“We assume that car use is an incompressible liquid that must be routed somewhere. But it’s more more like a gas that fills whatever space it is given.”
—Ian Lockwood, Harvard Loeb Fellow, transport planner.
High-speed rail has replaced polluting short-haul flights between many cities.
In #China, electric-powered bullet trains now completely dominate the medium-haul market between #Beijing and #Shanghai.
"I'm puzzled when people say the Swiss have good transportation because they're rich. It has nothing to do with that. They're still using trams from 1970. They restore them every 7 years. Making do is part of the culture. If you're using trams for 50 years, that's a hell of a savings."
—Norman Garrick
🇨🇭 🧵
On Sunday, #Zürich residents voted 52.8% in favor of increasing parking fees for cars according to weight.
The owner of a BMW X2 (Diesel), which weighs 1,675 kilograms, will now pay equivalent of €717 Euros per year to park on a public street. (Before, about €321.)
Direct democracy!
More here: (in German)
Things aren't *all* bad!
Around the world, people are working to make their communities into better places.
In my HIGH SPEED newsletter, I document the transportation revolution that's transforming the world with bicycles, walkable streets, transit, and electric inter-city trains...
🚄🧵
"These red buses are beautiful! #London is beautiful!"
Spare a minute for "Bus Aunty," a mental health nurse, originally from #Nigeria, whose viral clips of TFL Double Deckers spread the transit love.
(She'll do you good.)
It's worse than you thought.
Not only is the Trump administration taking over D.C.'s Union Station ("too much crime"), they've also shelved plans for a $10 billion expansion.
They don't build anything; they only know how to mess up, and tear down.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/08/27/union-station-trump-control/
