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Steven Higashide

@stevenhigashide.com
272 followers 154 following 67 posts

Fighting for clean transportation at @ucs.org. Author, BETTER BUSES, BETTER CITIES + JUSTICE AND THE INTERSTATES. Posts my own opinion.

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Reposted by Steven Higashide
Kelly Hereid @kellyhereid.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Really glad to see this feature analytics from @kuanbutts.bsky.social and board advocacy from @therealjeanwalsh.bsky.social Would love to see a ridership-weighted version of these horrible reliability figures - it's not just that they're bad, it's that they're bad on big lines like 1T and 51A.
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Steven Higashide @stevenhigashide.com · 17/09/2026
Tacos + transit: Two things that make a city better. On 9/26, as part of the Bay Area's Transit Month, I'll join @transbaycoalition.bsky.social and BART and AC Transit directors to tour the Tempo Line--and some of the best taco spots on International Boulevard. actionnetwork.org/events/tempo....
actionnetwork.org
Tempo Line Taco Tour
It’s a taco party! To kick off Transit Month 2026, Transbay Coalition and AC Transit are hosting a tour of some of the amazing taco spots along International Blvd, by riding the T1 Tempo Bus Line from...
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Reposted by Steven Higashide
Union of Concerned Scientists @ucs.org · 12/08/2026
1/🚨⚠️The US freight system relies on heavy-duty vehicles like semis to move the goods we buy. Emissions control systems that cut 90 percent of diesel emissions from these vehicles are under attack by the Trump EPA and Congress. This is bad news for clean air. 🔗 act.ucs.org/4zdraIB
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Spectrum News NY1 @spectrumnewsny1.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
The MTA announced Thursday that the program, which began as a pilot in 2023, will now be available on all every local and Select Bus Service routes across the five boroughs. Read More: specne.ws/ZJRbo7 
specne.ws
MTA expands 'Open Stroller' program to all city buses
Parents and caregivers will be able to keep one stroller open while riding
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Steven Higashide @stevenhigashide.com · 05/08/2026
The EPA stopped updating an essential power-sector emissions dataset. But a group of researchers stepped in to recreate it - and @ucs.org analysis of the data shows that, nearly everywhere, the average electric vehicle is cleaner than the most efficient gas hybrid. blog.ucs.org/dave-reichmu...
A chart showing heat-trapping emissions from driving the average new electric vehicle, expressed as the fuel economy a gasoline car would need to match it, by grid region.
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Reposted by Steven Higashide
National Association of City Transportation Officials @nacto.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
A change on a website doesn’t change what works on our streets. That's why NACTO has archived and compiled resources for the five proven safety countermeasures recently removed from the Federal Highway Administration's website. Access the documents: nacto.org/latest/the-e...
nacto.org
The evidence hasn't changed: Proven safety tools continue to be effective best practice - NACTO
NACTO makes available resources related to five proven safety countermeasures that were removed from FHWA website Earlier this month, the Federal Highway Administration pared down its list of proven s...
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Reposted by Steven Higashide
Union of Concerned Scientists @ucs.org · 20/07/2026
1/ Bloomberg Law reports that EPA is proposing major air pollution rules that don’t consider the health benefits of clean air while still calculating industry compliance costs. That’s not a balanced cost-benefit analysis. It’s only half of an equation.
news.bloomberglaw.com
EPA’s Truck Rule Extends Novel Approach to Cost-Benefit Analysis
The EPA’s new proposal to ease truck pollution standards marks at least the third time this year that the agency has floated a rule that doesn’t consider the monetized value of human health effects.
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Reposted by Steven Higashide
Darren Buck @bikepedantic.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
Trump’s war on science comes for bikes and Vision Zero. Proven Safety Countermeasures are a set of street design tools that FHWA career engineers judge to have been proven to improve safety. They delisted Bike Lanes, Road Diets, and three speed management tools. highways.dot.gov/safety/prove...
28 Proven Safety countermeasures shown on an old fHWA flyer. Sped Safety Cameras, variable Speed Limits, Appropriate speed limits for all road users, Bicycle Lanes, and road diets are crossed out
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Steven Higashide @stevenhigashide.com · 09/07/2026
The EPA is asking Congress to invalidate California clean car standards that predate the iPhone and that have already been fully implemented. @davereichmuth.bsky.social has more on the pro-polluter agenda: blog.ucs.org/dave-reichmu...
blog.ucs.org
Why the EPA Is Attacking California’s Clean Car Standards (Again)
Automakers are already complying with these standards, put into place before the first iPhone release. Why is the EPA targeting them?
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The Overhead Wire @theoverheadwire.com · 23/06/2026
Starting today!
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Reposted by Steven Higashide
Union of Concerned Scientists @ucs.org · 24/06/2026
UCS Scientist Dr. Jessica Dunn testifies in Congress on how recycling electric vehicle batteries and strong environmental safeguards can support a sustainable transportation future. WATCH: m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ul3e...
UCS Scientist Dr. Jessica Dunn testifying in Congress
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Union of Concerned Scientists @ucs.org · 01/06/2026
Join us as we launch Science Rising, a new initiative encouraging scientists to speak out and take action against the Trump administration's anti-science actions:
secure.ucs.org
Uniting to Protect Science & Democracy: Science Rising National Launch Event
The Union of Concerned Scientists invites you to join the public launch of Science Rising, a new initiative mobilizing the science community to speak out and take action against the Trump administrati...
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Reposted by Steven Higashide
Tony Dutzik @frontiertony.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Don't look now, but the 90-day delinquency rate for auto loans is higher than at any point since at least 2004 (and probably earlier). Per www.newyorkfed.org/microeconomi...
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Reposted by Steven Higashide
Union of Concerned Scientists @ucs.org · 27/05/2026
1/ As the EPA continues to fall short, a solution to curb freight pollution at the source could improve air quality for millions and help transition away from fossil fuels use.
ucs.org
Addressing Freight Pollution at the Source
Indirect Source Rules (ISRs) provide state and local governments a tool to address inequitable pollution impacts from the freight system.
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Reposted by Steven Higashide
Union of Concerned Scientists @ucs.org · 12/05/2026
🚌 Transportation in the US has historically been a bipartisan issue, but not under the second Trump administration. Steven Higashide, director of our Clean Transportation program, explains how Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is weaponizing the department to advance Trump’s authoritarian agenda.
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A. Zivarts @nondriver.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
When I first started bringing nondrivers to our state legislature transportation committees, I remember, it was a shock for legislators to hear from dozens of people outside the transportation consulting firm lobby
blog.ucs.org
The Highway Lobby Spends Millions to Make Sure We Pay Billions
Our car-dependent transportation system is no accident.
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Steven Higashide @stevenhigashide.com · 11/05/2026
One reason Congress writes checks for bigger highways despite the public demanding different choices? The influence game played by the road lobby. New research summarized by @kevshen.bsky.social here (blog.ucs.org/kshen/the-hi...) scrutinizes the tactics of the DC groups pushing road construction.
blog.ucs.org
The Highway Lobby Spends Millions to Make Sure We Pay Billions
Our car-dependent transportation system is no accident.
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Steven Higashide @stevenhigashide.com · 27/03/2026
Ghost-in-the-machine-writing: AI company looking for "prestigious," award-winning writer... to do hourly gig work polishing AI-generated plays, novels, and short stories.
Screenshot of LinkedIn job posting for "Literary Writer" - an AI company looking for "prestigious," award-winning writer to do hourly gig work polishing up AI-generated plays, novels, and short stories.Screenshot of LinkedIn job posting for "Literary Writer" - an AI company looking for "prestigious," award-winning writer to do hourly ($75-150/hour) gig work polishing up AI-generated plays, novels, and short stories.
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Reposted by Steven Higashide
Kevin Schwarzwald @kschwarzwald.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
www.curbed.com/article/mta-... A common issue that pervades a lot of app design - people in SV don’t seem to conceive of worlds where you don’t have service bc you’re underground, you run out of data completely, etc. Really great to see @mta.info move this in-house!
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Steven Higashide @stevenhigashide.com · 15/03/2026
"To commit to building public transit infrastructure is to decide to keep being a society." -David Alff www.nytimes.com/2026/03/15/n...
nytimes.com
Commuters, Rejoice! The New Portal Bridge Is Ready for Riders.
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Reposted by Steven Higashide
Costa Samaras @costasamaras.com · 08/03/2026
Everything the US moves around needs diesel fuel to power the trucks, trains, & boats: food, goods, crops, commodities, everything. Oil products powers ~90% of US transport. It's why we should electrify transport as a national security imperative: to reduce the risk of price shocks to the economy.
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Union of Concerned Scientists @ucs.org · 05/03/2026
#EVs are a critical grid reliability and electricity affordability solution. New @latimes.com opinion piece calls for #EV investments to deliver benefits. #CALeg, @assemblydems.bsky.social, @casendems.bsky.social, use the budget to invest in EV car and truck incentives! #InvestInCleanAir
latimes.com
Contributor: In wildfire country, EVs aren’t a grid problem — they’re a power solution
California needs a smarter, more flexible power grid — and EVs are actually one of the most powerful tools we have to strengthen it.
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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
* U.S. JUDGE RULES TRUMP ADMINISTRATION UNLAWFULLY SOUGHT TO UNDO NEW YORK'S MANHATTAN CONGESTION PRICING PROGRAM @reuters.com
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M. Nolan Gray 🥑 @mnolangray.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
As the guy who wrote the book on zoning abolition, I'd like to go on record as saying: if you can use zoning to stop the concentration camps, fucking go for it.
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Steven Higashide @stevenhigashide.com · 14/02/2026
He'll be remembered for his accomplishments, such as "being an administrator"
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Union of Concerned Scientists @ucs.org · 09/02/2026
Thank you, @dorismatsui.bsky.social, for standing up for strong fuel-economy standards that save families money, cut pollution, and reduce oil dependence. Clean transportation is affordable transportation. #CleanerCars #RouteZero
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Reposted by Steven Higashide
Union of Concerned Scientists @ucs.org · 02/02/2026
💰🚗For more than a half century, fuel efficiency standards have saved US drivers money. How much money? TRILLIONS. Fuel efficient vehicles mean less expensive trips to the gas pump and more money for education, for family outings, for groceries. (🧵👇)
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Steven Higashide @stevenhigashide.com · 02/02/2026
Another fact underscoring the descent of USDOT: Elaine Chao (Trump 1 transpo secretary) resigned in protest after the January 6 attacks. Sean Duffy described the 1/6 insurrectionists as people "peacefully walking, giving themselves a tour of the Capitol." www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox...
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Reposted by Steven Higashide
Wedge LIVE!™ @wedge.live · 01/02/2026
"Nobody feels like it's safe to ride the public transport, the buses, the light rail" because federal agents are stalking transit stops. "We shouldn’t have to worry if we’re going to have guns pulled on us on the way to work at all, but this is our reality.” www.youtube.com/shorts/b9Rnd...
youtube.com
Famed Indigenous chef Sean Sherman: My employee was taken.
“We were just trying to get him medication… But he was already gone.” Last week, the internationally renowned Indigenous chef Sean Sherman told reporter Nate Halverson that federal agents detained…
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Reposted by Steven Higashide
Jason Linkins @dceiver.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
Can't stress enough that no arm of any GOP-controlled governing body is actively at work doing anything to improve the lives of Americans. Even the typically staid and bipartisan USDoT has been transformed into an instrument of self-dealing and revenge. newrepublic.com/article/2051...
newrepublic.com
How Trump Weaponized the Department of Transportation
The policies that govern how we get from place to place are usually immune to partisanship. This administration is using them to advance Trump’s authoritarian agenda.
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Steven Higashide @stevenhigashide.com · 30/01/2026
Interesting finding - another reminder that transportation is a network and a change in one link has wide-ranging ripples. And underscores how parochialism is the death of good transportation - politicians all want projects in "their" district but that's often not what brings the most benefit.
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Reposted by Steven Higashide
The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 29/01/2026
Political scientists have a term for how Trump governs: “Competitive authoritarianism.” Like Hungary under Orbán, he was elected but uses the gov't to abuse the law. trib.al/hY3VbAW The DOT is usually immune from this partisanship. Instead, they're using it to advance Trump’s authoritarian agenda.
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Steven Higashide @stevenhigashide.com · 29/01/2026
Why is the Dept of Transportation trying to torpedo NYC congestion pricing? Why - in God’s name - is Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on TV smearing the Minnesotans killed by ICE? For @newrepublic.com, I show Trump has turned USDOT into an authoritarian weapon. newrepublic.com/article/2051...
newrepublic.com
How Trump Weaponized the Department of Transportation
The policies that govern how we get from place to place are usually immune to partisanship. This administration is using them to advance Trump’s authoritarian agenda.
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Celeste Ng @pronounced-ing.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
"Non-violent tactics that waste a company’s time or money are really effective. For Enterprise, we’ve made and cancelled car reservations, saying the roads are too icy. At Home Depot... people [lined] up to buy ice scrapers and then getting in line to return them, in a way that clogs the lines."
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Steven Higashide @stevenhigashide.com · 14/01/2026
The Crossroads conference is tomorrow in DC - I'll be there and hope to see you as well. The transportation equity research the world needs to hear and #TRBAM doesn't want you to see ;)
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Urban Dispatch @urbandispatch.bsky.social · 02/01/2026
Times are a changing here in CT. The land "East of the River" (That being the Connecticut River which bisects the state flowing from north to south) is seeing a surge in new long overdue housing projects that rivals far wealthier and far more in demand parts of CT www.ctinsider.com/journalinqui...
ctinsider.com
Towns east of the Connecticut River moved forward on thousands of new housing units in 2025
An overhaul of the languishing Enfield Square Mall could begin in the spring.
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Mrs. Detective Pikajew, Esq. @clapifyoulikeme.favrd.social · 01/01/2026
this is the most incredible interview i’ve ever read. the aei guy tries so hard to get sliwa to trash mamdani and he simply won’t. he also brings up flaco (rip) unprompted. www.wsj.com/opinion/free...
Tunku Varadarajan: Will you ask New Yorkers who voted for you to give Zohran Mamdani a chance?
Curtis Sliwa: Absolutely. He won a majority. He has a mandate. The Masters of the Universe, the billionaires, did everything they could to make sure he wasn't the mayor. It didn't work. He's a great organizer. I'll give you an example: Melinda Katz, the current District Attorney for Queens County, New York. She's the mother of my two youngest sons. She was running for DA in 2019. She had the institutional support. Moderate Jewish mother. Loyal Democrat.
Queens borough president. Perfect résumé. She's running against Tiffany Caban, who wasn't even in elective office at that time. Very radical. You know,
"do away with jails, don't arrest anyone." Tiffany Caban won on election night. But she lost the race on the absentee ballots, but only by about 20 votes. You know who the street organizer was for Tiffany Caban? Zohran Mamdani. So, when they talk about him as a trust fund baby, I say no, no, no, no, no.You don't like it when people call him a "nepo baby."
He's earned his stripes. He had 100,000 volunteers going door-to-door, and I experienced that in some of the neighborhoods where you would never have seen anybody liberal or progressive go. Howard Beach! In conservative Howard Beach, they're going block to block. They were everywhere. 100,000. I call them Zohranistas. This was the secret to his election, not TikTok. It was good, old-fashioned retail politics. Frankly, Cuomo and not Mamdani was the nepo baby in this race. Born on third base. Felt entitled. Knew the political process, but mailed it in.
He didn't have the stomach to actually go out and do retail politics. And shame on him.
Do you think Mamdani will make a better mayor than Andrew Cuomo might have done?How would you describe Mamdani's politics?
He's not a communist. People call him that. That's ridiculous. He is a democratic socialist. David Dinkins [New York mayor from 1990-93] was a democratic socialist. We've had a long history in New York City of socialism.
What's the biggest challenge Mamdani faces as mayor!
I don't think the Zohranistas totally understand the fiscal irresponsibility we just went through with the Adams years and how little money there's left.
There's not enough money to do all the things that Zohran wants to do.A last question. All through our interview you pronounced Mamdani as "Mandami," transposing the "m" and the "n" in his name. Are you aware of the mispronunciation? Many people, Cuomo included, mangle his name.
In the debate, Zohran brought that to my attention, my mispronunciation. I didn't do it on purpose.
There's no disrespect. I have a hard time with it. It took people about 10 years to pronounce my last name correctly: "Sleewah.'" They pronounced it Silva, Saliva, Slywah. In the streets, we would have given Zohran a nickname, like I did for all the Guardian Angels. "Z Man" would have been perfect for him. That would have been his handle.
Mr. Varadarajan, a Journal contributor, is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and at NYU Law School's Classical Liberal Institute.
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Steven Higashide @stevenhigashide.com · 01/01/2026
It’s encouraging to 1) see Mike Flynn named as NYC transportation commissioner and 2) see him standing with Mayor Mamdani at his private swearing-in ceremony, which the NYT found surprising www.nytimes.com/2026/01/01/n...
nytimes.com
Mamdani Names Transportation Chief With Job of Making Buses Fast and Free
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Kevin Xu Shen 沈志文 @kevshen.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
Thank you to @vanhollen.senate.gov and @fetterman.senate.gov for reintroducing the Moving Transit Forward Act 🚌🚇, which would create a much needed federal program to fund increased transit service across the country. www.vanhollen.senate.gov/news/press-r...
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Reposted by Steven Higashide
John Holbein @johnholbein1.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
Um, ok... This paper forthcoming at the JOP provides evidence that rent control in Germany actually made tenants MASSIVELY *less* NIMBY. This result was in the opposite direction of the authors' pre-registered expectations. And the effect sizes are, truly, massive.
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Steven Higashide @stevenhigashide.com · 11/12/2025
"any savings for car buyers will vanish quickly as drivers are forced to shell out more cash at the fuel pump..."
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Steven Higashide @stevenhigashide.com · 03/11/2025
The trucking industry contributes $60 billion to surface transportation every year. A fair share would be closer to $150 billion. Important fact to keep in mind as Congress debates a new transportation bill and the trucking industry lobbies for lower taxes.
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Steven Higashide @stevenhigashide.com · 27/10/2025
Was glad to see this. As @davereichmuth.bsky.social wrote for @ucs.org, Toyota has called for the end of EV tax credits; it even asked its employees to lobby Congress to kill California's clean car rules blog.ucs.org/dave-reichmu....
blog.ucs.org
Why Does Toyota Oppose Clean Air?
There is no way to protect our health and our climate by simply making better gasoline cars.
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Steven Higashide @stevenhigashide.com · 24/10/2025
Last summer, I took a road trip through the Adirondacks in an electric car. It was drama-free - as I wrote for @ucs.org - largely because of a recently added fast charger near "Frontier Town," a convenience store that sells camping supplies and Pakistani food blog.ucs.org/steven-higas...
blog.ucs.org
My Drama-Free EV Road Trip Through New York’s Wild North
The key to the trip was a recently-built charging station in rural Upstate.
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Gretchen Goldman, PhD @gretchentg.bsky.social · 29/07/2025
It's a sad day when our leaders turn their back on long established science to try and roll back public health protections while the dangers of climate change are palpable on a daily basis. We cannot let this stand. www.ucs.org/about/news/t...
ucs.org
Trump Administration Launches Broadside Attack on Science-Backed Endangerment Finding, Public Health Protections
Trump Administration Launches Broadside Attack on Science-Backed Endangerment Finding, Climate and Public Health Protections
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Transbay Coalition @transbaycoalition.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
TONIGHT tune in to learn how to make your city's bus system better as we host a book talk with the author of "Better Buses, Better Cities" @stevenhigashide.com actionnetwork.org/events/bette...
actionnetwork.org
"Better Buses, Better Cities" Book Talk with author Steven Higashide and Transbay Coalition
Join Transbay Coalition's book club for a talk with the author of "Better Buses, Better Cities: How to Plan, Run, and Win the Fight for Effective Transit" Steven Higashide! The virtual event is open t...
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Transbay Coalition @transbaycoalition.bsky.social · 30/06/2025
Excited to host a virtual book talk with the author of "Better Buses, Better Cities: How to Plan, Run, and Win the Fight for Effective Transit" @stevenhigashide.com. Register today! actionnetwork.org/events/bette... Get your book through @islandpress.bsky.social at islandpress.org/books/better...
actionnetwork.org
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ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 18/06/2025
useful piece for people who might be wavering on Zohran. from the outside he seems like a smart guy who is willing to build alliances with more experienced folks like Lander, I think that is key
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ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 06/06/2025
"The Elizabeth Line in London is used by more than twice as many people as expected, for example. For some reason, this is not being treated as a massive embarrassment, nearly as bad as a 100% cost overrun." backofmind.substack.com/p/department...
backofmind.substack.com
department of what now?
voices from the beehive, part 4
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John Morales @johnmoralestv.bsky.social · 03/06/2025
Cuts have consequences, illustrated. As seen on TV 📺
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