Boston is frustrating b/c you can literally see the airport from south station, but the connection is the weird semi-BRT hybrid diesel/electric SL1 bus. It does go to all the terminals but doesn’t operate 24/7 and can take anywhere between 10 and 45 minutes depending on traffic.
My experience as a year-round outdoor runner (and dog owner) in greater Boston this winter taught me one thing:
Virtually every city and town did not shovel out intermediary pedestrian islands. Those tiny, critical bits of infrastructure that keep us safe crossing extra-wide streets: all untouched
In the last 18 hours:
(1) I had a 70+ year old almost hit my kids in a stroller, and
(2) had an elderly oncoming driver drift into my lane, passing me as I dodged her seemingly unaware of my presence.
lloydalter.substack.com/p/we-may-soo...
Echos of Yancey on the Casey overpass at forest hills.
Any reason why the @mbta.com can’t do this?
“Helsinki hasn’t registered a single traffic-related fatality in the past year…Citing data that shows the risk of pedestrian fatality is cut in half by reducing a car’s speed from 40 to 30km/hr, city officials imposed the lower limit in most of Helsinki’s residential areas and city center in 2021.”
New meta-analysis of 26 published studies concludes that AVs will lead people to use cars a lot more — which would thicken congestion and worsen pollution (even if AVs are electric).
"AV deployment is anticipated to lead to an overall increase in Vehicle Miles Traveled."
doi.org/10.1016/j.tb...
New study of media collision reporting from @patrickrerat.bsky.social
"Cyclists are placed at the center of the narrative, while motorists are either omitted or reduced to their vehicles... Making these biases visible is essential for challenging motonormativity"
findingspress.org/article/1575...
And with all the leftover, soon to be overworked, people who will quit due to burnout.
"There is also an awkward truth Detroit executives will only whisper: Many dealers actively sabotaged EV sales. Car dealerships make most of their money on parts and service. EVs need far less maintenance...For a dealer, every EV sold represents years of lost...income." www.thefp.com/p/the-car-wo...
Boston’s current mayor originally campaigned on being pro-bike-infra but has done less for bike infrastructure than her predecessor who was outwardly less bike friendly, but more supportive of big visions (good and bad). Mamdani may be following the same path - nuts and bolts instead of big ideas.
“So, it is not the cycling infrastructure that is expensive, it is the unwillingness to reallocate travel lanes or parking spaces to micromobility traffic (or delay motor vehicle traffic in the case of the Macdonald bridge) that is the challenge.”
And the Fords and the General Motors and the whateverthefuckchrysleriscalled will look up and shout SAVE US!
And BYD will look down and whisper, no
Thinking bout this banger from @cplusc.bsky.social again today
A fact that sounds like bullshit but is actually true:
There is more square footage of parking *per car* in the US than there is square footage of housing *per person.*
Cities will micromanage an e-bike, but are fine with multi-ton cars being beta tested on our streets by remote workers overseas.
Make it make sense.
So sad to see one of the best bike lanes in Boston in such poor condition. Thanks to the community helpers stepping up!
Almost two weeks and there are still many bus stops, crosswalks, sidewalks, and bike lanes that are completely snowed in. Residents shoveled out a bus stop in my neighborhood only to have it plowed back in the next day.
I’ve been thinking for many years now that box trucks and vehicles over a certain weight/limited visibility should require a commercial license and higher insurance rates.
This would also push automakers to start selling subcompacts in the US again.
Introducing Sunny’s class three drivers license program.
(If cars were regulated like bikes)
"By the end of the two-year period, 94% of participants reported they were housed."
A million pilot programs show the same thing: when people are given enough money to afford housing, homelessness ends.
Other supports matter, but housing comes first. Not policing. Not moralizing. Homes.
Thank god. Car door handles shouldn’t be controlled by software like teslas are
We understand. We no longer have a free press in the US. Most of the major news media outlets are owned by people connected to this admin. There’s a massive concerted propaganda effort to keep people misinformed. It’s very scary.
It never fails.
When I filed the police report after a driver hit me, the officer asked if I was wearing hi viz.
On a sunny, August afternoon.
When the driver turned right from the left hand lane.
wrote about the much-deserved death knell of the world's worst architecture project for @thenation.com www.thenation.com/article/worl...
Not just electric cars. Where are the affordable subcompacts?
US government's policy toward the Big 3 automakers—encouraging them to invest in massive, US-only SUVs & trucks, now encouraging them to underinvest in EVs—has reinforced their global irrelevance.
Ford sold 33% fewer vehicles worldwide in 2024 than 2015! GM sold 40% fewer vehicles!
