Category: transportation
-
California High Speed Rail Thoughts
60 Minutes recently ran a story about California High Speed Rail (CAHSR). I haven’t been particularly impressed by the project or the news story. Multiple decades spent building a train to nowhere? A partisan Bari Weiss hitpiece on Gavin Newsom? I’ve lived in California for the past 25 years, minus a three-year stint in New Read more
-
Tiger Tiger
One of my last projects when I was at the RAND Corporation involved leading a small tiger team. We were charged with identifying innovative opportunities for helping Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria. There were a few other tiger teams, each with slightly different Strategic Objectives. We had fun, open, and Read more
-
Shock and Aww
I haven’t felt much like blogging recently. It has felt like the wrong time to be writing about the topics that usually interest me. Whatever you do, don’t believe the experts talking about what happens next. They’re usually completely wrong. They are in the business of being interesting not of being correct. I’m looking at you Read more
-
Mandarins Demanding a Surfeit?
Laura Bliss managed to make an entertaining article about an emerging set of data standards. She had me at Mobility Data Specification (MDS). Others might be more interested in the bureaucrat battling Uber, the hint of corruption, or the grandiose visions of the future of traffic. I’m excited about MDS. Of course I am; I am a transportation data scientist. Read more
-
Car-free Market Street: First Thoughts
I work just off Market Street in San Francisco. The city recently closed this section of the street to private automobile traffic, part of a larger, global trend towards car-free streets. I’m cautiously optimistic. State Street in Chicago serves as a cautionary tale, but the analogy is imperfect. A (Modest) Win So Far Most people I have spoken with seem Read more