HK police is targeting a US citizen for lobbying my own gov't. I might be the 1st non-Chinese citizen to be targeted, but I will not be the last. If I am targeted, any American/any citizen of any nation who speaks out for HK can-and will be-too.
We are all Hong Kongers now."
On June 4, the world marks 37 years since the Chinese Communist Party ordered its troops to attack thousands of peaceful demonstrators in and around Tiananmen Square. Those who sacrificed to uphold their unalienable rights of free expression and peaceful assembly will be vindicated someday.
@MTA is this a joke? After nearly 8 months of closure, with a cost of near 300k per stair, it is still not enough to renovate another half a level of stair.
The LIRR has some of the highest operating costs among US commuter rails, and the current strike centers on one key reason: work rules dating back to the steam era.
Modernizing these agreements is critical to expanding service and ensuring fiscal stability.
ETA's analysis:
This should change public policy across the entire US. We have shocking evidence of a real solution to a wide range of societal problems.
Yes this will piss the far left off. But this is a practical solution dems can employ nationwide to begin fixing their image.
BART spent $90 million on new fare gates. They're recovering about $10 million a year in fares.
That's a 9-year payback on paper. The actual return hit in six months.
Embarcadero station went from 112 hours of corrective maintenance in the six months before installation to 2 hours after. Daly City saved 109. Balboa Park saved 75. Across the system, 961 hours of cleanup work disappeared. Corrective maintenance is the term BART uses for graffiti, heavy soiling, vandalism, the damage that needs a crew not a janitor. At several stations it dropped to zero.
Crime fell 41% year over year. Riders who reported seeing fare evasion on their trip dropped from 22% to 10%. Citations issued by BART police went from 2,200 in January to under 1,000 in July, because there was nothing to cite.
The gates were a filtering project disguised as a revenue project.
Old BART gates were waist-high orange fins designed in the 1970s. You could hop them in under a second. That made the station effectively a public space, and the rider mix reflected that. The new gates are 72 inches of polycarbonate with 3D sensors that detect tailgating. You either pay or you don't enter. Once you don't enter, you also don't smoke on the platform, sleep in the elevator, or harass other riders.
BART tried hiring more police for years. Blitz operations at high-traffic stations. Increased patrols. Dedicated transit cops. None of it moved the numbers the way six feet of polycarbonate did.
The $10 million in recovered fares is the smallest line in the return. Fare revenue used to cover 70% of BART operations. After the pandemic it collapsed to 22%. The gates won't fix that gap directly. They fix the precondition for fixing it: a system that office workers, families, and tourists are willing to use again. Ridership growth at stations with new gates outpaced ungated ones before the rollout finished.
A $400 million annual deficit is heading to voters in November as a sales tax measure. Voters don't approve sales taxes for transit agencies they don't feel safe in. The $90 million on gates is buying BART the right to ask the public for more money.
That's the real return on six feet of polycarbonate.
Welcome home to the Artemis II crew! Honored that NASA astronauts brought iPhone to space with them. One small step for iPhone. One giant leap for space selfies. 🚀📱
Congratulations to Artemis II on a successful mission! You captured the wonders of space and our planet beautifully, taking iPhone photography to new heights, and we’re grateful you shared it with the world. Your work continues to inspire us all to think different. Welcome home!
Hi! I’m Rise!
About a week ago, I launched aboard the Artemis II mission with four of my besties. Since then, I have been serving a very important purpose aboard the Orion spacecraft… I float. (And I look cute.)
Today, I am taking over the Artemis social media accounts! -Rise
Thank you @GovKathyHochul for vetoing this bill. There is no plan to end 2-person operation for full length train, but this bill adds significant operation cost to those half length train which can safely operate with one person. https://t.co/TjuO1jRcGv
Honestly, @GovKathyHochul is tied with Nelson Rockefeller (creator of MTA) as NY's most pro-transit governor
The operating budget, capital budget, congestion pricing, operating reform. Always more to do on procurement reform, but she literally saved the MTA