rdhale92.bsky.social
Metabolomics researcher at the Yale School of Medicine. @etany.bsky.social member. YIMBY. Construction cost subculturist. Believer in excellent service that charges a fare.
76 posts
59 followers
43 following
Prolific Poster
Conversation Starter
comment in response to
post
Also, Coast Line ridership could really use some help in the form of an enlarged trackside customer base. bsky.app/profile/jack...
comment in response to
post
Not sure if you’re open to a cold conversation, but if so, I am trying to move over from bench work to data science and would love to talk about the role.
comment in response to
post
We need a unity pact from everybody who isn't these two bastards.
comment in response to
post
Our new bill, SB 445, helps end these delays & cost escalations by putting a 30 day deadline on local governments & utilities to act on transit agencies’ requests/permit applications. If they don’t meet that deadline, the transit agency can issue its own permit & move forward with the project.
comment in response to
post
Keep it running while you fight this in court. There is no legal basis for the revocation of the VPPP (or much of what Trump and Musk have done the last month).
comment in response to
post
As of three years ago, RBR was getting $31k/student/year. It isn't starving by any standard. nces.ed.gov/ccd/district...
comment in response to
post
I'd do Washington Street before EWR, but I still don't consider the latter a terrible project, and if you've done enough construction cost reforms for one, you've done enough for both/all.
comment in response to
post
Start with the frequency boosts that Gateway is going to unlock, sure, but bringing the PATH to EWR would help with access from Hudson County and to a lesser extent Lower Manhattan.
comment in response to
post
You should see what it does just west of Christopher Street. Not saying it's great, but if there's any system that's used to curves, it's PATH.
comment in response to
post
6/6 Yes, a 20% recovery ratio is aspirational for some systems! Bad land use does that.
Many can do better than that though.
The number one thread in transit politics is that totally subsidized service tends not to last.
We have to push this issue where we can. It will get noticed-for the better.
comment in response to
post
5/6 Frankly, in New Haven, it's time to raise the fare and run more service. The amount of beater cars here says that even the poor people here are doing whatever they have to do to avoid the bus. A $1.75 fare isn't a flex when the wait is long and the ride is slow.
comment in response to
post
4/6 As ugly a fight as getting to a breakeven subway, LIRR, MN, and Newark Division would be-and as big a spectacle as redoing the buses has been, covering at least rail's opex through fares is totally possible, and you can't tell me that getting there wouldn't provide a ton of political insulation.
comment in response to
post
3/6 In NYC, it took decades to pass congestion pricing, and it won't get transit out of the fiscal woods.
We complain about political strings attached to operating and capital funds.
We can stand to push a lot harder on the farebox recovery ratio-revenue (effective service) and expenses (crews).
comment in response to
post
2/6 I've become pretty frustrated that farebox recovery has fallen out of vogue lately.
Like it or not, transit *is* judged by how much of its costs its riders cover, and it's at least a decent correlate of ridership and modeshare.
comment in response to
post
Let's just say that I definitely think we need a culture change in project delivery. And it has to start from the top - rewarding and promoting people who are willing to do things in a less risk-averse way
comment in response to
post
Fine, Cleveland’s transit isn’t breaking even anytime soon, but land use policy is moving in the right direction in lots of places. Farebox recovery is what many judge transit by for better or worse and is a good correlate of effectiveness. I say not having a goal of increasing it is self-defeating.
comment in response to
post
It's a nice space, but there's nothing around it apart from suburban sprawl, and you'll be calling a cab if you try using the Coast Line to reach it.
comment in response to
post
Also, just about the whole first world expects intercity rail to work off of minimal government support. Most analogs of the Northeast Corridor are lucrative enough to cover their opex and much of their capex, and subsidize weaker routes.
Amtrak should expect to be held to the same standard.
comment in response to
post
There is a kernel of truth to the last sentence-Amtrak's cost structure, both on the Northeast Corridor and off it, is well out of step with those of its peers.