Category Archives: Transportation

OpenStreetsDC and Safer Streets, the Dupont Circle Edition

Posted on October 13, 2019 by mikethemadbiologist

Last weekend, D.C. shut down three miles of Georgia Avenue (over by Petworth) to turn it into a pedestrian-only street (bikes and scooters were allowed too). It was a great success (local businesses seemed to do well too), and Georgia … Continue reading →

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AI, Go, and Self-Driving Cars

Posted on August 23, 2019 by mikethemadbiologist

I came across this thread which lays out pretty clearly (with .gifs!) an argument against self-driving cars. Put simply: will that car pull out? does the driver see me? is that pedestrian going to cross? is it a child or … Continue reading →

Posted in Computers, Transportation | 7 Comments

Two Prosaic Reasons for Small(er) Protests in the U.S.: Transit and Geography

Posted on August 22, 2019 by mikethemadbiologist

With the inspiring protests in Hong Kong, there has been the occasional remark along the lines of ‘why aren’t there larger protests’, especially in D.C. While there are lots of reasons, there are two rather boring, yet important, ones, as … Continue reading →

Posted in DC, Resistance Rebellion And Death, Transportation | Comments Off on Two Prosaic Reasons for Small(er) Protests in the U.S.: Transit and Geography

The Failure of Governance: The Dupont Circle Station Edition

Posted on August 7, 2019 by mikethemadbiologist

In a bit, I’m going to dive into some specifics, but there’s a general problem in much of the U.S., which is that governance, on the whole, is not very good. Basically, we have two choices: Republicans who don’t believe … Continue reading →

Posted in DC, Democrats, Transportation | 1 Comment

Urban Businesses and Parking

Posted on July 17, 2019 by mikethemadbiologist

Too often, when people propose removing parking spaces in cities, often to add infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists, businesses will argue that losing that parking costs them customers. Well, thanks to a months long shutdown of multiple stations along D.C.’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Transportation | 1 Comment

You Are the Traffic: The Boston Red Line Breakdown Edition

Posted on June 28, 2019 by mikethemadbiologist

Recently, in an effort to make D.C.’s WMATA feel good about itself, Boston’s T, specifically the Red Line, was pretty much broken due to a derailed train that wiped out much of the signaling infrastructure. As with so many unplanned … Continue reading →

Posted in Boston, Transportation | 1 Comment

Mass Transit Is Not Pity Charity

Posted on June 23, 2019 by mikethemadbiologist

It’s the only way cities can work. Last week, Montgomery County officials (Maryland) spent a week using mass transit instead of driving. That’s a good start, but, if they were to use for months, they would probably get a better … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Warming, Transportation | Comments Off on Mass Transit Is Not Pity Charity

Libertarians Still Don’t Understand Geometry

Posted on June 12, 2019 by mikethemadbiologist

At least when it comes to transportation. Over at Reason, there is a pean to privatized transportation (boldface mine): An article in last week’s New York Times joins others in asking us to sympathize with the beleaguered transit industry, whose … Continue reading →

Posted in Transportation | 1 Comment

You Are the Traffic: The Blue/Yellow Line Closure Edition

Posted on June 6, 2019 by mikethemadbiologist

Even if you never set foot on the Metro (because my fellow passengers and I will MURDER-DEATH-KILL YOU), it serves a very important purpose: it keeps other people out of their cars. Given that there’s very little slack in our … Continue reading →

Posted in DC, Transportation | 1 Comment

Cars and Suburbia: Why I Am Pessimistic About a Green New Deal

Posted on May 26, 2019 by mikethemadbiologist

Let me preface this with noting that, as an organizing principle, the Green New Deal (GND) is pretty good. But I’ve had doubts about the GND doing much to significantly curb U.S. CO2 emissions, and this excellent column by Gordon … Continue reading →

Posted in DC, Global Warming, Transportation, We're Really Fucked | 1 Comment