Nathan
@kalinsky.bsky.social
any/all | Urban Studies student in Baltimore | Mostly transit, urbanism, and Baltimore stuff | Opinions mine, likes/reposts/follows ≠ endorsement.
It is extremely frustrating that the only part of Anne Arundel County with high capacity transit is covered in low density sprawl that is not conducive to transit ridership, and the only places left to build greenfield higher density housing are marginal wetlands next to coal power stations.
Baltimore Banner@thebaltimorebanner.com · 2w agoDeveloper plans nearly 2,000 homes in northern Anne Arundel with a coal plant next door
a lot of US/canadian "better bus" redesigns involve more significant cuts in bus network coverage where ridership isn't offset by frequency boosts elsewhere service hours per capita for most bus systems are just too low to begin with, it's hard to see huge gains without properly funding the bus
Metro tried to make bus service better. Somehow, ridership and speeds are both down
A year after Better Bus, reviews are mixed.
51st.news
6⃣ Also in Maryland: Amar Mukunda over Nancy King
Taniel@taniel.bsky.social · 2mo agoRESULT: Maryland state Senator Nancy King, an ally of state Senate President Bill Ferguson, just lost her seat. She was defeated in the Dem primary by Amar Mukunda, who had endorsements from Maryland progressive groups. (Ferguson will hold on to his seat, now leads by ≈15%.)
Looks like the Transportation and Climate Alignment Act is back on the menu, Mukunda's successful primary of King is a huge win for progressives in the MD State Senate
Visited the Laureate at Shady Grove, the first social housing constructed by Montgomery County's Housing Production Fund.
First ride on MDOT MTA's new Gillig Low Floor hybrid, pretty nice bus.
Hard to overstate what a big problem this is, and it rears its head in basically *any* kind of transportation research you might try to do, at least in the US. Data on non-commute trips is, more often than not, just nonexistent. Unless you have the resources to collect your own data, good luck.
Sandy Johnston@sandypsj.bsky.social · 3mo agoRelying basically only on commute data for planning for a century was an enormous mistake.
Working on some maps for a report that I hopefully will be sharing soon.
As written, this bill would effectively ban automated traffic enforcement, including red light and speed cameras. Not great!
Andrew Couts@couts.bsky.social · 3mo agoNEW: Oh, Flock. A one-sentence bipartisan amendment, first obtained by @wired.com and expected to be introduced during a House committee hearing on Thursday, would limit federal highway spending for ALPRs to only toll collection. @dell.bsky.social with the scoop: www.wired.com/story/a-bipa...
Also of note, the bill will reduce the federal cost share of transit bus replacements from 80% oft the total cost of a bus to a maximum of 70% of the *average cost* of a new bus, based on a 5 year average of transit bus purchases to be calculated by the FTA, phasing in between FY2029 and 31.
Yonah Freemark@yonahfreemark.com · 3mo agoUS House GOP & Dems have compromised on 5-year transportation bill. Draft bill includes a $150 annual fee on electric vehicles ($35 for plugins). No fee on gas-powered cars. Though not huge, this is another disincentive to shift to EVs in a country where the EV market share is low & declining.
incredibly depressing that the reimposition of jim crow districts across the entire south is getting nothing more than generic horse race coverage
The New York Times@nytimes.com · 3mo agoGov. Henry McMaster of South Carolina, a Republican, plans to call the state legislature back for a special session that will be focused on redrawing the state’s congressional maps. The effort could eliminate the state’s sole Democratic district.
Once again the Maryland State Senate has adjourned sine die without a third reader vote for the Transportation and Climate Alignment Act, which has passed in the House of Delegates three years in a row. Disappointing that Senate leadership has repeatedly failed to bring this bill to a floor vote.
Once again the Maryland State Senate has adjourned sine die without a third reader vote for the Transportation and Climate Alignment Act, which has passed in the House of Delegates three years in a row. Disappointing that Senate leadership has repeatedly failed to bring this bill to a floor vote.
The MTA's own modeling shows bus rapid transit both attracts significantly fewer riders and requires 3-4 minute headways to meet capacity needs. "Red Line" BRT is not the Red Line at all. This corridor both justifies and deserves the rail it has long been promised.
Baltimore Banner@thebaltimorebanner.com · 5mo agoMTA considers pivoting Red Line to rapid bus service instead of light rail, sources say
An update on this: it seems that this was likely a placeholder in the draft of the CTP, MTA is now procuring 5 battery-catenary hybrid locomotives in a joint procurement agreement with the MBTA.
Nathan@kalinsky.bsky.social · 7mo agoIn the final draft of the Maryland Consolidated Transportation Program FY2026-2031 budget, there is now a line item for the purchase of ACS-64 electric locomotives for the MARC Penn Line. This will enable much faster electrified service on MARC's busiest rail line.
New transit oddity in my possession: a bus fare reader retired from an Austin CapMetro bus.
The fact that I'm able to board a Metrorail train at 1:45 in the morning rules so much
Once again, opposing housing near you is a fundamentally conservative proposition, and a lot of people on the broader left who share the thoughts in this video need to take some inventory of themselves.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 7mo agoTrump: "People that own their homes -- we're gonna keep them wealthy. We're gonna keep those prices up. We're not gonna destroy the value of their homes so that somebody who didn't work very hard can buy a home."
As tens of thousands across America protest the violence that ICE sows with impunity, federal agents shot and killed another person in Minneapolis today. ICE terrorizes our cities. ICE puts us all in danger. Abolish ICE.
LA Metro having the single most ambitious transit expansion plans in the United States while simultaneously opposing transit-oriented development at their stations truly is peak Californian governance
M. Nolan Gray 🥑@mnolangray.bsky.social · 7mo agoL.A. Metro, the main transit operator for Los Angeles, just voted to oppose SB 79, a law legalizing the construction of housing near stations. You can't make this stuff up. Legislators should remember this the next time they come to Sacramento begging for more money. laist.com/news/housing...
In the final draft of the Maryland Consolidated Transportation Program FY2026-2031 budget, there is now a line item for the purchase of ACS-64 electric locomotives for the MARC Penn Line. This will enable much faster electrified service on MARC's busiest rail line.
The suburban transit experience: try to book a microtransit trip, it fails to book twice give up and walk 20 minutes to an hourly bus bus isn't tracking bus shows up 3 minutes early
