iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Marcus Nelson

RAIL Magazine @railmag.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Why are the Amtrak Airos a net good for passenger rail in the U.S.? 1) Amtrak desperately needs more trains. These are more trains. 2) Time savings on engine swaps @ WAS, PHL & NHV 3) Cab cars for push-pull corridors save terminal recovery time, non-revenue movements & crew time 🚆

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Angie Nixon @angieforfl.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Now Ashley Moody. Why would I want to abolish the police when I want you arrested and in jail for stealing $10 million from sick kids? BFFR

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Nolan Hicks @ndhapple.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

This is an excellent post. These new systems in Asia are impressive. And, importantly, it's applying a lot of things that we figured out here in the 1960s and tried to build ourselves. This isn't foreign.

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Marcus Nelson @marcuscnelson.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

According to city officials (paraphrased), "this was a complete surprise to all of us and we simply could not have anticipated this but it is time to move on." www.jaxdailyrecord.com/news/2026/se...

In a statement, Mayor Donna Deegan’s administration said it would work with departing JTA employees to find employment opportunities with the city, other independent agencies and city partners.

“JTA’s board was not previously aware of the dire nature of the agency’s financial situation,” spokesperson Phil Perry wrote. “We became aware as they did. As we all move forward, there must be a collective effort to learn from the past with an eye toward ensuring world class public transit in the future.”

“JTA must focus on improving its financial situation and the services that customers rely on every day. If these objectives require local option gas tax funding, any interlocal agreement changes must be negotiated with the administration — and Emerald Trail funding must be protected,” Perry wrote.

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Yonah Freemark @yonahfreemark.com · 18/09/2026

Jacksonville’s transit ridership is already 3rd worst in the country among large metro areas. www.thetransportpolitic.com/databook/us-... Will anyone ride transit in Jacksonville now?

Transit ridership per capita for metro areas with at least 1 million residents

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Climate and Transit @climateandtransit.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Good god it was already bad enough

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Marcus Nelson @marcuscnelson.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

You can also find some excellent local coverage of JTA and the U2C program from @actionnewsjax.com and their investigative series, "Taken For A Ride": www.actionnewsjax.com/news/investi...

actionnewsjax.com

Taken for a Ride? | Action News Jax – Action News Jax

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Marcus Nelson @marcuscnelson.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

But over five years ago, I was expressing concerns about the value attempting to use small "autonomous shuttles" as mass transit would actually deliver for the public: www.jacksonville.com/story/opinio...

jacksonville.com

Letters from readers: Don't waste money on the Ultimate Urban Circulator

Don't waste money on the Ultimate Urban Circulator

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Marcus Nelson @marcuscnelson.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

After the U2C's first phase opened just over a year ago, I wrote about my experience aboard "the future of transportation": bsky.app/profile/thej...

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Marcus Nelson @marcuscnelson.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Over at @thejaxsonmag.bsky.social has been a lot of coverage of JTA's antics, most recently: bsky.app/profile/thej...

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Marcus Nelson @marcuscnelson.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

If you're new to this, I and others have long discussed how Jacksonville found itself here. I joined @wtyppod.bsky.social a while back to cover the "Ultimate Urban Circulator's" development: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vSz...

youtube.com

Well There's Your Problem | Episode 156: The Ultimate Urban Circulator

YouTube video by Well There's Your Problem Podcast

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Marcus Nelson @marcuscnelson.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

This is tragic. It's even more tragic knowing JTA has spent the last decade lavishly spending on a dysfunctional autonomous vehicle program of questionable value, that the public has shown little interest in using. For its troubles, Jacksonville gets to watch CEO Nat Ford pack his bags for Dallas.

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Californians for Electric Rail @calelectricrail.org · 04/09/2026

You often hear that if only CAHSR had let the French take over, it would be built by now. They're on the team now, but what did SNCF actually say back in 2010? We did a deep dive into the French HSR operator's original proposal to set the record straight. 🧵 calelectricrail.org/the-true-sto...

Selected Co-development team
from June 1 CAHSR CEO report. Teams include SNCF Voyageurs, Jacobs, CDPQ Infra, Systra...
Team capabilities: Global infrastructure investment, high-speed rail development, rail systems integration, passenger rail operations, ridership and revenue strategy, commercial management, public-private partnership strategy

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Marcus Nelson @marcuscnelson.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Not quite! Sometimes his children do them.

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Marcus Nelson @marcuscnelson.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Sustainable Tallahassee seems to be the closest org to her, and it looks like they even have a meeting next Monday. Maybe try there and see where they might want a hand? sustainabletallahassee.org/ev-club/

sustainabletallahassee.org

EV Club

Ride Electric Club Join our Facebook group for updates on EVs available in Tallahassee, the latest news on EV development, and best tips for charging your EV across town and...

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Marcus Nelson @marcuscnelson.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Sorry for the wait, Alex. EV advocacy is in a weird spot here lately with the state pushing to reallocate their federal funds for charging networks to flying cars instead, but there are still folks pushing.

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Marcus Nelson @marcuscnelson.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

The PortMiami Tunnel? The under-construction Hampton Roads tunnel? The impending Last Chance Grade tunnel? Maybe not many but that doesn’t mean not any.

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Marcus Nelson @marcuscnelson.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

My understanding of the resulting problem here is that these laws and regs put no obligation on the FRA to actually approve the results of the tests, and the incentives work against getting trains running so there’s nothing keeping them from finding new things to scrutinize and add indefinite delay.

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Reposted by Marcus Nelson

dereksagehorn.bsky.social @dereksagehorn.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Policymakers need to be internalizing the costs of inaction/delay via escalation much earlier in the life cycle of infrastructure development, imo.

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Marcus Nelson @marcuscnelson.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

I’m somewhat suspect of this, Nippon Sharyo rather famously screwed this up a decade ago and only recently is Alstom trying again for the new Metra cars. Every other carbuilder (at least in USDM) seems to design a full-width cab or go for more standard buff-strength ends instead.

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Reposted by Marcus Nelson

august 🍂 @auguststreet.ca · 02/08/2026

a lot of US/canadian "better bus" redesigns involve more significant cuts in bus network coverage where ridership isn't offset by frequency boosts elsewhere service hours per capita for most bus systems are just too low to begin with, it's hard to see huge gains without properly funding the bus

51st.news

Metro tried to make bus service better. Somehow, ridership and speeds are both down

A year after Better Bus, reviews are mixed.

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Marcus Nelson @marcuscnelson.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

What does that make things like (to pick some Florida examples) I-4 Ultimate, Moving I-4 Forward, the I-395/S.R. 836/I-95 Design-Build Project, the First Coast Expressway, or Howard Frankland Bridge? All of those approach or exceed (some by far) the billion-dollar mark, many with big cost overruns.

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Ben S @bensh3.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

If you actually look into these local funding crises, a common theme is that previously-sustainable local funding measures fall short of rising structural costs in labor, maintenance, capital renewal, fare evasion etc. Abundance writers could use more industry experience but the direction is correct

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Nolan Hicks @ndhapple.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Zipper’s not wrong but that US transit has functionally been in existential crisis for 50 years is why we struggle to get a handle on the structural issues.

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David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

I'll get some flak for this, but IMO the Abundance transit stuff is a dangerous distraction. Portland, the Bay Area, Miami etc face draconian service cuts that would drive away riders— for good. If that happens "I don't really care how much a [new] bus costs because you'll have nobody riding it."

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Infrastory @infrastory.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

While France was building high-speed rail, America was learning dysfunction. Read the latest Infrastory now. open.substack.com/pub/infrasto...

open.substack.com

The Northeast Corridor's Three-Headed Monster

How to Spend Two Billion Dollars Without a Plan

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Alex Wolford @thetexanrhino.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

After more than two hours of closed-session debate, the DART board voted to recommend "Candidate A" (Nathaniel P. Ford) for the position of CEO. While they declined to name him directly, Ford is the only plausible option given the details discussed.

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Yonah Freemark @yonahfreemark.com · 13/07/2026

The US House is considering a transportation bill that would cut transit funding massively. We estimate that it would cut transit funds by 23% compared to the current infrastructure law. Every state would lose millions of dollars in transit formula funding. Details: www.urban.org/urban-wire/h...

Every State Stands to Lose Millions of Dollars in Transit Formula Funds Under the BUILD America 250 Act Compared with IIJA

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Alex Wolford @thetexanrhino.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

DART has released finalists for its new president and CEO: - Nathaniel P. Ford Sr, Chief Executive Officer, Jacksonville Transportation Authority - Dee Leggett, Director of Business Operations, Herzog Transit Services - Monica Tellez, President/CEO, Central Ohio Transit Authority

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Marcus Nelson @marcuscnelson.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

The New Haven to Providence Capacity Planning Study is a perfect opportunity to make the case for these priorities. How well that'll go over with the people in this region after earlier efforts, now there's a question. newhavenprovidencestudy.com

newhavenprovidencestudy.com

New Haven to Providence Capacity Planning Study

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Reposted by Marcus Nelson

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 01/07/2026

to mark the 250th i wrote about the ways that black americans did vital work to invest the declaration of independence with the universalism and egalitarianism that we now see as its core promise. (gift link)

nytimes.com

Opinion | Five Words That Changed America

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Komodo Dad @komododad.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

Wait, the Euros are actually mad about air conditioning? I thought this was just a bit.

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Aaron @aaronznj.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

wow turns out that pissing off MTA wasn't a great strategy when they have a bunch of very binding written agreements that allow them to kinda just say "no" to any sort of Penn construction they don't really like. Oops.

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Nilo @nilo.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

Important things to remember about rail in the USA: 1. In almost all suburbs your destinations and origins are too diffuse to win suburb to suburb circumferential trips 2. you're probably providing bad radial service 3. You're probably providing bad urban service (both circumferential and radial)

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Nilo @nilo.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

Anyways no region in the USA is willing to make the jump on what this all really would mean, so we meander about and end up with 10s of billions of dollars programmed to be spent on toll bridges that can't make their money back.

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Marcus Nelson @marcuscnelson.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

I would hope one particular station project is not the only thing NJT might hope to do in the near future. I’m not saying give these people everything they’d like, but these things require more tact than highway builders in the 20th century, because of how little they had. We can’t repeat that.

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Marcus Nelson @marcuscnelson.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

If they try and the project‘s impacts are not *bulletproof* (even if it is), you’re risking blasting the cost of any future projects into the stratosphere because that community will legislate their revenge through added process. You might not think that matters but you don’t have to live with it.

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Marcus Nelson @marcuscnelson.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

Perhaps next I'm in New York. Like anything these days, easier said (or planned) than done.

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Marcus Nelson @marcuscnelson.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

I'm not saying to say never, but assuming that "everyone would just" in not only making substantial operational changes but in convincing public sector officials (both across state lines and federally) to pay the needed difference (among many other needs) is a tough sell that I'm not seeing made.

Everyone will not just

If your solution to some problem relies on “If everyone would just…” then you do not have a solution. Everyone is not going to just. At not time in the history of the universe has everyone just, and they’re not going to start now.

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Marcus Nelson @marcuscnelson.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

I don't think the people at these agencies can gamble inducing chaos through unreliability on the hope that the people they infuriate will then agree to pay for expanded infrastructure to undo what they created. Obviously it's been difficult enough to fund those junctions as-is.

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Marcus Nelson @marcuscnelson.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

How one might achieve that given the lack of incentives for parties to come to the table (and hostility of some) seems like a real challenge that I'm not sure is sufficiently considered, especially as the will to fund some projects as opposed to others continues to change between administrations.

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Marcus Nelson @marcuscnelson.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

There seem to be many assumptions here about things like "will Metro-North and CTRail agree to changing dispatching priorities on their territory" and "will contractors agree to electrify the Erie Lines for $750 million and not more than that" or the structural ability to absorb unexpected delays.

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Yonah Freemark @yonahfreemark.com · 11/06/2026

If it gets its way, the US House would drastically reduce funding for transit & rail systems. The House's proposed legislation—supported by GOP & Dems—would cut overall authorized transit funding by 15% compared to the current law, and reduce potential funding for projects like new lines by 45%.

urban.org

Congress’s Transportation Reauthorization Bill Would Drastically Underfund Transit and Rail Projects

As currently drafted, BUILD America 250 would likely reinforce the United States’ car dependence, depriving Americans of affordable travel options and degrad…

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