Along for the Ride #249
nyc's congestion pricing rises from the grave
Heya friends, happy Friday!
First of all I want to thank everybody who reached out after last week’s edition. I had some heart-warming and contemplative conversations with friends over gozleme in London last weekend, and received multiple emails from readers around the globe about how they were sitting with the impact. I liked this note from Adam (a reader in the UK):
“To end on a positive, in the long term, things tend to improve, but it isn't a straight road, and this is a particularly worrying divergence from the trend, but the trend will win eventually.”
I hope wherever you are you’re doing something kind for yourself and preparing what it about to be a dizzying four years of “what the actual fuck is going on” at an even more alarming rate than we’re already used to 🙃. Today we’re back to the transportation news, but there will always be political musing and actions baked into the newsletter. I’ve been at this for over five years, and that has always been the MO, and won’t be changing anytime soon.
What the Trump Administration means for transportation
Filed under: shit I wish I didn’t have to share. The cheeto puff has already said he will remove the Department of Education, one of many agenda items from Project 2025. Project 2025 also describes eliminating USDOT funding for biking and walking paths, and ending support for transit expansions. FML!!! But thankfully the article above makes me feel slightly less dreary about everything.
In Bloomberg, David Zipper sits down with Transportation for America’s Beth Osborne to discuss the implications of another Trump presidency. Reading this was less depressing than I anticipated. Osborne starts with some good news: For non-automobile modes of transportation, federal funding is locked in due to the surface transportation reauthorization [within the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law] and the rules of Highway Trust Fund. So we likely won’t see funding be scrapped entirely (yet).
NYC’s Congestion Pricing re-introduced
Well, well, well. New York Governor, Kathy Hochul, is bringing congestion pricing back from the dead and plans to launch it on (*checks notes*) January 5th. 15 days before the presidential inauguration. I’m glad she’s pushing for this now, but wish she’d had the spine to see it through months ago. As a reminder, congestion pricing is designed to fund $15 billion worth of crucial transit repairs in New York City.
The urban / rural divide on highways
Three years ago the US introduced the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Transportation for America reviewed how the $1.2 trillion Act has been implemented and surprisingly found that “rural, conservative states seem to be pushing through projects that will yield less carbon emissions in the long term compared to their more progressive urban counterparts.” The report says these States aren’t investing more in sustainable infrastructure, they’re just not investing in expanding their highways…!
Baidu has plans to bring AVs to Hong Kong
Hong Kong’s Mass Transit Railway (MTR) has: 10 heavy rail lines (129.9 mi), and 12 light rail lines (22.5 mi). The city state’s modal split is 75% public transit, 13% walking and 15% cars. It has an incredibly dense urban geography. But sure… bring AVs to Hong Kong. I’m sure they are going to ~revolutionise~ their transit system.
Waymo launches service to all Angelenos
Waymo has removed their waitlist in LA, and now anybody with the Waymo app can hail an AV in the 80 sqmi that they operates in Los Angeles. I believe as part of their marketing efforts, Jimmy Kimmel did a skit putting his Aunt Chippy in a Waymo without telling her there would be no driver and it is quite funny (note: that link starts with a segment about Trump’s recent cabinet appointments, so if you don’t want to experience that, jump ahead to 7:40). Shout out to my old manager Rachel for the comedy share!!
Trump is likely to squash NHTSA’s investigation into Tesla
You know.. the one where they determine if Tesla’s Full Self-Driving program is safe enough for public roads or like … going to kill people. Looks like Musk’s $119M investment in Trump will pay off.
Zoox’s toaster car hits the SF roads
The article above calls the vehicle pill-shaped, when it is clearly toaster shaped. But in all earnest, Zoox is testing one of the more innovative models of AVs in San Francisco. It reminds me of Cruise’s (now dead in the water) Origin vehicle. You enter through sliding doors and sit in little pods—there are no manual driving controls at all. The entire vehicle has been designed for this purpose and not retrofitted to autonomy. Only Zoox employees can partake in the current trial.
How to design and build ebike incentive programs
“This review examines different design elements of implemented financial incentive programmes for e-bike uptake in OECD countries. The findings reveal three main components common to these schemes: (1) target cohort, with the majority of programmes focusing on the local population; (2) eligible e-bike types, with regular e-bikes being the most frequently chosen; and (3) financial incentive structures aimed at maximising uptake among the target cohort, with post-purchase rebates being the most prevalent.”
AVs will ruin cities, not fix them
Jalopnik has a … snarky (approved) take on AVs based on this longer video from Not Just Bikes, talking about why introducing ease into accessing vehicles isn’t the solution some think it is.
The very-human problem with not-quite autonomous vehicles
“The better an automated system performs, the more complacent — and dangerous — we become… When you ask humans to supervise automated systems, their attention starts to wander, which means they don’t always notice in time when a problem does arise, nor are they aware enough of the context to immediately take over. And the better an automated system performs most of the time, the more complacent we humans become.”
I am a bit of a birthday blues person, but this past week I celebrated my most recent turn around the sun. I ate copious pain au chocolats, saw paddington 3 (better than 1, but nothing can beat 2 right?), received kind voice notes from friends, and had a few dinners in London with people who make the city feel like home. My friends in SF sent me this delightful edit of all of my favourite things: paddington, g&ts, taylor, and the oceanic abyss (sharing with you for the lols). I felt surrounded by love near and far, but am also excited to re-enter my non-birthday cave 😅.
I’ve been watching Agatha All Along on Disney+ and can’t decide if I love or hate it. It is ~witchy~ vibes, so in general… skewing positive lol. Curious if anybody else is watching and has Opinions™️.
That’s all from me. Have a beautiful weekend friends.
Sarah
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Nashville, TN , just passed a pretty impressive transit referendum, hoping it has a positive cascade effect for the surrounding cities! Thankful for your updates.