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The Overhead Wire
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Jeff Wood is the host of the Talking Headways podcast and the publisher of The Overhead Wire daily newsletter. http://theoverheadwire.com

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I put together a video explainer about how to use our news link archive! We've collected and categorized over 100,000 items since 2013 and I hope folks get a chance to check it out. www.youtube.com/watch?v=arUe...
How to Use The Overhead Wire Archive
YouTube video by TheOverheadWire
www.youtube.com
I put together a video explainer about how to use our news link archive! We've collected and categorized over 100,000 items since 2013 and I hope folks get a chance to check it out. www.youtube.com/watch?v=arUe...
How to Use The Overhead Wire Archive
YouTube video by TheOverheadWire
www.youtube.com
November 20, 2025 at 11:05 PM
New #TalkingHeadways podcast! Olivia Plotnick of Wai Social in Shanghai China joins the show to talk about her trip to 32 mid-sized cities in 60 days, mostly on high speed rail! Hope folks get a chance to listen to this one! link.theoverheadwire.com/nygv8 @usa.streetsblog.org
Talking Headways Podcast: Emotional Consumption in China — Streetsblog USA
High-speed rail has completely transformed the country. Think about that sentence: "High-speed rail has completely transformed the country." When was the last time something positive like that happene...
link.theoverheadwire.com
November 20, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Reposted by The Overhead Wire
This is rich. Connie Chan says she “built real affordable housing, not the Sacramento version that destroys our neighborhoods.”

She points to new affordable housing on Geary: housing that she didn’t build but that *was* built using “Sacramento version” housing laws & $52M in state funds. 🧵
November 20, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Reposted by The Overhead Wire
Rocked my @theoverheadwire.com bus lane scarf for a bus lane ribbon cutting!

Full video: www.king5.com/article/news...
November 20, 2025 at 5:40 PM
❤️🚌
Rocked my @theoverheadwire.com bus lane scarf for a bus lane ribbon cutting!

Full video: www.king5.com/article/news...
November 20, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Reposted by The Overhead Wire
Not a reboot. Not a reunion show. But set in same universe and continuity as the various original series. Bunch of original writers onboard.

If they stick to that principle, it'll be fascinating. I'm WAY more likely to watch a show done this way than yet another reboot of a beloved thing.
November 20, 2025 at 6:45 AM
Reposted by The Overhead Wire
It's true that "you can't justify a bridge by the number of people swimming across the river."

Unless you're Amtrak.

It's not a good rail service, but Americans keep buying tickets. Latent demand is so high, people have started swimming the river.

Good work from @kait.bsky.social
Airports are in chaos as the holiday travel season approaches—and the railroad is looking pretty good by comparison, Kaitlyn Tiffany writes. theatln.tc/rSbDzame
November 20, 2025 at 12:38 AM
Wednesday's Most Read # 1 - Scott Wiener Defeated California’s NIMBYs. Can He Fix America’s Housing Crisis? link.theoverheadwire.com/4mdfv Mother Jones @scottwiener.bsky.social
link.theoverheadwire.com
November 20, 2025 at 12:39 AM
Wednesday's Most Read # 2 - Baltimore’s Rebooted Transit Project Can’t Come Soon Enough link.theoverheadwire.com/f3gmj Bloomberg CityLab
Baltimore’s Rebooted Transit Project Can’t Come Soon Enough
The Red Line, a rail plan with a troubled past, emerged as a transportation priority for Maryland Governor Wes Moore in 2024. But progress has been slow.
link.theoverheadwire.com
November 20, 2025 at 12:38 AM
Wednesday's Most Read # 3 - California Forever - A City Is Broke. Can Billionaires’ Urbanist Dream Offer It a Last Chance? link.theoverheadwire.com/ruqef New York Times @conordougherty.bsky.social
link.theoverheadwire.com
November 20, 2025 at 12:37 AM
Reposted by The Overhead Wire
New report from @NRDC and @EDF on funding voluntary buyouts.

Buyouts not only allow high-risk property owners to move somewhere safer but also the newly acquired properties can become part of the community’s longer-term climate resilience plans.

www.nrdc.org/press-releas...
New Report Shows How States Can Fund Home Buyouts as Federal Resources Shrink
As costs for damages from climate-fueled disasters continue to mount, a new report from NRDC and EDF shows how states and local governments can pay for voluntary home buyouts and relocation assistance...
www.nrdc.org
November 18, 2025 at 10:10 PM
Reposted by The Overhead Wire
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-...
November 19, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Reposted by The Overhead Wire
The amazing folks at the WSDOT Active Transportation Division have released their 'quick build guide' - which includes at least a dozen quick-build projects as case studies across Washington State. This is great reading for sickos and local governments alike!

wsdot.wa.gov/sites/defaul...
wsdot.wa.gov
November 4, 2025 at 12:56 AM
Reposted by The Overhead Wire
“As pickups transitioned from farm/ranch workhorses to lifestyle vehicles, their design shifted accordingly: Cabs expanded to accommodate more passengers, while beds shrank. The first generation of F-150s were 36% cab & 64% bed by length. By 2021, the ratio had flipped.
www.axios.com/local/housto...
November 19, 2025 at 8:21 AM
Also when you can count truly urban places on two hands that isn’t choice.
It’s almost impossible to measure what people prefer in an environment where all kinds of factors influence where and how people live. There’s also an obvious absence of choice in most of the country. I’d warn against saying any evidence is all-caps overwhelming one way or the other.
Right, this is true, but the OVERWHELMING evidence of the past 100 years of American life is that vastly more people want space and a car than a smaller unit and a car-free lifestyle. This is mostly why the suburban share of US population has grown relentlessly for the entire 20th and 21st century
November 19, 2025 at 3:50 AM
A great group of folks!
ICYMI, this STARTER PACK is my team-up with celebrated climate scientist @katharinehayhoe.com, and it’s full of people & organizations that specifically embrace the overlap between better cities and climate action! Please follow them, and help spread the pack around! #ClimateAction #UrbanistShoutOut
November 19, 2025 at 12:44 AM
Reposted by The Overhead Wire
ICYMI, this STARTER PACK is my team-up with celebrated climate scientist @katharinehayhoe.com, and it’s full of people & organizations that specifically embrace the overlap between better cities and climate action! Please follow them, and help spread the pack around! #ClimateAction #UrbanistShoutOut
November 18, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Tuesday's Most Read # 1 - What Will Replace DART if Cities End Their Contracts? link.theoverheadwire.com/by6pr @dallasobserver.com
What Will Replace DART if Cities End Their Contracts?
Two cities allowing voters to elect to leave DART in May have offered microtransit systems as an alternative. They're flawed.
link.theoverheadwire.com
November 19, 2025 at 12:23 AM
Tuesday's Most Read # 2 - Reaction times of micromobility users link.theoverheadwire.com/fq4yh Transportation Research Part F
Reaction times of micromobility users
As global environmental issues continue to escalate and traffic congestion becomes more intense, the demand for sustainable and flexible transportatio…
link.theoverheadwire.com
November 19, 2025 at 12:23 AM
Tuesday's Most Read # 3 - Fact Sheet: Build, Baby, Build: A Plan To Lower Housing Costs for All link.theoverheadwire.com/gkuf7 Center for American Progress
Fact Sheet: Build, Baby, Build: A Plan To Lower Housing Costs for All
CAP’s plan would focus federal efforts on building homes to lower housing costs, saving renters in high-cost communities an estimated $1,000 per year and first-time homebuyers more than $20,000.
link.theoverheadwire.com
November 19, 2025 at 12:21 AM
New blog post! Symbiotic Natural Infrastructures - How physical infrastructure negatively impacts natural infrastructure and what can be done to fix it - theoverheadwire.com/2025/11/symb...
Symbiotic Natural Infrastructures - The Overhead Wire
Something I think about a lot is how our transportation system actually interacts with natural systems. In his book Crossings, Ben Goldfarb shares the many ways that our obsession with road building b...
theoverheadwire.com
November 18, 2025 at 10:43 PM
Reposted by The Overhead Wire
The Trump administration wants to do two unbelievably dumb things that would collectively devastate mass transit in America — and be *epically bad for drivers, too,* especially in red states. Broke down the (many) problems with nuking the mass transit account and taking away flex funding.
Breaking: Trump Admin Seeks To Decimate Federal Transit Funding — Streetsblog USA
"When you're talking about taking away money from transit, your proposal is flawed from the get-go," said one expert.
usa.streetsblog.org
November 18, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Reposted by The Overhead Wire
Time for protected bike lanes for the chocolatemakers.
November 18, 2025 at 4:06 AM
Monday's Most Read # 1 - New York Lacked an Affordable Housing Portal. So These Teenagers Made One. link.theoverheadwire.com/e8pcb New York Times
link.theoverheadwire.com
November 18, 2025 at 1:15 AM