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Mass Transit

MTA’s redesigned subway app is now available, and it looks great.

Some big changes include the addition of real-time ETA, live train and bus tracking, service alerts, and multi-modal trip planning. If you already have the MTA app, it will automatically update. If not, it’s available for Android or iOS. I’m no New Yorker, but this looks way better than the app we have for Los Angeles public transit.


Graphic images of smartphones showing screenshots of the redesigned MTA app.
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“Human leg found abandoned on a New York subway track.”

We don’t know whether the leg came from a man or woman, nor do we know how old the leg is. We do know, however, that “a human leg has been found abandoned on a New York subway track, police said, sparking an investigation into who it once belonged to and how they lost it.”

“Human leg found abandoned.” “Human leg found abandoned.” “Human leg found abandoned.” “Human leg found abandoned on a New York subway track.”


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TikTok
It’s snowing in NYC, so this bus in Hawaii with a digital shaka display is giving me life.

As noticed by Jalopnik, the bus will display the digital symbol for “hang lose” if you let it merge — which is just delightful. Most drivers are big babies that need to be patted on the head when they do something good, so this is exactly the right kind of energy we need to be bringing to our roads.


How to build a bike lane in America

Advocates are working across the country to make their communities safer and more accessible for cyclists, but not every effort is successful.

A moonshot for infrastructure

The Biden administration is requesting funding for a program called ARPA-I, a ‘skunkworks’-style R&D project for infrastructure. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says the goal is to design things ‘we can’t even imagine today.’

San Francisco’s BART isn’t ditching Twitter alerts... yet.

After New York’s MTA announced it was leaving Twitter yesterday, The Verge contacted Bay Area Rapid Transit — which like the MTA was knocked offline earlier this month by Twitter’s API changes — to see if it would follow suit. “We are continuing to use Twitter while closely monitoring the situation,” media relations manager James Allison tells us.


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Kids are literally crawling under stalled trains because the rail industry is beholden to no one.

The photos and videos in this ProPublica piece about blocked train crossings really help sell how utterly atrocious it is that the rail industry is forcing kids to risk their lives just to get to school. This part in particular made me want to tear my hair out.

“I feel awful about it,” said Scott E. Miller, the superintendent. His district has asked Norfolk Southern for its schedule so that the schools can plan for blockages and students can adjust their routines. The company has disregarded the requests, school officials said.


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The Verge
PRT making a comeback?

According to Bloomberg, the city of San Jose just approved a personal rapid transit (PRT) system in which pod-sized autonomous vehicles would travel on their own dedicated road back-and-forth between the airport and a nearby rail connection. It’s an incredibly dumb idea and a repudiation of proven high-capacity transportation systems like buses and trains. Nobody asked for this, and yet...

If you want to read about the fascinating history behind PRT, read my colleague Adi Robertson’s piece about the Alden staRR Car at West Virginia University. It’s still in operation!


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The Great American Bus Crisis.

A private bus route from my town in New Jersey to New York City was just cancelled because the pandemic has wiped out ridership. But apparently the problem is much, much worse than just that one route.

Nearly half of private US bus companies have shut down since 2019, according to the American Bus Association, and more could close as work-from-home policies have altered commuting patterns and more people turn to driving amid the pandemic.

“There were about 3,000 bus companies in 2019, there’s closer to 1,500 or 1,600 bus companies left,” American Bus Association President and Chief Executive Officer Peter Pantuso said in an interview. “It’s possible we could lose more.”

That is very bad.


Secretary Pete Buttigieg on the future of transportation

‘This is a major, major investment in setting America on the right path for the years ahead’

The people wanted Lego bike lanes, and Lego is finally listening

The quest to get one of the most popular toymakers in the world to make a little space for bicycles