Hobo Pedestrian

walking around looking for a forever home M/Fifth Decade

[hobo-pedestrian]

7 and 4-year-old brothers take parents' car, critically injure woman walking dog in Oakland crash

Relatives say two young brothers, 7 and 4 years old, took their parents' car in Oakland while they were sleeping before losing control and c

[studdedwithdiamonds]

Genz is getting really good at this but I think the world needs more of it: let's be aware of urbanist principles.

like, can we PLEASE bring some activism to the idea of walkable cities, abolishing HOA's, abolishing grass lawns, making cities less road-centric, rewilding certain urban areas, etc. ?? It's a legitimately cool and important thing that will determine the future of many countries.

just like. get super mad about public transit costs for a second. bear with me here.

[remanence-of-love]

[ilcontephotography]

Metro station, by Harry Weese (1977-1983).

Washington D.C., USA.

© Roberto Conte (2019)

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[hobo-pedestrian]

WMATA is a gorgeous system. 😍

[lostfunzones]

“The neighborhood is nothing but a protective zone -- remodeling, disinfection, a snobbish and hygenic design-- but above all in a figurative sense: it is a machine for making emptiness.” - Jean Baudrillard.

[depsidase]

[hobo-pedestrian]

Why Infrastructure Maintenance Might Be The Real Megaproject | The Strong Towns Podcast

New Zealand’s infrastructure commission added up every sector’s project wish‑list—and found a bill voters could never realistically pay. In

Whatever you add, you must maintain. Whether it is a road, or a bike lane, or a streetcar, or a sidewalk or a bus bench the long term costs of upkeep and even replacement should figure into the decision of whether the infrastructure is necessary and sustainable.

An excellent conversation from New Zealand about how that nation defines and prioritizes infrastructure projects.

[hobo-pedestrian]

I picked up this self-published, gorgeous monograph about the history of streetcars in Omaha, Nebraska and Council Bluffs, Iowa. While the subject is niche, it is not arcane. The book is widely available on the secondary market and there seems to still be new copies available.

I have not yet dived deeply into the pages yet, but I'm curious to read the history while living through the context of a streetcar being built in Omaha that is creating serious concerns among citizens, business owners, and even transportation advocates (👋).

[hobo-pedestrian]

When you don't care about people, it shows.

[chloebangbang]

[depsidase]

[hobo-pedestrian]

There is absolutely no such thing as free parking.

[vamptits]

all public transport should be free unconditionally and I'm TIREDDD of pretending this is a radical idea

[vamptits]

thank you so much for asking ☺️ so my first step would be not making people pay for it.

[traycakes]

There's this system where people pay taxes, and the government provides services to benefit the people. I'm surprised so many people haven't heard of it before and get so confused by the possibility.

[hobo-pedestrian]

In places like NYC, where farebox recovery (the amount of the operating budget covered by fares) is very high, fare-free transit is not as realistic as it is in places like Kansas City or Dallas where the majority of the operating budget is covered by property or sales tax and the fare box contributes less than 10%.

High farebox recovery cities have extensive, useful and frequent transit that is valuable to the users. Low farebox recovery cities have transit that is limited, infrequent and provides greater value to the community (a transportation of last resort for people who cannot drive) than to the users. In low farebox recovery cities, fare-free transit is not only possible, it is a good idea.

[traycakes]

The thing is in NYC, a large part of the operating budget is maintaining the fare system and having an army of cops ready to enforce it.

If the costs of the fare system are not included in the farebox recovery estimate, then it's useless and misleading.

[hobo-pedestrian]

One of my favorite examples of police budgets being bullshit is the MTA paying $200 million in policing to combat $50 million in fare evasion. The original point being that high farebox recovery generally correlates with high quality and utility of service. It's worth paying for. In low farebox recovery systems, it's already paid for, and the fare is more of a gatekeeping mechanism than a revenue source.

[vamptits]

all public transport should be free unconditionally and I'm TIREDDD of pretending this is a radical idea

[vamptits]

thank you so much for asking ☺️ so my first step would be not making people pay for it.

[traycakes]

There's this system where people pay taxes, and the government provides services to benefit the people. I'm surprised so many people haven't heard of it before and get so confused by the possibility.

[hobo-pedestrian]

In places like NYC, where farebox recovery (the amount of the operating budget covered by fares) is very high, fare-free transit is not as realistic as it is in places like Kansas City or Dallas where the majority of the operating budget is covered by property or sales tax and the fare box contributes less than 10%.

High farebox recovery cities have extensive, useful and frequent transit that is valuable to the users. Low farebox recovery cities have transit that is limited, infrequent and provides greater value to the community (a transportation of last resort for people who cannot drive) than to the users. In low farebox recovery cities, fare-free transit is not only possible, it is a good idea.

[tmbgareok]

[hobo-pedestrian]

Don't do this.

[sylviaodhner]

My Week Without Driving

This year I did the "Week Without Driving" challenge from America Walks. Living in a car-centric suburb, this wasn't easy. I tried to encourage other people to do it too, but a lot of them said "I can't, I have to drive someone else somewhere." ...which makes sense, because there are so many people who don't drive, even in the suburbs.

Waiting at the bus stop in the morning, I often saw people walking along a high-speed road with no sidewalk, carrying groceries. Even in places that aren't designed for walking, some people will walk anyway, because they need to get around.

I tried to find safe walking routes throughout the week, but it was harder than I expected. At one point I walked two miles out of the way to get to an event without risking my life excessively. Mostly, though, I relied on the local buses. They don't run very often, but I'm lucky to have any transit access in my suburban town.

This challenge is a great way to learn firsthand about the obstacles that non-drivers face in our communities. It happens every year, so join me next year at weekwithoutdriving.org.

[hobo-pedestrian]

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 economi

If we aren't going to build a world where transit works, are we just throwing bad money after good?

Jarrett Walker is always cool headed and insightful on this topic.