Ruth Miller

Piling on Amazon for the holidays? If so I would like to add as a public transit planner that Amazon fulfillment centers generate heavy political pressure for transit service, but are usually located and designed to make transit service impossible, or at best wildly expensive for the agency.

Oh commuter benefits! I know this one! Bikes were covered as pre-tax until 2017 (guess who suspended them), but they’re supposed to come back in 2026. peopleforbikes.org is pushing to bring it back bigger and better. Employers can still offer bikeshare post-tax.

New England PSA: the best time to plant bulbs to flower in the spring is in the fall, when the lows average in the 40s. So not yet! 🙅‍♀️🌷

“Oakland has and has always had the capacity and willingness to furnish even a brutalist toilet like the Coliseum with a fantastic crowd when an event warrants one.”
💚💛💚💛💚

It’s no doubt impressive that people can look around and envision grand infrastructure projects. I’m more impressed by people that can look around, think, yeah, the cruelty is still the point, and anticipate all the little dystopian details.

Olleana Tyrell, with a rat's head photoshopped over her face, declaring "Tell Eric. I want him to know it was me."

Because Boston winters are dark and gloomy, I’m trying to invent reasons to anticipate the seasons. One is a self-imposed limit to only knit in autumn/winter, which means it’s yarn o’clock.

I once wrote a syllabus for a Cal class, prepping future public employees to critically evaluate/manage tech vendors in the public interest. It fell apart for reasons, but I’d like to try again.
Any suggestions for Boston-area colleges accepting adjunct pitches on tech, maps, or transportation?

I waited until 11:35 at #tcne24 to say “so really the problem here is capitalism”🏅

From foamer to full time, what it’s like working in transit.

Railroad nationalization

How to make the T more equitable / Human side of data

I will just sign some songs at you I wrote / bike angels

I told folks that illustrating your session proposal would increase the chance of getting picked. Not untrue! #tcne24

Good morning Transportation Camp New England! #tcne24

The essential spirit of Caltrans is hubris.
The essential spirit of MassDOT is sadism.

From a judiciously tech-savvy public employee: because public data, for example racist public comments, are licensed for training LLMs, rather than starting from “see what the public can do with it”, govs should switch to “hold back everything without a specific/current purpose”. That sucks.

ICYMI: LinkedIn is using your data to train its AI by default. I was opted-in without giving explicit consent; you may be too.
The opt-out link is here: linkedin.com/mypreference...
Steps: Click "Me" on top, Settings and Privacy > Data Privacy > Data for Generative AI Improvement

I just told Bill that I posted this and he said he didn't think I could eat egg rolls every day and not get sick of them. I said okay let's find out! Three months, I'll do it. And he said no. NO! The coward.

❤️❤️❤️

I appreciate you asking! I should.

Yes! But not as often as I’d like.

Among Tesla's worst "innovations" are infotainment touchscreens that are annoying as well as distracting.

New study: Car touchscreens expanded 2020-4, replacing more buttons and knobs. "These trends may have a negative impact on road safety."

dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1...

Confiscating guns? Being a Marxist? I wish Kamala was the candidate he says she is.

Was Boston not considered?

California poppies on a plate that actually look a lot like poppies

A freaky looking semi-realistic coelacanth, painted on a platter

A yellow rainbow trout painted on a platter, with an open mouth in an expression of dignified shock

A derpy little cardinal painted on small flat piece of pottery, which will be called an ornament but was supposed to be something else.

I’ve been painting on pottery and am quite chuffed with the results so far!

 usually the only New York institution that can rack up 34 losses before June 1 is the Mets

Poker Face is a well written show where Natasha Lyon drives around being Natasha Lyon solving mysteries.

In this house we call it Murder She Smoked.

mo’ momos mo’ problems

Also it looks like shit.

Spotted a cyber truck outside the DC convention center just before the big transportation conference. If the conference parody Twitter account was still up they’d have something clever to say.
Too bad he killed that too!

I’ve worked at tech companies where folks reinvented buses, and those companies were (rightfully) ridiculed.
But I’ve also worked for public agencies where folks desperately want to build trip planning applications.
Both are dumb! Don’t reinvent things that exist! Stay in your lanes!

Watching Gilded Age and For All Mankind at the same time:

Eight, eight and 37 minutes, eight!