Public Transit

Houston Buses Gain Ridership While Bus Systems Around the Country Struggle
When Houston reworked their bus system they emphasized frequency and simplicity. The results have been a bump in ridership, though some complain the system sacrificed coverage and equity to make those gains.

San Francisco Muni Hack Could Have Been a Catastrophe
The Internet of Things will continue to be a concern for cities, the ransomeware that struck the San Francisco transit system could have been much worse. A future attack will be.

D.C. Metro and Uber Partnership Seeks a Win-Win
Uber and D.C. Metro are partnering in new ways as the transit agency deals with fallout from its SafeTrack repair program.

Private Rail Contractors Facing Fines for Service Failures
Private companies involved in Boston and Denver rail travel are facing increasingly large fines for service failures, and some are going unpaid.

King County Expands Fare-Free Transit for Riders in Need
The victory for homeless and very low-income transit riders is a reminder of the importance of grassroots organizing.

Local Buses Among the First to Benefit from L.A. County's Measure M
Fifteen municipal or regional bus services in Los Angeles County that receive funding from the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority will be among the first to benefit from a newly approved transportation sales tax.

Train Commuters Moving to Bikeshare in D.C.
Capital Bikeshare's ridership numbers are benefitting from delays and other service constraints resulting from WMATA's SafeTrack maintenance program.

Preparing for the Worst with L Maintenance In Brooklyn
As the MTA repairs Hurricane Sandy-related damage to train transit, advocates look for solution to a coming transit crunch.

Op-Ed: Environmentalists Must Fight for Density
Members of the Sierra Club and the Young Democrats of University of Washington come together to advocate more dense zoning in one of Seattle's most transit accessible neighborhoods.

Who Benefits from the East Bay's Big Bus Rapid Transit Project?
A key commercial corridor connecting Oakland and Fremont in the East Bay Area is due for a dramatic transformation in the form of a new Bus Rapid Transit line.

All-Door Boarding a Missed Opportunity in NYC
American transit systems are increasingly moving to structures that allow pre-paying and all-door boarding. David Meyer argues that these systems have proven their worth and fears of fare evasion aren't enough to justify inferior services.
Detroit's Failed Regional Transit Plan Strikes a Blow to the City's Revival
Voters in the Detroit region had a chance to reverse 40 years of neglect for regional transit. Instead, they kicked the can down the road.

Big Hopes Ride on a Recently Approved Transit Station in Alexandria
A long-delayed decision by the National Park Service and the Federal Highway Administration removes the final regulatory obstacle for the construction of a new Metro station in Alexandria, Virginia.

Chicago Debates Merits of Expanding the Kennedy Expressway
Chicago's Kennedy Expressway to the O'Hare Airport is getting a $22.9 million lane expansion, some active transit and public transit advocates question the wisdom of that investment.

The Big Ideas Behind the Proposed 'Chicago Transit Redevelopment Trust'
The Chicago Central Area Committee has thrown its hand into the ring for the "100&Change" grant from the MacArthur Foundation.

Detroit Ballot Measure Puts Regional Transit in Reach
Involving four counties and $4.6 billion, the measure proposes a system that could put a million residents (and a million jobs) within a quarter mile of transit.

Lessons in Transit Fares from Toronto's UP Express
Faced with the underwhelming performance of the newly opened UP Express, Toronto transit officials did something drastic: they slashed the cost of a ride.

Uber's Bid for the Suburbs
The train ride from Summit, New Jersey to Penn Station takes 45 minutes. The real problem: getting to the train. By subsidizing Uber rides to and from the local station, the town hopes to avoid building another expensive parking lot.

D.C. Metro's Proposed Service Cuts Would Disproportionately Affect Communities of Color
Planning and urbanism writers in Washington, D.C. agree that a proposal to cut service to 20 stations in the Metrorail system would have harmful effects for minorities in the region.

An Argument for Light Rail Over Bus Rapid Transit
Opponents of the ST3 transit funding measure in Seattle have argued that bus rapid transit is a cheaper alternative to light rail. A local write counter argues that point by making the economic case for light rail.
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