iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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John Lansing @pipedreaming.bsky.social · 15h

This gets tricky given that North American plumbing codes require extra holes through the floor due to the amount of drainage and vent piping. The single stack drainage configuration eliminates 66% of the holes needed, making coordination for office-to-residential projects like this much simpler.

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JackTatt 🇨🇦 @jacktatttran.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

The real secret sauce (particularly in Toronto and to an extent Vancouver): frequent buses feeding each and every metro or train station. All but one subway station has a connecting bus service.

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Infrastructure Weak @infrastructureweak.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

This looks like an early example of the international best practice, circulation planning-based bus priority measures that @chittimarco.bsky.social details in the Transit Priority Atlas. tpa.transitcosts.com

"Busway Turn Map" of Tremont Ave in the Bronx. The busway extent is a one-mile stretch of Tremont, across ~11 one-way cross streets. Cars are permitted to enter Tremont by turning right or left from the one-way cross streets approaching it, or to cross Tremont on the same streets. However, they must turn right to exit Tremont at the first opportunity along it.

Source:
https://newyorkyimby.com/2026/08/construction-begins-on-tremont-avenue-busway-in-tremont-the-bronx.html

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SideStreets @sidestreets.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Your every-few-days reminder that the NITA board, which Director Alvarez serves on, has the statutory authority to declare any roadway lane a bus lane.

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Emily Hamilton @ebwhamilton.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

@yonahfreemark.com and I have a new piece on what was a fun topic for me to dive into--why have school sites gotten much bigger and harder for kids to get to over time? www.theargumentmag.com/p/one-big-re...

theargumentmag.com

One big reason nobody’s walking to school anymore

How to end the dreaded carpool line

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dereksagehorn.bsky.social @dereksagehorn.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Anthropic donating $250k to the Regional Transit Measure has scandalized a lot of the opposition. It seems straightforward to me. The AI industry is highly concentrated in FiDi, which depends on BART, Muni and Caltrain for job access.

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Stephen Jacob Smith @stephenjacobsmith.com · 15/09/2026

And by “we’ve decided that there shouldn’t be any more 6,000-sq. ft. condos in NYC,” I mean we’ve decided there shouldn’t be any more condos at all. Residential condos (“apartment you can own”) of any size have been effectively banned on all land rezoned since 2014 by Mandatory Inclusionary Housing.

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David Schleicher @profschleich.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

❗New Article❗ The Great American Property Tax Freakout! Since 2024, many states have radically reshaped their property tax systems.The changes are an example of a national trend of carving out influential groups from taxation, in this case a majority group: homeowners papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

papers.ssrn.com

The Great American Property Tax Freak Out

There has been a lot of news over the last two years, so it is understandable that neither the mass media nor the legal academy has focused on what is happening

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rohan aras @rohanaras.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Well the NFPA decided to serve me ads on Instagram

An NFPA ad on Instagram with a smoke detector in the middle and the text NFPA 72

There's a caption that says #DontChanceSafety

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Nolan Hicks @ndhapple.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Day one: Proud to be on the team working on the next generation of subways, trains and buses.

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Stephen Jacob Smith @stephenjacobsmith.com · 09/09/2026

My question was ruled out of order, presumably due to CP 50-21, which forbids us from talking about pricing. Well how are we supposed to talk about the cost impact of a proposal to allow a product manufactured by a single manufacturer without talking about that price? www.iccsafe.org/wp-content/u...

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Evan Roberts @evanrobertsnz.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

If you care to look around the suburbs there are enough examples of 1960s /70s duolexes to show that "single family zoning" was not quite as rigid as it is now. But today I saw my first "historic" fourplex in a single family zone in the suburbs

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Sandy Johnston @sandypsj.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

The difficult thing about stop consolidation and other tradeoffs conversations is that the *future* benefits to *more* riders, including those with disabilities+other needs, are often real...but the harms are *present* and have a current voice.

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Stephen Jacob Smith @stephenjacobsmith.com · 03/09/2026

If you live outside of the US and Canada and would like to help me with an elevator census I'm doing, please DM me – I want to send you something! Would just involve noting a few items about elevators you encounter in the wild.

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Ken McLeod @kenmcld.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

The average person, and probably average member of Congress, might hear that bike lanes are on the National Highway System and think that's crazy But, the National Highway System includes many arterials These bike lanes in my city are threatened by the proposed language

Bike lanes on Memorial Ave in Roanoke, VA - part of the National Highway System

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Patrick Siegman @siegman.biz · 27/08/2026

If the state abolished park impact fees today, cities’ impact fee consultants would prepare replacement fees tomorrow. No park fees allowed? OK! Under current law, I could write fee studies that justify huge fees for road widenings, yacht harbors, etc., etc. Impact fees need comprehensive reform!

paloaltoonline.com

Housing advocates pan planned impact fees

As Palo Alto prepares to overhaul its fee system for new residential developments, some advocates are arguing that the city's new proposal unfairly burdens multi-family projects while making the costs...

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Patrick Siegman @siegman.biz · 16/08/2026

This 1962 APA report, "Underground Wiring in New Residential Areas," offered reasons why, as the report puts it, "electric power & telephone distribution systems in the US and Canada have been developed primarily with overhead construction", while in Europe "underground distribution is commonplace."

planning.org

Underground Wiring in New Residential Areas

This historic PAS report from 1962 examines the growing practice, and benefits and challenges, of providing underground power and telephone lines in new residential subdivisions.

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David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

I'm sure people will get mad at @humantransit.bsky.social for saying this, but he's right. Campaigning on fare-free transit shrinks the coalition of people willing to invest in public transportation. It endangers transit's survival. humantransit.org/2026/08/an-i...

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awjustus.bsky.social @awjustus.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Factory building can help unlock higher construction labor productivity, better working conditions for residential builders, and savings for home buyers. The recent 21st Century ROAD to Housing law will help unlock even more savings by modernizing the old chassis requirement for HUD Code homes.

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Stephen Jacob Smith @stephenjacobsmith.com · 16/08/2026

I’d like to know why underground power lines are standard across Europe, but in North America they are so expensive. In Europe, many single-family neighborhoods and almost all denser neighborhoods have buried lines. In the US, almost all lines are overhead, often even in high-rise neighborhoods.

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Alex Armlovich @aarmlovi.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

New AGF blog: Transit-Oriented Development is a surprisingly underrated way to end America’s housing problems Physically realistic capacity near rail alone is >30M homes. Financially plausible capacity is ~6M to 13M. TOD is not just a boutique or niche idea! open.substack.com/pub/abundanc...

open.substack.com

Transit-Oriented Development is a surprisingly underrated path to ending America’s housing problems

America’s rail systems are still recovering from 2020, and robot cars are coming. Legalize apartments first.

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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

New academic study: Inclusionary zoning costs renters $800k per affordable unit created. This is more than the per-unit cost for the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program. While LIHTC which is largely funded by the rich via income taxes, IZOs are regressive because they place the burden on renters.

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David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Looks like I got my answer: "The presence of the [per-minute] fee nudged cyclists toward several unsafe behaviours." "The policy recommendation is to avoid such strategies in favour of less time-pressuring schemes." doi.org/10.1016/j.tr...

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Yonah Freemark @yonahfreemark.com · 12/08/2026

In June 2026, the US urban areas with the highest per-capita transit ridership were: 1—New York 2—San Francisco 3—Washington, DC 4—Boston 5—Seattle www.thetransportpolitic.com/databook/us-...

Ridership per capita, US urban areas, June 2026

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Marco Chitti @chittimarco.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Interesting debate about self-driving buses down this thread. I think the main issue with self-driving buses is not technological, but legal and operational. There are too many unanswered questions before we see them deployed effectively. Just some of them as an example in the next posts: >>

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Ilya Petoushkoff @petoushkoff.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

One of the greatest points of difference between my career as a transport consultant in '10s Moscow and my experience with transport advisory in Australia is what the deliverable of a consultant actually is.

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Spokane Rising @spokanerising.com · 07/08/2026

After the third day of counting, the measure to extend a 0.2% sales tax that funds ~40% of Spokane Transit’s service hours has extended its lead to almost 2.5 points! Yes: 42,754 (51.15%) No: 40,811 (48.82%) There are ~41,000 ballots left to count, though not all of those are in the PBTA.

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Sandy Johnston @sandypsj.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

It's only a first step but I'm impressed with this transit (lack of) connection study conducted by TYLin for RTA, in preparation for NITA reforms to governance structures. More regions need an honest look at these things. www.rtachicago.org/blog/2026/08...

rtachicago.org

Regional Transportation Authority | Study lays groundwork for more coordinated regional transit service under NITA

A new regional transit service coordination study will help bridge between current service planning practices and the first Northern Illinois Transit…

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The LIRR Today @thelirrtoday.com · 04/08/2026

LIRR has gone even further specifying the type of engine in the last work locomotive RFP—effectively rigging the bid for one manufacturer. www.thelirrtoday.com/2020/04/new-...

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Fix the L8 @fixthel8.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

5 PM traffic after blowing up the network:

A photo at the Denny / Westlake bus stop showing minimal traffic on Denny Way

Screenshot of Google Maps showing an eastbound Route 8 bus running 4 minutes early at 5 PM

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Jake Berman @lostsubways.com · 03/08/2026

this is not true. there was no conspiracy. it didn't matter whether the streetcars were publicly owned (seattle, detroit) or private (los angeles, atlanta). a thread (because i wrote a whole-ass book on this): 1/?

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rohan aras @rohanaras.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Besides the point but this photo is quite the reminder of how much the area around the station (NoMa/H Street) has changed in the last 30(?) years

Areal photo of Union Station (DC) looking north in the early 90s(?)

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Noah 🚎 @noahsbwilliams.com · 28/07/2026

Yep! Not a single OEM can build you a 60' hybrid at the moment. Flyer's stated reason is "lack of a suitable engine/drivetrain combination" which is Canadian politespeak for "can't pass emissions" Edison Motors got screwed by this in the trucking sector too: youtu.be/loM4bwKXIr0

youtu.be

Why Canada Won’t Let Us Build Hybrid Trucks

YouTube video by Edison Motors

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Brendan Dawe @dawe.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

I’m one of these is that I find that Canadian jurisdictions tend to be much more hostile to sub-hectare (~2.5 acre) septic systems than much of the US

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Brendan Dawe @dawe.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Canadian Cities can be understood as having the same building blocks as American cities, but in different proportions. One of them is a much dramatically lower proportion of this sort of acreage sprawl.

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Ken McLeod @kenmcld.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Day Two of the AASHTO meeting of the Council on Active Transportation and Committee on Planning Starts with a session about data needs and collection methods Speaker from StreetLight Data discusses changes in data collection and data availability due to privacy law changes

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Greg Shill @gregshill.com · 28/07/2026

US Commuting Zones and Labor Market Areas: Evidence from the NBA

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awjustus.bsky.social @awjustus.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Housing lock-in may feel like a post-covid development, but tax law and inheritance rules have discouraged long-tenured homeowners from selling for over a generation.

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Dr. Samantha Hancox-Li @sjshancoxli.liberalcurrents.com · 25/07/2026

once again asking everyone to read alain bertaud's ORDER WITHOUT DESIGN, or failing that his "cities as labor markets," which gets to how fundamental the question "how many jobs do you have access to" truly is marroninstitute.nyu.edu/uploads/cont...

marroninstitute.nyu.edu

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rohan aras @rohanaras.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

I get the sense that WMATA thinks it would need to do an expensive retrofit to fix that, but King County Metro has these little transfer stacks. Surely that can't be that expensive? (Just watch me find some insane number in the Washington state bus schedule)

A picture of a King County Metro bus farebox with a stack of transfers the operator can tear off to give to riders

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The Niskanen Center @niskanencenter.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

The tax code rewards some retirees for staying in houses that they might want to move on from. Sell, and you could owe taxes on the gains above $250K–$500K. www.niskanencenter.org/to-help-grow...

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Alon (they/them) @alonlevy.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

French bus acquisition costs, all for 12 m long buses, in 2024 prices: Diesel: 239,400€ CNG: 310,300€ Hybrid: 324,600€ BEB: 554,500€ IMC trolleybus: 650,000€ (but it lasts 20 years, the others 15) www.agir-transport.org/wp-content/u...

agir-transport.org

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dereksagehorn.bsky.social @dereksagehorn.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

Broke: 3 months free rent at recently built Class A apartments Woke: $2000 signing bonus for Section 8 voucher holders to rent Class D apartments

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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

This web tool Fischer cooked up to visualize the effect of allowing homes near trains & buses is fun to play with! You should if you haven't. byotod.urbanpdx.blog

byotod.urbanpdx.blog

Bring Your Own TOD (OR)

Oregon TOD Map Builder

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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

It's unusual for me to find a politician that's more YIMBY than I am, but Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek's administration is proposing to essentially replace local zoning on most parcels in the state with the last 4 pages of this document www.oregon.gov/lcd/LAR/Docu...

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Star:Line Chicago @starlinechicago.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

“The trains can turn a profit if you stop subsidizing our competition” is real good energy

WE SPENT $43,000,000
TO BRING YOU AMERICA'S FINEST COMMUTER SERVICE
The North Western has just completed the most comprehensive modernization program ever undertaken by a commuter railway.
NBC-TV, The Saturday Evening Post, For-tune, Holiday and many newspapers have all praised the result.
We replaced all our old locomotives with new diesels. We scrapped our old coaches in favor of 200 new air-conditioned double-deck-ers. We introduced a new "push-pull" system that enables us to operate more efficiently. We added new trains, especially during the hours between rush periods. And a lot more.
We did it with our own money, not your tax funds. Rather, we paid $1,947,518 in taxes last year alone in five Chicago area counties where we operate suburban service. We didn't ask for a government subsidy. And, we carried out our program at a time when your tax dollars (and ours, too) were being spent to build new expressways parallel to our three lines.
Why? We believe that if a railroad offers the world's finest service, commuters would rather ride than drive-and that such a railroad can operate at a profit, provided that it is not faced with increased, subsidized competition.
Take a few minutes to read through this booklet and see just how much we have to offer. Make an honest comparison and we think you'll agree it makes sense to Go New North Western Commuter Streamliners, either as a regular commuter or an occasional rider.

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