Transportist: February 2026
Welcome to the latest issue of The Transportist, especially to our new readers.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Findings Press — Newsletter (There was also a nice shout out to Findings in this CityNerd video by Ray Delahanty)
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Consider submitting an extended abstract for the International Symposium on Transport Resilience – (July 15-17, 2026, Lyons). Submissions DUE: February 15, 2026.
POSTS
State-sponsored domestic terrorism
The US has created a domestic masked secret police force1 that plucks residents out of their homes and disappears2 them. An organization of poorly trained, gun-wielding, masked agents who shoot people, citizens, in their own communities, with administrative approval from the regime in charge, and for which Congress has
SYDNEY’S SO-CALLED HOUSING “CRISIS”
My grandmother and her nine siblings grew up in a two-bedroom apartment. At the peak, twelve people, two bedrooms, six people per bedroom. That is a housing crisis. Maybe your elders lived something like that too. Maybe you do.
Which AI should I subscribe to?
It is time for a Large Language Model bake-off. I asked this question to four AIs, as surely they would know better than me the answer.
RESEARCH
GRADUATIONS
Dr. Zhaohan (Jack) Wang
Congratulations to Dr. Zhaohan (Jack) Wang for “satisfying the requirements for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Sydney.”
MEDIA
Lord Mayor Calls For Cycleway Ramp On Harbour Bridge’s Southern Side
The new facility coming off the Bridge looks nice. See this video by Chris Topher to get a sense of it. A better Cycleway Ramp on the south side has risen in importance. Bikes, and e-bikes especially, coming off the bridge will collide with pedestrians and vehicles. Now, with this new northern ramp, there will be more of them.
North Sydney’s bike network presently looks pretty fragmented, which tends to make it far less effective than a connected network. The plan (link) is better, but there is no reason aside from priorities that it can’t be done in a year or two instead of waiting until 2045. The cost of the whole network ($124M) is on par with the North Sydney pool. ($122M).
BOOKS
While I finish up my next book, you should check out these:
YOUR REGULAR REMINDER, AND A NEW REMINDER
Vehicle Ramming
False accusations of vehicle ramming are used to justify state-sponsored domestic terrorism.
Chris Mims: “WSJ investigation: In the past 6 months ICE agents have fired at vehicles 13 times, leading to: * 8 people shot * 5 of which were U.S. citizens * 2 died * no victims drew a weapon.” Videos Show How ICE Vehicle Stops Can Escalate to Shootings
A WSJ visual investigation found that the Minneapolis ICE killing is one of 13 incidents where federal immigration agents have used deadly force against civilians in vehicles since July.AlsoJesse Ventura comments on killing of Renee Good.
Previous claims that ICE agents were being rammed by vehicles thrown out.
LINKS
Automation
Trains
Architecture
Rendering of lots of new buildings in Sydney. Minecraft architecture seems to be ending.
Micromobility
As always you can follow me on Mastodon, BlueSky, or RSS.
On the one hand, there is now evidence many good people would hide you from the Nazis; on the hand, there are Nazis.
US Federal agents are responsible for two out of three homicides in Minneapolis this year.