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The Overhead Wire

@theoverheadwire.com

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Jeff Wood is the host of the Talking Headways podcast and the publisher of The Overhead Wire daily newsletter. http://theoverheadwire.com Sign up for our 19 year old daily newsletter here: https://mailchi.mp/theoverheadwire/trial

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The Overhead Wire @theoverheadwire.com · Nov 14

Hey everyone! For those who might not be familiar with our work, The Overhead Wire is a daily newsletter that's been sending since 2006. We go through about 1,500 news items on cities each day and pull out the most interesting ones and tag them by topic and city for our link archive. (1/x)

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Momentum Magazine @momentummag.bsky.social · 1d

Paris Sets Another Record Logs 21,817 Bicycle Trips in a Single Day on One Route.
momentummag.com/paris-sets-a...

Paris Sets Another Record Logs 21,817 Bicycle Trips in a Single Day on One Route

Paris broke yet another series of cycling records, underscoring what many residents already feel in their daily commute.

momentummag.com

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Seamless Bay Area @seamlessbayareaca.bsky.social · 1d

Yay, SB63 signed into law, authorizing a regional transit funding measure for the SF Bay Area, essential to save and improve service for BART, Muni, AC Transit, Caltrain! Bill allows a signature-gathering effort that would passage with 50%+1 of the vote. www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/u...

www.gov.ca.gov

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The Overhead Wire @theoverheadwire.com · 15h

Monday's Most Read # 1 - Everything You Need To Know About SB 79 link.theoverheadwire.com/hgxdr @mnolangray.bsky.social

Everything You Need To Know About SB 79

…but were too afraid to read about in the actual bill.

link.theoverheadwire.com

The Overhead Wire @theoverheadwire.com · 15h

Monday's Most Read # 2 - ‘Car Brain’ Is Making the US Unhealthy and Dangerous. EVs Won’t Fix It. link.theoverheadwire.com/ecgda @davidzipper.bsky.social

‘Car Brain’ Is Making the US Unhealthy and Dangerous. EVs Won’t Fix It.

A trio of new books argue that we need to confront the full range of costs that car-based living has imposed on our cities, our health and our society.

link.theoverheadwire.com

The Overhead Wire @theoverheadwire.com · 15h

Monday's Most Read # 3 - California Legalizes Life Near Public Transit link.theoverheadwire.com/4f93e @humantransit.bsky.social

California Legalizes Life Near Public Transit — Human Transit

OK, the headline is a little exaggerated, but California’s Senate Bill 79, authored by Senator Scott Wiener and just signed by Governor Newsom, is a game-changer. It prohibits most cities from forbid...

link.theoverheadwire.com

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M. Nolan Gray 🥑 @mnolangray.bsky.social · 1d

SB 79 does not apply to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Disneyland. Please stop wasting my time with such foolish inquiries.

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Urban Land Rent🚰 @handle.invalid · 1d

Hey babe wake up part of the Public Resources Code I drafted was just made permanent.

Jeffrey Tumlin 🏳️‍🌈 🌁 @jeffreytumlin.bsky.social · 1d

Gov signed SB 71, making permanent @scottwiener.bsky.social's CEQA exemptions. For much of our transit priority, protected bikeway, Slow Street, etc work, CEQA process would have taken longer and cost more than project itself, and done nothing for environment.🙏
cal.streetsblog.org/2025/01/24/w...

Wiener Introduces Legislation to Continue CEQA Exemption for Sustainable Transportation - Streetsblog California

“We’re excited to see Senator Wiener continue his leadership on active transportation with SB 71, which makes permanent a bill he authored to exempt biking, walking, and public transit plans and proje...

cal.streetsblog.org

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CREW @citizensforethics.org · 1d

The scale and scope of federal data and statistics that have been completely removed or otherwise compromised by President Trump’s administration is staggering.

One estimate put it at 3,000 datasets removed.

A Shortlist of Federal Data the Trump Administration Has Tampered With or Destroyed

The scale and scope of federal data and statistics that have been...

talkingpointsmemo.com

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Warren Wells, AICP @warrenjwells.bsky.social · 4d

Denver, CO (pop 730k) has given 10,000 ebike vouchers.

The state of California (pop 39M) has given out 2,000 ebike vouchers, and the program is likely ending due to mismanagement.

Mike Eliason @holz-bau.bsky.social · 5d

since denver launched its e-bike rebate program - the have sold 10,000 e-bikes and reduced an estimated 1,000,000 car trips - replacing millions of VMTs and reducing air pollution

there are no climate silver bullets... but damn - e-bikes and e-cargo bikes are close

denvergov.org/Government/A...

Denver Celebrates 10,000 E-Bike Rebates

Since its inception in April 2022, Denver has distributed over 10,000 electric bikes (e-bikes) to community members through its pioneering e-bike rebate program. As the first U.S. city to implement su...

denvergov.org

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Yonah Freemark @yonahfreemark.com · 3d

Appears the Trump admin’s reduction in force has hit housing hard this evening.

Reports that all CDFI fund staff have been let go. HUD appears to have lost 442 staff.

Yet another federal cut that will make providing affordable housing in the US all the more challenging.

Reports that all staff of CDFI Fund have been let go

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Deb Chachra @debcha.bsky.social · 4d

My leave is primarily focused on sharing and building on the ideas in HOW INFRASTRUCTURE WORKS and laying track for my next projects. I do have some capacity for collaborations -- please reach out if you've wanted to work together. (Vancouver friends, stay tuned for some fun events in the pipeline!)

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The Overhead Wire @theoverheadwire.com · 4d

They are putting them on the sides of mountains and everywhere in between. It’s a wild scene from the train.

From a high speed train you can see Solar panels on a mountain in the distance

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Seamless Bay Area @seamlessbayareaca.bsky.social · 5d

Great to see that Caltrain will now be paid for clean power returned to the grid from regenerative braking, thanks to a good bill by Asm Papan.
www.caltrain.com/news/caltrai...

Caltrain to be Paid for Clean Power Returned to the Grid | Caltrain

Caltrain will now be compensated for the power its new electric trains return to the grid through regenerative braking, thanks to policy changes by its clean energy partners Peninsula Clean Energy (PC...

www.caltrain.com

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Jeffrey Tumlin 🏳️‍🌈 🌁 @jeffreytumlin.bsky.social · 4d

In the 70s, engineers warned that merging 5 unprotected streetcars into a single subway was a bad idea. So glad today's Muni team has plan to rationalize SF's main subway and prepare for ridership growth storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/8c45...

Muni Metro Capacity Study

Draft recommendations

storymaps.arcgis.com

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The Overhead Wire @theoverheadwire.com · 4d

New Talking Headways podcast! We chat with Ben Donsky about the creation of an under highway park in Birmingham Alabama. usa.streetsblog.org/2025/10/09/t... @usa.streetsblog.org

Talking Headways Podcast: Under a Highway in Birmingham Alabama — Streetsblog USA

Ben Donsky on City Walk BHAM in Birmingham, Alabama, a public space project that connects two sides of the city separated by a highway.

usa.streetsblog.org

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Centre for Public Impact (CPI) @cpi-foundation.bsky.social · 5d

🎙️Season 4 of 'Reimagining Government' is here: open.spotify.com/episode/7yah...

Ep 1 – From heatwaves to city hall: Eleni Myrivili on climate-resilient cities 🌆🔥

UN HABITAT’s first Chief Heat Officer shares how extreme heat exposes inequality—and why justice & care must guide #ClimateAction.

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Mike Christensen, MCMP, CNU-A, AICP @mrc-slc.bsky.social · 5d

Talking Headways Podcast: Under a Highway in Birmingham Alabama - usa.streetsblog.org/2025/10/09/t... via @usa.streetsblog.org and @theoverheadwire.com

Talking Headways Podcast: Under a Highway in Birmingham Alabama — Streetsblog USA

Ben Donsky on City Walk BHAM in Birmingham, Alabama, a public space project that connects two sides of the city separated by a highway.

usa.streetsblog.org

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T&E @transportenvironment.org · 6d

🚛 The Netherlands is seeing a major shift in urban freight thanks to zero-emission zones for freight in 18 of its cities.

By early 2025, 78% of new vans were electric -- compared to just 9% across the EU.

📑 New @cleancitiescampaign.org briefing: bit.ly/431I7al

Clean Cities Campaign graph with the title: Dutch municipalities with zero-emission zones for freight have a higher share of electric vans.

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The Overhead Wire @theoverheadwire.com · 5d

I’ve come across more than a few books and articles recently where I had to be like “all the bad seems to have got going in the “late70s/early 80s”

The Overhead Wire @theoverheadwire.com · 5d

Wednesday's Most Read # 1 - An urbanist’s guide to Houston: Removing signal priority from the Red Line is a mistake link.theoverheadwire.com/3wx9c Rice Thresher

An urbanist’s guide to Houston: Removing signal priority from the Red Line is a mistake

The city of Houston just made a change that could cause delays to ripple across the city’s entire transportation network.

link.theoverheadwire.com

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The Overhead Wire @theoverheadwire.com · 5d

Wednesday's Most Read # 2 - Raleigh awards a $65 million contract for its first bus rapid transit line link.theoverheadwire.com/fy4aw News and Observer

Raleigh awards a $65 million contract for its first bus rapid transit line

The City Council approved the second and largest of three contracts to build BRT along New Bern Avenue between downtown and New Hope Road.

link.theoverheadwire.com

The Overhead Wire @theoverheadwire.com · 5d

Wednesday's Most Read # 3 - Creating accessible destinations and reforms that support disabled populations in Toulouse link.theoverheadwire.com/9yapw Eurocities

Toulouse: Breaking barriers and opening doors for all - Eurocities

“We’re one of the few cities in Europe offering audio description for all major sports (football, rugby, handball, basketball). Not just for blind people, but for anyone who wants a better understandi...

link.theoverheadwire.com

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Blair Lorenzo / The Fox and the City @thefoxandthecity.com · 6d

Print this and frame it on the wall with the title, "Why North American Transit Construction Costs are So High"

Ryan Packer @typewriteralley.bsky.social · 6d

I just can't get over the differences in scale between Ballard Link's Westlake Station as proposed and the original Westlake Station, off to the left.

Ballard Link's Westlake has two separate entrances underneath separate buildings, with one showing a long tunnel to get to the train guideway. They are at least five stories deeper than the original Westlake, which is tiny and only around 10-15% of the size

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Doug Gordon @brooklynspoke.bsky.social · 6d

Free shipping from @bookshop.org continues today. Plus they have Life After Cars for about $2 off, so preorder your copy!

The War on Cars @thewaroncars.bsky.social · 7d

Ooh... free shipping at @bookshop.org today and tomorrow as part of their "anti-Prime sale."

Includes preorders, so get your copy of Life After Cars.

bookshop.org/a/9252/97805...

Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile

Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile

bookshop.org

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The Overhead Wire @theoverheadwire.com · 6d

I wrote a bit about this as well - Transportation planning impacts sleep substack.com/home/post/p-...

Transportation Planning Impacts Sleep

The Overhead Wire Daily Intro

substack.com