I gotta be honest I have been historically skeptical of the idea of digital twins but recently I learned that Japan's MLIT built an entire 3D model of every building and road in the country with semantic and underlying use information, so uh... maybe less skeptical

www.mlit.go.jp/plateau/en/

Trolleybuses pull power directly into efficient, hill-climbing engines without need for massive, pavement-crushing batteries. Next gen trolleys with in-motion charging offer significant off-wire travel, allowing incremental wire extension. SF and Seattle partnering:
www.sfmta.com/media/43118/...

Seattle's transit agency is pivoting away from battery electric buses, and looking to reinvest in a well-tested technology: trolleybuses. www.theurbanist.org/2025/10/13/m...

This is California.

A lot of comments on Mars rovers or Moon landings, but it's important to remember that the planet NASA studies most is Earth. This is less about cutting flashy things like moonwalks and more about keeping communities in the dark on climate, weather, agriculture, pollution, natural hazards, and more.

After pivoting away from an aggressive schedule for battery-bus adoption, Metro plans to focus attention on the tried-and-true trolleybus network. But limited staff, delays obtaining materials, and permit timelines mean expansions will be some time coming.

Story: www.theurbanist.org/2025/10/13/m...

Tactical wayfinding as activism, Singapore edition

Planners and designers are especially cheap compared to digging a tunnel or building a viaduct.

Regions, states and Congress need to get comfortable investing resources in transit planning and design prior to committing to constructing lines on a map.
www.theurbanist.org/2025/10/10/h...

Hot off the presses! If you need a bigger size to print your stickers let me know!

I'm ready for the next World Cup⚽️

サッカー大好きですっ☆特に関節技が得意ですっ☆

Coming soon this Thursday! I created new U and W line badges to continue the speed line tradition. Heh, UW…

Big bendy bus driver in training

Blessed are the frogs, for they keep making authoritarians look incredibly stupid

When I go home to my parents my dad makes all those nam jim. I didn’t realize how easy it is to make most of them. Easy to make and put your own spin on it.

Famous restaurants and chains in Thailand are known for their house sauces, like MK’s suki, Daidomon’s mu krata, Chester’s phrik nam pla, etc.

My mom likes to tell me that Thais are เจ้าแห่งน้ำจิ้ม (experts at dipping sauces). There’s a sauce to pair with any Thai dish, from the universal phrik nam pla to specific sauces for seafood and fried chicken. It’s so readily available in restaurants and bottled I’ve never made most at home (ex PNP ofc).

Interesting program about constructing Singapore’s public housing flats. Even with prefab methods, it takes 3-5.5 years to build a project and before that, 2-2.5 years for pre-construction site prep, and 5-7 years for environmental impact assessment. About 20,000 units are launched each year.

too bad they don’t award prizes posthumously

We did it. We actually did it. We got SB 79 through the legislature and signed into law. An amazing win for housing across California!! Thank you @gavinnewsom.bsky.social (and happy birthday, Governor)!

Yes! Big for California.

Santa Barbara is finally beginning to replace its bike hitching posts with industry standard, more secure and functional U bike racks.

Two good bike developments in Santa Barbara this week!

Construction begins on the county's portion of Modoc multi use path. It will complete a 9-mile continuous low stress route between Santa Barbara and Goleta. The city is working on extending separated bike paths into the Westside and Mesa.

Another 1980s station built with the future in mind is Miami’s Government Center station. There are platforms for an east-west Metrorail line built into the mezzanine under the north-south line platform.

Seattle’s downtown subway was originally built for buses. We need that forward thinking again.

LA’s Metro Center station was built around the same time as Westlake station!

Westlake station originally was supposed to also have its own 5th Avenue headhouse in addition to the building integrated entrances.