David Levinson is simply brilliant. There really isn’t any other way to put it.  He’s got some recent columns up that you shouldn’t miss, but my favorite is Does BRT have economic development? Spoiler: the answer is yes.  Good.  We spend money on mobility improvements, those  improvements result in in higher productivity.  At least one part of the world is acting according to theory; I can relax. The piece contains a very nice listing of the best papers in the field for further reading.

David also posted a video of the discussion around transportation politics, which is a little less interesting as it meanders to a pretty well-established point: that people don’t trust government. David does imply the bigger point: we have plenty of money for sports stadia; we don’t, apparently, have any money for roads, and that reveals what is important to people in the political process.  One thing: this particular panel of experts  is not likely to dissuade anybody that transport consists of dudes and nobody else.  At least David’s a young guy yet.