Reposted by Kalle Laukkanen
Almost half the Waymos on California streets are driving around empty. They're either waiting for the next customer or en route for a pickup.
If robotaxis scale, anything close to that level of deadheading would create crushing gridlock.
www.thedriverlessdigest.com/p/what-cpuc-...
If robotaxis scale, anything close to that level of deadheading would create crushing gridlock.
www.thedriverlessdigest.com/p/what-cpuc-...
November 19, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Almost half the Waymos on California streets are driving around empty. They're either waiting for the next customer or en route for a pickup.
If robotaxis scale, anything close to that level of deadheading would create crushing gridlock.
www.thedriverlessdigest.com/p/what-cpuc-...
If robotaxis scale, anything close to that level of deadheading would create crushing gridlock.
www.thedriverlessdigest.com/p/what-cpuc-...
Reposted by Kalle Laukkanen
A cool natural experiment using cellphone data finds that, when people relocate to more walkable areas, they walk more and are more active. Why does this matter? Because many related studies were affected by self-selection bias, where people who like to walk might choose to live in walkable places
Countrywide natural experiment links built environment to physical activity - Nature
By analysing the smartphone data of 2,112,288 participants, in particular observing and comparing the activity of the same individual in two different environments, we find that increases in the walka...
www.nature.com
September 11, 2025 at 10:12 PM
A cool natural experiment using cellphone data finds that, when people relocate to more walkable areas, they walk more and are more active. Why does this matter? Because many related studies were affected by self-selection bias, where people who like to walk might choose to live in walkable places
Reposted by Kalle Laukkanen
Fascinating post on how payroll taxes in French metropolitan areas provided the funding for French cities to reverse the ridership declines of the 1960s & pave the way for system expansion & high ridership in most cities today.
new S(ubstack)-Bahn post: in the 1960s, Paris saw major ridership drops in its Metro and buses and rising deficits. so did every major French city. the head urban planner of Paris warned of a transit "catastrophe."
how did France rescue its public transit?
www.substack-bahn.net/p/how-france...
how did France rescue its public transit?
www.substack-bahn.net/p/how-france...
How France Saved its Public Transit from Catastrophe
One simple trick to revive a system in death spiral
www.substack-bahn.net
May 25, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Fascinating post on how payroll taxes in French metropolitan areas provided the funding for French cities to reverse the ridership declines of the 1960s & pave the way for system expansion & high ridership in most cities today.
Reposted by Kalle Laukkanen
Jakelijoiden päästökauppa (ETS2) alkaa v. 2027.
Tänään saatiin ensimmäinen signaali markkinoilta: 73,57€/tCO2, kun joulukuun 2028 päästöoikeuksien futuureita myytiin tuolla hinnalla /1
Tänään saatiin ensimmäinen signaali markkinoilta: 73,57€/tCO2, kun joulukuun 2028 päästöoikeuksien futuureita myytiin tuolla hinnalla /1
May 6, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Jakelijoiden päästökauppa (ETS2) alkaa v. 2027.
Tänään saatiin ensimmäinen signaali markkinoilta: 73,57€/tCO2, kun joulukuun 2028 päästöoikeuksien futuureita myytiin tuolla hinnalla /1
Tänään saatiin ensimmäinen signaali markkinoilta: 73,57€/tCO2, kun joulukuun 2028 päästöoikeuksien futuureita myytiin tuolla hinnalla /1
Reposted by Kalle Laukkanen
There is a reason why Venice has the most expensive single-fare transit ticket of any city I'm aware of, at €9.50 for 75 minutes.
The president's wants to reopen Alcatraz as a prison. So let's recall why little roadless islands aren't a good place to build big things:
Ferries are operationally expensive and difficult to make efficient! Build things were buses and trains can get to them!
humantransit.org/basics-on-fe...
Ferries are operationally expensive and difficult to make efficient! Build things were buses and trains can get to them!
humantransit.org/basics-on-fe...
Basics: On Ferries — Human Transit
Ferries are always an appealing transit idea. A serene way to travel when the weather is nice. Great views! And they must be reliable, because they never get stuck in congestion! As always, there’s m...
humantransit.org
May 6, 2025 at 3:53 PM
There is a reason why Venice has the most expensive single-fare transit ticket of any city I'm aware of, at €9.50 for 75 minutes.
Reposted by Kalle Laukkanen
Congestion pricing is working in New York.
According to a new NBER paper, average traffic speeds in NYC's central business district increased by 15% following the introduction of congestion pricing, with larger effects during the most congested hours.
www.nber.org/papers/w33584
According to a new NBER paper, average traffic speeds in NYC's central business district increased by 15% following the introduction of congestion pricing, with larger effects during the most congested hours.
www.nber.org/papers/w33584
The Short-Run Effects of Congestion Pricing in New York City
Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...
www.nber.org
March 17, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Congestion pricing is working in New York.
According to a new NBER paper, average traffic speeds in NYC's central business district increased by 15% following the introduction of congestion pricing, with larger effects during the most congested hours.
www.nber.org/papers/w33584
According to a new NBER paper, average traffic speeds in NYC's central business district increased by 15% following the introduction of congestion pricing, with larger effects during the most congested hours.
www.nber.org/papers/w33584
Reposted by Kalle Laukkanen
Seventy years ago, the writer Lewis Mumford warned that urban highways would be a disaster:
“This is pyramid building with a vengeance, a tomb of concrete roads and ramps covering the dead corpse of a city.”
He was right. We just didn’t listen.
Me, in CityLab 🧵
“This is pyramid building with a vengeance, a tomb of concrete roads and ramps covering the dead corpse of a city.”
He was right. We just didn’t listen.
Me, in CityLab 🧵
The Dark Prophet of Car-Clogged Cities
70 years before congestion pricing landed in New York City, Lewis Mumford sounded the alarm on letting automobiles run amok in America’s downtowns.
www.bloomberg.com
March 14, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Seventy years ago, the writer Lewis Mumford warned that urban highways would be a disaster:
“This is pyramid building with a vengeance, a tomb of concrete roads and ramps covering the dead corpse of a city.”
He was right. We just didn’t listen.
Me, in CityLab 🧵
“This is pyramid building with a vengeance, a tomb of concrete roads and ramps covering the dead corpse of a city.”
He was right. We just didn’t listen.
Me, in CityLab 🧵
Reposted by Kalle Laukkanen
“The right to have access to every building in the city by private motorcar, in an age when everyone possesses such a vehicle, is actually the right to destroy the city.”
- Lewis Mumford
- Lewis Mumford
March 10, 2025 at 8:04 PM
“The right to have access to every building in the city by private motorcar, in an age when everyone possesses such a vehicle, is actually the right to destroy the city.”
- Lewis Mumford
- Lewis Mumford
Reposted by Kalle Laukkanen
This thing will fail
This thing will fail
Trump will not restore the "strong gods" of community, family, and faith.
www.noahpinion.blog
March 9, 2025 at 1:05 AM
This thing will fail
Reposted by Kalle Laukkanen
Kirjoitin barbarismin vitsauksesta, joka vaivaa myös Suomea. Yhdysvalloissa barbaarit ovat jo vallassa.
Barbaari on henkilö, joka ei ymmärrä mistä sivistynyt elämänmuoto riippuu.
Barbaareita on joka puolella, kohta epäilemättä myös tämän vastauksissa.
www.libera.fi/2025/03/09/b...
Barbaari on henkilö, joka ei ymmärrä mistä sivistynyt elämänmuoto riippuu.
Barbaareita on joka puolella, kohta epäilemättä myös tämän vastauksissa.
www.libera.fi/2025/03/09/b...
March 9, 2025 at 10:26 AM
Kirjoitin barbarismin vitsauksesta, joka vaivaa myös Suomea. Yhdysvalloissa barbaarit ovat jo vallassa.
Barbaari on henkilö, joka ei ymmärrä mistä sivistynyt elämänmuoto riippuu.
Barbaareita on joka puolella, kohta epäilemättä myös tämän vastauksissa.
www.libera.fi/2025/03/09/b...
Barbaari on henkilö, joka ei ymmärrä mistä sivistynyt elämänmuoto riippuu.
Barbaareita on joka puolella, kohta epäilemättä myös tämän vastauksissa.
www.libera.fi/2025/03/09/b...
Reposted by Kalle Laukkanen
Trump tuli kuokkavieraaksi hallituksen puolivälin riiheen. Hänen toimensa vaikuttavat paitsi puolustuspolitiikkaan myös talouspolitiikan valintoihin ja Eurooppa-politiikan isoon linjaan. Näitä pohdin tässä.
www.vesavihriala.fi/2025/03/trum...
www.vesavihriala.fi/2025/03/trum...
Trump puolivälin riihessä
Trumpin toiminta muuttaa merkittävästi Euroopan ja myös Suomen turvallisuus- ja talouspolitiikkaympäristöä. Hallituksen on tarpeen ottaa uusi asetelma huomioon pohtiessaan vaalikaude
www.vesavihriala.fi
March 7, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Trump tuli kuokkavieraaksi hallituksen puolivälin riiheen. Hänen toimensa vaikuttavat paitsi puolustuspolitiikkaan myös talouspolitiikan valintoihin ja Eurooppa-politiikan isoon linjaan. Näitä pohdin tässä.
www.vesavihriala.fi/2025/03/trum...
www.vesavihriala.fi/2025/03/trum...
Reposted by Kalle Laukkanen
Lähde mukaani uusliberaaliin vastarintaliikkeeseen!
Taistellaan yhdessä kauppasotien, valtiontukien ja yleisen typeryyden aikakautta vastaan.
Jk. Uusliberalismi on viimein cool!
Linkki 👇
Taistellaan yhdessä kauppasotien, valtiontukien ja yleisen typeryyden aikakautta vastaan.
Jk. Uusliberalismi on viimein cool!
Linkki 👇
March 7, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Lähde mukaani uusliberaaliin vastarintaliikkeeseen!
Taistellaan yhdessä kauppasotien, valtiontukien ja yleisen typeryyden aikakautta vastaan.
Jk. Uusliberalismi on viimein cool!
Linkki 👇
Taistellaan yhdessä kauppasotien, valtiontukien ja yleisen typeryyden aikakautta vastaan.
Jk. Uusliberalismi on viimein cool!
Linkki 👇
Reposted by Kalle Laukkanen
Self-driving buses seem like a reach, for reasons of social acceptance more than anything, but I don’t see an alternative if we end up with abundant self-driving taxis. We need something that uses space efficiently, and we need it to be cheaper than taxis. 2/
March 7, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Self-driving buses seem like a reach, for reasons of social acceptance more than anything, but I don’t see an alternative if we end up with abundant self-driving taxis. We need something that uses space efficiently, and we need it to be cheaper than taxis. 2/
Reposted by Kalle Laukkanen
This story from Charleston, SC shows why on-demand transit can't scale:
1️⃣ Transit agency offers those 55+ $21 off 20 monthly Uber/Lyft rides if they pay $4/trip
2️⃣ Seniors sign up in droves, blowing the budget
3️⃣ Transit agency quickly tightens eligibility, lowers subsidy by 1/3, & raises copay 25%
1️⃣ Transit agency offers those 55+ $21 off 20 monthly Uber/Lyft rides if they pay $4/trip
2️⃣ Seniors sign up in droves, blowing the budget
3️⃣ Transit agency quickly tightens eligibility, lowers subsidy by 1/3, & raises copay 25%
CARTA cuts an Uber/Lyft subsidy for older residents after this column made it popular
The transit agency in Charleston S.C. has for years offered older residents vouchers for discounted Uber and Lyft rides, but now that the program's become popular cutbacks are coming.
www.postandcourier.com
March 6, 2025 at 1:02 PM
This story from Charleston, SC shows why on-demand transit can't scale:
1️⃣ Transit agency offers those 55+ $21 off 20 monthly Uber/Lyft rides if they pay $4/trip
2️⃣ Seniors sign up in droves, blowing the budget
3️⃣ Transit agency quickly tightens eligibility, lowers subsidy by 1/3, & raises copay 25%
1️⃣ Transit agency offers those 55+ $21 off 20 monthly Uber/Lyft rides if they pay $4/trip
2️⃣ Seniors sign up in droves, blowing the budget
3️⃣ Transit agency quickly tightens eligibility, lowers subsidy by 1/3, & raises copay 25%
Reposted by Kalle Laukkanen
NEW: “Congestion [de-congestion] pricing is good for low-income residents.
Why New York’s new traffic policy is the opposite of elitist.” Via @vox.com
Why New York’s new traffic policy is the opposite of elitist.” Via @vox.com
Congestion pricing is good for low-income residents
Why New York’s new traffic policy is the opposite of elitist.
www.vox.com
March 4, 2025 at 8:15 PM
NEW: “Congestion [de-congestion] pricing is good for low-income residents.
Why New York’s new traffic policy is the opposite of elitist.” Via @vox.com
Why New York’s new traffic policy is the opposite of elitist.” Via @vox.com
Reposted by Kalle Laukkanen
What we’re witnessing in America is what happens when disordered discourse captures a political party, then the state itself. The Republican Party was the first to fall - abandoning truth for conspiracy, ideology for grievance, and policy for performative outrage.
February 28, 2025 at 9:47 PM
What we’re witnessing in America is what happens when disordered discourse captures a political party, then the state itself. The Republican Party was the first to fall - abandoning truth for conspiracy, ideology for grievance, and policy for performative outrage.
We Can Achieve Great Things www.nytimes.com/2025/02/27/o...
Opinion | We Can Achieve Great Things (Gift Article)
Progressives, who believe in using government to do good things, have built a system that renders government incompetent.
www.nytimes.com
February 27, 2025 at 10:19 PM
We Can Achieve Great Things www.nytimes.com/2025/02/27/o...
Reposted by Kalle Laukkanen
"[Self-driving cars] may actually make the climate situation worse." I agree.
Consider:
🔹 Huge increase in total driving
🔹 More gridlock, leading to slower transit
🔹 AV software/hardware requires tons of energy
🔹 Inducement to live in bigger homes (w/ bigger carbon footprints) on the urban edge
Consider:
🔹 Huge increase in total driving
🔹 More gridlock, leading to slower transit
🔹 AV software/hardware requires tons of energy
🔹 Inducement to live in bigger homes (w/ bigger carbon footprints) on the urban edge
The unseen environmental costs of autonomous cars
Robotaxis and self-driving cars could be a big step backwards in sustainability, cautions the CEO of an advanced transportation firm.
www.smartcitiesdive.com
February 27, 2025 at 1:23 PM
"[Self-driving cars] may actually make the climate situation worse." I agree.
Consider:
🔹 Huge increase in total driving
🔹 More gridlock, leading to slower transit
🔹 AV software/hardware requires tons of energy
🔹 Inducement to live in bigger homes (w/ bigger carbon footprints) on the urban edge
Consider:
🔹 Huge increase in total driving
🔹 More gridlock, leading to slower transit
🔹 AV software/hardware requires tons of energy
🔹 Inducement to live in bigger homes (w/ bigger carbon footprints) on the urban edge
Reposted by Kalle Laukkanen
Retail sales up almost a billion dollars in lower Manhattan compared to last January, subway ridership in lower Manhattan stations up to 75 percent of pre-pandemic ridership. Congestion pricing is working nyc.streetsblog.org/2025/02/27/m...
Memo to the President: Manhattan Economy Improving, Thanks to Congestion Pricing - Streetsblog New York City
Lower Manhattan's economy has gotten an almost billion-dollar boost in just the first month of congestion pricing's existence, the MTA said on Wednesday.
nyc.streetsblog.org
February 27, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Retail sales up almost a billion dollars in lower Manhattan compared to last January, subway ridership in lower Manhattan stations up to 75 percent of pre-pandemic ridership. Congestion pricing is working nyc.streetsblog.org/2025/02/27/m...
Reposted by Kalle Laukkanen
Jarrett is right. The permanence of rail argument is wrong, and it's harmful. It reduces transit to an infrastructure problem, when transit is better understood as a service problem. Good service is what people value about transit, not merely the presence of rail tracks or bus lanes.
Remember when a certain class of architects and developers were telling us that rail makes a transit service permanent?
We may need to see a few more low ridership rail services shut down to lay that harmful delusion to rest.
1/ thread …
www.trains.com/trn/news-rev...
We may need to see a few more low ridership rail services shut down to lay that harmful delusion to rest.
1/ thread …
www.trains.com/trn/news-rev...
State legislator seeks to kill Twin Cities’ Northstar commuter rail, which could be eliminated regardless (updated) - Trains
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The chair of the transportation committee in Minnesota’s House of Representatives is leading a legislative effort to kill the Northstar commuter rail service — which could be destine...
www.trains.com
February 26, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Jarrett is right. The permanence of rail argument is wrong, and it's harmful. It reduces transit to an infrastructure problem, when transit is better understood as a service problem. Good service is what people value about transit, not merely the presence of rail tracks or bus lanes.
Reposted by Kalle Laukkanen
Something strange and important is happening to youth politics across the developed world: young voters are shifting hard to the right
I wrote about Generation C: conservative, conspiratorial, and—in ways both obvious and non-obvious—profoundly affected by COVID
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
I wrote about Generation C: conservative, conspiratorial, and—in ways both obvious and non-obvious—profoundly affected by COVID
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
How COVID Pushed a Generation of Young People to the Right
Research suggests that pandemics are more likely to reduce rather than build trust in scientific and political authorities.
www.theatlantic.com
February 18, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Something strange and important is happening to youth politics across the developed world: young voters are shifting hard to the right
I wrote about Generation C: conservative, conspiratorial, and—in ways both obvious and non-obvious—profoundly affected by COVID
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
I wrote about Generation C: conservative, conspiratorial, and—in ways both obvious and non-obvious—profoundly affected by COVID
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
The human mind is in a recession - on.ft.com/3CQBLAU via @FT
The human mind is in a recession
Technology strains our brain health, capacity and skills
on.ft.com
February 16, 2025 at 2:47 PM
The human mind is in a recession - on.ft.com/3CQBLAU via @FT
Reposted by Kalle Laukkanen
Congestion pricing in New York City is a month old. What are the results? Less crime as subway ridership up, less cars, less traffic, more people walking around, and increasing popularity. Here's a thread of recent stories about it.
February 8, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Congestion pricing in New York City is a month old. What are the results? Less crime as subway ridership up, less cars, less traffic, more people walking around, and increasing popularity. Here's a thread of recent stories about it.
Reposted by Kalle Laukkanen
“Parking lots don’t employ any people. They simply provide space for cars. We have expensive housing for people and free parking for cars. … We’re killing our own cities. It’s a huge bummer.”
RIP Donald Shoup
RIP Donald Shoup
In memory of Donald Shoup, we re-released our 2023 interview with the brilliant, witty and influential scholar. "The High Cost of Free Parking" is a hugely important book and his research has influenced countless planners and advocates around the world. RIP.
thewaroncars.org/2025/02/08/r...
thewaroncars.org/2025/02/08/r...
February 9, 2025 at 3:42 PM
“Parking lots don’t employ any people. They simply provide space for cars. We have expensive housing for people and free parking for cars. … We’re killing our own cities. It’s a huge bummer.”
RIP Donald Shoup
RIP Donald Shoup