Transportation justice. Live in Oakland, work all over California. More from me at laurelintransit.com and transitdataprimer.org
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This is my fear for the future of transit, sponsors determining service. It will create inadequate and inequitable service levels and we now lack the credible threat of federal Title VI enforcement. Support for everyone in PA fighting for transit funding!
Join me tonight at this virtual panel!
I also think people have a hard time leaving positions with a lot of proximity to power. The power feeds the ego and you can tell yourself that it would be worse if you weren't there, that your little interventions are making things better. And losing access to that power feels like a real loss
And when I was there the farebox data on the older GL cars weren't regularly uploaded. Sometimes it was months behind. On buses the farebox data is uploaded during fueling but that isn't needed on GL cars. And I think it required moving the cars in the yard close enough to connect to the wifi.
It is really hard to measure ridership on the GL because of the many ways that people pay/don't. There are (at least were) APCs on the type 9 cars, but if I remember correctly when I left (2021) there was no automated way to get the data. It required manually downloading the data from the cars
I would ask opmi@mbta.com
I wonder about the Boston data. 2022 is when the Green Line extension opened. Did ridership go down or did they change how they calculated ridership? In the past I would have known the answer to this question!
I am guessing/hoping yes, but that it can't be done until the old Clipper system is turned off (everyone transitioned over).
The millionaire’s tax in Mass is providing critical funding to the MBTA, and has resulted in the elimination of subway slow zones, trains that are moving faster, and the hiring of more bus drivers to expand service. Tax the rich, fund transit.
Agree we need improvements on the supply side, AND we could make changes on the demand side (pricing, land use, etc) to increase transit usage.
It is a bullhorn at this point and people are just pretending not to hear it.
I think infill makes more sense than extensions! It's the transit access that can create the displacement and the increment tax financing is the signal it is happening and starts the speculation. So key to get policies in place beforehand, landbank for affordable housing, etc.
This is a useful book about the mistakes of Atlanta and their tax increment financing district for the Beltline. No transit yet and lots of displacement. www.ucpress.edu/books/red-ho...
Arg, even more complicated. 4- route still exists, but just don't stop here anymore.
I had been wondering how they were going to handle the signage in this case. Part of what is confusing is there are 3 types of changes happening and all could be happening at the same stop. 1- route eliminated, 2-route name same but now going to a different place, 3- no changes.
New Mexico is beautiful!
They also need to significantly improve the ability to add cash to a Clipper card in East Oakland. Otherwise people won't get the benefits of the free transfers.
remember to breathe they want you to stop, but you shouldn't
as much as anything, Andrew Cuomo's campaign represents the bipartisan consensus at the top that consequences and standards are for other, lesser, working class plebes. destined to suffer what they must for the outcomes others merely would prefer. But No Kings should mean No Nobles either.
This time-lapse video of protesters marching down Broadway in Oakland for No Kings Day gives an idea of how many people turned out today @sfchronicle.com
For once looking forward to flying out of LAX!
I am in SF and happy to do a workshop on transportation equity work in the Bay Area.
This is heartbreaking and infuriating on so many levels. All of the details illustrate how our society is designed for some and against others. The $1.5 million bond for both parents makes the injustice so clear. Zero consideration given to what is best for the surviving 10 year old.
Here is some on research on 'patterns of neighborhood change in 42 neighborhoods in 12 metropolitan areas first served by rail transit between 1990 and 2000' todresources.org/wp-content/u...
Brings back the memories! Thanks for posting.
We also have a history of building transit projects as economic development projects, not based on current transportation needs.
And public housing in Atlanta
Right, I have a PhD in Civil Engineering and am doing nothing that requires it. I have built zero bridges. No one ever asks me what I am going to do with it. There isn't critical thinking in thinking about what thinking is critical.
AG Bonta filed suit today about the immigration cooperation part. oag.ca.gov/news/press-r...
New: States say the Trump Admin is holding emergency relief and transit funds "hostage" in retaliation for not complying with immigration directives. "More cars, planes, and trains will crash, and more people will die as a result."
You can get from Eureka to SF on Amtrak or a bunch of local buses: Humboldt transit from Eureka to Ukiah, Mendocino transit from Ukiah to Santa Rosa, Golden Gate to SF.
If this wasn't real, it would be the plot of a nerd's action movie. The bad guys are trying to break into the Library of Congress to steal all of the copyrighted material to feed into their earth destroying machines and the librarians have to fight back to save humanity!
I am not sure. I am trying to get more info right now. There is a TRO from the Seattle lawsuit but I am not sure if it applies nationwide.
First I have seen as well, but icymi FTA changed their master grant agreement to require cooperation with ICE, end DEI, and call all EOs federal requirements. So basically unsignable by a transit agency in CA. See details in this lawsuit by Seattle. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
No surprise that the federal data grab continues to fuel the AI race. And also no coincidence that this occurred within days of the Librarian of Congress being fired without cause. The Office of the Register of Copyrights sits within the Library of Congress. Keep fighting @morelle.house.gov.
Poisoning the air of a Black community for a fucking chatbot.
A report from the scene of a horrifying kidnapping on the streets of Worcester, MA today by @billshaner.bsky.social www.welcometohellworld.com/they-dont-ne...
You can read the complaint here. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us... And the ruling here. www.courtlistener.com/docket/70062...
A judge issued a TRO in a case brought by @kingcountymetro.bsky.social challenging changes to the FTA Master Grant agreement. I learned from reading the legal filings that FTA changed their master grant agreement to say federal requirements includes executive orders and cooperating with ICE.
ClimatePlan is searching for a new director. This org acts as the nerve center for all sorts of bright, equity-oriented sustainable transportation and land use policy advocates across California - come work with us!! cal.streetsblog.org/2025/05/07/i...
Along these lines, extremely freaked out about the breakdown of the firewalls for personal data at IRS, Post Office, Social Security, etc to give ICE/police access and create tracking databases. Seems like it will be very hard to get that genie back in the bottle.
This is an outrageous policy change. Also, if you’re gonna do this then you gotta do it for drivers, too right? Given those are obviously far far more dangerous vehicles. nyc.streetsblog.org/2025/05/02/p...
"Mobility justice demands that we confront the surveillance, policing, and xenophobia ... It demands we stop asking people to prove their worth before they can move without fear. It means acknowledging our streets, sidewalks, and bus stops are not neutral but political" Ruth Rosas
A literal Chicago Boy running a deregulation effort under an authoritarian government, ask a Chilean what could go wrong!
republicans are trying to give ICE a 140% increase in funding at the same time they're doing mass deportations, exiling citizens and permanently disappearing people to foreign prisons w/out trial this is VERY REAL. it is part of their reconciliation bill that can be enacted even with all ds opposed
Andry José Hernández Romero, I remember you, even if I do not know how to articulate my horror, rage, & sorrow at your treatment by my government. No one has heard from you in 43 days. As vigil, I’m posting a photo of you every day until you are returned from El Salvador.
Tomorrow!
Earth Day….
This was a problem we were working through with The Vendor when I was at the MBTA over 5 years ago.
Shout it from the mountaintops, transit is safer than driving! For fatalities and crime. As we have seen from the federal government recently "transit is unsafe" is a narrative designed to defund transit, decrease ridership, and demonize transit riders. www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-p...
I just realized we really do have to put the Sr. after RFK now. Sigh.
Let me say this again: If a president can illegally deport someone, conspire with that country’s leader to abandon them to human rights abuses, and face no consequences, we are in a hellish authoritarian moment. What a fucking evil, illiberal government this is.
Great to see advocate installed benches in use after today's Hands Off protest in downtown Oakland! Bus stops need benches.
Mass transit makes mass protests possible! Maybe that is why Sean Duffy is scared of it.
As a daily transit rider I feel most at risk from drivers when I am crossing the street to a bus stop/train station. Transit is safer than driving/riding in a private vehicle! injuryfacts.nsc.org/home-and-com...
In accusations are confessions news, my colleague uncovered the California landlord lobby paying people to attend a city council meeting to support rolling back rent control and just cause eviction protections! See the video www.instagram.com/reel/DHw5ctY...
The Boston #HandsOff organizers are killing it. Handsoff2025.com
Good time to learn about the history of Diego Garcia and the people who were displaced by the US military base. www.youtube.com/watch?v=mla3...
The capitulation of TRB continues. It is particularly maddening when it is an institution you gave so much free labor to!
This reminds me how much I love the math proof that there are different sizes of infinity!
Federally collected data is critical to the protection of civil rights, even whether we are able to rely on local and state enforcement mechanisms. I am working on a checklist tool to identify datasets at risk so we can develop strategies. DM if you are interested and I can share the working draft.
Loss of data collection is one of the many things I am worried about from this federal regime! This article focuses on public health data, but the concern applies to the data we need to measure disparate impact of policies whether in health, environment, transportation, housing, education, etc.
CA's regional climate planning process (SB 375) is broken and needs to be strengthened. The models are disconnected from the funding decisions. Transit use in SF helps the entire region meet our emission goals.
Reminds me of the time my (now ex) girlfriend's mother told me her husband (gf's father) "isn't homophobic, he would never hit a gay person, he just has visceral reactions whenever he sees them."
12 of my articles and the book I co-edited are on this list. Given how academic publishing works it is like I was robbed twice of the same thing! First the journals profited off my labor and now Meta. And ironically I would have published it all creative commons noncommercial if I could have.
It was a fascinating time! My great-grandfather was friends with Frank Tannenbaum, who was an IWW leader before going to Columbia and Samuel Roth of Roth v US, the obscene material Supreme Court case. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_T... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_...
Mahmoud Khalil has become a political prisoner for protesting a US-backed genocide. His detention heralds new vistas of repression made possible by institutions and technological developments begun by the War on Terror.
Columbia has a long history of this! My great-grandfather was a student of Dr. Longfellow Dana before he got fired for opposing World War One.
Really bad take from where I sit (behind the wheel of a bus) because so much of the skill of an operator relies on human skills like intuiting the intentions of other humans. A surprising fraction of my work is reading faces, body language and gestures.
“I think the public needs to know that if they are going to visit a national park that they should bring their own toilet paper.” www.sfgate.com/national-par...
A new bill threatens to repeal bare minimum renter protections. Tell Congress to protect the 30-day eviction notice standard & oppose the so-called “Respect State Housing Laws Act.”
Right, and trans folks can't rely on family members with similar experiences to theirs to be ready made support systems.
The EEOC filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk's company, Tesla, alleging it allowed "severe racial harassment" of Black employees including “frequent direct verbal racial attacks” and the “constant presence of racist graffiti evocative of lynchings.” Every story about these cuts should say that.
My dad (79) is ready to stop driving and it is very infeasible with where he lives. In the meantime he won't give up his 1989 car (and 1985 truck) because he wants none of the screens or new features. I wish we could get safety features without screens or touch buttons.
This is not about efficiency. Giving federal employees purchase cards saves money - it reduces layers of paperwork and red tape. Imagine running a business where you stopped employees from purchasing anything. The goal is to shut down government by other means.
Allowing the administration to define broad swaths of history, programming and civil rights compliance as “DEI” and then regurgitating that language instead of clearly articulating what specifically is being targeted is spreading disinformation and propaganda.
The first places in America where Black people had fair opportunities to work for the same pay and benefits as white Americans was the federal government. Still today, in places with high Black populations, many government employees are Black.
These are Fort Campbell-based 101st Airborne Division soldiers escorting the Little Rock Nine in 1957. Fort Campbell is erasing *its own* history.
Guess they found some federal employees willing to take their resign offer with their own fork you letters.
We only know this man is in Gitmo because Noem tweeted a propaganda photo that included him and his sister saw it. He has no criminal record. He entered the US in January and immediately made an appointment with CBP to claim asylum. They sent him to a concentration camp bc of his basketball tattoo.
I don’t have a fancy lesson I delivered about the #SuperBowlHalftimeShow Before I showed it, I instructed my students to write down three words and document when they noticed them: •imagery •symbolism •message We watched once all the way through, then we broke down where my students noted. +
Now the whole country gets the experience of what it's like when private equity buys the place you work
this is exactly what i’m getting at when i see these people have no understanding of civil society. they do not seem to conceptualize other people as having agency whatsoever.
The revolution might not be televised, but it does seem like the counterrevolution is being live-tweeted. Seems useful and dangerous at the same time that the guy can't shut up about anything.
Dorothy B. Porter changed libraries 💜 The Dewey Decimal System used to only have two classifications for Black people: 325 (colonization) & 326 (slavery). Each book by a Black person was put into one of these classifications. A book of poetry? Classified as colonization. Enter Dorothy B. Porter 🧵
Just spitballing, but things that could happen today: *Court injunction protecting USAID *Dems demand hearings on Musk's role *Someone introduce articles of impeachment *Dem officeholders go to USAID offices with USAID workers *Refuse to conduct any more Senate confirmations until this is resolved
We are noticing. And we are noticing that you are voting for his nominees who are implement these losses of freedoms. Stop everything from moving in the Senate now!
Having worked in government with some tech & finance guys, the level of arrogance is maddening. They think they are the smartest people, so if the people, who they assume work in government because we aren't smart enough to work in the private sector, can do it than it can't be hard/complicated.
It's critical that Congress focuses the fight over the *power* of funding programs not *which* programs to fund. It is unconstitutional for the executive to not fund a program even if it's not politically costly to the executive to do so
Not comparable in terms of scale and impact, but this whole OMB memo debacle is similar to my experience working in government with private equity and tech guys. There was no appreciation for the complexity. Move fast and break things has real impacts on people's lives, sometimes immediately!
Please remember that in the entire history of the world, "that's illegal" has prevented exactly zero crimes. The law is not a forcefield that prohibits illegal actions. It's a list of consequences that *may* be imposed if you do the proscribed act. "You can't do that" is just factually incorrect.
Public transportation is much more than moving people from A to B. Great seeing @chicagocta.bsky.social and City of Chicago collaborating to alert and protect everyone affected by immigration raids, i.e., all of us. #transit #immigration. chicago.suntimes.com/politics/don...
Courage is a *structural* question. How do we create and sustain the conditions for being brave?
ICYMI I wrote a zine on equity change-making for transit agency insiders in 2022 in print only. Yesterday I released a digital version to support folks working for change inside government right now! laurelpagetseekins.wordpress.com/wp-content/u...
If you are still doom scrolling, here is something positive. I wrote a zine on equity change-making for transit agency insiders in 2022 in print only. I just released a digital version to support folks working for change inside government right now! laurelpagetseekins.wordpress.com/wp-content/u...
It’s not a weird turn, it’s a logical response to police failing over & over again to be effective & reliable partners on traffic safety initiatives. At some point advocates had to stop wasting time trying to shift the police culture & instead focus elsewhere.
There's a transit funding mechanism in here somewhere....
That's what I thought!
