Congress appropriated billions of dollars for new transit projects. Why is the Trump administration spending none of it? Why are even transit projects in red states going unfounded? New reporting in @nytimes.com (gift link): www.nytimes.com/2026/07/27/u...

US government has spent $37.5 billion in 5 months on Iran war, equivalent to amount of money it spends on housing vouchers annually. While one policy helps 5 million Americans afford decent homes, the other kills innocent bystanders, destroys essential infrastructure, & increases energy prices.

just mind boggling that as we suffer through this the trump admin is paying off energy companies to kill wind farms, the US EV market has imploded because of lack of subsidies, congress wants to pass a transport bill that would reduce funds for transit, & national dems have no climate strategy

DC is making good progress on its deckover of Connecticut Ave near Dupont Circle. It will improve the district, making it more walkable, with less pollution. Cities across the US were supposed to get similar improvements to reconnect communities. But GOP killed funding for these projects in 2025.

The US House is considering a transportation bill that would cut transit funding massively. We estimate that it would cut transit funds by 23% compared to the current infrastructure law. Every state would lose millions of dollars in transit formula funding. Details: www.urban.org/urban-wire/h...

Latest data on transit ridership show the Seattle region's 12-month rolling light rail ridership is now #2 in the nation, behind Los Angeles. Seattle is now carrying 68% more riders on light rail than it did pre-pandemic. Updated on Transport Databook: www.thetransportpolitic.com/databook/us-...

The Trump admin has systematically used the BUILD program to fund road expansion, which is not at all how Biden or Obama used it. www.urban.org/research/pub...

A new report from @frontiergroup.bsky.social shows how some states have reduced vehicle miles traveled per capita: frontiergroup.org/resources/wh... One key explanation: Land use! ⏬ States with higher population densities have less car travel! And states that grew through density reduced driving!

Despite the enactment of the 2021 infrastructure law, total US spending on rail transit/railway construction was lower in 2022–24 than in the previous years, when adjusted for actual construction costs. And while highway spending increased briefly, it's come down again. www.urban.org/research/pub...

What's wild about the growth in China's metro systems is that, over the past 10 years, the country has multiplied its line lengths by 3. Since 2016, China has added, in essence, the route mileage of all US metro systems—6 times over. www.thetransportpolitic.com/databook/ind...

Chinese cities have 7,600 miles of metro lines: 6x as many route miles as in Japan, 9x as many as in the US. But per-capita, the longest metro networks are in: 1—Singapore 2—Qatar 3—South Korea 4—Norway 5—Japan 6—Spain 7—Taiwan 8—Sweden 9—Greece 10—UAE www.thetransportpolitic.com/databook/ind...

In June 2026, fully electric cars reached 30% of the French new car market, a record, up from 17% in June 2025. In the 1st 6 months of 2026, only 17.6% of new car sales in France were fully gas/diesel. 50.9% were hybrids. pfa-auto.fr/2026/07/01/m...

Indeed, Hudson County ranks #5 nationwide among counties (after 4 NYC counties) in terms of share of commuters traveling to work by transit! www.thetransportpolitic.com/databook/us-...

Top 10 US cities with the smallest share of workers commuting by driving alone: —Hoboken NJ —Cambridge MA —New York NY —Jersey City NJ —Berkeley CA —Washington DC —Brookline MA —San Francisco CA —West New York NJ —Somerville MA www.thetransportpolitic.com/databook/us-...

Top 10 US cities by share of workers commuting by transit: —New York NY —Union City NJ —Jersey City NJ —West New York NJ —Hoboken NJ —Mt Vernon NY —Yonkers NY —Boston MA —Revere MA —East Orange NJ www.thetransportpolitic.com/databook/us-...

Top 10 US cities by share of workers commuting by bike: —Davis CA —Boulder CO —Palo Alto CA —Cambridge MA —Somerville MA —Corvallis OR —Santa Cruz CA —Arlington MA —Berkeley CA —Miami Beach FL www.thetransportpolitic.com/databook/us-...

Top 10 US cities by share of workers commuting by walking: —Cambridge MA —Brookline MA —New Brunswick NJ —Iowa City IA —Columbia SC —New Haven CT —Berkeley CA —Jacksonville NC —Boston MA —Ann Arbor MI On Transport Databook: www.thetransportpolitic.com/databook/us-...

How do neighborhoods across US cities compare in terms of transit use? Which countries have added the most metro lines? What US transit agencies have added the most ridership? Find out with Transport Databook, a new resource with interactive maps & graphs: www.thetransportpolitic.com/databook/

The US government continues to spend literally millions of tax dollars daily to deploy National Guard members to stand aimlessly around Metro stations, walk in odd formations along major DC streets, and, apparently, put up fences around the reflecting pool

US cities face 3 parallel crises: 1—Rise of remote work 2—Fewer young adults in upcoming generations 3—Less immigration due to Trump admin A new report @urbaninstitute.bsky.social shows how cities can improve their economies by improving life for people with kids: www.urban.org/research/pub...

Europe is currently experiencing an unprecedented heat wave. The US government is paying companies to stop plans for wind farms. Tech companies are building mountains of energy-sucking data centers. This is unsustainable, literally www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

Where has housing development been *most concentrated* between 2020 & 2025: most housing added within a 1/2-mile area? 1—Dwtn Brooklyn 2—NoMa DC 3—Dwtn Nashville 4—Dwtn Miami 5—Long Is City Queens 6—N Liberties Philly 7—First Hill Seattle 8—Near N. Chicago Explore: www.urban.org/urban-wire/w...

Well, it depends on how you measure! In my other approach (see the post! www.urban.org/urban-wire/w...), I find that Downtown JC had more housing built within a 1/2 mile area than SoMa.

Though downtown Nashville had the highest growth in housing supply overall, the neighborhoods with the highest growth in housing *density* were all in New York City. That's because these neighborhoods are physically smaller than downtown Nashville, which is spread over a larger area.

The top 10 US neighborhoods in terms of added housing supply, 2020–25: 1—Downtown Nashville 2—Central Philly 3—Downtown Brooklyn 4—Downtown Seattle 5—Downtown Salt Lake City 6—Downtown Miami 7—NoMa DC 8—South Bronx 9—Downtown Denver 10—Navy Yard DC Explore: www.urban.org/urban-wire/w...

I am currently at the DC national mall reflecting pool, which the Trump admin just spent millions of dollars to renovate and paint blue. It is indeed bright green and packed with algae.

They both lost units in their sort of mid-density areas! Which makes sense given the trajectory of each metropolitan area. Both central cities lost housing units overall from 2000 to 2020.

This produces what we might call the paradox of housing supply growth: Regions with the fastest growth in supply, typically in the Sunbelt, often actually grew *less quickly* in their existing neighborhoods. Those fast-growing regions are simply growing through sprawl www.urban.org/research/pub...

Metro areas like Houston & Phoenix grew at a much faster rate overall, than regions like New York & Washington DC. But this was not the case in those regions' already developed neighborhoods. There, the New York & DC regions grew *more quickly* than the equivalent areas in Houston & Phoenix!

How did the US add housing from 2000 to 2020? In the New York region, ~1/2 of homes were added in neighborhoods that already had >5000 units/sq mi: high-density areas. But in regions like Dallas & Phoenix, almost all units were added through sprawl. An investigation: www.urban.org/research/pub...