Periodic reminder:

@mekkaokereke The solution to that (from the perspective of the oligarches) is easy, though. It's such an obvious ploy that it was a throwaway gag in Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

Kill public transit.

@ZDL

Which is why people like Mamdani are so important.

Most transportation happens in cities and suburbs.‍️

People recognize the House and the Senate of Congress as important legislative bodies, and the Supreme Court as an important judicial body. But the capture of the federal government and the press has elevated two previously unofficial US government bodies to prominence:

1) The group of governors of the 5 largest states
2) The group of mayors of the 50 largest cities

They're not officially a recognized governing body, but they are (so far at least) the most effective legislative counterbalance to an unchecked executive branch.

Eg, if the mayors of NYC and LA want free buses and want them zero emission, there's not much POTUS can do about it. Those two metro areas alone already cover ~10% of the US population.

@mekkaokereke @ZDL glad to see LA getting some love here. The bus to my office is 35¢ and is spotless. LA public transit is severely underrated and under appreciated.

@scott @mekkaokereke @ZDL

There's this 2023 piece:

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2023-11-03/los-angeles-public-transportation-metro-bus-train

which leads with this fairly positive review of LA Metro:

"I just spent a week riding Los Angeles buses and trains, along with 25 broadcast journalists from Germany, all of us in L.A. for a mid-career fellowship program. When I told my local contacts we planned to take public transit to dozens of meetings and events — three to four a day, from the Westside to downtown and beyond — they seemed shocked and offered dire warnings along the lines of “are you out of your mind?”

But their fears of lurking danger, little reliability and less comfort turned out to be wrong, albeit well intentioned.

We rode a big selection of Metro’s 120 bus and six train lines. With surprising ease. Safely. Happily. And on time,..."

@alienghic @scott @mekkaokereke @ZDL We had a very similar experience as Germans in San Francisco, we met with friends from other parts of the US and none of them would even consider taking the trains, streetcars or busses. It was "let's call an Uber" or "I know cheap parking" ($6/30min!). When visiting any city, looking for a long term ticket is usually the cheapest way to get around, but you need to be able to think about that first.

@SimonHain @alienghic @scott @mekkaokereke @ZDL fine within the city, but as soon as you leave, different story. Trying to get to the south bay on public transport is am unfunny joke. Ten minute journeys take more than an hour on the bus.

Compare to London, where driving is generally much more a waste of your time, and money.