Sandy Johnston
@sandypsj.bsky.social
Transit geek. Planner. Cat dad. Cubs fan. Deputy Director of Regional Transit Planning at MBTA. Blogging much less than I'd like at www.itineranturbanist.wordpress.com.
Opinions my own.
Opinions my own.
In all fairness, the freedom to freeze to death at a football game is what we fought for, no?
x.com/i/status/199...
x.com/i/status/199...
December 7, 2025 at 11:57 PM
In all fairness, the freedom to freeze to death at a football game is what we fought for, no?
x.com/i/status/199...
x.com/i/status/199...
Reposted by Sandy Johnston
insane local news just dropped. i've lived in a part of KC for ~decade and it's been an inside joke with friends and service workers that the local biz/party district is ran by a cartel of biz owners who bully out new ventures and replace them with generic dive bars for white suburbanites.
Well UH
Well UH
December 5, 2025 at 7:16 PM
insane local news just dropped. i've lived in a part of KC for ~decade and it's been an inside joke with friends and service workers that the local biz/party district is ran by a cartel of biz owners who bully out new ventures and replace them with generic dive bars for white suburbanites.
Well UH
Well UH
We left when I was 6 and I haven't been back since a couple of years after that, but my layout is a love letter to Midwestern railroading, and to towns like Storm Lake, which was somewhat inexplicably served by three railroads* at one point in time.
*IC, MILW, and a short-lived M&StL branch
*IC, MILW, and a short-lived M&StL branch
December 7, 2025 at 3:14 AM
We left when I was 6 and I haven't been back since a couple of years after that, but my layout is a love letter to Midwestern railroading, and to towns like Storm Lake, which was somewhat inexplicably served by three railroads* at one point in time.
*IC, MILW, and a short-lived M&StL branch
*IC, MILW, and a short-lived M&StL branch
It won't win any awards for sophistication as a model, and won't see much service on my layout since it doesn't fit the era, but this rare Chicago Central & Pacific caboose means a lot to me since that's the railroad that ran through Storm Lake IA when I lived there as a kid 1991-94.
December 7, 2025 at 2:07 AM
It won't win any awards for sophistication as a model, and won't see much service on my layout since it doesn't fit the era, but this rare Chicago Central & Pacific caboose means a lot to me since that's the railroad that ran through Storm Lake IA when I lived there as a kid 1991-94.
Reposted by Sandy Johnston
Southern Pacific’s electrification & modernization of Oakland, Berkeley and Alameda suburban rail.
- 29 miles of upgrades
- 21 miles of extensions
- 7 year schedule
- standardized pole spacing and specs
- self built power generation
- budget from conceptual design to final acceptance $4m —> $10.5m
- 29 miles of upgrades
- 21 miles of extensions
- 7 year schedule
- standardized pole spacing and specs
- self built power generation
- budget from conceptual design to final acceptance $4m —> $10.5m
December 6, 2025 at 2:34 AM
Southern Pacific’s electrification & modernization of Oakland, Berkeley and Alameda suburban rail.
- 29 miles of upgrades
- 21 miles of extensions
- 7 year schedule
- standardized pole spacing and specs
- self built power generation
- budget from conceptual design to final acceptance $4m —> $10.5m
- 29 miles of upgrades
- 21 miles of extensions
- 7 year schedule
- standardized pole spacing and specs
- self built power generation
- budget from conceptual design to final acceptance $4m —> $10.5m
boooooooooooooooooooo
Today in Chicago History: Mayor Richard M. Daley strikes lopsided parking meter deal
Today in Chicago History: Mayor Richard M. Daley strikes lopsided parking meter deal
Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on Dec. 4, according to the Tribune’s archives.
trib.al
December 4, 2025 at 1:35 PM
boooooooooooooooooooo
Reposted by Sandy Johnston
Starting Dec 10, most Bay Area transit transfers will be free for two hours. If you take AC Transit to BART then transfer to Muni, your fare today is $9.10. With Clipper 2, the free AC and Muni transfers mean your fare will be just $3.90
1/
1/
December 3, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Starting Dec 10, most Bay Area transit transfers will be free for two hours. If you take AC Transit to BART then transfer to Muni, your fare today is $9.10. With Clipper 2, the free AC and Muni transfers mean your fare will be just $3.90
1/
1/
Boston, sometimes you glow
December 3, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Boston, sometimes you glow
Just enough snow to be cute overnight
December 3, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Just enough snow to be cute overnight
A lone pedestrian crosses the Southwest Corridor at Williams St with Green St station and the Pru in the background
December 1, 2025 at 11:11 PM
A lone pedestrian crosses the Southwest Corridor at Williams St with Green St station and the Pru in the background
Fun mini-layout prototype: the shops of the Cloquet Terminal Railroad in Cloquet, MN www.google.com/maps/@46.726...
railroadfan.com/wiki/index.p...
railroadfan.com/wiki/index.p...
December 1, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Fun mini-layout prototype: the shops of the Cloquet Terminal Railroad in Cloquet, MN www.google.com/maps/@46.726...
railroadfan.com/wiki/index.p...
railroadfan.com/wiki/index.p...
Slow zones are a big problem for CTA in large part because Chicago is just such a geographically huge city. The trains really need to be fast to be effective.
Taking "rapid" out of "rapid transit." Over 20% of @chicagocta.bsky.social usable rail length is classified as being in a slow zone. Capital funding is next big transit challenge to tackle. Accelerating I-290 (Eisenhower/Congress) roadway/transit project addresses ~1/4 of the slow zone trackage.
The T’s dedication to slow zone removal has led to pretty dramatic ridership improvements. It’s a model that should be emulated elsewhere.
Picture unrelated
Picture unrelated
December 1, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Slow zones are a big problem for CTA in large part because Chicago is just such a geographically huge city. The trains really need to be fast to be effective.
Reposted by Sandy Johnston
Downzoning was used by cities around the world to preserve neighborhood aesthetics & protect property values.
New evidence from Chicago in @findingspress.org ⏬ shows downzoning's effects over several decades:
—Massive drop in housing construction
—Higher home prices
—Increased racial segregation
New evidence from Chicago in @findingspress.org ⏬ shows downzoning's effects over several decades:
—Massive drop in housing construction
—Higher home prices
—Increased racial segregation
Downzoning Chicago: How Local Land Use Policy Has Reduced Housing Construction and Reinforced Segregation | Published in Findings
By Yonah Freemark, George Kisiel. Downzonings were used by US cities in the postwar period to preserve neighborhood character. These land-use policies were associated with lower housing supply, higher...
findingspress.org
December 1, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Downzoning was used by cities around the world to preserve neighborhood aesthetics & protect property values.
New evidence from Chicago in @findingspress.org ⏬ shows downzoning's effects over several decades:
—Massive drop in housing construction
—Higher home prices
—Increased racial segregation
New evidence from Chicago in @findingspress.org ⏬ shows downzoning's effects over several decades:
—Massive drop in housing construction
—Higher home prices
—Increased racial segregation
Reposted by Sandy Johnston
Ex-official explained this in a way that will stick with me forever: Within fire departments, the EMTs are overworked and underpaid and don’t have time to advocate for policy. The fire chiefs, on the other hand, have a lot more time on their hands. So fire response, not medical, dictates policy.
November 30, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Ex-official explained this in a way that will stick with me forever: Within fire departments, the EMTs are overworked and underpaid and don’t have time to advocate for policy. The fire chiefs, on the other hand, have a lot more time on their hands. So fire response, not medical, dictates policy.
The recent horrendous Hong Kong fire was close to where my family spent two summers when I was little. According to my mother (I have zero recollection) I learned to read in part by reading about construction fires in the local English tabloid. I was a late but quickly voracious reader.
November 30, 2025 at 5:08 AM
The recent horrendous Hong Kong fire was close to where my family spent two summers when I was little. According to my mother (I have zero recollection) I learned to read in part by reading about construction fires in the local English tabloid. I was a late but quickly voracious reader.
First flakes of the season falling in JP!
November 28, 2025 at 8:54 PM
First flakes of the season falling in JP!
Getting a *very* high rate of technical errors with Black Friday stuff online right now. Codes not working, codes not applying correctly, slow websites, checkout not working for no apparent reason...is this normal?
November 28, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Getting a *very* high rate of technical errors with Black Friday stuff online right now. Codes not working, codes not applying correctly, slow websites, checkout not working for no apparent reason...is this normal?
Reposted by Sandy Johnston
existing evidence suggested that new market rate housing creates a pretty substantial amount of affordable housing automatically through vacancy chain effects; now we have evidence that it actually does that at a higher rate than new affordable housing does
November 28, 2025 at 4:49 PM
existing evidence suggested that new market rate housing creates a pretty substantial amount of affordable housing automatically through vacancy chain effects; now we have evidence that it actually does that at a higher rate than new affordable housing does
Reposted by Sandy Johnston
first one of these I’ve seen that compares the effects of market rate vs income restricted units
November 28, 2025 at 4:43 PM
first one of these I’ve seen that compares the effects of market rate vs income restricted units
Reposted by Sandy Johnston
Interesting new working paper that studies chains of movers after the construction of a new apartment building in Honolulu.
Paper finds that the project resulted in the opening up other, lower cost, housing on the island, benefiting the housing market overall.
Paper finds that the project resulted in the opening up other, lower cost, housing on the island, benefiting the housing market overall.
uhero.hawaii.edu
November 28, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Interesting new working paper that studies chains of movers after the construction of a new apartment building in Honolulu.
Paper finds that the project resulted in the opening up other, lower cost, housing on the island, benefiting the housing market overall.
Paper finds that the project resulted in the opening up other, lower cost, housing on the island, benefiting the housing market overall.
Reposted by Sandy Johnston
From William Middleton’s “North Shore Line” book.
November 28, 2025 at 1:38 AM
From William Middleton’s “North Shore Line” book.
Nice little Thanksgiving walk at Hammershop Pond in Sharon, MA
November 27, 2025 at 8:37 PM
Nice little Thanksgiving walk at Hammershop Pond in Sharon, MA
Happy Thanksgiving from the City of Boston and one of its adorable bike lane sweepers!
November 27, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Happy Thanksgiving from the City of Boston and one of its adorable bike lane sweepers!
Bowditch School looked great earlier today
November 27, 2025 at 3:20 AM
Bowditch School looked great earlier today
Southwest Corridor Regional
November 26, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Southwest Corridor Regional