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Ben S

@bensh3.bsky.social
1.8K followers 969 following 6.2K posts

Transit planning & geospatial analysis Ed Bacon fan | 平均地权 upholder | Philadelphia maneto Posts are mine only and don't reflect anyone else

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Reposted by Ben S
William Skudlarek @willskud.bsky.social · 14h
This housing feasibility study is basically a highlights reel of why zoning reform is necessary, but not sufficient, to get urban infill housing built. Zoning can't change: * high construction costs * condo financing challenges * historic preservation approvals engageoakpark.com/30486/widget...
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Ben S @bensh3.bsky.social · 18h
Slimy skill games supporters Amen Brown and Danilo Burgos definitely know that skill games can net over $1K/month on average, which means this fee would net far less than the originally proposed 52% tax rate. Amazing how they don't listen to Shapiro on this one issue
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Stephen Jacob Smith @stephenjacobsmith.com · 30/09/2026
@paulbarter.bsky.social has noted that as countries develop, cities shift from being oriented around motorcycles to transit. Unfortunately NYC is backsliding: people are shifting to e-micro-mobility because transit options are poor, and with that sometimes comes death www.nytimes.com/2026/09/30/n...
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Ben S @bensh3.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Directly the fault of traffic engineers. Lombard St is the ONLY E-W street between Walnut & Washington with two lanes going west, but deliberately setup with a green wave as an extended highway onramp to I-76. Streets and PennDOT need to stand down and road diet Lombard with a protected bike lane
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nanzhounoodles.bsky.social @nanzhounoodles.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
YOU hate Nader for throwing the 2000 election. I hate Nader for ushering in the era of Consumer as a primary political identity, touting the tort system as an alternative to normal democratic deliberation, and making things generally work worse in the USA.
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Ben S @bensh3.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Bellwether District: "no no it's fine, I just didn't think it would be all beverage manufacturing"
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Carey @careylikemariah.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
"For six years, I’ve sat in the center of what many call Brooklyn’s political game of thrones — a place where power is coveted, alliances shift overnight, and battles erupt without warning. Some joked I was the Mother of Dragons, holding fire in one hand and strategy in the other." LOL WHAT
nydailynews.com
I’m turning over the Brooklyn Dems’ reins
For six years, I’ve sat in the center of what many call Brooklyn’s political game of thrones — a place where power is coveted, alliances shift overnight, and battles erupt without warning. Some joked ...
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Propriety @proprietous.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Numerous apartment/condo developments in West Philly have died because of an inclusionary zoning overlay that was passed that makes them not pencil out; in one case the developers built by-right single family houses instead (which are far less affordable). www.inquirer.com/opinion/edit...
inquirer.com
Inclusionary zoning has failed to deliver on affordable housing promise | Editorial
Since enforcement began in July 2022, only five housing projects — with a total of 106 new apartments and fewer than 30 income-restricted units — have received permits within the restricted area.
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Nolan Hicks @ndhapple.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
We've got a second opening to join the team designing, bidding and building the trains and buses that move millions. We're looking for someone who loves data and can mine datasets with hundreds of millions of rows and extract meaning from them. AND… 1/2 — careers.mta.org/jobs/1828831...
careers.mta.org
Associate, Rolling Stock Strategy & Analysis in New York, New York, United States
Associate, Rolling Stock Strategy & Analysis in New York, New York, United States
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Ben S @bensh3.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
YIMBY has enough of a movement here that it's foolish to tie your argument to trying to defend algorithmic pricing. Maybe actually read some of the proposed legislation in Harrisburg and Philadelphia?
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Brendan Dawe @dawe.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Civil War- No trains for 13 years First train runs at 160 km/h excuse me, I didn’t appreciate your game Syrian Railways
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Laurie! Live! @laurie-merrell.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I appreciate this, which articulates some of what was frustrating me during the peak of DOGE activity. DOGE was never compatible with producing public good because their motivations and methods were structurally opposed to the public's
A table contrasting civic tech and DOGE across roots, points of entry, motivation, role of government, structure & leverage, view of law/change, approach to public employees, and assumptions about building change. In general civic tech is more incremental, people focused, and bottom-up, while DOGE is technology-focused, anti-government, and top-down
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Miser @misernyc.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Pedestrianized 35th reaches its final, lush form
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Mike F @mikefeaver.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
With the increasing length of the Expo Line, people often bring up the idea of making the SkyTrain faster by adding skip stop or local/express service patterns In short, local & express services should be possible with additional platforms at 4 stations This thread explores one way to do that
A map depicting Vancouver's SkyTrain network showing all lines with some form of local & express stopping pattern, also showing connecting RapidBus, planned RapidBus, B-Line, SeaBus, and SFU Gondola
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Ausarchosaur @ausarchosaur.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Someone in Cherelle Parker's office is actually recording the number of people calling them regarding the Academy of Natural Science's closure. I did this during my afternoon walk and raised a talking point I never got to discuss at City Hall: Port Kennedy Bone Cave 🧵
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Fast Company @fastcompany.com · 27/09/2026
The museum’s first-ever exhibition dedicated to information design includes works by a climatologist, The New York Times, and more. f-st.co/Z1iiWnI
f-st.co
MoMA explores the useful beauty of information design
The museum’s first-ever exhibition dedicated to the field includes works by a climatologist, The New York Times, and more.
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The LIRR Today @thelirrtoday.com · 27/09/2026
One of the things that again struck me at Innotrans was how very few exhibitors showcased solutions and examples from the Americas. And the few that were on display just look like s—t compared to their international peers. Look at these bus displays, same hardware, very different info quality!
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Ben S @bensh3.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
“We essentially repatriated those items by bringing them over,” Busch said. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🦅
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Parker Welch @parkerwelch.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
This man is so predictable lol
WaPo exclusive
‘I am the code’: Trump clashed with ballroom architect over safety issues
James McCrerh II resigned in October after warning that the president was insisting on designs that violated fire and ferry codes
Today at 5:00 AM EDT

Photo of a reference image for the Epstein memorial ballroom, with Trump’s handwriting in sharpie circling the Doric capitals of the pilasters between the ballroom windows and writing “JAMES - GREAT LOOK - BUT CORINTHIAN COLUMNS”
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Stephanie Farr @farfarraway.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Transit fans who asked what in the El was happening with @septaphilly.bsky.social's old stuff inspired the first sale of vintage items from its vault. It's already been a massive success online and more merch is dropping for the upcoming in-person sale. www.inquirer.com/life/septa-v...
inquirer.com
Fans are paying $350 for signs at SEPTA’s vintage sale (yes, Broad Street already sold out)
Decommissioned signs, old transit maps, and vintage TransPass sheets are among the items in SEPTA's RETROmania sale.
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Ben S @bensh3.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Hanwha, PIDC,,,,let's talk
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Central NJ Yimby 🏗️🚲🚇🇺🇸 @princetonyimby.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
The Vineland, NJ Downtown Improvement District has rallied business owners to protest the possible opening of a food pantry for homeless people. The plan has been advanced by local woman Terry Blount, who has funded it with her own social security checks. www.nj.com/cumberland/2...
nj.com
N.J. woman spent her Social Security checks on center for families in need. One vote could end it.
After the center struggled to secure preliminary approvals, Vineland's city council may reject it entirely.
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Star:Line Chicago @starlinechicago.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
SEPTA needs to be properly funded but I also really like how their Reimagining Regional Rail vision stair steps from basically today’s system to the full buildout incrementally at logical steps. Post-pandemic, more agencies should take a service-first, sweat-your-assets approach to capital planning.
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John Miklos @jctmik.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
One Trillion Dollars to SEPTA
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Star:Line Chicago @starlinechicago.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Oh yeah, that's the good stuff, well done Philly
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Ben S @bensh3.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
In addition, the Reimagining Regional Rail master plan has been released! We finally might get the S-Bahn Philadelphia deserves. Read now: wwww.septa.org/initiatives/...
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michael (he/him) @micfrom215.gobirds.online · 22/09/2026
good morning! today SEPTA has dropped a retooled vision for the future of the system wwww.septa.org/accelerate/
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Jakub Nowosad @jakubnowosad.com · 16/09/2026
A new R package for redistributing counts to flexible spatial grids 🗺️ Christopher D. Higgins’ `{pycnogrid}` implements pycnophylactic interpolation for H3, A5, S2, ISEA, raster, and local hexagonal grids, while preserving the original totals. higgicd.github.io/pycnogrid/ar... #rstats #RSpatial
higgicd.github.io
{pycnogrid}: Flexible pycnophylactic interpolation to discrete global and local grid systems
Christopher D. Higgins
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matthew @pahuski.com · 21/09/2026
great detail buried in the story about today's outage at PHL and other airports: an NJ Transit contractor severed a fiber optic cable
nbcnews.com
Flights resume after air traffic equipment failure snarls traffic in Newark, Philadelphia
A major circuit blew at the Philadelphia facility that controls air traffic to Newark Liberty, Teterboro and Philadelphia airports, causing widespread cancellations and delays.
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Ben S @bensh3.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
If you're still consciously using this language after the level of persecution immigrants have gone through in countless US cities (and think you can cleanly separate them from so-called "transplants") then I don't know what to say
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BicycleDutch @bicycledutch.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
The new filter for motor traffic in Utrecht (Catharijnesingel) does not work flawlessly yet. It has been in effect from today. A lot of drivers overlook or ignore the signs, but it is already much less busy. Good for safety on the major crossing for walking and cycling just north of the filter.
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Janne K. Flisrand @jannefrommpls.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Infrastructure education is a core value in German-speaking Switzerland. This #Zürich example has a temporary sign highlighting six new people-oriented spots in the city, one side with detailed info on where the reader is standing. It includes a game that requires you to go to at least 3.
A two-meter high green and yellow sign that reads "Negrellisteg" underneath a pedestrian bridge of the same name. The sign has lot of words explaining about the bridge.
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Ben S @bensh3.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Funny how developing countries like Thailand are determined to gain as much tech transfer and expertise from major HSR investments as possible, while American expertise remains captive with its vendors and engineering consultants by design so they can jack up maintenance contracts
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Ben S @bensh3.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Montreal's exo cars have finally arrived on SEPTA property! The regular coaches will go into service within the next few months while the cab cars will need a year to retrofit with PTC www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBC0...
youtube.com
CSX Exo Car SPAX Move (9/19/2026)
YouTube video by SquirrelBazooka
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Ben S @bensh3.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
The original Chongqing Station was a real vibe, sad to see it go
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5th Square Advocacy @5thsqadvocacy.org · 19/09/2026
Councilmember Young wants to weaken our lifesaving speed camera program by reducing fines even for reckless drivers going 30+ mph over the speed limit! Tell City Council not to let it happen: www.5thsqadvocacy.org/Speed-camera...
5thsqadvocacy.org
Speed Cameras Action | 5th Square Advocacy
Tell City Council to stand up for safe streets and protect Philadelphia families: Say NO to Bill 260699!
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Ben S @bensh3.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
It's notable (without implication) that the last US municipal administrator that was this passionate about reporting accomplishments and improved metrics was perhaps early-career Robert Moses
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Ben S @bensh3.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Ethics and John Fry lmaoooo
3. Ethics, character, and courage
At this time of daily diabolical temptations to chip away pieces of presidential souls, character has never been more important.

Candidate: John Fry, President, Temple University, and former president, Drexel University and Franklin & Marshall College
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Ben S @bensh3.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Cancelled electrification plans are one thing. De-electrifying existing freight lines (in the 70's!!) because Amtrak was extorting Conrail on power rates in the Congressional mandate to be profitable is another
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CBS Philadelphia @cbsphiladelphia.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Archaeology students from the University of Pennsylvania are joining community members to uncover the history of a historic Black neighborhood in West Philadelphia that was demolished decades ago in the name of urban renewal.
cbsnews.com
A Penn archaeology project uncovers a historic Black neighborhood destroyed decades ago: "It was a travesty"
Archaeology students from Penn are joining community members to uncover the history of a historic Black neighborhood in West Philly that was demolished decades ago in the name of urban renewal.
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Ben S @bensh3.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
The hard part with costly utilities is you need some way to have the utilities coordinate on work timelines, and you need to have everything underground properly mapped. Wish NYC luck as this is the case for every legacy city
The city could also trim timelines for capital projects by not digging up utilities every time it implements more substantial redesigns. City planners tend to tie concrete road redesigns to larger underground work in order to not have to rip up the same street twice — but that process prolongs projects, and raises their prices, because officials must confer with third-party entities like Con Edison and National Grid.

Flynn said the city could tweak its street safety work to interfere less with below-ground infrastructure.

“Oftentimes what happens is something becomes a capital project and the scope expands dramatically to include a lot of subsurface work,” the DOT leader said. “Is there a way to do that in a capital light kind of way, where you can determine early on that, you know what, it doesn’t need the soup to nuts.”
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Ben S @bensh3.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
This has to be one of the highest monthly:single ratios in the world right?
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Ben S @bensh3.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Hot on the heels of SEPTA's fast-moving surplus old signage sale are new Broad Street tile artwork tees! shop.septa.org/products/sta...
shop.septa.org
Station T-Shirt
Celebrate your favorite SEPTA station with this retro tile-inspired tee. Featuring a classic station design that pays homage to transit history, it's the perfect way to rep your line. Comfortable, cas...
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Blvd Subway @blvdsubway.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
The future Castor Ave protected Bike lanes will connect to a proposed shared use Sidepath on Roosevelt Boulevard.
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Ryan Hassett @ryanhassett.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Extremely helpful of the author to include this detail.
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Ben S @bensh3.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Feel sorry for them, but South Jersey built their bed like this and now they have to sleep in it
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Philadelphia Inquirer @inquirer.com · 17/09/2026
Old City is one of the few neighborhoods that still sees condo development. This project could become part of the trend.
inquirer.com
A 43-unit apartment building that preserves historic features is proposed in Old City
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Ben S @bensh3.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I may be wrong (no floorplans) but it seems like this is a single-stair 4-story building with elevator(!), though still a double-loaded corridor. 35 units with 33% 2BR too. @stephenjacobsmith.com any thoughts? s3.amazonaws.com/eclipse-docs...
Outside roof plan of 846 e Woodlawn StLongitudinal unit section
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Conor Sen @conorsen.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Lennar saying labor availability is starting to become an issue -- deportations and data centers.
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Monorail Maoist @awildschild.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Is SpaceX run by a bunch of ex-railroad guys? They're trying to get out of passenger transport, and demarket everything that isn't bulk commodity traffic arstechnica.com/space/2026/0...
arstechnica.com
After being sidelined, Boeing's Starliner to get starring role in NASA's spaceflight plans
They should fly their capsule. The government paid a lot of money for that."
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