Mike Larkin

someone should do a story on why the TRAIN commission and DMVMoves (two efforts to figure out how to fund WMATA properly) have both been huge failures @bannermoco.bsky.social

Ok, I thought I saw you at Fish Taco, but I was in a rush.

4,340,000 "vacant" units are classified as such because they are for seasonal, recreational, or occasional use. Largely self-explanatory here, but should be noted that these units are often in places like the beach, the mountains, and other areas that aren't particularly close to population centers

On my way to one more US 29 Corridor Advisory Committee Meeting via the US 29 Flash Bus @rideonmct.bsky.social. I'm encouraged by the number of passengers I've seen on the bus this summer!

This fact is so overlooked with Kirk, sometimes deliberately, sometimes because reporters are clueless when they ask why "the left" doesn't have something like this. Because money.

The messaging I tried with my anti-congestion pricing family members: "OK, I get it. You need to drive. But there are people who would choose to drive less. When they don't driv, there is less competition for parking for you." Mixed success but better than other arguments.

Headline for Bethesda Today: More than 150 turn out to discuss University Boulevard Corridor Plan County executive spoke at hearing, interrupted by Nimbee

there will always be meetings and people will always be mad at meetings. it is not news and shouldn’t be reported as such. @thenimbee.bsky.social however did make news (and got kicked out for it) bethesdamagazine.com/2025/09/11/c...

Gotta love the energy!

i think how we got here is that the right's favorite move is working the ref and the radical centrist's favorite move is self flattery that they could never be worked

Ended up being my favorite panel.

I heard something interesting in the YIMBY Case for Freeway Fighting: Traffic Evaporation. This is the opposite of induced demand. It's circled in big letters in my notebook. Wondering if any research behind it.

I wonder how effective it would be for the transit movement to lean more into the 1) efficiency of transit to move people, 2) parking reform, and 3) congestion pricing as the only proven ways to get cars off the road and actually relieve traffic. But headline always being: GET RID OF TRAFFIC

It's worth emphasizing here that this is not a problem with rent regulations as such. Any change in the housing market that resulted in slower rent growth - including Abundance-style deregulation - would be causing over leveraged landlords the exact same distress.

Apparently the US has all the money in the world to terrorize the residents of its cities but, in the name of fiscal conservatism, must massively cut support for low income people.

To say the nation’s priorities are completely out of whack is a radical understatement

Today I saw soldiers on the National Mall the president sent there to intimidate us

But I also saw what our city has built for & by us. I took our speedy Metro, rode our public bikes on our trail network, swam in a public pool

We can build a society on the basis of fear or a society for the public

All Hail the Humble Speed Hump These simple, cheap traffic-calming devices are both effective and wildly popular with (most) residents. Here’s why more cities are going all-in on speed humps.

Let us pay tribute to the speed hump, an unsung hero of street safety.

These prosaic protrusions of pavement can work wonders -- and at minimal cost.

My deep dive, in Bloomberg 🧵

Which reminds us!

Councilmember @evanmglass.bsky.social (supported by @waba.org) is introducing a bill making it illegal to stop, stand, or park in a bike lane/facility in Montgomery County MD.

Come to the press event at Woodglen Dr/Nicholson Ln, Monday, July 28, 11:30 am to show your support.

I think St. Viateur was better for me. Also, interesting street redesign project going on nearby.

Montréal bagel field research via transit.

The New York Times’ editorial decisions make more sense when you remember their publisher is a fifth-generation owner who was handed the paper as a birthright while the managing editor was a Harvard legacy whose father founded Staples.

They’re very firm believers in the meritocracy, you see.

Reminder: Tomorrow, June 10!

Thank you

June 2025 Meeting: Natali Fani-González

@actfortransit.bsky.social & @montgomery4all.bsky.social are proud to host @natalifg.bsky.social on June 10. Details in the link.

www.actfortransit.org/june_2025_me...

County Experienced Largest Increase in Homelessness In D.C. Area Homelessness rose substantially in Montgomery County during the past year. According to the Point in Time survey coordinated by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, 1,510 people experie...

home prices in Montgomery County have risen 20% in the past four years; meanwhile, homelessness in the county has more than doubled in the same period www.mymcmedia.org/county-exper...

Join us at our May monthly meeting!

Who: Ruth Rosas, @americawalks.bsky.social program manager
What: The Week Without Driving (Sept 29-Oct 5, 2025)
When: Tuesday, May 13, 7:30 pm
Where: ON LINE, YOU MUST REGISTER IN ADVANCE
Why: To learn stuff!

us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Frequent service with diesel buses
is better than
infrequent service with electric buses
because
people can only ride buses that there are.

May 6, 2025 The Action Committee for Transit (ACT) was saddened to learn of the death of Ruiz Bell from a heart attack while he was driving the southbound Ride On Route 55 bus. Mr. Bell was a veteran bus operator and a shop steward with his union. True to his calling as a public servant, Mr. Bell ensured his bus came to a safe stop even while suffering a heart attack. He prevented injuries and loss of additional lives. Montgomery County owes him a debt of gratitude. ACT extends its condolences to the family of Mr. Bell, his friends, and colleagues. Mr. Bell is a reminder of the importance of Ride On’s employees to everyone in our County.

Pope Francis will live on in everyone he inspired. They are all over the world.

Guest column | ‘The Great Gatsby’ is a classic. But a century ago, it flopped. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, published 100 years ago this week, was not popular in the author’s lifetime. But it has come to embody American aspiration.

You can put me in the category of not liking the Great Gatsby the first time I read. I gave it a second chance in the summer of 2007. The book made a different impression that time, and I've enjoyed it ever since.
wapo.st/43Ll98K