Some places love trying for infrastructure solutions that promise 75% of the benefit for 50% of the cost, but that often end up providing 30% of the benefit for 80+% of the cost. One example is here (and a counter-example is linked in the post below) infrastory.substack.com/p/the-northe...
The Northeast Corridor's Three-Headed Monster
How to Spend Two Billion Dollars Without a Plan
infrastory.substack.com
N America is as dominant in freight rail as Europe is in passenger. Canada moves more tonne-kms of freight by rail than whole EU. Freight and passenger have fundamentally different needs so we need better way for both to succeed infrastory.substack.com/p/freight-an...
Freight and Passenger Rail Have Different Needs
We need a better way.
infrastory.substack.com
If you think infrastructure has a troubled procurement record, check out the military… infrastory.substack.com/p/the-greate...
The Greatest Procurement Fiascos of All
If you think infrastructure has troubles, take a look at the military.
infrastory.substack.com
There’s a whole generation of airports built for a supersonic age that never came. A few became mega-airports we transfer at today, many never got off the drawing board, and the most interesting exist as weird fragments. open.substack.com/pub/infrasto...
Airports for the Supersonic Age
Infrastructure of an era that never happened
open.substack.com
The Interstates were planned in a very different way from most infrastructure. They were built on New Deal-era ideas of universal service provision rather than evaluation of demand. That had major rebalancing effects on the whole country's economic geography. open.substack.com/pub/infrasto...
How the Interstates Remade the American Map
Universal Access to Infrastructure Can Profoundly Reshape Development
open.substack.com
Troubled transportation infrastructure projects are nothing new. This is the chaotic story of the Northeast Corridor Improvement Project, a 1970s program to fix the dilapidated corridor that fell way below promises. It has definite lessons for the projects of today. open.substack.com/pub/infrasto...
The Northeast Corridor's Three-Headed Monster
How to Spend Two Billion Dollars Without a Plan
open.substack.com
Los Angeles is, counterintuitively, one of the best potential places to implement the Toronto Model for transit. My post on Infrastory talks about why. open.substack.com/pub/infrasto...
Los Angeles could do with more buses
Bringing the Toronto Model to LA would be a gamechanger
open.substack.com
We can only get better at building infrastructure if we consciously learn from previous projects’ challenges and figure out how to address them in future projects. Here’s an example of that being done successfully. open.substack.com/pub/infrasto...
Canada Learned How To Be Good at Nuclear.
To get better at infrastructure, we must be willing to learn.
open.substack.com
When someplace suddenly becomes the hot new tourist destination, it could have a bit to do with the economics of aircraft belly cargo. My new post on Infrastory looks into this.
Infrastory@infrastory.bsky.social · 2mo agoEver wondered whats in the other half of the plane beneath the floor? Your travel companion and benefactor might be iPhones or Cod. open.substack.com/pub/infrasto...
A great review on Toronto's ambitious historical plans for burying mainline railway corridors in the city center. Written with perspective of the broader context of other similar N American schemes characterizing the era that no longer seem viable today. I can't help but contrast....
Jonathan English@englishrail.bsky.social · 2mo agoYou sometimes find amazing things poking around in the archives. In this case, it was a clear illustration about how ambitious North American cities once were when it came to infrastructure. open.substack.com/pub/infrasto...
You sometimes find amazing things poking around in the archives. In this case, it was a clear illustration about how ambitious North American cities once were when it came to infrastructure. open.substack.com/pub/infrasto...
There Was Once a Scheme to Bury Toronto's Railway Tracks
There are pretty unexpected things you can find on a trip to the archives
open.substack.com
Our first guest post on Infrastory, this time a deep dive on inland water transport from @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social
Infrastory@infrastory.bsky.social · 2mo agoThe focus of this article is how a huge portion of global commerce moves, but people seldom recognize its significance, and like many other modes of transportation China is doing incredible things. Learn more about inland waterways now: open.substack.com/pub/infrasto...
I wrote a piece for Infrastory about why we should think a little more long-term about megaprojects. When a megaproject is successful, we usually forget it was once a megaproject! open.substack.com/pub/infrasto...
Megaprojects are inherently unsuccessful …
Because we don't remember them as megaprojects if they work
open.substack.com
In case you missed it, my article on the creation of the Paris RER and how it shows the value of solving problems creatively through interagency cooperation rather than just engineering (solving none call problems!) open.substack.com/pub/infrasto...
Paris' RER Revolution
A city that solved its phone call problems the right way
open.substack.com
Paris’ RER is a perfect example of solving phone call problems. Instead of duplicating infrastructure because different agencies controlled it, Paris made sharing work. It saved a fortune and created Europe’s most impressive regional rail network. open.substack.com/pub/infrasto...
Paris' RER Revolution
A city that solved its phone call problems the right way
open.substack.com
My latest Infrastory post looks at New York's airports and how infrastructure planning choices based on jurisdictional boundaries can lead us badly astray. We didn't need to pave over thousands of acres of marsh and force thousands of trucks to drive through NYC. open.substack.com/pub/infrasto...
New York's International Airport Should Have Been in Newark
Infrastructure planning based on arbitrary jurisdictional lines is never a good idea
open.substack.com
Another aviation post! This one on why New York should have had a major (think O'Hare size) hub in Newark, and why it doesn't . . . .weird political boundary ideology.
Infrastory@infrastory.bsky.social · 3mo agoWe naturally think of infrastructure as being solidly fixed and unchanging, but considering alternative histories allows us to consider the weight of our decisions today. infrastory.substack.com/p/new-yorks-...
Flying has never been better. It's a bold claim (but we really think so!) to bookend the launch of Infrastory, we've been so happy for the support and are excited to keep sharing! open.substack.com/pub/infrasto...
We’re Living in the Golden Age of Air Travel
Well, if not quite golden, at least we can now afford to fly
open.substack.com
Dr. English is one of the originators of the "Toronto Model" concept. Where successful bus based transit service can be achieved in the most transit hostile locales, showing that built form is not the only determinate on the viability of a public transport system.
Jonathan English@englishrail.bsky.social · 3mo agoA few years after opening, Islington station handled 50,000 riders/day. Even amid a sea of parking, fully 70% arrived by bus. At Warden, 17,000 came by bus, just 2,000 parked, and 3,000 were dropped off. The Toronto subway has always relied on its connecting buses: open.substack.com/pub/infrasto...
A few years after opening, Islington station handled 50,000 riders/day. Even amid a sea of parking, fully 70% arrived by bus. At Warden, 17,000 came by bus, just 2,000 parked, and 3,000 were dropped off. The Toronto subway has always relied on its connecting buses: open.substack.com/pub/infrasto...
The Toronto Model for Transit
Induced demand is real for transit too
open.substack.com
“On Finch Avenue East in the postwar suburbs of North York and Scarborough, a bus (both express and local) is scheduled to come better than every three minutes during rush hour, every four minutes through the middle of the day, and about every six minutes even at 11 at night.”
Jonathan English@englishrail.bsky.social · 3mo agoThis outlines Toronto Model of transit that I’ve been talking about for many years (and am working on a book about!). Basically, principle is that universal network of frequent, all-day, every day bus service is essential ingredient for genuinely useful transit. open.substack.com/pub/infrasto...
Infrastory is back with more posts this week - today’s is about how Toronto completely inverts expectations of what is possible for transit in car-oriented areas. Much to learn here for cities in North America and across the world! open.substack.com/pub/infrasto...
The Toronto Model for Transit
Induced demand is real for transit too
open.substack.com
"The lesson isn’t complicated: If transit is frequent and convenient enough...even many people who can afford a car will choose to use it." Toronto is an incredibly fascinating case study, and I can't wait until @englishrail.bsky.social's book is ready to read more!
Jonathan English@englishrail.bsky.social · 3mo agoThis outlines Toronto Model of transit that I’ve been talking about for many years (and am working on a book about!). Basically, principle is that universal network of frequent, all-day, every day bus service is essential ingredient for genuinely useful transit. open.substack.com/pub/infrasto...
A must read piece by @englishrail.bsky.social as to why Toronto transit puts all American cities except for NYC to shame! It's not subways, but rather the frequent suburban bus service introduced in the early 1960's. #TTC #TOpoli #UrbanTruth
Infrastory@infrastory.bsky.social · 3mo agoInfrastory is back with more posts this week - today’s is about how Toronto completely inverts expectations of what is possible for transit in car-oriented areas. Much to learn here for cities in North America and across the world! open.substack.com/pub/infrasto...
This outlines Toronto Model of transit that I’ve been talking about for many years (and am working on a book about!). Basically, principle is that universal network of frequent, all-day, every day bus service is essential ingredient for genuinely useful transit. open.substack.com/pub/infrasto...
The Toronto Model for Transit
Induced demand is real for transit too
open.substack.com
This is a brilliant way to think about infrastructure: “for every obstacle encountered: is this a rock, or is this a person?”
Jonathan English@englishrail.bsky.social · 4mo agoInfrastructure projects routinely spend billions of dollars to avoid difficult conversations. I wrote a new piece on Infrastory on how we need to be better at recognizing the problems that can be solved with a phone call rather than big infrastructure. open.substack.com/pub/infrasto...
I cannot emphasize enough how much anyone interested in infrastructure and public transport should be reading this. People ask time and again why things cost so much and this is one of the biggest reasons. We solve coordination problems by throwing money at them.
Infrastory@infrastory.bsky.social · 4mo agoTo finish off our first week, we have a post on one of the biggest problems facing modern infrastructure projects. open.substack.com/pub/infrasto...
Un des meilleurs papiers que j’ai lu récemment sur les surcoûts des projets complexes Engineering Problems and Phone Call Problems infrastory.substack.com/p/engineerin... par @englishrail.bsky.social Je crois qu’ALTO devrait prendre des notes car son isolement risque de coûter très cher #polmtl
Infrastructure projects routinely spend billions of dollars to avoid difficult conversations. I wrote a new piece on Infrastory on how we need to be better at recognizing the problems that can be solved with a phone call rather than big infrastructure. open.substack.com/pub/infrasto...
Engineering Problems and Phone Call Problems
Perhaps sometimes we really should just phone it in
open.substack.com
I posted a second article to my new Substack, Infrastory. This one is about the history of the digital revolution and its history in the guaranteed market provided by the Cold War. open.substack.com/pub/infrasto...
The Guaranteed Market: How a Weapon to Destroy the World Accidentally Led to the Digital World
(take from that what you will)
open.substack.com