David Zipper

A story of cause and effect: Last November, Ontario banned cities from using speed safety cameras to issue tickets. Reckless speeding immediately surged in Toronto, Ottawa, Guelph, and cities throughout the province. A 🧵 about my latest in Bloomberg (gift link)

Answer: Maintaining sidewalks is the government's job -- just like with streets. doi.org/10.1016/j.tr...

This is the kind of study I wanted to see. Several thousand people were offered fixed prices for micromobility trips (no per-minute fees). I would've expected riders to go slower, but apparently not: "No clear effects on trip travel speed were identified." findingspress.org/article/1721...

A federal judge on Monday night indefinitely blocked the Trump administration from removing even a single tree from a public golf course in D.C. that President Donald Trump intends to immediately transform into a championship-style course. READ MORE: www.ms.now/news/judge-b...

This shouldn't even be a question. Automated trains have already improved transit service in Vancouver, Copenhagen, Paris, Singapore, etc. (Note: There is a world of difference btw driverless trains in a controlled environment and driverless cars on public streets)

Could golf carts help bridge transportation's partisan divide? A snippet from the upcoming podcast episode, which delves into transportation deepening culture wars. (out on Thurs)

Behold: The penny farthing bike corral of Yerevan, Armenia (Sent by my globe-trotting wife, who knows what I dig)

Bike lanes

This is not a nitpick. Riders can get confused when some—but not all—transit service is free. It's a concern that WMATA's leadership has raised with Alexandria, a city in Northern VA that went fare-free.

This is how you do it. Frame automatic traffic cameras as a safety solution (which they are), and ignore drivers who get mad that they can no longer break the law with impunity.

I’ll take the under on this one

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Big news for transportation data geeks: Allstate is buying Inrix

Yep. This is a big reason I decided to write a book about congestion pricing.

"Vulnerability to fuel price increases is associated with support for right-wing populist parties." And intriguing implication: More transit and shorter commutes can help strengthen democracy. doi.org/10.1016/j.er...

Rather than win cities over, AV co's aim to preempt them. "Waymo, Zoox & Aurora are prioritizing states with explicit legislative preemption that prevents individual cities from banning the technology. And at the national level, industry trade groups [are] aggressively pushing for more preemption."

Hains Point is one of the best public spaces in DC. Cyclists do loops here. Families go on picnics. Old-timers fish from waterside benches. An absolute outrage.

A retired Penn professor has been blocking Uber Eats robots for months in protest. This week, she was arrested for disorderly conduct

As I explained here, AVs are poised to increase car use through land use changes: People w/AVs "are more willing to accept long commutes, [causing] a dispersion of the population throughout the exurbs and into greenfields—places that transit can't serve and where a car trip is going to be further."

I agree with @rmtransit.bsky.social: Robotaxis strengthen the case for congestion pricing (which was already compelling). His post about Waymo's newly announced launch in Toronto: www.thetransitbrief.net/p/waymo-is-c...

In the latest episode, @davidzipper.bsky.social argues that surging gas prices have created a unique opportunity to convince drivers to try traveling by transit or bike. If they like it, they might stick with it.

"the myth [that gas taxes fully pay for roads] protects the status quo... if people believe drivers pay their own way, it's easier to argue for more spending on highways. It's harder to ask the basic questions of like who benefits, who pays, who aren't we counting? It's a thought terminating cliche

I’m sorry to have to be the bad guy here but we need to recognize that we live in a compressed air thrusters world now. If you’re not finding ways to teach the critical use of compressed air thrusters in your classroom, you’re setting your students up to fail when you could be setting them up to fly

Nice lede

@wesmars.bsky.social on the potential for surging gas prices to cause an enduring shift toward transit and bikes: "High gas prices will get someone to try out a different trip. Whether they keep doing it depends on whether that trip is any good."

Now do lifted trucks

This is going to be one of the swiftest and most painful asymmetries as gas keeps going up; communities that provided options to leave the car at home are giving their citizens a cushion others won't have.

As gas gets more expensive, people living in places with abundant transit and safe bike lanes can save money by driving less. In much of the US, that's not an option. From the new @lookbothwayspod.bsky.social, which is all about gas prices.

Hey California! I'm giving a keynote about cities and autonomous vehicles at @caltransit.bsky.social's annual conference on Oct 28th in Monterey. Afterward I'll have a fireside chat with ex-SFMTA director @jeffreytumlin.bsky.social. Hope to see you there.

TxDOT’s Pavlovian reaction when congestion appears

Construction trucks leaving Bloor and Islington area after being successfully deterred from starting work on removing bike lanes in Toronto by a large protest.

My kingdom for a headline about speed safety cameras that mentions a reduction in crashes along with an increase in tickets.