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Traffic and transit are finally getting a roundup all their own.

I’ll start out with various victory laps on the awesomeness that is New York City Congestion pricing, which should hopefully now be a settled matter, then do a survey of everything else.

New York City Congestion Pricing Redux

We spent years fighting to get congestion pricing passed in New York City.

Once it was in place, everyone saw that it worked. The city was a better place, almost everyone was better off, and also we got bonus tax revenue. And this is only the bare minimum viable product, we could do so much better.

We had a big debate over whether congestion pricing is good until it was implemented. At this point, with traffic speeds downton up 15% and business visits improving, it is very clear this was exactly the huge [...]

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Outline:

(00:24) New York City Congestion Pricing Redux

(10:34) New York City Light Rail

(11:51) Fare Evasion (1)

(14:55) Fare Evasion (2)

(16:07) Free Transit

(19:52) The Last Train

(20:11) Smooth Operator

(20:49) Mass Transit And Health

(21:51) Ah California High Speed Rail

(23:58) Amtrak

(25:18) The High Speed Rail We Actually Need Is Acela

(30:05) The Other High Speed Rail Project

(31:22) Caltrain

(32:07) Bike Lanes

(32:24) Airports

(32:54) Jones Act Bonus Episodes

(36:55) In Brief

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First published:

September 2nd, 2025


Source:

https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/qtZ5CgDWe3BuiH8Wn/traffic-and-transit-roundup-1

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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Images from the article:

Google Maps route tracing from Seattle to Nevada through Oregon.
Driving route map from San Francisco to Los Angeles, 386 miles.
Graph comparing weekday vs weekend average speeds across different time periods (3am-11pm).
U.S. rail network map showing existing, new conventional, and high-speed routes.
Line graph showing log average trip speed from September through March, with dashed vertical line in January.
Brooklyn subway map showing stations from Roosevelt Avenue to Utica Avenue.
Bar graph showing transportation fatality rates in 2019, titled
Transit map showing
Black background text infographic showing statistics about congestion pricing impacts in Manhattan.
Map showing Brightline Florida rail route from Miami to Orlando, with future Tampa extension.
News article screenshot. The headline reads:

From amNY.com newspaper dated March 24, 2025, featuring congested city traffic scene beneath overhead toll infrastructure." style="max-width: 100%;" />


Caltrain tweets:
Andy Boenau tweets:
Hayden tweets:

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