Sure, blame the phones, but also maybe this illuminates just how miserable it is to drive. I wish these phone users would ride transit: then they could use their phones as much as they want! Driving is boring and stifling. Of course we reach for our phones. (Not defending it, just saying I get it.)

I wrote a book about church parking lots! And what we could be doing better/instead. Still looking for a publisher 😆 Happy to send the draft to anyone, just dm me your email address.

I have a theory that many American adults associate “buses” with “school buses”— a space of unpleasantness and even trauma for many. When I get a non rider on a bus they always say in wonder “It’s so nice!” As if they expected some nightmare bus scenario from their troubled childhood.

In my bus advocacy group, we call this the “time tax.” It’s so unfair.

I think driving stick is key there. In my opinion driving is incredibly boring and my brain is always reaching for other stimulation while driving. At least with a stick shift it’s slightly less dull. Driving feels like paperwork: High stakes but deadly boring.

I especially liked the way you traced a service like electricity from novelty to luxury to necessity to right…and I see the same historical progression with cars… but as a transit advocate in a car focused place, I seek ways to reverse or redirect that progression.

I really enjoyed your book about infrastructure, and was trying to apply its insights to my own interest in public transit, but I struggled to get very far. So seeing this post makes me happy! Do you have any other writing about transit as infrastructure?

Jason Henderson calls it secessionist automobility: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...

Such a great review, for such a great book!

Last summer I helped to write a Bible study that gets into this topic: God is portrayed as light, frequently… but also as dark, shade, and cooling. A helpful perspective for a warmer world, and also for racial justice. Paradigm shift welcome!

Yes, it’s a very common herbal tea throughout Europe and is just lovely. A little bit like chamomile. I first encountered it in France, where they call it tilleuil. ☕️

You can make tea from them, too!
readingmytealeaves.com/2018/06/make...

What a gold mine, thank you @toddlitman.bsky.social !

Do you know of any examples of a positive spiral? Cities that have poured resources into transit, and it becomes so amazing that it gets more riders and is wildly successful?

Just took your advice (from a podcast I heard) to seek "sister cities" in Canada and this is very revealing. They are all spending about 3-4x as much per person (in metro population) on transit as we are in these smallish cities in the USA, and they're delivering a much higher level of service.

Thank you!!

I thought maybe @davidzipper.bsky.social , @humantransit.bsky.social , @jahorne.bsky.social , @davidho.bsky.social , or someone else could help me out with some info?