Building Transit Ridership Through R&D

Emily Badger profiles Arlington County's Mobility Lab, and its Transit Tech initiative, which has managed to take 40,000 car trips a day off of the county’s roads by easing access to their existing infrastructure.

1 minute read

January 19, 2012, 12:00 PM PST

By Jonathan Nettler @nettsj


According to Badger, the Mobility Lab "has a lean start-up philosophy that's almost unrecognizable in a government bureaucracy." One project to come out of what has become a king of R&D lab was the creation of a web and mobile app called Transit Near Me that makes sense of the region's spider-like web of buses.

The lab also invented a nifty piece of hardware, a low-cost computer display that integrates live data feeds from local bus, train and bikeshare systems in a cool looking, easy to read, format. The display could be deployed near transit facilities, in retail establishments facing the sidewalk.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012 in The Atlantic Cities

Young Professional

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban and Environmental Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban and Environmental Planner

Get top-rated, practical training for planners

Passengers board an Amtrak train under a cloudy sky.

Amtrak, CN end decades-long dispute with eight-year agreement

The new operating agreement establishes an updated framework for the companies to work together, including processes to resolve disputes.

September 18, 2026 - Mass Transit

The Gross Reservoir, a large body of water surrounded by trees and mountains.

Judges permit Denver to divert 77,000 acre feet from the Colorado River for reservoir expansion

Overuse and climate change have caused the Colorado River’s water levels to plummet.

September 18, 2026 - Inside Climate News

A coal power plant in Iowa billows smoke into the air.

Nation's most wind-powered state turns to coal as data centers increase energy demand

For the first time in decades, Iowa has increased its generation of coal power.

September 17, 2026 - Inside Climate News

A crowd of people boarding Boston's green line in an underground subway station.

Boston has spent millions making the Green Line more accessible — and there’s no end in sight

While the city has invested millions into expanding and adding platforms to the Green Line to make it more accessible, new train cars set to arrive next year will be too tall for disabled passengers to board without raising the current platforms.

September 22 - Boston Globe

Railroad tracks in Idaho passing a home by a river.

Idaho may see an 18% drop in federal surface transit funding — the largest estimated cut in the US

Transit systems in rural communities are much more reliant on federal funding to provide their services.

September 22 - Grist

A Florida family with their belongings in a wagon walks past a destroyed storm after a hurricane.

How ‘post-disaster gentrification’ alters neighborhoods after natural calamities

After hurricanes, fires or other calamities, the original residents of a community are often replaced by younger, wealthier residents.

September 22 - Inside Climate News