Ben S

Trump admin agrees to preserve Calif. high-speed rail grants during court case The agreement means the $4 billion in revoked grants can’t be awarded to other projects while litigation plays out.

Good news for High Speed Rail: the Trump admin has agreed not to spend the $4 B in High Speed Rail money they're trying to revoke until legal disputes are resolved. This increases our chances of getting the money back, as California has a good legal case. www.eenews.net/articles/tru...

Of course Republicans can't help but show their sheer ignorance again on the existing setup of SEPTA funding. Delaware state is not a SEPTA charter member--they pay for exactly the train services they want under contract

The renderings literally have the conceived road diet in there. I don't know what this accomplishes

It's a separate project with local elected support and was an unsuccessful applicant in the last Reconnecting Communities grant
www.transportation.gov/grants/recon...

is this not all relative to where the poster lives?

Furthest I've been:
N: Quebec City
E: Dar es Salaam
S: same
W: western Guangxi, China

the multitudes he contained

Definitely spared the worst of the HC's wrath, but I cannot understand how stepping down towards short buildings has any historical basis at all. Traditional building owners have always tried to maximize footprint!

We Can't Have Justice For All Without Public Transit For All — Streetsblog USA A Philadelphia lawyer makes the case for why public transit is crucial for a fair justice system.

As Philadelphia’s SEPTA system stares down severe cuts with no state rescue in sight, the Philadelphia Bar Association is shining a light on an overlooked benefit of public transit nationwide: fostering justice for all.

Is anyone talking about a potential Strip District infill station on the East Busway?

Yes? The crisis is the operational budget, not the capital (CHE is literally under a summer reconstruction right now to get it up to full track speeds and support a CHW shutdown)

Shorter tunneled section means higher chance of obstruction without diversion possibility. Isolated depot with excessive deadheading needed to get to maintenance facility.

At minimum you'd have to skip Parkesburg/Downingtown/Cornwells, even with Coatesville and Ardmore coming soon, not sure if worth the tradeoff with SEPTA cuts imminent

Close the Paoli/Thorndale line? Many say SEPTA is using the threat as leverage. Debunking a persistent rumor about why certain Regional Rail lines are on the chopping block.

www.inquirer.com/transportati...

There's another highway project already in conceptual planning to fund

Stadler has a high-level variant built for Russia; always easier to go high than low. Also alternate compliance is definitely a form of compliance!

Render of City Methodist Tower

Proposed Infill

Render of restored Palace Theatre

View of proposed Multimodal Transit Center

The City of Gary, in partnership with Notre Dame, has released its master plan for the city’s downtown and close in neighborhoods. The plan calls for zoning reform, pre approved housing plans, transit-oriented development, and a concentrated focus on safe streets and historic preservation.

Sad to have missed it!

As a fully occupied, 400,000-sq. ft. office building, it would’ve likely had over 2,000 people working there. I don’t feel good about these conversions, I think they are part of a process that is sapping vitality from cities.

There is still a huge number of off-peak ridership that agencies/cities have never bothered to capture, and it took a coincidental pandemic for most of them to finally start looking at it

Would not characterize it as "solving the problem" more than "allowing the tiniest bit of ethically & morally obligated breathing room in the face of ideological disgust of cities"

Philly homeowners push back against a wave of new historic districts Critics argue the Historical Commission’s work harms economic development, increases home upkeep costs.

This is a good article. As Philadelphia's Historical Commission stretches its authority it continues to lose its important fights and 'win' the unimportant ones.

Churches are torn down while home owners are forced to pay $8k for a front door.

billypenn.com/2025/08/06/p...

A graph of ridership recovery vs pre-pandemic ridership

WMATA has just now edged out the NYC MTA to achieve the strongest post-pandemic recovery of any major US transit agency! In the first half of this year, ridership was at 88% of 2019 levels.

LA Metro & NJTransit have also had strong recoveries, while SF BART & Chicago's CTA lag

Does the Landmarks Board even have jurisdiction over the interior though? Usually not the case in historic preservation

Trying to see if Cleveland Union Terminal's NYC platforms were high level too

Lancaster of all places

It would behoove Mr. Jones to consider the ramifications of severely reduced transit service in Black communities and what that would mean for those same people affected by skill games

Philly homeowners push back against a wave of new historic districts Critics argue the Historical Commission’s work harms economic development, increases home upkeep costs.

Philly homeowners are pushing back against a wave of new historic districts. Critics argue the Historical Commission’s work harms economic development and increases home upkeep costs. billypenn.com/2025/08/06/h...

I just hope the atrium bar counters(?) here are removable for seating during an organ concert

Anglosphere line names are bad actually!