Carter Lavin
@carterlavin.bsky.social
Training folks to win transportation changes like bus lanes, bike lanes, & car-free plazas. Author of "If you want to win, you've got to fight: a guide to effective transportation advocacy" https://islandpress.org/books/if-you-want-win-youve-got-fight#desc
Air is still bad today. From a tech & data-organizing process it wouldn't be that hard for a team to:
-ID the owners and occupant's of likely wood-burning homes
-call/text/email or heck even send a postcard reminding them it's illegal & harmful to burn wood on a "spare the air" day & ...
-ID the owners and occupant's of likely wood-burning homes
-call/text/email or heck even send a postcard reminding them it's illegal & harmful to burn wood on a "spare the air" day & ...
Bad day for anyone who breathes air in Oakland & the East Bay. Remember to mask up if you go outside & also help dismantle the fossil fuel dependency which leads to dangerous air and an unstable climate
November 29, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Air is still bad today. From a tech & data-organizing process it wouldn't be that hard for a team to:
-ID the owners and occupant's of likely wood-burning homes
-call/text/email or heck even send a postcard reminding them it's illegal & harmful to burn wood on a "spare the air" day & ...
-ID the owners and occupant's of likely wood-burning homes
-call/text/email or heck even send a postcard reminding them it's illegal & harmful to burn wood on a "spare the air" day & ...
When evaluating whether or not a board game is "good," how much do you weigh "ease of learning how to play it"?
On hour 2 of Earthborn Rangers and my great friend/guide through the game just realized we've been playing it wrong the entire time...
On hour 2 of Earthborn Rangers and my great friend/guide through the game just realized we've been playing it wrong the entire time...
November 29, 2025 at 5:24 AM
When evaluating whether or not a board game is "good," how much do you weigh "ease of learning how to play it"?
On hour 2 of Earthborn Rangers and my great friend/guide through the game just realized we've been playing it wrong the entire time...
On hour 2 of Earthborn Rangers and my great friend/guide through the game just realized we've been playing it wrong the entire time...
Bad day for anyone who breathes air in Oakland & the East Bay. Remember to mask up if you go outside & also help dismantle the fossil fuel dependency which leads to dangerous air and an unstable climate
November 28, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Bad day for anyone who breathes air in Oakland & the East Bay. Remember to mask up if you go outside & also help dismantle the fossil fuel dependency which leads to dangerous air and an unstable climate
Local governments often require residents to provide maintenance and upkeep to city property*.
Easy to imagine govts creating more agreement structures so residents can put in the bus stop bench & traffic calming work our communities desperately need
nextcity.org/urbanist-new...
(1/2)
Easy to imagine govts creating more agreement structures so residents can put in the bus stop bench & traffic calming work our communities desperately need
nextcity.org/urbanist-new...
(1/2)
Could Cities Partner With Guerilla Urbanists For Safer Streets?
Los Angeles failed to eliminate traffic fatalities, so Angelenos are taking Vision Zero into their own hands – one bucket of paint at a time.
nextcity.org
November 28, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Local governments often require residents to provide maintenance and upkeep to city property*.
Easy to imagine govts creating more agreement structures so residents can put in the bus stop bench & traffic calming work our communities desperately need
nextcity.org/urbanist-new...
(1/2)
Easy to imagine govts creating more agreement structures so residents can put in the bus stop bench & traffic calming work our communities desperately need
nextcity.org/urbanist-new...
(1/2)
Bus-only lanes don't just happen. They happen because people like you fought for them in their community (often in the face of organized opposition!)
You can win the bus lanes and improvements you want to see in your community and this book will help teach you how
islandpress.org/books/if-you...
You can win the bus lanes and improvements you want to see in your community and this book will help teach you how
islandpress.org/books/if-you...
November 27, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Bus-only lanes don't just happen. They happen because people like you fought for them in their community (often in the face of organized opposition!)
You can win the bus lanes and improvements you want to see in your community and this book will help teach you how
islandpress.org/books/if-you...
You can win the bus lanes and improvements you want to see in your community and this book will help teach you how
islandpress.org/books/if-you...
I wrote a book so you can win the speed bumps, bike lanes, bus service and high speed rail you'd like to have in your community.
Check it out here
islandpress.org/books/if-you...
Check it out here
islandpress.org/books/if-you...
November 27, 2025 at 1:17 AM
I wrote a book so you can win the speed bumps, bike lanes, bus service and high speed rail you'd like to have in your community.
Check it out here
islandpress.org/books/if-you...
Check it out here
islandpress.org/books/if-you...
"Hey Carter, my niece/nephew/kid/friend's kid REALLY likes trains. Like...a lot. Is this book a good book for them?"
Yes.
Youngest happy reader of the book (that I know of) is 14 so it's good for a wide range of ages. Get a copy at: islandpress.org/books/if-you...
Yes.
Youngest happy reader of the book (that I know of) is 14 so it's good for a wide range of ages. Get a copy at: islandpress.org/books/if-you...
If You Want to Win, You've Got to Fight
islandpress.org
November 26, 2025 at 11:20 PM
"Hey Carter, my niece/nephew/kid/friend's kid REALLY likes trains. Like...a lot. Is this book a good book for them?"
Yes.
Youngest happy reader of the book (that I know of) is 14 so it's good for a wide range of ages. Get a copy at: islandpress.org/books/if-you...
Yes.
Youngest happy reader of the book (that I know of) is 14 so it's good for a wide range of ages. Get a copy at: islandpress.org/books/if-you...
Gift idea for your friends who bike! islandpress.org/books/if-you...
If You Want to Win, You've Got to Fight
islandpress.org
November 26, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Gift idea for your friends who bike! islandpress.org/books/if-you...
3? That's a copy of "If You Want to Win, You've Got to Fight: A Guide to Effective Transportation Advocacy" for yourself, a fellow bus-mate, and fellow bike rider!
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
I see some book piracy discourse, and, to make a positive argument in favor of buying books, your marginal ability to influence what books get published and support the careers of writers you like is massive compared to most other forms of media.
November 25, 2025 at 11:42 PM
3? That's a copy of "If You Want to Win, You've Got to Fight: A Guide to Effective Transportation Advocacy" for yourself, a fellow bus-mate, and fellow bike rider!
Thanksgiving-related bike and transit puns/food recommendations?
E.g.
Stuffing folks onto the bus
pass the trans-berry sauce
E.g.
Stuffing folks onto the bus
pass the trans-berry sauce
November 25, 2025 at 11:20 PM
Thanksgiving-related bike and transit puns/food recommendations?
E.g.
Stuffing folks onto the bus
pass the trans-berry sauce
E.g.
Stuffing folks onto the bus
pass the trans-berry sauce
Reposted by Carter Lavin
This #GivingTuesday if you're looking to support grassroots organizing working to make transit in the Bay Area better for everyone, please consider sending a few dollars our way! www.transbaycoalition.org/donate
Looking to get more benches built directly? Please donate to sfbabc.org/join
Looking to get more benches built directly? Please donate to sfbabc.org/join
Donate - Transbay Coalition
Since 2020, Transbay Coalition has helped make Bay Area communities easier, greener, and more affordable places to get around by transit, bike, foot, and wheelchair — but there’s still more work to be...
www.transbaycoalition.org
November 25, 2025 at 9:42 PM
This #GivingTuesday if you're looking to support grassroots organizing working to make transit in the Bay Area better for everyone, please consider sending a few dollars our way! www.transbaycoalition.org/donate
Looking to get more benches built directly? Please donate to sfbabc.org/join
Looking to get more benches built directly? Please donate to sfbabc.org/join
Got word that pro-transit high schoolers have enjoyed my book on how to be an effective transit advocate!
Wondering what to gift the bus & train loving teen in your life this holiday season, check out If You Want To Win, You've Got To Fight
www.goodreads.com/book/show/23...
Wondering what to gift the bus & train loving teen in your life this holiday season, check out If You Want To Win, You've Got To Fight
www.goodreads.com/book/show/23...
If You Want to Win, You've Got to Fight: A Guide to Eff…
Your transit and street safety dreams are within your r…
www.goodreads.com
November 25, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Got word that pro-transit high schoolers have enjoyed my book on how to be an effective transit advocate!
Wondering what to gift the bus & train loving teen in your life this holiday season, check out If You Want To Win, You've Got To Fight
www.goodreads.com/book/show/23...
Wondering what to gift the bus & train loving teen in your life this holiday season, check out If You Want To Win, You've Got To Fight
www.goodreads.com/book/show/23...
I'd clarify/refine this to say:
If you're doing transit advocacy in the US, it is very helpful if at least one person/coalition partner in your advocacy network knows/is up for learning the technical details. That doesn't have to be YOU though. (1/3)
If you're doing transit advocacy in the US, it is very helpful if at least one person/coalition partner in your advocacy network knows/is up for learning the technical details. That doesn't have to be YOU though. (1/3)
The problem is if you want to do transit advocacy in the USA you do really need to know what a shoefly is, and weird shit about fire safety, and a million other things.
I'm guessing 10% of the people in this room were looking for this level of detail. A phrase comes to mind (build the damn trains, I don't need to know what a shoofly is.)
November 25, 2025 at 7:57 PM
I'd clarify/refine this to say:
If you're doing transit advocacy in the US, it is very helpful if at least one person/coalition partner in your advocacy network knows/is up for learning the technical details. That doesn't have to be YOU though. (1/3)
If you're doing transit advocacy in the US, it is very helpful if at least one person/coalition partner in your advocacy network knows/is up for learning the technical details. That doesn't have to be YOU though. (1/3)
"This is the book I have been looking for since 2022"
"I've been waiting for this book for years"
I wrote this #bike #transit street safety advocacy book in part because I wished I had it when I was younger. Heartening to see it help other people, too
www.goodreads.com/book/show/23...
"I've been waiting for this book for years"
I wrote this #bike #transit street safety advocacy book in part because I wished I had it when I was younger. Heartening to see it help other people, too
www.goodreads.com/book/show/23...
If You Want to Win, You've Got to Fight: A Guide to Eff…
Your transit and street safety dreams are within your r…
www.goodreads.com
November 25, 2025 at 5:23 PM
"This is the book I have been looking for since 2022"
"I've been waiting for this book for years"
I wrote this #bike #transit street safety advocacy book in part because I wished I had it when I was younger. Heartening to see it help other people, too
www.goodreads.com/book/show/23...
"I've been waiting for this book for years"
I wrote this #bike #transit street safety advocacy book in part because I wished I had it when I was younger. Heartening to see it help other people, too
www.goodreads.com/book/show/23...
Reposted by Carter Lavin
Got some new reading in the mail today. Thanks for writing and sharing your thoughts, @carterlavin.bsky.social!
November 24, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Got some new reading in the mail today. Thanks for writing and sharing your thoughts, @carterlavin.bsky.social!
"Tactics for The War on Cars in These Increasingly Trying Times" a review of my new book!
islandpress.org/blog/tactics...
islandpress.org/blog/tactics...
Tactics for The War on Cars in These Increasingly Trying Times
In his just released book, If You Want to Win, You’ve Got to Fight, Carter Lavin lays out a concise game plan for promoting green mobility with proven tactics for promoting green mobility infrastructu...
islandpress.org
November 24, 2025 at 5:50 PM
"Tactics for The War on Cars in These Increasingly Trying Times" a review of my new book!
islandpress.org/blog/tactics...
islandpress.org/blog/tactics...
Cities partner with community members ALL the time in building. Cities set up permitting & inspection processes on all sorts of things. If they can't build the improvements we need, then they should at least set up a permitting process so we can do it ourselves
nextcity.org/urbanist-new...
nextcity.org/urbanist-new...
Could Cities Partner With Guerilla Urbanists For Safer Streets?
Los Angeles failed to eliminate traffic fatalities, so Angelenos are taking Vision Zero into their own hands – one bucket of paint at a time.
nextcity.org
November 24, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Cities partner with community members ALL the time in building. Cities set up permitting & inspection processes on all sorts of things. If they can't build the improvements we need, then they should at least set up a permitting process so we can do it ourselves
nextcity.org/urbanist-new...
nextcity.org/urbanist-new...
If You Want To Win, You've Got To Fight: A Guide To Effective Transportation Advocacy has now been on:
AC Transit
LA Metro
BART!
Get your copy today at
islandpress.org/books/if-you... and snap a pic next time you're reading it on the bus or train
AC Transit
LA Metro
BART!
Get your copy today at
islandpress.org/books/if-you... and snap a pic next time you're reading it on the bus or train
November 24, 2025 at 3:29 AM
If You Want To Win, You've Got To Fight: A Guide To Effective Transportation Advocacy has now been on:
AC Transit
LA Metro
BART!
Get your copy today at
islandpress.org/books/if-you... and snap a pic next time you're reading it on the bus or train
AC Transit
LA Metro
BART!
Get your copy today at
islandpress.org/books/if-you... and snap a pic next time you're reading it on the bus or train
Ever read a book that:
-Lays out the details of a societal problem
-Explains the solutions
-Ends by encouraging you to take political action (but lacks details of what that means)
This book picks up where those books end & is a step by step guide to winning change
islandpress.org/books/if-you...
-Lays out the details of a societal problem
-Explains the solutions
-Ends by encouraging you to take political action (but lacks details of what that means)
This book picks up where those books end & is a step by step guide to winning change
islandpress.org/books/if-you...
If You Want to Win, You've Got to Fight
islandpress.org
November 23, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Ever read a book that:
-Lays out the details of a societal problem
-Explains the solutions
-Ends by encouraging you to take political action (but lacks details of what that means)
This book picks up where those books end & is a step by step guide to winning change
islandpress.org/books/if-you...
-Lays out the details of a societal problem
-Explains the solutions
-Ends by encouraging you to take political action (but lacks details of what that means)
This book picks up where those books end & is a step by step guide to winning change
islandpress.org/books/if-you...
You're invited to the online event "If You Want to Win, You’ve Got to Fight: A Guide to Effective High-Speed Rail Advocacy" hosted by @hsrail.bsky.social next month. Check it out and help spread the word
www.hsrail.org/events/if-yo...
www.hsrail.org/events/if-yo...
If You Want to Win, You’ve Got to Fight: A Guide to Effective High-Speed Rail Advocacy | High Speed Rail Alliance
Speaker: Carter Lavin, author and activist Whether you’re pushing for high-speed rail, better buses, or safer streets, transportation advocate Carter […]
www.hsrail.org
November 22, 2025 at 5:18 PM
You're invited to the online event "If You Want to Win, You’ve Got to Fight: A Guide to Effective High-Speed Rail Advocacy" hosted by @hsrail.bsky.social next month. Check it out and help spread the word
www.hsrail.org/events/if-yo...
www.hsrail.org/events/if-yo...
Bike, transit, and street safety advocacy can (and often should!) be lots of fun.
Building community and making the world a better place is fun! And the better you get at it, the more fun/less stressful it is.*
This book will help you have an easier time of it
islandpress.org/books/if-you...
Building community and making the world a better place is fun! And the better you get at it, the more fun/less stressful it is.*
This book will help you have an easier time of it
islandpress.org/books/if-you...
If You Want to Win, You've Got to Fight
islandpress.org
November 22, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Bike, transit, and street safety advocacy can (and often should!) be lots of fun.
Building community and making the world a better place is fun! And the better you get at it, the more fun/less stressful it is.*
This book will help you have an easier time of it
islandpress.org/books/if-you...
Building community and making the world a better place is fun! And the better you get at it, the more fun/less stressful it is.*
This book will help you have an easier time of it
islandpress.org/books/if-you...
"I just wanted more bike lanes, safe streets, and a city that allowed women to feel on bikes the way men feel in big trucks:, powerful and invincible. Or at least safe."
👏👏👏 Well said Patty!
👏👏👏 Well said Patty!
How exciting! My book made it to @shifter.info gift guide this year right along with Life After Cars @thewaroncars.bsky.social @sgoodyear.bsky.social @brooklynspoke.bsky.social youtu.be/j01meiJyLeI
Cycling Gift Guide 2025: Things I Actually Use
YouTube video by Shifter
youtu.be
November 22, 2025 at 3:48 AM
"I just wanted more bike lanes, safe streets, and a city that allowed women to feel on bikes the way men feel in big trucks:, powerful and invincible. Or at least safe."
👏👏👏 Well said Patty!
👏👏👏 Well said Patty!
Help prevent massive cuts to Caltrain, sign up to support the By Area Transit Funding Measure!
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
November 21, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Help prevent massive cuts to Caltrain, sign up to support the By Area Transit Funding Measure!
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
In November 2026 the Bay Area will vote on whether or not to save & improve its transit service.
The Bay will also be voting on the next Governor of California.
I look forward to seeing which candidates for Governor also stump for the regional measure to fund transit
The Bay will also be voting on the next Governor of California.
I look forward to seeing which candidates for Governor also stump for the regional measure to fund transit
November 21, 2025 at 5:59 AM
In November 2026 the Bay Area will vote on whether or not to save & improve its transit service.
The Bay will also be voting on the next Governor of California.
I look forward to seeing which candidates for Governor also stump for the regional measure to fund transit
The Bay will also be voting on the next Governor of California.
I look forward to seeing which candidates for Governor also stump for the regional measure to fund transit
Reposted by Carter Lavin
Insane but true fact: making US roads as safe as Canadian, Australian, or European roads would save more lives than eliminating murder from the US.
November 21, 2025 at 3:01 AM
Insane but true fact: making US roads as safe as Canadian, Australian, or European roads would save more lives than eliminating murder from the US.