Alon (they/them)
@alonlevy.bsky.social
Transit researcher in Berlin. Lived in Tel Aviv, Singapore, the Riviera, New York, Providence, Vancouver, Stockholm, Paris. https://pedestrianobservations.com/ http://patreon.com/alonlevy alon@pedestrianobservations.com @alon@mastodon.social
I don't want to predict too much given how sudden this was, but it looks like the US is not permanently occupying Venezuela or installing Machado. Trump comes off as the sort of petty person who Maduro's handpicked VP can buy off with a Trump tower in Caracas.
Or, as per the OP in those quote posts, if we really are back to G2+1 giving each other free rein in their sphere of influence, perhaps we see the return of full-on local dictator patronage to fend off the competing behemoth. Mobutu Suharto times, we are so back
January 3, 2026 at 5:36 PM
I don't want to predict too much given how sudden this was, but it looks like the US is not permanently occupying Venezuela or installing Machado. Trump comes off as the sort of petty person who Maduro's handpicked VP can buy off with a Trump tower in Caracas.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Some states get armies and show resolve to use them against all enemies. Others prefer to ask permission before so much as seizing enemy state assets, and end up conquered by the former.
Some states get armies and show resolve to use them against all enemies. Others prefer to ask permission before so much as seizing enemy state assets, and end up conquered by the former.
January 3, 2026 at 4:23 PM
The Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Some states get armies and show resolve to use them against all enemies. Others prefer to ask permission before so much as seizing enemy state assets, and end up conquered by the former.
Some states get armies and show resolve to use them against all enemies. Others prefer to ask permission before so much as seizing enemy state assets, and end up conquered by the former.
Reposted by Alon (they/them)
The d ticket is such a Rolling disaster for German public transit. It is Simply too cheap and had basically decoupled fare revenue from ridership.
Hamburg Hochbahn AG (Ubahn and buses in Hamburg) spends 669 million euros a year to move 421 million trips. Or about 1.5€ per trip.
The CTA spends 2.23 billion dollars to move about 365 million trips a year. Or about $6.10per trip.
Why does it cost 3x to run an American agency of similar size?
The CTA spends 2.23 billion dollars to move about 365 million trips a year. Or about $6.10per trip.
Why does it cost 3x to run an American agency of similar size?
January 3, 2026 at 4:06 PM
The d ticket is such a Rolling disaster for German public transit. It is Simply too cheap and had basically decoupled fare revenue from ridership.
Yes. And Europe has two choices. The first is to be on the menu. The second is to build a federal union that instead of fearing Russia makes Russia fear us, and makes billionaires who have business in our Union, like Musk, think thrice before they call for our dissolution.
Trump isn’t predictable or consistent, but this particular action *would* be consistent with the emergence of a G2+1 order where Washington and Beijing, with Moscow as a junior partner, give each other free rein in their purported spheres of influence.
This will go down well in Moscow and Beijing. Goodbye, international order.
www.reuters.com/world/americ...
www.reuters.com/world/americ...
January 3, 2026 at 11:38 AM
Yes. And Europe has two choices. The first is to be on the menu. The second is to build a federal union that instead of fearing Russia makes Russia fear us, and makes billionaires who have business in our Union, like Musk, think thrice before they call for our dissolution.
The brass here affirmatively prefers to be governed by Putin or Trump than by the current leadership, is the issue. Merz doesn't even defend the Clean Wehrmacht myth and hasn't massacred any immigrants or interned any at concentration camps.
100% seriously, European leaders and Commission officials should plan on the basis that the US might do this to them too, about Greenland, about tech regulation, about “Christian values”, about “free speech”, whatever.
Fucking hell.
Think the referance to US Law Enforcement here is quite telling as well: a huge extension of how far the US feels its laws reach.
Apparently its fine to now attack and kidnap a head of state because of 'US law'. Fucking hell.
Think the referance to US Law Enforcement here is quite telling as well: a huge extension of how far the US feels its laws reach.
Apparently its fine to now attack and kidnap a head of state because of 'US law'. Fucking hell.
January 3, 2026 at 10:17 AM
The brass here affirmatively prefers to be governed by Putin or Trump than by the current leadership, is the issue. Merz doesn't even defend the Clean Wehrmacht myth and hasn't massacred any immigrants or interned any at concentration camps.
Reposted by Alon (they/them)
Days like this are a stark reminder that the UK undertook Brexit at historically the worst possible moment. Bloc politics is here to stay and fiddlearsing about with 2mm advances towards smoother customs arrangements with the EU is not the leadership Britain needs.
January 3, 2026 at 10:04 AM
Days like this are a stark reminder that the UK undertook Brexit at historically the worst possible moment. Bloc politics is here to stay and fiddlearsing about with 2mm advances towards smoother customs arrangements with the EU is not the leadership Britain needs.
Wasteful consumption by the middle class is an argument for raising taxes and spending the money on government purchases and social services, just as wasteful government spending is an argument for cutting taxes and spending.
January 2, 2026 at 7:12 AM
Wasteful consumption by the middle class is an argument for raising taxes and spending the money on government purchases and social services, just as wasteful government spending is an argument for cutting taxes and spending.
Mamdani's first executive order was to rescind every mayoral executive order since Adams was indicted in November 2024.
Ynet describes it as "rescinding Adams' executive orders against anti-Semitism and against BDS." No mention of any other rescinded executive order on the same sweep.
Ynet describes it as "rescinding Adams' executive orders against anti-Semitism and against BDS." No mention of any other rescinded executive order on the same sweep.
January 2, 2026 at 7:01 AM
Mamdani's first executive order was to rescind every mayoral executive order since Adams was indicted in November 2024.
Ynet describes it as "rescinding Adams' executive orders against anti-Semitism and against BDS." No mention of any other rescinded executive order on the same sweep.
Ynet describes it as "rescinding Adams' executive orders against anti-Semitism and against BDS." No mention of any other rescinded executive order on the same sweep.
Reposted by Alon (they/them)
I actually would disagree with this take - though he might not have known it, Hitler has essentially set the conditions to make eventual defeat and regime extinction very likely (and so his great power position very poor) by November 1940 at the latest, even with the success of Fall Gelb/Rot.
From a great power diplomacy perspective, Hitler had a good run until the twin idiocies of invading the Soviet Union and declaring on the US.
His luck might have run out with the invasion of Poland if the invasion of France hadn’t worked. However, he did have a de facto alliance with the Reds.
His luck might have run out with the invasion of Poland if the invasion of France hadn’t worked. However, he did have a de facto alliance with the Reds.
In defense of my discipline, we do not, in fact, all agree to that.
Indeed, the general view from a military perspective is that the Wehrmacht succeeded (to the degree it did) substantially despite Hitler. I'm not sure many serious historians of any field would label him a 'genius.'
Indeed, the general view from a military perspective is that the Wehrmacht succeeded (to the degree it did) substantially despite Hitler. I'm not sure many serious historians of any field would label him a 'genius.'
January 2, 2026 at 6:14 AM
I actually would disagree with this take - though he might not have known it, Hitler has essentially set the conditions to make eventual defeat and regime extinction very likely (and so his great power position very poor) by November 1940 at the latest, even with the success of Fall Gelb/Rot.
Reposted by Alon (they/them)
An interesting fact about fare practices is that there is a partial overlapping with bus boarding practices. Countries with lower multipliers for monthly passes, such as German-speaking countries, Eastern Europe and Italy, generally do multiple-door boarding on a proof-of-payment base.
Pedestrian Observations: Fare Practices pedestrianobservations.com/2025/12/31/f...
With thanks to people who helped populate the table: @joao-paulouro.bsky.social, @borners.bsky.social, @egoldwyn.bsky.social, @chittimarco.bsky.social, @eensari.bsky.social, @4freedoms.es, and @etany.org.
With thanks to people who helped populate the table: @joao-paulouro.bsky.social, @borners.bsky.social, @egoldwyn.bsky.social, @chittimarco.bsky.social, @eensari.bsky.social, @4freedoms.es, and @etany.org.
Fare Practices
Here’s a table of urban public transport fares for various cities, covering the United States, Canada, parts of Europe, Turkey, and Japan. Included are single fares, multi-ride discounts, day…
pedestrianobservations.com
January 1, 2026 at 6:58 PM
An interesting fact about fare practices is that there is a partial overlapping with bus boarding practices. Countries with lower multipliers for monthly passes, such as German-speaking countries, Eastern Europe and Italy, generally do multiple-door boarding on a proof-of-payment base.
The 4-hour retrospective on C&C by Giant Grant Games has a section about the history of games and game publishers that points out how in the 1980s and early 90s, so many video games were slop, bought off of an ad in a gaming magazine; it took the publisher system to institute quality standards.
January 1, 2026 at 10:53 AM
The 4-hour retrospective on C&C by Giant Grant Games has a section about the history of games and game publishers that points out how in the 1980s and early 90s, so many video games were slop, bought off of an ad in a gaming magazine; it took the publisher system to institute quality standards.
Pedestrian Observations: Fare Practices pedestrianobservations.com/2025/12/31/f...
With thanks to people who helped populate the table: @joao-paulouro.bsky.social, @borners.bsky.social, @egoldwyn.bsky.social, @chittimarco.bsky.social, @eensari.bsky.social, @4freedoms.es, and @etany.org.
With thanks to people who helped populate the table: @joao-paulouro.bsky.social, @borners.bsky.social, @egoldwyn.bsky.social, @chittimarco.bsky.social, @eensari.bsky.social, @4freedoms.es, and @etany.org.
Fare Practices
Here’s a table of urban public transport fares for various cities, covering the United States, Canada, parts of Europe, Turkey, and Japan. Included are single fares, multi-ride discounts, day…
pedestrianobservations.com
January 1, 2026 at 3:34 AM
Pedestrian Observations: Fare Practices pedestrianobservations.com/2025/12/31/f...
With thanks to people who helped populate the table: @joao-paulouro.bsky.social, @borners.bsky.social, @egoldwyn.bsky.social, @chittimarco.bsky.social, @eensari.bsky.social, @4freedoms.es, and @etany.org.
With thanks to people who helped populate the table: @joao-paulouro.bsky.social, @borners.bsky.social, @egoldwyn.bsky.social, @chittimarco.bsky.social, @eensari.bsky.social, @4freedoms.es, and @etany.org.
Here's to actually supporting Ukraine and not just expressing concern. To building a Europewide economy and not just standardizing parcel sizes. To a sovereign EU Parliament and not just intergovernmentalism. To a year when three things hang from the Kremlin: the EU flag, the Pride flag, and Putin.
As we start the New Year 2026,
you can count on me and my team to continue working relentlessly to make Europe stronger.
you can count on me and my team to continue working relentlessly to make Europe stronger.
December 31, 2025 at 11:17 PM
Here's to actually supporting Ukraine and not just expressing concern. To building a Europewide economy and not just standardizing parcel sizes. To a sovereign EU Parliament and not just intergovernmentalism. To a year when three things hang from the Kremlin: the EU flag, the Pride flag, and Putin.
Getting elected CDU/CSU parliamentary group leader just to steal something.
Riding my bike just to wheel something
capsizing my boat just to keel something
December 31, 2025 at 9:57 PM
Getting elected CDU/CSU parliamentary group leader just to steal something.
The Yahya Sinwar Award for 2025 should definitely go to the Israeli health care system's leadership. The minister of health in 2024 was Uriel Buso, who should be receiving the award personally for his work in finishing what Hamas started in 2023. www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...
Israeli life expectancy fell in 2024, regardless of war, says national statistics bureau
A Study by the Maccabi Health Maintenance Organization Found That 26 Percent of All Soldiers Had Symptoms of Depression, and Every Third Israeli Felt That They Needed Psychological Support. The Centra...
www.haaretz.com
December 31, 2025 at 9:54 PM
The Yahya Sinwar Award for 2025 should definitely go to the Israeli health care system's leadership. The minister of health in 2024 was Uriel Buso, who should be receiving the award personally for his work in finishing what Hamas started in 2023. www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...
A yes decision on U8 to Märkisches Viertel, finally.
What projects or trends do you hope to see with transit in 2026?
December 31, 2025 at 7:34 PM
A yes decision on U8 to Märkisches Viertel, finally.
Reposted by Alon (they/them)
The takeaway is not that journalists make absurd predictions. This was a blunt, but reasonable headline in 1996. It's that outcomes that seem highly unlikely/wildly optimistic do happen occasionally due to agency. Bulgarians and Europeans took forks in the road over the yrs that made today reality.
An article from December 1996 warns that Bulgaria has no chance of joining Europe and the euro would replace the lev only after the second coming of Christ. Brace yourselves, the euro replaces the lev tonight at midnight! 🤣(and, of course, Bulgaria did join the EU in 2007).
December 31, 2025 at 5:45 PM
The takeaway is not that journalists make absurd predictions. This was a blunt, but reasonable headline in 1996. It's that outcomes that seem highly unlikely/wildly optimistic do happen occasionally due to agency. Bulgarians and Europeans took forks in the road over the yrs that made today reality.
Hebrew forms the same word - maḥratáyim - by taking the word for tomorrow, maḥár, and tacking the dual suffix onto it.
In contrast, the word for the day before yesterday, shilshóm, is a single root potentially related to the word for 3, shalósh, and unrelated to the word for yesterday, etmól.
In contrast, the word for the day before yesterday, shilshóm, is a single root potentially related to the word for 3, shalósh, and unrelated to the word for yesterday, etmól.
Just texted a friend "can you remind me when you're around tomorrow/overmorrow" and I just think if a few of us really gave it a try suuuper casually we could bring back this word for day after tomorrow next year
December 31, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Hebrew forms the same word - maḥratáyim - by taking the word for tomorrow, maḥár, and tacking the dual suffix onto it.
In contrast, the word for the day before yesterday, shilshóm, is a single root potentially related to the word for 3, shalósh, and unrelated to the word for yesterday, etmól.
In contrast, the word for the day before yesterday, shilshóm, is a single root potentially related to the word for 3, shalósh, and unrelated to the word for yesterday, etmól.
One of the nice things about New Atheism 2.0 is that the most obnoxious people in New Atheism 1.0, like Ayaan Hirsi Ali, are Christian now.
(Just as how American Liberal Zionism is more sensible now than when Peter Beinart counted himself in its ranks.)
(Just as how American Liberal Zionism is more sensible now than when Peter Beinart counted himself in its ranks.)
there is a discrete and comparatively statistically insignificant cohort of incels and former debate-me athiest men filling evangelical, catholic, and eastern orthodox pews.
it is not happening at movement scales, and more importantly it is going to be a vehicle of colossal destruction for them.
it is not happening at movement scales, and more importantly it is going to be a vehicle of colossal destruction for them.
this is objectively not happening, Fox
December 31, 2025 at 1:00 PM
One of the nice things about New Atheism 2.0 is that the most obnoxious people in New Atheism 1.0, like Ayaan Hirsi Ali, are Christian now.
(Just as how American Liberal Zionism is more sensible now than when Peter Beinart counted himself in its ranks.)
(Just as how American Liberal Zionism is more sensible now than when Peter Beinart counted himself in its ranks.)
Reposted by Alon (they/them)
Requiem for the glut of Chinese EVs - Part I
open.substack.com/pub/critical...
open.substack.com/pub/critical...
Requiem for the glut of Chinese EVs - Part I
fresh fruit for rotting vehicles
open.substack.com
December 31, 2025 at 8:51 AM
Requiem for the glut of Chinese EVs - Part I
open.substack.com/pub/critical...
open.substack.com/pub/critical...
Reposted by Alon (they/them)
Well done Euronews for abject 💩
1 is a re-launch (Paris-Berlin)
1 is a bit of an improvement but not new (Paris-München)
1 won’t even happen as there’s no money (Basel-Malmö)
So you got 2 out of 5 right (Praha-København, London-Stirling)
#CrossBorderRail
www.euronews.com/travel/2025/...
1 is a re-launch (Paris-Berlin)
1 is a bit of an improvement but not new (Paris-München)
1 won’t even happen as there’s no money (Basel-Malmö)
So you got 2 out of 5 right (Praha-København, London-Stirling)
#CrossBorderRail
www.euronews.com/travel/2025/...
These European cities are getting new train connections in 2026
From a Scandi sleeper to an underrated Scottish city link, here are five new train routes confirmed or planned for 2026.
www.euronews.com
December 31, 2025 at 8:53 AM
Well done Euronews for abject 💩
1 is a re-launch (Paris-Berlin)
1 is a bit of an improvement but not new (Paris-München)
1 won’t even happen as there’s no money (Basel-Malmö)
So you got 2 out of 5 right (Praha-København, London-Stirling)
#CrossBorderRail
www.euronews.com/travel/2025/...
1 is a re-launch (Paris-Berlin)
1 is a bit of an improvement but not new (Paris-München)
1 won’t even happen as there’s no money (Basel-Malmö)
So you got 2 out of 5 right (Praha-København, London-Stirling)
#CrossBorderRail
www.euronews.com/travel/2025/...
Why are there 140 buildings in Shenzhen >200 meters and only six in all of Germany?
December 30, 2025 at 11:43 PM
Why are there 140 buildings in Shenzhen >200 meters and only six in all of Germany?
Are we doing the which US states I'd live in meme now?
December 30, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Are we doing the which US states I'd live in meme now?
Reposted by Alon (they/them)
Incredibly, not one of these milestones scores as a “win” using the traffic engineering metrics that quietly dictate city planning.
Urban planning prof Jonathan Levine and I have one paper detailing why and another explaining why it has to change for any vision of abundance to succeed. Links below.
Urban planning prof Jonathan Levine and I have one paper detailing why and another explaining why it has to change for any vision of abundance to succeed. Links below.
Year 1 data on congestion pricing in Manhattan…
* Vehicle traffic: -11%
* Foot traffic: +3.4%
* Storefront vacancy: -0.9%
* Pollution: -22%
* Revenue for mass transit: $548M
So YES this has been a huge success.
* Vehicle traffic: -11%
* Foot traffic: +3.4%
* Storefront vacancy: -0.9%
* Pollution: -22%
* Revenue for mass transit: $548M
So YES this has been a huge success.
December 30, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Incredibly, not one of these milestones scores as a “win” using the traffic engineering metrics that quietly dictate city planning.
Urban planning prof Jonathan Levine and I have one paper detailing why and another explaining why it has to change for any vision of abundance to succeed. Links below.
Urban planning prof Jonathan Levine and I have one paper detailing why and another explaining why it has to change for any vision of abundance to succeed. Links below.
Reposted by Alon (they/them)
Yes it’s Politico. No I don’t trust them generally. But I spoke to them for this piece about night trains, and they spoke to a bunch of other knowledgeable people too, inc @simplyrailways.bsky.social
www.politico.eu/article/why-...
www.politico.eu/article/why-...
Why Europe’s night-train renaissance derailed
Aging carriages, high costs and reluctant incumbents choked off the night-train revival — even as passengers clamor for more.
www.politico.eu
December 29, 2025 at 10:45 PM
Yes it’s Politico. No I don’t trust them generally. But I spoke to them for this piece about night trains, and they spoke to a bunch of other knowledgeable people too, inc @simplyrailways.bsky.social
www.politico.eu/article/why-...
www.politico.eu/article/why-...