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Jarrett Walker Profile picture
Jarrett Walker
@humantransit
Public transit planning and policy consultant (https://t.co/ZoczdeljM9), author of the book and blog Human Transit. Also literature and plants.
Jan 3 • 11 tweets • 2 min read
Unpopular opinion: at least in North America, both government and academia tend to be clogged with too many committees whose purpose is to (a) defer a difficult decision that might as well be made now and (b) give people experience to put on their resumes. 1/ Neither of these purposes is related to getting any work done. At a convention of one major organization, we all listened to a subcommittee representative tell us at great length what amazing appetizers were served at their meeting, but not whether anything was decided. 2/
May 1, 2023 • 15 tweets • 5 min read
Let’s add one nuance to this popular cartoon. The dude in his car taking 1/3 of the street space might also be a victim of oppression. He might be a low-income person who’s forced to own and drive a car for lack of options, and who is poorer as a result … 1/ For example, maybe he lives in the inner city but his job has just moved from near his home to a business park on the edge of the city, a place almost designed to be inaccessible by efficient public transit, so that top executives have easier commutes from their horse farms. 2/
Jan 17, 2022 • 17 tweets • 4 min read
Thread: Portland's having a critical debate about restructuring city government, as outlined in this piece by @candaceforpdx, a leader of the effort, and colleagues. Everyone needs to care about this, and I have some questions. 1/ In the Oregonian today, @candaceforpdx outlines their biggest goals. They are about making government responsive to everyone including all neighborhoods and to neglected communities. No argument with that. 2/
Oct 19, 2021 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
Unexpected good news from Alexandria, Virginia’s new bus network, which we helped them design. Fewer complaints than expected! 1/ @scudderwagg We probably helped set the expectation. In my experience, anger about bus network redesigns is proportional to how much we change things, no matter how big the benefits are. It’s part of our job to prepare local elected officials for that. 2/
Aug 23, 2021 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Excellent @henrygrabar piece on why the US "environmental" process favors highways and strangles transit projects. slate.com/business/2021/… 1/ But this from @PaulrsLewis at @EnoTrans is not quite right: 2/
Aug 22, 2021 • 13 tweets • 3 min read
Interesting pitch (by email) for a @ridewithvia microtransit "master class." They promise to teach us how to do microtransit without "hurting pre-existing transit modes." 1/ Now, this is a big messaging improvement over the early days, but note how it allows the reader to think that "modes" need to be taken care of, as though the problem is all those powerful lobbyists for fixed route buses or their unions. 2/
May 18, 2021 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
Some are noting that our Cleveland redesign for @GCRTA, coming June 13, doesn't have as much of a frequent grid as they might have expected. (1/) Frequent grids are a powerful abstract idea, and like any abstraction they have to be adapted to (a) city geography and (b) the bus service budget of the agency, which is very low in almost all US cities. (2/) humantransit.org/2010/02/the-po…
Feb 12, 2019 • 6 tweets • 1 min read
The notion that streetcars support redevelopment is based on the false assumption that streetcars make transit more permanent, which is disproven by the history of streetcars. 1/ Transit operating cost is mostly labor. That means that infrastructure is worthless without the funding for eternal operations. This is why transit investment is fundamentally different from roads or buildings 2/
Sep 9, 2018 • 10 tweets • 5 min read
Quick response to @DermotLeary's confusing, misleading, and often outright dishonest piece today, see image below. (1/) .@DermotLeary argument here emphasizes all the downsides of the plan and conceals of the benefits. It's exactly like telling people that a job is terrible because you have to work, while never mentioning that you also get paid. (2/)