@yonahfreemark.com - Yonah Freemark

24 Aug 2026 15:11 +0000

Why do Republicans in Washington often seem so hostile to funding public transit? One key explanation: Transit commuting is just much, much more common in areas that vote Democratic than areas that vote Republican, and it's been true for decades. https://www.thetransportpolitic.com/databook/politics.html

24 Aug 2026 15:11 +0000

24 Aug 2026 12:37 +0000

It takes guts to make transformational change Sometimes those in power just can’t stomach it [contains quote post or other embedded content]

22 Aug 2026 16:53 +0000

How do transit systems align with local population and employment densities? In a new feature on Transport Databook, you can compare existing rail transit lines with neighborhood residential + job densities ➡️ https://www.thetransportpolitic.com/databook/neighborhood-explorer.html [you can also annotate the maps if you want!]

21 Aug 2026 11:16 +0000

An apt summary of the US’s current approach to transportation policy [contains quote post or other embedded content]

20 Aug 2026 17:06 +0000

The cohort of counties with the greatest support for Harris in 2024 presidential race had highest % of people commuting by transit, walking or biking. Inverse was true for counties with the strongest support for Trump, where driving to work predominated. https://www.thetransportpolitic.com/databook/politics.html

20 Aug 2026 17:06 +0000

20 Aug 2026 14:12 +0000

How do changes in transportation commutes correlate with changes in political views? Among large US counties, a growing vote share for Dem presidential candidates, 2000 to 2024, was associated with: 1—less driving to work alone 2—more working from home https://www.thetransportpolitic.com/databook/politics.html

20 Aug 2026 14:12 +0000

19 Aug 2026 20:59 +0000

Digging our* heads in the sand * the Trump Admin eliminating CAFE standards; US climate philanthropy obsessed with EVs to solve transport emissions; US Congress incapable of increasing the gas tax & killing EV credits; the commentariat naively repeating claims about the US’ entrepreneurial drive… [contains quote post or other embedded content]

19 Aug 2026 20:08 +0000

Electric vehicles are taking the world by storm…. Except in a few countries like the US, where they’re losing market share. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/08/18/climate/ev-car-sales-oil-prices.html

19 Aug 2026 17:30 +0000

In June 2026, most large urban areas experienced substantially lower transit ridership than in June 2019. They're still suffering from the Covid slump. The exceptions, where transit ridership has essentially recovered: —Seattle —Salt Lake —San Diego https://www.thetransportpolitic.com/databook/us-transit-services.html

18 Aug 2026 18:01 +0000

Just was on an episode of 1A on NPR to discuss (the lack of) transit funding under the Trump admin, with @emmbadger.bsky.social & Natali Fani-Gonzalez (Montgomery County MD). For a listen ⬇️ https://the1a.org/segments/what-stalling-federal-support-means-for-the-future-of-public-transit/

14 Aug 2026 14:30 +0000

The share of workers commuting by transit declined dramatically in most big US cities from the 2015–19 census data to the 2020–24 data. What gives? Many more people working from home. As a result, fewer people are now driving to work than in the past! https://www.thetransportpolitic.com/databook/us-transport-use.html

12 Aug 2026 21:35 +0000

Chicago urban area's relatively middling performance on recent transit ridership is despite fact that city itself has pretty high transit-to-work use compared to Seattle, for example. Enormous scale of the Chicago urban area dilutes the city's transit use. https://www.thetransportpolitic.com/databook/neighborhood-explorer.html#Seattle%2C%20WA [contains quote post or other embedded content]

12 Aug 2026 12:58 +0000

In June 2026, the US urban areas with the highest per-capita transit ridership were: 1—New York 2—San Francisco 3—Washington, DC 4—Boston 5—Seattle https://www.thetransportpolitic.com/databook/us-transit-services.html

11 Aug 2026 17:26 +0000

Kansas City streetcar had an absolutely bonkers month in terms of ridership in June, with about 700,000 total trips taken. That represented >50% of the urban area's total transit ridership. https://www.thetransportpolitic.com/databook/us-transit-services.html [contains quote post or other embedded content]

11 Aug 2026 12:52 +0000

Which large US urban areas are most effectively bringing back transit riders since Covid? 1—Richmond 2—Raleigh 3—Nashville 4—Kansas City 5—Cincinnati The worst large urban area performers are: 1—Memphis 2—Pittsburgh 3—Denver 4—St Louis 5—Phoenix https://www.thetransportpolitic.com/databook/us-transit-services.html

11 Aug 2026 12:52 +0000

10 Aug 2026 13:29 +0000

In June 2026 the Seattle region had >by far< the highest US light rail ridership—5.5m riders—vs 4.5m in LA, the 2nd highest. Seattle light rail ridership has exploded since January! Overall, the region's transit ridership is ~back to pre-covid levels. https://www.thetransportpolitic.com/databook/us-transit-services.html

10 Aug 2026 13:29 +0000

10 Aug 2026 12:58 +0000

Pedestrians who live in areas with high shares of Black & Latino residents are 4 times as likely to be struck by a car as those who live in predominately white areas. That's due to differences between areas where people live & where they are hit by cars. Our newly published research (free eprint): https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/ZR7HPAI43HSIQISSNRSB/full?target=10.1080/23748834.2025.2481337

09 Aug 2026 11:03 +0000

1.5m trips a day in a city of 8.8m, up 43% from 2019 https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2025/november/new-tfl-data-shows-the-number-of-daily-cycling-journeys-in-london-has-risen-by-43-per-cent-since-2019 By comparison, there are a total of 800,000 bike commuters to work… In the entire US https://censusreporter.org/profiles/01000US-united-states/ (keep in mind that many London trips are not commuting & many bikers take multiple trips daily) [contains quote post or other embedded content]

06 Aug 2026 17:38 +0000

That’s enough to fund 11 years worth of $2000 monthly housing vouchers for all 5300 individuals facing homelessness in DC right now. [contains quote post or other embedded content]

05 Aug 2026 20:55 +0000

That’s enough to build multiple new subway lines in every US city above a million people [contains quote post or other embedded content]

05 Aug 2026 15:27 +0000

In the US, zero emissions buses accounted for only 5.6% of total new bus registrations in recent data https://theicct.org/publication/r2z-zero-emission-bus-and-truck-market-us-april-june-2025/ US is absolutely falling behind on this metric, and things seem to be getting worse in recent months. [contains quote post or other embedded content]