E-Scooters: A So-So Product in a Terrible Market

The news of Paris restricting e-scooters has been widely criticized by urbanists and mobility advocates across the web. Here’s why it might not be such a bad call, after all.

Safe & Productive Streets, Top StorySteffen BerrApril 25, 2023Mobility, transportation, public transportation, Safe and Productive Streets, Europe, Netherlands, scooters, e-scooters

Warren Buffett Doesn’t Like Spending on Streetcars (but Has No Problem With Crazy Highway Spending)

Warren Buffet has broken his practice of “staying out of local politics" to criticize a streetcar project in his home city of Omaha, NE…but why does he have nothing to say on the city’s ridiculous and reckless highway projects?

End Highway Expansion, Finance, Marohn, Top StoryCharles MarohnJanuary 30, 2023End Highway Expansion, public transit, public transportation, Streetcars, finance, local finance, investing, public investment, highways, Nebraska

Planes, Trains, and Buses

Stranded with a dying phone and no car, our Neighborhood Storyteller relies this week on public transit and the kindness of strangers to get where she needs to go.

Neighborhood Storyteller, Theilen, Transportation, Public Transit, Top StoryKarla TheilenOctober 2, 2022neighborhood storyteller, bus, buses, public transit, public transportation, transportation, transit

If You Want People to Use Public Transit, Connect the Places Where People Want to Walk

The Strong Towns team got together recently and used some of Minneapolis’s public transit. Here’s our reflections from that experience.

Public Transit, Transportation, Stange, Top StoryJay StangeAugust 23, 2022transit, public transit, public transportation, transportation, Not Just Bikes, CityNerd, Minnesota, Minneapolis

Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (Transit Edition)

Don’t be fooled: Winnipeg’s newly proposed “rapid transit” project is actually a road-widening project in disguise. And it aims to borrow money so the City can destroy millions of dollars of its own tax base.

Red Light, Green Light, No Insight

When we hand our whole transportation system to engineers, we shouldn’t be surprised that the values of their profession override the values of the public. It’s time for a new paradigm.

#SlowtheCars, Member Post, Transportation, Top StoryMichel Durand-WoodMarch 4, 2022transportation, public transportation, engineers, engineering profession, traffic engineering, canada, Canada, Winnipeg, Confessions of a Recovering Engineer, #SlowTheCars

Jarrett Walker: "Prediction and Freedom Are Opposites"

Special guest Jarrett Walker shares his thoughts on the limitations of prediction.

ST Podcast, Transportation, Planning Profession, Podcast, Public Transit, Top StoryStrong TownsJanuary 24, 2022Podcast, podcast, Jarrett Walker, projections, traffic projections, transit, public transit, public transportation, planning profession, planning process, urban planning

2 Things Local Leaders Can Do to Fix Their City's Broken Transportation

#1: Stop framing every problem as a transportation problem.

Local Government, Podcast, Confessions Book, Transportation, Top StoryStrong TownsOctober 14, 2021transportation, localism, public transportation, leadership, Confessions of a Recovering Engineer, confessions book, Podcast, guest podcast, Institute for Local Self-Reliance

Transit Agencies Venture Into Real Estate—But Why Weren't They Already?

Budget shortfalls are pressuring transit agencies to do what they should’ve been doing all along: put to productive use the land they own around their stations.

Public Transit, Herriges, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesMarch 24, 2021transit, BART, real estate, public transit, public transportation, transportation spending

An Incremental Campaign to Improve the Transit Experience

A grassroots effort to bring bus riders in Rochester a little comfort and a little dignity.

Incrementalism, Public Transit, Horbovetz, Success Story, Top StoryArian HorbovetzMarch 18, 2021incremental, public transit, public transportation, Rochester, success stories

Gabrielle Gurley: For Transit, "The Cuts are Coming"

The pandemic has turned conventional transit funding models on their heads. How will it change how we fund transit going forward…and what gets funded in the first place?

Podcast, Transportation, Public Transit, Top StoryStrong TownsJanuary 18, 2021transit, public transit, public transportation

New York transit is facing "Doomsday" cuts. Should non-New Yorkers bail it out?

The future of New York's transit system will be decided by non-New Yorkers. It didn't have to be that way. It doesn’t have to be that way again.

Transportation, Public Transit, Marohn, Top StoryCharles MarohnOctober 19, 2020public transit, public transportation, New York

The State of U.S. Transit in 5 Observations

Where did we spend our money building transit in the U.S. in the last 10 years? And what did we get for it?

Herriges, Transportation, Public Transit, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesJanuary 16, 2020transit, public transportation, public transit, buses, Light Rail, infrastructure spending

Why is the "Miracle on 14th Street" Bus Rapid Transit Line Such a Miracle?

New York’s newest BRT line is being called the “Miracle on 14th Street.” But why is it so miraculous?

Upzoned, Transportation, Public Transit, Podcast, Marohn, Top StoryStrong TownsOctober 18, 2019New York, buses, Upzoned, public transportation, transit, Podcast, podcast

Think Buses and Trains are Empty? Take a Look at Rural Highways

Skeptics cite empty buses and trains as proof that public transit isn’t worth the investment. But what if they applied their same standard to our rural highways?

Public Transit, Top StoryArian HorbovetzSeptember 17, 2019rural, buses, infrastructure, public transportation, traffic engineering, transit

What the Left Gets Wrong About Public Transportation

Hint: the Right isn’t any better.

WIlson, Upzoned, MarohnStrong TownsAugust 30, 2019public transportation, incremental development, highway spending, transportation, federal funding, transportation spending

A Suburban Model For Incremental Transit Improvement

How does a transit agency in a car-dominated suburban city double its bus ridership in only twelve years? Through a smart, iterative strategy of placing small bets and learning from the results.

Transportation, Top StorySylvia Menezes RobertsNovember 28, 2018suburban transit, public transportation, BRT, page highlight

The Buses Aren't As Empty As You Might Think

One common argument against conventional public transit is that a transit agency could accommodate the same number of riders in a taxicab or dial-a-ride van. But is that really true?

Transportation, Public Transit, Top StoryMichael LewynAugust 3, 2018bus, public transportation

3 Lessons from Nashville's Failed Transit Plan

Incremental transit expansion should be Nashville’s new path forward.

Transportation, Top Story, Public TransitEthan GreeneMay 2, 2018public transportation, incremental development

Transit’s Chicken & Egg Fallacy

Transit is an essential part of a Strong Towns approach. So is financial solvency. It’s time for public transit advocacy to move past build-it-and-they-will-come.

Marohn, Top Story, Transportation, Public TransitCharles MarohnApril 30, 2018public transportation, page highlight

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