good on transportation but sponsored the underwhelming outdoor dining bill, lost to a pro-cop, anti-housing, anti-poor candidate, Kristy Marmorato, 47-52.

https://enr.boenyc.gov/

capntransit, 5 months ago to random

Darrell Owens does the thinking that the "nationalize Greyhound!" Jacobin writer couldn't manage to do:

https://usa.streetsblog.org/2024/01/05/opinion-the-death-of-greyhound-isnt-a-greyhound-problem-its-a-bus-problem

capntransit, 5 months ago to random

Another new blog post - I remembered the National Transit Database before the end of the year!

The big winner of 2022 is New York Waterway, which earned $1.43 for every dollar they spent. That makes sense because you can usually isolate on the upper deck. They charge $9, but they run every twenty minutes, and they know how to load and unload passengers efficiently, unlike the Hornblower crews who run the East River Ferries!

https://capntransit.blogspot.com/2023/12/the-2022-farebox-numbers.html

capntransit, 8 months ago to random

Tear down the parking lots and garages, and people will walk and take the bus.

RT @nymtc Do you walk to your LIRR station? Bike to the Metro-North? Join the MTA for an overview of its NYMTC-funded effort to improve customer access to/from suburban MTA Metro-North Railroad and MTA Long Island Rail Road stations.
https://www.nymtc.org/en-us/NEWS-EVENTS/calendar/ModuleID/1010/ItemID/250/mctl/EventDetails

#suburbancommuter

capntransit, 3 months ago to random

The more I read about this, the better it looks! The New York City Department of Transportation is proposing to take a shitty, cars-only road that's a combination access road for the Van Cortlandt Park golf course and on/offramp to the Major Deegan Expressway, reallocate a ton of asphalt to parkland and a raised/curb-protected bike path, build sidewalks and stripe crosswalks. Yay!

https://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/van-cortlandt-park-south-bailey-ave-feb2024.pdf

Proposal 18 Off Ramps: Relocate and normalize intersection geometries Add stop controls and pedestrian crossings Legalize north ramp’s left -turn Integrate old ramps into existing vegetated area On Ramp: Slow right turn movement Add pedestrian crossing Legalize left -turn onto ramp Benefits: • Calm vehicles exiting + entering the Expwy • Reduce crossing distance • Improve visibility at new crosswalks
Proposal 20 • Close slip lane and maintain Greenstreet • Provides space for Bx10 bus bulb Benefits: • Eliminates a conflict point between pedestrians, vehicles, and bicyclists • Reduces total crossing distance by 95 feet • Relocates crosswalk and creates a smaller intersection • Improves pedestrian infrastructure near bus stops BEFORE AFTER EXAMPLE PROJECT: BROADWAY, FLUSHING, GRAHAM AVE, BROOKLYN
Proposal 22 Realign off-ramps Reduce crossing distances Expand island and close slip lane Build new sidewalks Create bike connection Build pedestrian island Benefits: • Improve pedestrian infrastructure • Safer, shorter, and more visible pedestrian crossings • New bike connection to Park and Empire State Trail • Stop and slow vehicles entering and exiting the Expressway • Reduce vehicle and pedestrian/bicyclist conflicts

capntransit, 8 months ago (edited 8 months ago) to random

Edit to note that this is apparently 78% of microplastics from specific sources, including textiles and personal care products, which is only 11% of total microplastics.

So about 8% of total microplastics is directly from car tires.

RT @jme_pew Turns out “microplastics” isn’t descriptive enough. We should be panicking about tire dust.

“Seventy-eight percent of ocean microplastics are synthetic tire rubber, according to a report by the Pew Charitable Trust.”

https://e360.yale.edu/features/tire-pollution-toxic-chemicals

capntransit, 15 days ago to random

Anniversary blog post from May 25, 2011: Whenever I hear people claim that Uber and Lyft "destroyed" New York City's taxi system, my mind boggles at how completely ignorant or how deep in denial they must be. This post was part of a series where I described how fantastically shitty the taxi system was in 2011:

https://capntransit.blogspot.com/2011/05/new-york-yellow-cabs-in-practice.html