The Transportation Historian

Children’s book called “Bicycle Bash” from Alison Farrell A picture of various adaptive bicycles in harmony

A bicycle built just for you and a place to safely ride them. It’s not that much to ask.

Cartoon worm, man accuses women of being “anti-Car “…

I don’t hate cars. Like most North American males I was raised to think cars are cool, and as a design nerd, few objects are more eye-catching.

I hate surrendering our streets, our cities and our lives to them.

Car dependence isn’t freedom.

Great cartoon by @robcowan.bsky.social #CarDependency

Hi @npr.org! We worked late tonight putting together this handy pocket guide!

It doesn't address road design issues, but if we're going to educate road users, we should include drivers.

It's the size of a folded business card. Print it, fold it, put it in your wallet!

A trip to Utrecht isn't complete without a ride to Houten... A few bicycle scenes from there... More in the blog... www.rollinginthecity.ca/blog/trying-... #transportation #cycling #street #cities #urbanism #netherlands #houten #streetphotography #documentaryphotography #fujifilm

Why your next car should be an electric cargo bike Rewiring cities for more human-centric transportation

Why your next car should be an electric cargo bike

I'm sure this was a handy car park a few decades ago but I prefer it like this

New road layout outside a primary school in Utrecht. Bike parking, greenery and cycle tracks to keep kids and parents safe. Compare this to the dangerous car orientated mess that is Downham Road in Hackney!

A key to graceful aging is to always keep moving and human-scale infrastructure is pivotal for enabling people to age in place.

Expressing my gratitude for the Salt Lake City E-Bike Voucher Program Last summer, I was fortunate enough to be selected to receive a voucher through SLC's pilot E-bike Incentive Program. They only had the budget to select around 10% of their applicants, so I definitely don't take my selection for granted. I applied for the low-income, cargo bike category, resulting in my receipt of a voucher for $1300 off of a cargo bike from a number of local bike retailers. After this discount, I paid around $700 for a solid cargo bike, with quality components, long range, and great cargo capacity. As someone who already owned a car, I probably wouldn't have considered getting a bike like this without the discount. However, this was an opportunity too good to pass up on, which has resulted in me replacing countless car trips with bike rides, reducing emissions, relieving traffic congestion, getting a comfortable amount of exercise, and often saving me time and money compared to using my car or public transit.

Primarily, the ebike has been perfect for commuting to U of U. Even though I only live around a 13 minute drive from campus, finding parking plus walking across the large campus to a class can easily add another 10 minutes to the commute, in addition to any traffic along the way. Public transit takes 45-50 minutes, which is doable on a more relaxed day, but clearly not ideal. The ebike shines here, letting me breeze up the steep hills to campus, getting me from my front door to the front door of any campus building in under 20 minutes, every time. Additionally, when leaving campus around rush hour, it feels amazing to be in the bike lane and pass by the huge lines of cars stuck in traffic. This also saves me the hundreds of dollars a year that a parking pass costs, while opening up a spot for someone who lives somewhere that truly requires them to drive. This time and cost savings has meant I've been happy to bike in some exceptionally freezing or rainy days, as it's really not too big of a deal with proper gear. I think everyone, even those with multiple cars/vehicles should consider owning an ebike, especially those living in SLC. So many individual trips can be replaced, while adding minimal travel time. Plus, biking to go get groceries is just more fun, and makes you feel more connected with your community, the environment, and your surroundings. I've been biking all my life, but without this program, I would never have internalized just how possible it is, and how good it feels to replace a huge portion of your daily travel with an ebike, and for that, I sincerely thank everyone behind this program.

The best ad for e-bikes (and e-bike vouchers) are stories from people who get one and are blown away by how convenient and fun they are. (Screenshots below from a Reddit post).

If we cannot all be on the same page that the sitting president threatening to invade a US city is fascist dictator shit then truly I do not know what to do.

People walking and biking get shamed for wearing headphones. Meanwhile, drivers sit inside sealed metal cabins with 12-speaker sound systems, fully isolated from the world and no one questions it, even as they operate 2-ton machines through crowded cities.

Old and new train stations for Omaha (note: I don't own any of the images)

When I tell you we HAD the greatest rail system in the world, I meant it.

(Omaha's Old & New Rail Station)

STOP DOING ZONING • LAND WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE GIVEN ALPHANUMERIC CODES • YEARS OF ZONING yet NO REAL-WORLD BENEFIT found for restricting new development • Wanted to figure out where to build something? We had a tool for that: It was called "COMMON SENSE" • "Yes please give me ZERO new housing units. Please ensure you meet the Parking Minimum" - Statements dreamed up by the utterly Deranged LOOK at what Zoning Commissions have been demanding your Respect for all this time (This is REAL Zoning, done by REAL Zoning Commissions): ????? ?????? ????????????????? "Hello I would like to change the zoning of this plot from R3 to R1" They have played us for absolute fools

The new Amtrak Cascade train cars look nice!

I think people have yet to wake up to just how amazing e-bikes are. I commute about 20 miles a day, using about 10 cents of electricity. (Mostly on safe trails.)
Every time I ride my brain is ecstatic. I get a workout, but don’t need to shower when I get to work.

I still can't get over the fact that "panels you point at sky and make electricity from sunlight with no fuel is the cheapest source of energy" needed explanation.

Further proof that transit—unlike cars and freeways—is green.

#electrictramsongrass

Graphic showing 4 stages from “road for cars” to “street for people.”

The evolution from roads designed for cars, to streets designed for people. It’s never been about whether or not there’s “enough room” — It’s ALWAYS been about our priorities. Nice graphic via @bikeyface.bsky.social. #multimodal

A grayscale photo of the Wabash Pittsburgh Terminal Building in 1905. The intricate stone and brick building is approximately 10 stories tall and located on the corner of two streets, giving it a distinctive triangular shape. On top is a cupola and a large clock. On both streets people and carriages can be seen, as well as streetcar tracks. It was located approximately on the corner of what is now Stanwix Street and Liberty Avenue.

Wabash #Pittsburgh Terminal

Apparently it was only in passenger operation for a relatively short period of time (1904-1931), but the architecture is really cool.

A lot of old #train stations like this had grand interiors, so I wonder what the interior looked like, but I couldn't find any photos.

A bike lane, tram, bus line, and pedestrian-friendly space in front of the Odense Station

A grassy tram like, dedicated bike lane, and tree+pedestrian-friendly space in the middle of Odense

A cyclist and tram pass through a pedestrianized public square in Odense

Once a main stroad through the city center, cars are now sent through a tunnel while the tram runs through the city center

I just spent a few hours in Odense, Denmark.

What an INCREDIBLE city center! 🚊 🚲 🚶‍♂️🌳

I certainly wasn't expecting to hear that a bill to ban minimum parking mandates would be introduced in North Carolina, much less pass the house unanimously.
Of course it still has to pass the senate and the governor, but I hope this will lead to similar bills being introduced in other states.

Will the Ohio Senate Listen to the People on Passenger Rail? | All Aboard Ohio Learn if the Ohio Senate will listen to Ohio's overwhelming support for passenger rail or continue to block progress. Learn about the movement for trains in Ohio.

Will the Ohio Senate listen to Ohioans on Passenger Rail? We summed up everything that happened:
www.allaboardohio.org/posts/will-t...

graph showing cost ranges for high speed rail, which ranges from $89B-$128B with a base of $106B, vs the equivalent Highway and Air capacity which ranges from $179B-253B with a base of $211B

California can't afford to *not* build High Speed Rail. CA High Speed Rail will save the state $100 billion on airport and highway investments - not including the steep economic costs of air pollution and climate change. #FundHSR

Now that’s a view to enjoy a coffee from the @europeansleeper.eu arriving into Rotterdam 🚆🇳🇱

Tariffs could mean the end of the line for the model railroad industry The model railroad industry relies on Asia-sourced parts and pieces for success and tariffs could spell disaster for this niche hobby.

This article doesn't pull any punches, provides a clear picture of the issues, & succinctly covers the impending destruction of even the largest legacy brands.

www.freightwaves.com/news/tariffs...

We really peaked at city-building in North America 100 years ago.

📍 Boston 1906

This man picked up e-biking at age 94. In 2 years, he rode 2,000 miles. Ed McLaughlin, who lives in South Dakota, said he’s proof it’s never too late to start a hobby.

Ed McLaughlin, who rides his bike every morning, said he’s proof that it’s never too late to start a hobby.

“You need to exercise every day,” said McLaughlin, now 96, adding that he prefers cycling to indoor fitness activities.

A tweet by Max Burns (@themaxburns ) reads: "From the U.S. Holocaust Museum: 'What distinguishes a concentration camp from a prison (in the modern sense) is that it functions outside of a judicial system. The prisoners are not indicted or convicted of any crime by judicial process.' Welp."

Never forget.

I don't believe this is inevitable, or at least, the worst of it can be mitigated. However, the longer *vaguely gestures at everything* goes on, I feel like we're losing the chance.

We need to fight against the terrible things happening before it's too late, not wonder why it happened afterwards.