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Laurel in Transit

@laurelintransit.bsky.social
429 followers 169 following 153 posts

Transportation justice. Live in Oakland, work all over California. More from me at laurelintransit.com and transitdataprimer.org

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Reposted by Laurel in Transit
California Environmental Justice Alliance (CEJA) @ceja.org · 25/09/2026
Polluting projects like data centers will be easier to build and cost taxpayers up to $100 million per year. EJ communities joined the NO campaign because California cannot weaken environmental protections while Trump is attacking them. 🚫 Vote NO on Prop 45 to protect public health from pollution.
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Laurel in Transit @laurelintransit.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
From my reading it says you are authorizing Visa to share your transit transactions. So this is giving Waymo the ability to see all of your transit trips, not just the ones where you connect with Waymo. Seems like that is worth something to them.
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Laurel in Transit @laurelintransit.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Thanks for tracking it down!
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Laurel in Transit @laurelintransit.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
ICYMI I am doing an online talk for California Transit Month on protecting transit's role in multi-racial inclusive democracy, next Monday at 5:30pm Pacific. Register here: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
Public Advocates presents Protecting transit's role in multi-racial inclusive democracy. A virtual talk, Monday, Sept 28th 5:30-6:30pm, online. Public Transit gives people of all ages, abilities, and incomes access to society and has long been a civil rights battleground. We'll discuss transit a bellwether for multi-racial inclusive democracy, how it's under threat, and what Californians can do to protect it.
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Laurel in Transit @laurelintransit.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
With the new transfers I recently went from Sonoma County airport to Oakland (SMART, Golden Gate Transit, BART, AC Transit) for $11.05!
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Laurel in Transit @laurelintransit.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
If anyone with a Waymo account sees this, start to sign-up and share the fine print with us! I am curious if it grants access to all your transit trips with that card or just ones within 2 hours of a Waymo trip.
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Laurel in Transit @laurelintransit.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Prop 43 won't impact this year's transit measures, but will impact the ability for citizens to pass ballot measures for transit in the future. Vote NO!
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Laurel in Transit @laurelintransit.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
How do you think it is working in the back-end? Is Visa sharing transaction data or Clipper?
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Laurel in Transit @laurelintransit.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
And the bus riders sitting in the traffic! AC Transit's proposed service cuts if the measure fails don't even take into account the longer run-times for transbay service due to traffic on the bridge.
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Laurel in Transit @laurelintransit.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Also Harpreet Sandhu wasn't on the Board when it happened so why did he weigh in?
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Laurel in Transit @laurelintransit.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Me talking: Protecting transit’s role in multi-racial inclusive democracy, Monday, Sept 28, 5:30-6:30pm. We will discuss how transit is a bellwether for democracy, how it is being undermined, and what we can do in California to protect and strengthen it. #transitmonth us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
us02web.zoom.us
Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: Protecting transit’s role in multi-racial inclusive democracy. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting.
Public transit provides access to participate in society for people of all ages, abilities, and incomes. It is not an accident that transit has been the site of many of the US’s civil rights struggles...
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Laurel in Transit @laurelintransit.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Is the desire for a parking spot so high that people ignore the signs if given any plausible deniability? Is it group-think if others are doing it it’s fine? Is this a behavior that is specific to parking or can it be generalized? (I tell people when I see them parking there and they move.) 3/3
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Laurel in Transit @laurelintransit.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
We have observed if one car parks on that side, even if they are doing a quick drop-off, others will park behind them. The original car will leave, but as soon as even one car is there people stop looking at the signs. Even after the City has ticketed people still park on that side all day. 2/3
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Laurel in Transit @laurelintransit.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
We noticed a pattern on our street and are thinking about what it means about human behavior. One side of our street has posted no parking on Saturdays during the day (close to a busy farmers' market). Most Saturdays no one parks there. But on some it fills up with cars and the City tickets. 1/3
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Reposted by Laurel in Transit
Robert Prinz @prinzrob.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Here in the SF Bay Area personal car trips are the single largest emissions category. Converting car trips to more efficient modes & reducing trip distances via infill development & housing affordability strategies is how we can address this.
Chart of "2023 GHG Emissions by Scoping Plan Sector and Sub-Sector." showing transportation as the biggest pie piece at 37.1% and passenger vehicles specifically at 28.3%
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Laurel in Transit @laurelintransit.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
It comes down to how many operator they have on their "extra-board", essentially the operators on-call to do a shift if someone calls out. The size of the extra-board is a constant debate in budgeting. Why attrition was higher than expected is a good question... especially in this economy!
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Laurel in Transit @laurelintransit.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
What senior staff told me is they only budgeted for 1250 operators fiscal year (ended July 1). They slowed down hiring but then got higher than expected attrition. So now are ramping up hiring again.
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Laurel in Transit @laurelintransit.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
When I was 6 my sister (8) was an atomic mushroom cloud for Halloween because it was the scariest thing she could think of. My dad built the costume and we made confetti with a hole-puncher and he stuffed it in a fire extinguisher and pressurized it to be the nuclear fallout. So we learned early!
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Laurel in Transit @laurelintransit.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
The impacts of the federal changes are real. At this week's AC Transit Board meeting they were discussing not doing an equity analysis of a proposed fare increase since it isn't required anymore. The Board did vote to still do one, but we need to make sure these analyses are still required in CA.
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Laurel in Transit @laurelintransit.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
"The freedom to move with dignity is not a convenience – it is a prerequisite for full participation in society." Thanks to @replsimon.bsky.social for speaking up with us against the Trump administration's rollback of civil rights protections in transportation. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Public transit is a lifeline for countless Americans. Trump is derailing our protections | Lateefah Simon and Guillermo Mayer
The US will no longer hold transportation agencies accountable for unintentional discrimination. That’s devastating for those of us who depend on it
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Laurel in Transit @laurelintransit.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
I convinced a stranger about to walk into a Whole Foods in Oakland not to shop there because of what Jeff Bezos did to the Washington Post
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Laurel in Transit @laurelintransit.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
The website of the organizing org is stoptherace.ai and it has a signal and email at the bottom.
stoptherace.ai
Stop The AI Race
We marched to Anthropic, OpenAI, and xAI. Now join the movement to stop the AI race.
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Laurel in Transit @laurelintransit.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Thanks for getting back to me. Can you post this on your feed for all riders, not just me?
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Laurel in Transit @laurelintransit.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Have you found out the answer of what "changed" means on the real-time? I saw it again today for the NL. And I couldn't wait around for possibly up to 36 mins to find out if a bus was still coming,
AC Transit real time screen with a bus arrival predicted as "changed"
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Laurel in Transit @laurelintransit.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
A rider paying in cash can buy a day pass on the bus for $6.50 a day (max of $45.50 in a week). A rider using Clipper/bank card can pay as they go and their max fare will be $27.50 a week. People paying in cash (with nowhere nearby to add cash to a Clipper card) pay up to $18 more a week.
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Laurel in Transit @laurelintransit.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
AC Transit fares remain inequitable -- charging cash riders more per ride with no access to free transfers or weekly caps. And there are no places to add cash to a Clipper card in many neighborhoods. This disparity hits unbanked riders who can least afford to pay more. AC Transit & MTC must fix it
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Laurel in Transit @laurelintransit.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
California has a big gap between what the state says about its support for transit and its actual support in funding!
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Reposted by Laurel in Transit
ProPublica @propublica.org · 25/06/2026
Leaders around the world are banking on tech advances to solve climate change. One leading idea involves capturing carbon pollution from the air and then burying it underground forever. It sounds practical. Here’s why there's no conceivable way it can work: (THREAD)
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Laurel in Transit @laurelintransit.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
It feel very undemocratic!
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Laurel in Transit @laurelintransit.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
@rideact.bsky.social Re-upping this question after the holiday weekend because I saw it again on the real-time app for the 57 on Sunday. It's very inconvenient to not know what it means!
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Laurel in Transit @laurelintransit.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
@rideact.bsky.social what does "changed" mean on the real time app?
Real-time app screen from AC Transit that says the next bus is in 3 mins, Changed, and 46 mins.
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Laurel in Transit @laurelintransit.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
Some of the worst pain I ever experienced... but it worked!
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Reposted by Laurel in Transit
The Overhead Wire @theoverheadwire.com · 12/06/2026
We did a whole episode with Laurel about this recently. It’s important to understand the impacts of these types of decisions. usa.streetsblog.org/2026/04/02/t...
usa.streetsblog.org
Talking Headways Podcast: Civil Rights, Civic Transport — Streetsblog USA
Let's talk about "disparate impact" — and why the Trump administration wants to gut it.
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Laurel in Transit @laurelintransit.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
In 2022 residents of Shiloh Alabama filed a complaint with FHWA due to the flooding of a historically Black community caused by a highway expansion project. In 2024 Alabama DOT signed a Voluntary Compliance Agreement to install mitigation to the flooding.
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Laurel in Transit @laurelintransit.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
From a 2021 disparate impact complaint on displacement and pollution on Black and Latino neighborhoods from a North Houston highway project TX DOT signed a Voluntary Resolution Agreement for design changes, funding for affordable housing in impacted neighborhoods, and flood and pollution mitigation.
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Laurel in Transit @laurelintransit.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
In 2015 Hillcrest TX residents filed a complaint with FHWA over increased pollution and dislocation of residents from a highway project. TX DOT entered into a Voluntary Resolution Agreement that includes relocation assistance and environmental mitigation. storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/2e75...
storymaps.arcgis.com
The Hillcrest Documentation Project
A community perspective on the Hillcrest neighborhood's battle for environmental justice.
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Laurel in Transit @laurelintransit.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
In 2011 Beavercreek, OH denied the greater Dayton transit agency from putting 3 bus stops near a mall and medical center. LEAD filed a Title VI complaint because of the disparate impact on African-Americans who use the bus. Federal officials ordered the City of Beavercreek to revisit its decision.
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Laurel in Transit @laurelintransit.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
In 1999 in Alamance County NC West End Revitalization Association filed a Title VI complaint over a highway expansion through a majority Black community. In response the planned bypass was modified to save homes, a 200 year old community cemetery, and a historic African-American house of worship.
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Laurel in Transit @laurelintransit.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
In 1994 the Los Angeles Bus Riders Union filed a lawsuit against MTA for raising bus fares and diverting funds from crowded bus service serving majority people of color to build rail lines. They won a consent decree for 10 years that created an affordable weekly bus pass and more bus service.
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Laurel in Transit @laurelintransit.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
🧵 Thread of how, in addition to the Oakland example in the article, Title VI disparate impact complaints have been used as a tool by communities to push back on disproportionate impacts of transportation decisions
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Laurel in Transit @laurelintransit.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
It is part of this Administration attack on civil rights. But we don't have to accept it! Transit agencies can still do the analysis. State and local governments that fund transportation can require it. Coverage in KQED: www.kqed.org/news/1208711...
kqed.org
Trump Transit Secretary Rescinds Key Civil Rights Law Once Used to Challenge BART Project | KQED
Title VI prohibits transportation agencies that receive federal funding from implementing programs or activities that unintentionally and disproportionately impact people who are protected by the nati...
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Laurel in Transit @laurelintransit.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Today US DOT rescinded regulations on disparate-impact liability. Sounds wonky but it's a critical way Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 has protected communities of color from disproportionate harms from transportation decisions and required proactive analysis on the fairness of benefits
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Laurel in Transit @laurelintransit.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
Large transit agencies are required to do demographic surveys and often ask trip purpose. But this requirement lives in the Title VI circular which is likely to be rescinded due to the federal attack on disparate impact and civil rights. Another reason to resist it!
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Reposted by Laurel in Transit
Carter Lavin @carterlavin.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
Emergency Rally Wednesday in SF to save California's biggest program for affordable housing and public transit from getting gutted and fed to Big Oil companies. We have 3 days to spread the word as far and wide as possible for the rally the day before the vote! actionnetwork.org/events/emerg...
actionnetwork.org
Emergency Rally to Tell Gov Newsom Don't Rob Transit and Housing to Fund Giveaways to Big Oil
This week, Governor Newsom’s appointees are planning on taking billions of dollars AWAY from public transit and affordable housing programs in order to give big polluters like Chevron permission to co...
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Reposted by Laurel in Transit
Transbay Coalition @transbaycoalition.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
California regulators want to give billions to Big Polluters and cut transit and affordable housing funding. Speak out to defend public transit and make sure polluters pay! actionnetwork.org/letters/carb...
actionnetwork.org
Don't let big polluters weaken one of the best greenhouse gases reduction programs in the world. Tell CARB to Remove the Manufacturing Decarbonization Incentive mechanism now.
Last year, the California legislature passed a reauthorization of California’s Cap-and-Invest program extending this critical system that reduces pollution while shoring up funding for ratepayer relie...
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Laurel in Transit @laurelintransit.bsky.social · 03/05/2026
I recently got a data breach letter at my parent's address from a SUNY campus because I did a summer research fellowship there in 2000. I called them to complain about keeping my ssn for 25 years and they said they can't delete my info now because of the breach. Delete old data everyone!
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Reposted by Laurel in Transit
21st Century Schizoid Tran @grayathena.bsky.social · 26/04/2026
Pour one out for the Hilton staff who are working perhaps the worst shift in food service history rn.
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Laurel in Transit @laurelintransit.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
That is the wage number total labor costs includes benefits and pension for those roles as well. But yes, it isn't a silver bullet!
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Reposted by Laurel in Transit
NPR @npr.org · 05/04/2026
People in wheelchairs surrounded and barricaded two city buses over the course of two days, demanding wheelchair lifts and chanting, "We will ride."
n.pr
In 1978, they stopped buses — and helped launch a disability rights movement
People in wheelchairs surrounded and barricaded two city buses over the course of two days, demanding wheelchair lifts and chanting, "We will ride."
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Reposted by Laurel in Transit
jentrification ♎ @jentrification.com · 04/04/2026
Detroit graduates largest single class of bus drivers after (livable) wage hike
share.google
Detroit graduates largest single class of bus drivers after wage hike
The increase in graduating bus drivers follows a new union contract that increased driver pay by about $6.
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