Laura Hartman

In my bus advocacy group, we call this the “time tax.” It’s so unfair.

I think driving stick is key there. In my opinion driving is incredibly boring and my brain is always reaching for other stimulation while driving. At least with a stick shift it’s slightly less dull. Driving feels like paperwork: High stakes but deadly boring.

Should We Let Public Transit Die? Urban-rural hostility is fueling a public transportation crisis in US cities. But demands to abandon bus and train riders ignore the economic and social costs of cutting service.

Good article, @humantransit.bsky.social ! www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

I especially liked the way you traced a service like electricity from novelty to luxury to necessity to right…and I see the same historical progression with cars… but as a transit advocate in a car focused place, I seek ways to reverse or redirect that progression.

I really enjoyed your book about infrastructure, and was trying to apply its insights to my own interest in public transit, but I struggled to get very far. So seeing this post makes me happy! Do you have any other writing about transit as infrastructure?

Secessionist Automobility: Racism, Anti‐Urbanism, and the Politics of Automobility in Atlanta, Georgia Automobility — the centering of society and everyday life around automobiles and their spaces — is one of the most contentious aspects of contemporary urban growth debates at the local, national, and....

Jason Henderson calls it secessionist automobility: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...

Such a great review, for such a great book!

We Are All of Us Haunted: Rachel Hartman’s Among Ghosts - Reactor A novel that unfolds slowly and patiently, tracing the threads of history…

"It’s a particular feeling when a book sinks straight into your bones, and in order to write about it, you have to pull it back out again."

@mollytempleton.com reviews Rachel Hartman's Among Ghosts, the newest YA novel from the author of Seraphina and Tess of the Road
reactormag.com/book-review-...

Last summer I helped to write a Bible study that gets into this topic: God is portrayed as light, frequently… but also as dark, shade, and cooling. A helpful perspective for a warmer world, and also for racial justice. Paradigm shift welcome!

Cyclists may be familiar with Schroedinger's cyclist. But I'd suggest also Schroedinger's public transport: simultaneously too slow and restrictive for car-users to take, while also perfectly fine and therefore not in need of any funding for improvement or expansion, or reallocation to bus lanes.

Yes, it’s a very common herbal tea throughout Europe and is just lovely. A little bit like chamomile. I first encountered it in France, where they call it tilleuil. ☕️

You can make tea from them, too!
readingmytealeaves.com/2018/06/make...

A picture of the Belvedere Courtyard in Vatican city shows a parking lot filled with cars encapsulated within pristinely ornate renaissance walls.

Theologians still argue: Was it harder for Christ to turn water into wine, or for Vatican planners to justify turning their largest renaissance courtyard into a parking lot.

What a gold mine, thank you @toddlitman.bsky.social !

Do you know of any examples of a positive spiral? Cities that have poured resources into transit, and it becomes so amazing that it gets more riders and is wildly successful?

Just took your advice (from a podcast I heard) to seek "sister cities" in Canada and this is very revealing. They are all spending about 3-4x as much per person (in metro population) on transit as we are in these smallish cities in the USA, and they're delivering a much higher level of service.

Thank you!!

I thought maybe @davidzipper.bsky.social , @humantransit.bsky.social , @jahorne.bsky.social , @davidho.bsky.social , or someone else could help me out with some info?

Photo of a former parking lot with plants growing up through the asphalt

They paved paradise,
Put up a parking lot.
Paradise said: That hurt, but let me tell you about geologic time

There is talk in my region of cutting bus budgets for already struggling transit systems in smaller towns (approx 100k pop). Can anyone recommend data/studies either on the ill effects of budget cuts or the benefits of well funded transit?

I actually have just finished a manuscript for a book about church parking lots from a theological/ethical perspective. Happy to share it with you; looking for a publisher right now…

An Ethics of Land Relations in Science Max Liboiron's inaugural book is a primer on untangling and resisting the Gordian knot of justifications, manipulations, and traditions that enable colonialism in science.

Agree! Also, I learned from Max Liboiron that footnotes are about humility and relationality, offering thanks to those who came before us and doing care work (warnings, aides, jokes) for the reader. Highly recommend! www.americanscientist.org/blog/science...

There’s so much happening right now, I thought I’d put together a running thread on the dismantling of #climate and research and knowledge infrastructure in the United States 🧵

I have been quoting this to basically everyone I know. We all need to hear this.

Robert Putnam reflects on how America became so polarized and what can unify the nation YouTube video by PBS NewsHour

Yes and, Putnam also said the progressive era was launched by everyday people getting together and deciding they were going to care about other people. We can do something about this from the bottom up. m.youtube.com/watch?si=3OV...

So many of our political and social structures rely on the assumption that people are basically decent human beings, with a moral foundation. The lack of this exposes the weaknesses in the system, I guess. But I also want to renew/reinvigorate a norm of common decency, somehow…!

Summary and Reviews of Homeland by Richard Beck Book summary and aggregated reviews of Homeland by Richard Beck

“Impunity culture.” Started with the war on terror, if you believe Richard Beck. www.bookbrowse.com/bb_briefs/de...

I have a new book coming out, too. In June.
*dies of self-promotion*

Death of a Legend: Donald Shoup, Parking Reformer - Streetsblog New York City The OG of understanding how "free parking" isn't free has died.

Next time you're driving in circles searching for a place to park, take a moment to think of Donald Shoup. He spent his life trying to bring sanity to parking policy.

RIP to a champion of urbanism as well as common sense.

Remembering Donald Shoup - Parking Reform Network Professor Donald Shoup’s curiosity, intelligence, passion, generosity, and kindness allowed him to not only expose the critical problems with modern parking policy, but to also ignite and nurture a…

We should all be so fortunate, when our meter runs out of time, to leave behind a group of reformers dedicated to continuing our work parkingreform.org/donald-shoup/