How US Public Transit is Like the Postal Service

From transit planner Jarrett Walker, Public Transit and the Postal Service Have the Same Problem. Postal and transit services have the same problem. We want them to attract high usage and we want them to go everywhere, but those goals imply opposite kinds of service. Pursuing either goal will cause outcomes that look like failure …

The Mail

Motherboard just announced a weekly newsletter about the United States Postal Service called The Mail, written by senior staff writer Aaron Gordon. You can subscribe to the email version for free, or pay $30 to receive a monthly zine, rather appropriately, in the mail. The USPS is often confused as a private business that the …

Residential Infill Project

Earlier this week, Portland City Council passed historic housing reform known as the Residential Infill Project, which re-legalizes middle housing like triplexes and fourplexes and incentivizes building more dense and affordable housing throughout the city. The ordinance also makes the construction of driveways optional and removes on-site parking requirements, essentially removing mandated parking minimums city-wide. …

Transit Class

The City of Portland has just announced that they’ll be offering their annual Portland Traffic & Transportation course as an online class this year. The course, co-founded in 1991 by everyone’s favorite bespectacled cycling enthusiast (and Oregon Congressman) Earl Blumenauer, has been offered free of charge to any Portland resident interested in learning more about …

Defunctland on the ’64 World’s Fair

Defunctland, a YouTube channel that usually focusses on producing video essays about discontinued amusement park attractions, has been branching out a bit lately. Their latest video is about the 1964 New York World’s Fair, and the collaboration between New York city planner Robert Moses and Walt Disney. Related: Defunctland’s video on the the invention of …