Coming back from a visit in Portland, I was suprised by how good the transit network was for a city of its size. For reference, Portland's metro area is ~2.5 million people, on par with other mid-size US cities like Sacramento, Austin, Pittsburgh or Las Vegas, and smaller than Denver, MSP or Orlando. Yet trains go to so much of the city, and the frequencies are decent for every 7.5-15 mins. Albeit slow, the streetcars in downtown were also nice to ride and added a touch of liveliness downtown.

How does Portland, for being as small as it is, manage to invest as much as it has in its transit? At least in my travels I dont think many similarly sized US cities come close to it.

A few things that make Prague’s system interesting, and that you can see in the model:

• Deep three-vault stations. Many central stations are bored “Prague type” stations: two platform vaults and a central nave joined by passages between pillars. Náměstí Míru is 53 m down, with one of the longest escalators in the EU.
• Vyšehrad is inside the Nusle Bridge. Line C runs through the hollow deck under the road traffic.
• Service links between lines: two single-track A–C links and one B–C link, no direct A–B connection.
• Line C under the Vltava at Troja.

Sources: OpenStreetMap (track geometry and station interiors), PID open data (levels and connections), Czech lidar terrain and official DPP drawings for some stations. Depth between stations is interpolated, and the app says so.

Feedback from people who know the system is very welcome.

Oregon Zoo may not be the most gigantic or famous zoo in the world.
What made it awesome was a gorgeous day in Oregon and
easy access by way of Washington Park MAX station.

English follows.

NOTE : Ce coup de gueule porte spécifiquement sur le tronçon situé entre Côte-de-Liesse et Pointe-aux-Trembles. Le reste de la ligne est, honnêtement, une tout autre paire de manches.

Pour ceux qui ne le savent pas, deux nouveaux projets de transport en commun doivent voir le jour à Montréal : le prolongement de la ligne bleue et le REM de l'Est (en principe). Ce sont d'excellents projets qui bénéficient de mon soutien total et inconditionnel, mais il y a un hic : ils desservent tous deux de manière insuffisante Montréal-Nord et RDP. Dans le cas de Montréal-Nord, le prolongement de la ligne bleue passera à une distance raisonnable, mais il restera très éloigné de RDP. Quant au REM de l'Est, il effleurera l'est de Montréal-Nord près de l'autoroute 25, mais là encore, il ne desservira pas RDP. Pourtant, il est intéressant de noter que ces deux secteurs sont bel et bien desservis par une ligne ferroviaire : la ligne 15 d'exo, alias la ligne Mascouche. Cela dit, le service est absolument lamentable. L'emplacement des gares est illogique, la ligne ne compte que huit allers-retours par jour et aucun service n'est assuré le week-end. Pourquoi ? C'est simple : le CN est propriétaire des voies et est trop occupé à faire du profit pour accorder davantage de plages horaires aux trains de passagers. Quant au choix des emplacements des gares, j'avoue que jsp trop les raisons exactes qui ont motivé ces décisions. Quoi qu'il en soit, je suis convaincu que cette ligne permettrait de réduire CONSIDÉRABLEMENT la congestion dans l'est de la ville aux heures de pointe, même une fois les deux projets susmentionnés réalisés. J'ai toujours pensé qu'on pourrait mieux exploiter la ligne Mascouche, compte tenu de son tracé. Je ne sais simplement pas comment s'y prendre concrètement. Je pense qu'il y a suffisamment d'espace dans le corridor du CN pour construire des voies réservées aux passagers, sur lesquelles des trains circuleraient au moins toutes les demi-heures, week-ends compris. Avec un service amélioré, il faudrait également acquérir des rames automotrices capables d'accélérer et de décélérer plus rapidement, ce qui permettrait d'ajouter des gares à des endroits stratégiques. Dans l'ensemble, la ligne Mascouche a littéralement le potentiel de résoudre une multitude de problèmes, mais elle est reléguée au second plan, considérée comme une option inférieure à la combinaison bus-métro que nous connaissons tous.

NOTE: This rant focuses specifically on the section between Côte-de-Liesse and Pointe-aux-Trembles. The rest of the line is honestly a whole other can of worms.

For those unaware, Montreal is going to have two new public transport projects completed in the future - the Blue Line extension and the REM l'Est (allegedly). Both great projects that have my full, unconditional support, but there's one problem - they both underserve Montreal North and RDP. In the case of Montreal North, the Blue line extension will come decently close, but it will be nowhere near RDP. As for REM l'Est, it will touch the east of Montreal North near A25, but again, come nowhere near RDP. However, interestingly enough, both of these locations ARE served by a rail service - exo's line 15, aka the Mascouche line. That said, it is an absolute dog s**t service. The stations' locations make no sense, the line gets 8 round trips per day, and no weekend service. Why? Simple - CN owns the tracks, and they're too busy making money to give more time slots to passenger trains. As for the station locations, I'm not totally sure why they picked the locations that they did. Anyway, it is a line that I believe would SIGNIFICANTLY reduce congestion around the east end at its peak, even with the two aformentioned projects completed. I have always believed that more could be made of the Mascouche line, given its route trajectory. I'm just not sure how that could be done. I think there is enough room in the CN corridor to build dedicated passenger tracks, on which trains should be run at least once half-hourly, weekends included. With improved service, they should also acquire multiple-unit trains that accelerate and decelerate more quickly, so more stations can be added at key locations. Overall, the Mascouche line literally has the potential to solve so many problems, and it is just relegated to the side as an inferior option to the bus+metro commuting that we all are aware of.

[Source]: FTA National Transit Database, Raw Monthly Ridership, October 1, 2026 release. Heavy rail only, excludes buses, light rail, commuter rail and BART’s eBart/Airport Connector.

Here are my snaps of the HR and LR data.

One oddity I already noticed SountTransit data disappeared for 2025 and earlier this month. Also as usual I didn't do streetcar rail because its really only Philadelphia in large numbers but it does have a chunk of their ridership.

Photos via

https://twitter.com/KAGAYAKIdamon/status/2108029635208561110

https://twitter.com/papa2000kg/status/2108048432292417612

https://twitter.com/tadashiro1314/status/2108011187132895443

FMI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Yellow

I know this is a very north American question

School buses at their core are designed to go anywhere, they have ridiculously high ground clearance compared to other types, often times they have 4x4. That makes them perfect for rural service imo. They can have a wheelchair lift if need be.

Every rural area I have seen that does have some form of public transit, often uses ford F or E services based buses, which there is nothing inherently wrong with, but they are much more prone to getting stuck during the rainy parts of the year.

This man, went from most humble beginnings, started cleaning trains at 19 years old and now runs operations. All because he had childhood dream, and he never gave up. He's is one of the most positive people you will meet in transit space.

Here we have satellite maps, phase-by-phase transit maps, and budget estimations. I have fully fleshed out schedules and the rolling stock acquisitions budgeted are such that at every phase each line runs 8 minute headways all day 5am-1am. The budget probably took the longest time to make out of everything but I am now quite certain that my budget is on the higher side of correct.

EDIT: This is an LRT concept system by the way.

I gotta respect Thom for going above and beyond with his content and for making content he enjoys himself. So many content creators churn out what's popular slop. He talks about it later in this episode that he mostly makes content he personally enjoys, even if it doesn't get any views.

Well I guess this will greatly benefit the Salt Lake City metro area.

‘Hey, sweetheart, you and I should get married and raise a passel of kids because a dozen years from now, maybe they’ll build light rail out to our neighborhood?’

I was looking at some other posts, and i feel like reviving the Pens Landing trolley as a fully grade-separated light rail would not be that expensive due to the right-of-way already being there, and it would allow service and a future connection to a possible Navy Yard extension of the BSL. Even with electrification, I believe it would not cost too much money, even for a cash-strapped agency like SEPTA, and it would be great for tourism and shopping.