alex block
@alexblock.bsky.social
cities, transportation, transit, and other intermittent discussion.
Yes; it’s telling that groups like MADD often moralize against the drinking part; but drunk driving also requires the “driving” part
drunk driving is extremely bad and we should try to design social patterns and travel norms in ways that reduce it
I have a bunch of intersecting thoughts here but basically 1) excessive alcohol consumption is an urban activity, 2) we shouldn’t legalize drunk driving and 3) we should more heavily penalize parents whose kids abuse alcohol in such a drastic fashion.
December 27, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Yes; it’s telling that groups like MADD often moralize against the drinking part; but drunk driving also requires the “driving” part
Reposted by alex block
Roddy Jones has a Pop Tart pocket square
December 27, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Roddy Jones has a Pop Tart pocket square
oh my!
2007 Volkswagen New Beetle 5-Speed Ute Conversion at No Reserve
No Reserve: 2007 Volkswagen New Beetle 5-Speed Ute Conversion
Bid for the chance to own a No Reserve: 2007 Volkswagen New Beetle 5-Speed Ute Conversion at auction with Bring a Trailer, the home of the best vintage and classic cars online. Lot #225,604.
bringatrailer.com
December 27, 2025 at 2:46 AM
oh my!
is my professional association and credential-issuing organization ready to meet the moment?
boy, I dunno
boy, I dunno
Zoning for pickleball… I guess we need to focus on the issues of our times, but this is indicative of a complain-oriented way of planning
December 26, 2025 at 4:06 PM
is my professional association and credential-issuing organization ready to meet the moment?
boy, I dunno
boy, I dunno
Tastes Great, and Less Filling (the pump, or something)
December 26, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Tastes Great, and Less Filling (the pump, or something)
that’s right.
the legend lives on!
the legend lives on!
I hope you had the same Christmas I did (at a big table of people all of whom were born between 200ft and 100mi from a Great Lake, except for @lynnhurtak.com, who was born in Tampa, discussing the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald and The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald)
December 26, 2025 at 2:23 PM
that’s right.
the legend lives on!
the legend lives on!
Reposted by alex block
The towering Lerch-san, mascot for Niigata Prefecture, is based on Theodor Von Lerch, an Austro-Hungarian who introduced skiing to Japan in 1911.
December 24, 2025 at 1:22 PM
The towering Lerch-san, mascot for Niigata Prefecture, is based on Theodor Von Lerch, an Austro-Hungarian who introduced skiing to Japan in 1911.
This is a great idea.
However, a plea: focus the policy design on actually managing the street space, not solely on generating revenue.
However, a plea: focus the policy design on actually managing the street space, not solely on generating revenue.
“Pairing free buses with paid parking says we value people in motion more than cars at rest,” writes Nicolas Rohatyn.
Opinion | The Way to Pay for Free Buses Is to End Free Parking
Free buses would be transformative not only for riders, but for the ecosystem of the city as a whole.
nyti.ms
December 24, 2025 at 2:08 PM
This is a great idea.
However, a plea: focus the policy design on actually managing the street space, not solely on generating revenue.
However, a plea: focus the policy design on actually managing the street space, not solely on generating revenue.
Reposted by alex block
the fact that there is free parking at all in manhattan is wild to me
“Pairing free buses with paid parking says we value people in motion more than cars at rest,” writes Nicolas Rohatyn.
Opinion | The Way to Pay for Free Buses Is to End Free Parking
Free buses would be transformative not only for riders, but for the ecosystem of the city as a whole.
nyti.ms
December 24, 2025 at 1:38 PM
the fact that there is free parking at all in manhattan is wild to me
the 757 is such a fun plane thanks to these bad boys
my favourite type of guy i accidentally discovered on youtube is “guy who owns a rolls royce jet engine and just fires that shit up on his property sometimes”
Rolls Royce RB211 Spring Crank Up Tristar L1011
YouTube video by gasturbine101
youtu.be
December 23, 2025 at 1:49 PM
the 757 is such a fun plane thanks to these bad boys
Northstar always wanted to be an intercity route, rather than a commuter one.
December 23, 2025 at 4:00 AM
Northstar always wanted to be an intercity route, rather than a commuter one.
Reposted by alex block
The full spiked 60 Minutes CECOT package, clean & subtitled. 1/5
December 23, 2025 at 1:28 AM
The full spiked 60 Minutes CECOT package, clean & subtitled. 1/5
Good explanation here: Jeff is the best in the business, and very good at translating complex topics like this to a wider audience.
Jeff Tumlin (ex-SFMTA head) has a good perspective on Waymo bricking in SF www.linkedin.com/posts/tumlin...
December 21, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Good explanation here: Jeff is the best in the business, and very good at translating complex topics like this to a wider audience.
Reposted by alex block
Jeff Tumlin (ex-SFMTA head) has a good perspective on Waymo bricking in SF www.linkedin.com/posts/tumlin...
December 21, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Jeff Tumlin (ex-SFMTA head) has a good perspective on Waymo bricking in SF www.linkedin.com/posts/tumlin...
the legend lives on!
The Big Ten West will never die
December 20, 2025 at 6:27 PM
the legend lives on!
Reposted by alex block
this is the greatest feeling, when the cord box proves its utility to a family member
December 20, 2025 at 6:35 AM
this is the greatest feeling, when the cord box proves its utility to a family member
Reposted by alex block
One big takeaway from Mamdani bringing YIMBYs into his transition is that advocates can often gain a lot of power by
1.) having useful answers to questions and accurate information
2.) being reasonably polite and pleasant to elected officials
3.) understanding the actual mechanics of government
1.) having useful answers to questions and accurate information
2.) being reasonably polite and pleasant to elected officials
3.) understanding the actual mechanics of government
December 19, 2025 at 7:43 PM
One big takeaway from Mamdani bringing YIMBYs into his transition is that advocates can often gain a lot of power by
1.) having useful answers to questions and accurate information
2.) being reasonably polite and pleasant to elected officials
3.) understanding the actual mechanics of government
1.) having useful answers to questions and accurate information
2.) being reasonably polite and pleasant to elected officials
3.) understanding the actual mechanics of government
Reposted by alex block
Terrifying headline if you don’t realize they are sports teams.
December 19, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Terrifying headline if you don’t realize they are sports teams.
Autonomous vehicles force us to confront the fact that many traffic laws are (borrowing from @gregshill.com) “insincere rules” seldom enforced.
So, facing the choice: do we adjust the driving culture to meet the rules? Adjust the rules to meet the culture? Or adjust the AVs to mirror the humans?
So, facing the choice: do we adjust the driving culture to meet the rules? Adjust the rules to meet the culture? Or adjust the AVs to mirror the humans?
It’s easy to criticize car co’s for programming vehicles to break traffic and parking laws. But human drivers do it constantly.
Two big differences:
🔹 Humans make context-specific decisions (i.e., is it an emergency?). Software doesn’t.
🔹 Humans are liable for their actions. Car co's often aren’t.
Two big differences:
🔹 Humans make context-specific decisions (i.e., is it an emergency?). Software doesn’t.
🔹 Humans are liable for their actions. Car co's often aren’t.
Who Gets a Ticket When a Waymo Does Wrong and Nobody Is in the Robotaxi to Cite?
A Waymo robotaxi pulled an illegal maneuver in front of the police, but with no one inside, who gets the ticket?
www.motortrend.com
December 19, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Autonomous vehicles force us to confront the fact that many traffic laws are (borrowing from @gregshill.com) “insincere rules” seldom enforced.
So, facing the choice: do we adjust the driving culture to meet the rules? Adjust the rules to meet the culture? Or adjust the AVs to mirror the humans?
So, facing the choice: do we adjust the driving culture to meet the rules? Adjust the rules to meet the culture? Or adjust the AVs to mirror the humans?
Reposted by alex block
Glancing through the @mwcog.bsky.social's 2023 Regional Air Passenger Survey and love to see that 5% of Dulles passengers took Metro to the airport that year; the Silver Line to Dulles opened the year before.
Metro use to DCA held steady at 12%.
www.mwcog.org/documents/20...
Metro use to DCA held steady at 12%.
www.mwcog.org/documents/20...
December 19, 2025 at 2:57 AM
Glancing through the @mwcog.bsky.social's 2023 Regional Air Passenger Survey and love to see that 5% of Dulles passengers took Metro to the airport that year; the Silver Line to Dulles opened the year before.
Metro use to DCA held steady at 12%.
www.mwcog.org/documents/20...
Metro use to DCA held steady at 12%.
www.mwcog.org/documents/20...
Fantastic reporting here on the layered issues with the DCA-military mid-air collision in January
For the last few months, I've been working on a story about January's crash near Washington, D.C. What I learned was that it was simply an accident waiting to happen.
Special Report: The night everything at DCA finally went wrong (via @theaircurrent.com) theaircurrent.com/aviation-saf...
Special Report: The night everything at DCA finally went wrong (via @theaircurrent.com) theaircurrent.com/aviation-saf...
Special Report: The night everything at DCA finally went wrong
D.C. midair crash was the result of a complete collapse of the protections designed to keep aviation safe — and the institutions that design and maintain them
theaircurrent.com
December 19, 2025 at 3:22 AM
Fantastic reporting here on the layered issues with the DCA-military mid-air collision in January
wait, so USAF already had two 747s they were converting… then there’s the Qatari plane… and now two more 747s?
"Deutsche Lufthansa AG is getting a $400 million holiday bonus from an aircraft that’s long been out of favor — the venerable 747, two of which it is selling to the US Air Force to support a new presidential jet." -- www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Lufthansa Lands $400 Million Windfall 747 Sale to US Air Force
Deutsche Lufthansa AG is getting a $400 million holiday bonus from an aircraft that’s long been out of favor — the venerable 747, two of which it is selling to the US Air Force to support a new presid...
www.bloomberg.com
December 18, 2025 at 4:57 PM
wait, so USAF already had two 747s they were converting… then there’s the Qatari plane… and now two more 747s?
This is a fair summation of the difference in mindset, but elides the very different federal funding policy for highways vs. transit!
How do freeway advocates handle similar situations? When costs soar on the 520 project or delays hit 405 widening they don’t start falling all over themselves to scale it back. Instead they say “this project is necessary and you’re going to fund it as-is.” And they win. Learn from that!
December 18, 2025 at 4:08 PM
This is a fair summation of the difference in mindset, but elides the very different federal funding policy for highways vs. transit!
It’s Metro Rewind time!
Metro Rewind is now LIVE! How many trips did you take? How many miles did you ride? Were you in the top 10%? See how your rides rank: www.metrorewind.com?utm_source=b...
December 18, 2025 at 2:37 PM
It’s Metro Rewind time!
The Hamptons of Iowa!
December 18, 2025 at 1:39 PM
The Hamptons of Iowa!