Jarrett Walker argues that reports of the decline of public transportation ridership have been exaggerated.
Jarrett writes that one of the main reasons the numbers are confused is that they lump together areas of low transit use and high transit use into "metropolitan areas".
"Metro areas, by definition, conflate a dense core city and a lot of low-density suburbs, and thus conceal the dramatic difference between transit's relevance in those places. Metro area statistics may be useful for judging the relative economic performance of different parts of a country, but they always conceal most of what matters in understanding how transit really works. If you want to understand how and why transit works and fails, you should spend less time comparing metro Los Angeles and metro New York and more time comparing Manhattan with Nassau County, or comparing the LA/Hollywood core with the western San Fernando Valley."
FULL STORY: ridership down in america? look deeper

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

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USGS Water Science Centers Targeted for Closure
If their work is suspended, states could lose a valuable resource for monitoring, understanding, and managing water resources.

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Honolulu Community College Celebrates Culture and Sustainability
Honolulu Community College brought together more than 320 students, staff, and community members for a day of Hawaiian cultural activities, music, and sustainability-focused learning at its annual Hoʻolauleʻa celebration.
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Central Transportation Planning Staff/Boston Region MPO
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
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Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
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