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Sandy Johnston

@sandypsj.bsky.social
3.8K followers 790 following 2.9K posts

Transit geek. Planner. Cat dad. Cubs fan. Deputy Director of Regional Transit Planning at MBTA. Blogging much less than I'd like at www.itineranturbanist.wordpress.com. Opinions my own.

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Sandy Johnston @sandypsj.bsky.social · 7h
Everything Yale is always overwrought, but it's funny to me to see such hand-wringing over a course that I mainly remember from growing up as a place to sled in the winter. I had no idea it's considered such a masterpiece. www.nytimes.com/athletic/764...
nytimes.com
A $30 million disaster: How did Yale let its newly restored golf course fall apart?
Alums are upset about patchy grass, dried-out greens and want answers. "If someone gave you a Rembrandt, you’d take care of it."
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Stephen Jacob Smith @stephenjacobsmith.com · 10h
Wow, El Diario has a big visual feature basically showing exactly this – the rental aspect of Spain’s housing crisis is largely a transfer of wealth from immigrants to individual older, wealthy-but-often-not-filthy-rich Spanish apartment owners, not corporations bsky.app/profile/eldi...
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Sandy Johnston @sandypsj.bsky.social · 10h
It's very easy to dismiss these voices as fringe and the discussion as feeding right-wing propaganda (which it does). But like the Greenfield bar story, anyone honest who has spent time in left spaces knows that these dynamics and people are very real and a problem that needs to be confronted.
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brent sewer socialist🚰🌹 @therealbrent.bsky.social · 18h
I’ve never been in denial about it but I do think today was the first day I truly realized how much antisemitism is spreading and being normalized in online far-left circles. It’s scary and frightening and is only going to get worse if the left insists it’s not a problem.
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Joan Liu @joanliu.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Hey chicago bicyclists! I have a friend who is moving to albany park neighborhood of chicago, near the end of the brown line and wants to start biking for daily errands, haven't biked in a while. What advice would you give? They want to stay anonymous at this time.
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Adam @adamshap.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
NYC’s congestion pricing program cut ambulance travel times by over a minute
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Sandy Johnston @sandypsj.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Rare moment of peace
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Sandy Johnston @sandypsj.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Does anyone have a map of the Menino-era proposed Boston bike network? www.bostonmagazine.com/health/2013/...
bostonmagazine.com
New Bike Plan Calls For 350 Miles of Cycling Infrastructure
Mayor Menino announced a new bike plan for the city of Boston on Friday which will add more than 300 miles of bike lanes over the next 30 years.
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Sandy Johnston @sandypsj.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
I see we're doing RLX discourse again. I agree w/many critiques, especially its pre-regional-integration vibe and that there's a huge risk of Center City Tunnel syndrome: the entire agency being distracted by a big project while the rest of the system degrades. BUT...
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Sandy Johnston @sandypsj.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Has anyone used the TBEST transportation modeling software? What were your experiences with it? tbest.org
tbest.org
TBEST – Transit Planning Software
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Sandy Johnston @sandypsj.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Interesting discussion on the nuances of this power and its durability in the thread, but...I did not know this. Quite something.
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Sandy Johnston @sandypsj.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Mazal tov to all the Jews in the Northeast US currently finishing up an extremely rapid degree in Wind Resistance Engineering for Temporary Structures
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Stephen Jacob Smith @stephenjacobsmith.com · 23/09/2026
“The municipal-bond funds are betting that shedding debt through a potential bankruptcy will give the railroad time to grow ridership and build sufficient revenue to pay off its remaining senior obligations.” www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
Brightline Preparing for Bankruptcy Filing as Soon as This Week
Brightline, the struggling Florida private passenger railroad, is laying the groundwork to restructure some of its debt through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing as soon as this week, according to people...
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Sandy Johnston @sandypsj.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Looking for good training and orientation materials on destination access analysis--Accessibility Observatory, Conveyal, that type of data. Anyone got recs?
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Sandy Johnston @sandypsj.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Saw some decent battery under-cabinet lights at Costco on Sunday, and wow do they make a difference for layout lighting.
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Sandy Johnston @sandypsj.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Cool new layout thing is an eBay find, an Atlas Trainmaster custom painted as C&NW 1698 with its one-off experimental paint scheme. C&NW had H-16-66 "Baby Trainmasters," not the big ones, but given that those don't exist in N, I'll take it.
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Michael Wiebe @michaelwiebe.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
New literature review on housing ladder spillovers: When rich tech workers move in, low-end rents go up. So does it follow that adding high-end homes would reduce them? Yes. Changes at the top of the ladder can propagate down and affect prices at the bottom. 1/
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Yonah Freemark @yonahfreemark.com · 18/09/2026
Jacksonville Florida, the nation’s 11th largest city, has approved 22% transit cuts. It’s a nightmare: —Most bus service will operate on Sat schedule —The city’s automated rail service will simply not run —A “Navi” automated bus service will become manual because they can’t afford the software
news4jax.com
JTA planning additional layoffs as it works to cut $39 million from FY 2027 budget, suspend Skyway service in November
The Jacksonville Transportation Authority will reduce its Fiscal Year 2027 budget by $39 million, suspend passenger service on the Skyway and pause Navi service as it works to balance revenue and expe...
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Jerome Alexander Horne @jahorne.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
"The agreement resolves a more than decade-long proceeding before the Surface Transportation Board (STB) concerning the terms and conditions for Amtrak services such as the City of New Orleans, Illini/Saluki, and Wolverine." media.amtrak.com/2026/09/cn-a...
media.amtrak.com
CN and Amtrak Reach Agreements to Strengthen Passenger Rail Service and Safety - Amtrak Media
WASHINGTON, D.C. and HOMEWOOD, Ill. – CN (TSX: CNR) (NYSE: CNI) U.S. rail subsidiaries (Illinois Central Railroad Company and Grand Trunk Western Railroad
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Lettuce Cat @piero.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
oh god its real
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Marco Chitti @chittimarco.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Finally some good news for the dysfunctional circumvesuviana. With the new Stadler trains progressively entering service, EAV will introduce a 30 minutes clockface timetable starting October 17th (it's now 36') on all it's limes. www.ferrovie.it/portale/arti...
ferrovie.it
Ferrovie.it - Linee Vesuviane, dal 17 ottobre nuovo orario con frequenze ogni 30 minuti
Nuovi treni e un nuovo modello di esercizio per le Linee Vesuviane. Regione Campania ed EAV hanno...
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BeijingPalmer @beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
the miracle of urbanization is destroying this, *especially* for stigmatized groups. The cagots in France - victims of literally centuries of discrimination as a despised caste for reasons nobody's sure about - disappeared into the cities as soon as they could.
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Mac the squirrel :) @macsquirelera.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Damn that’s crazy, picture unrelated
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Marco Chitti @chittimarco.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
This incapacity to perceive vehicular travel demand as elastic, especially within the North American traffic planning practice, is reflected in the technical tools used to measure project impact: intesection-based LOS where the input level of traffic is a given rather than variable.
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Sandy Johnston @sandypsj.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Truck drivers use Google Maps to review places they pick up from/deliver to constantly and it's both hilarious and a fantastic dataset to mine for research purposes. I proposed a study along those lines when I was a freight planner but left the job before we could carry it through.
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Sandy Johnston @sandypsj.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Foggy in Boston
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Sandy Johnston @sandypsj.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Epic use of Awareness Cones in the Arboretum tonight
Image: the metal frame of a bench on a stone surface with woods in the background. The body of the bench is missing and in its place are four orange traffic cones sitting on various parts of the frame and a sign saying "bench out for repairs."
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Thomas Bamonte @thomasbamonte.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
First NITA Board meeting starts at 9 a.m. today. NITA Board Chair and Interim Executive Director selection among the agenda items. www.wbez.org/transportati...
wbez.org
NITA, Chicago’s new transit agency, is meeting for the first time. What will it change?
The Northern Illinois Transit Authority officially launched this month. The new agency is tasked with transforming the CTA, Metra and Pace.
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Sandy Johnston @sandypsj.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Nothing new to anyone, but as someone just beginning to explore cycling in Boston, the available comfortable network has an infuriating number of small/medium gaps that would be *technically* easy to fix (the politics are harder). Pictured: Clifford the Big Red Trike in the Arboretum.
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Sandy Johnston @sandypsj.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
If you were leading a conversation with a group of planners about the weaknesses of how we do community engagement, especially around the prevalence of bad faith actors and inauthentic claims to representation, what resources might you lean on? (Papers, blog posts, etc). Asking for a friend.
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Sandy Johnston @sandypsj.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Come work with me! The Strategic Transit Planning team at the MBTA is hiring for an early/mid-career planner/analyst position. This position won't report to me, but we'll work closely together on an excellent, forward-looking team. www.governmentjobs.com/careers/mbta...
governmentjobs.com
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Star:Line Chicago @starlinechicago.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
The most good-faith framing I’ve heard is that the story of American transit over the past half-century has generally been contraction, so anything that even smells like a “service cut” is going to induce some negative polarity right off the bat
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Ryan @classicryan17.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Alstom has been selected to provide Via Rail’s next generation of long distance coaches. Coming in coach, sleeper, accessible, berth, prestige, panorama, dome, dining and baggage car formations, these coaches will replace nearly 80 year old equipment. www.alstom.com/press-releas...
alstom.com
Alstom wins landmark contract to renew VIA Rail Canada’s long-distance fleet
Alstom will manufacture 313 new rail cars for VIA Rail Canada and provide long-term technical support and spare parts services
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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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Edward Russell @byerussell.com · 03/09/2026
This is cool, @mta.maryland.gov is adding a direct train from Brunswick to Baltimore via Silver Spring. 2h end to end, and the train has to come all the way into DC to go back out to Baltimore. www.mta.maryland.gov/Brunswick-Ca...
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Nolan Hicks @ndhapple.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
It's rough and I think it's maybe a little aggressive. But UP-North if electrified with EMUs, high platforms, wide doors at the quarterpoints and single levels should be able to Kenosha to Ogilvie in the ballpark of about 65 minutes. Average of about 45-50mph.
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Jarrett Walker @humantransit.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Auckland, New Zealand (pop 1.5m) appears to be further along on (de)congestion pricing than any US city outside of New York. This article gives a good sense of how thoughtful the conversation is. @greaterauckland.bsky.social theconversation.com/auckland-now...
theconversation.com
Auckland now has a plan for congestion charging. But where are the extra buses?
Auckland has settled on how congestion charging could work. But overseas experience shows the alternatives to driving are just as important.
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Benjamin Recchie @brecchie.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Look at this diagram from p. 136. You're not a real Chicagoan until you know which railroads serve which stations!
A diagram from the 1951 textbook Chicago, naming the downtown train stations and what railroads serve them.
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Bill Savage @rogersparkman.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Back in 1951, Chicago Public Schools had a very rah-rah civics textbook where the very first lesson was the Grid.
Blue book entitled Chicago. Copyright page if said book. 1951. Image of Chicago’s Grid, a bit abstracted and without waterways or diagonal streets. Image of intersection of State and Madison,
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Yonah Freemark @yonahfreemark.com · 01/09/2026
Among other things, this extends surface transportation funding and authorizations from IIJA through Dec. 11. They were scheduled to expire on Sept. 30.
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Nolan Hicks @ndhapple.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
The math behind high-level platforms *and* wide doors: Narrow doors/high platforms allow 45 passengers/min/door to flow through. The 50" (double-wide) doors increase that number to 75 passengers/minute/door. Two sets at the quarter points means the whole car can clear in 48 secs.
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David King @cityplanning.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
This is a good article that adds to the argument we have been studying car dependence wrong. Kent and Harris argue scholarship has been FOR policy rather than ABOUT policy. So we keep adding evidence to things we know but we really are after how to make change, and that requires study of politics.
tandfonline.com
Positioning the Private Car as a Political Problem
Private car dependency in cities is often viewed as highly problematic. There is ample knowledge about how to structure and manage cities to support less private car dependence, yet cars continue t...
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Sandy Johnston @sandypsj.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
PCA, man. What can you even say at this point. I hadn't even managed to turn the game on yet. I should learn.
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Laurie! Live! @laurie-merrell.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
this left chat is fascinating
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Kirsten Bladh @kerstanley.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Mayor Bass is pushing the state legislature to put into *state law* that cities with over 2 million people (only LA) cannot reduce the # of car lanes of a road that leads into a cemetery without mayoral approval. Just to kill this desperately needed bike lane project.
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Sandy Johnston @sandypsj.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Schenectady has built a gorgeous two-way bikeway on Franklin Street. It's two blocks long and doesn't connect to much on the downtown end, but hey, it's nice!
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Sandy Johnston @sandypsj.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Something to be said for a rural getaway
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Sandy Johnston @sandypsj.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
English High, evening
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Sandy Johnston @sandypsj.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Today's layout arrival is huge: I finally pulled the trigger on a factory lighted Olympian Hiawatha post-1955 set from Kato, which I got at an excellent price.
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Jeremy Glover @jgrantglover.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
CPS started on Monday, and folks have been remarking on the increased morning traffic. According to the most recent data for the Chicago region, about 7% of all car trips are related to K-12 pickup/drop-off. The trips peak during the 7 o'clock hour, when 1 in 5 drivers are on school runs.
Chart showing car trips to or from school as a percentage of all car trips in the Chicago region by time of day. The data show that school trips peak between 7-9 am, with a smaller peak around 3 pm.
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