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Daniel Heppner

@Danielhep

Transit superfan to land use nerd to social housing supporter. Mastodon: @danielhep@social.ridetrans.it he/him/his

Seattle, WAJoined May 2009

1,677 Following

1,675 Followers

Daniel Heppner’s Tweets

Daniel Heppner

@Danielhep

Apr 14

San Francisco really is awesome. Every time I visit I have a fantastic time exploring the neighborhoods and riding Muni around.

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Calvin Rosser

@calvin_rosser

Apr 13

Only been in SF for 50 days and am pretty sure it's the most underrated city in America. The delta between the Twitter/media story about SF and the actual lived experience is mind-boggling

Daniel Heppner Retweeted

This article by

is awesome, and

is my hero. "'It's an economic choice, but also a values choice,' she said. 'I have good public transit and I can get where I need to be, and orient my life around it. And, driving sucks.'"

crosscut.com

How to get the most out of Seattle public transit

Is it hard to go carless around the Sound? One frequent rider shares how to navigate one of the nation's busiest transit systems.

I go to Japan next week! Looking for your best urbanisty/transity recommendations in Tokyo, Hiroshima, Kyoto, and Osaka.

Daniel Heppner Retweeted

KUOW Public Radio

@KUOW

Apr 13

KUOW is saying goodbye to Twitter indefinitely. You can read more about why here: bit.ly/414VCTO Though we won’t be tweeting, there are many other ways to access our local news! 🧵

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These guys buy books! (4400 cameo)

Artsy photo of some people walking near UW, with books for sale on the sidewalk under a sign that says We Buy Books. In the back there is a neon sign for MOD Pizza, and behind that a sign for Kong Tofu House. Behind the signs, a purple trolleybus is passing by, barely visible and slightly out of focus.

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Daniel Heppner

@Danielhep

Apr 13

On an older model train no less!

I'm pretty impressed by Sound Transit's ability to pull off last minute service patterns based on disruptions, complete with correct headsigns on trains.

Train with Roosevelt on its headsign pulling into Roosevelt Station

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The shuttle train allows them to keep delays from cascading across the entire system and keep frequencies higher at the cost of making people do a cross platform transfer.

Trains are currently operating as two lines: A shuttle train from Roosevelt to UW, and the main 1 Line ending at UW station. Pretty good execution on their part! Good work

has great comms going on for the current service disruption at Roosevelt Station. Several people with loudspeakers giving information, and clear automated announcements.

view from platform of fare ambassador providing info to passengers.

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Daniel Heppner Retweeted

suresh.com

@suresh_dot_com

Apr 7

I’m disappointed that

@BECU

is adopting binding arbitration with its owner/members. Be sure to Opt Out in writing by June 20: BECUArbitrationOptOutNotice@becu.org -or- BECU Arbitration Opt-Out Notice Legal Department P.O. Box 97050 Seattle, WA 98124-9750

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Daniel Heppner Retweeted

Erica C. Barnett

@ericacbarnett

Apr 4

After I asked the city which exemption from public disclosure law justified its partial redaction of lobbyist Tim Ceis' $280,000 contract to lobby for the mayor's preferred Sound Transit route,

@seattledot

provided me unredacted versions of both the original and amended contract.

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Daniel Heppner Retweeted

Ryan Packer

@typewriteralley

Apr 3

Such a damning indictment that a majority of electeds making decisions about the most important elements of the region's future transit system don't care about how riders will actually use it, except for one elected who is a daily transit rider. seattletimes.com/seattle-news/t

The pro-Harrell consensus reflects a larger strategic trend. Political leaders have largely stopped treating Link light rail as a fast regional conduit among Everett, Bellevue, Seattle and Tacoma as conceived in the 1990s, but more like a series of shorter runs near their towns, with neighborhood infill stations and not-so-fast speeds.

If the train is going to take 70 minutes from Tacoma to downtown Seattle, suburban leaders see little value to fight for Union Station — except transit-board member Claudia Balducci of Bellevue, one of the board’s few daily transit riders and who opposes new options that add travel time.

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Daniel Heppner Retweeted

Mike McGinn

@mayormcginn

Apr 2

Describes the homeless sweep tragedy. Cities sweep downtowns and parks, so homeless go to state rights of way. State sweeps its rights of way, pushing them back to downtowns and parks. We need to house people and provide services. Humanizes the homeless in his remarks

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Daniel Heppner Retweeted

Chris DeVore

@crashdev

Mar 31

Just went for a walk with

@SeattleCouncil

candidate

@ronpdavis

-- if you have democracy vouchers burning a hole in your pocket I'd send them his way, he's the kind of leader we need to make #Seattle work for everyone, now and into the future cc

@seattle4ron

Daniel Heppner Retweeted

2 blinis 1 borscht

@runolgarun

Apr 1

please be safe out there on the roads tonight! most of our officers are drunk driving as we speak

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Daniel Heppner

@Danielhep

Mar 31

Wow, Twitter removed my legacy blue check a day early. Unbelievable.

Daniel Heppner

@Danielhep

Mar 30

Damn, this is cool. Can we have

@SoundTransit

build TOD too?

buzzer.translink.ca

TransLink announces first real estate development project - The Buzzer blog

We’re moving forward on a partnership with PCI Developments (PCI) to build a proposed mixed-use development near the future Arbutus […]

was pretending to be on the fence about which station option he was supporting until the week of the vote. Meanwhile, he was using taxpayer money to pay his campaign donor's consulting firm to pressure the ST board to choose the N/S option for the last year.

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David Seater

@dseater

Mar 29

So let me get this straight: @MayorofSeattle Harrell has been funneling a quarter million dollars to a buddy *for a year* to put pressure on the ST Board for his light rail pet project, but didn't announce it publicly until a week before the vote? publicola.com/2023/03/28/cit

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Daniel Heppner

@Danielhep

Mar 29

If we built one of these in Seattle I feel like it would just be empty all the time. We have such a weird cultural relationship with public space and I am not sure how to change that.

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Sam Balto

@CoachBalto

Mar 29

What was once road space is now a play space to chase pigeons. #StreetsForKids

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Daniel Heppner

@Danielhep

Mar 29

Thanks to Noah Smith for the idea of subsidizing the status quo:

noahpinion.substack.com

The Build-Nothing Country

Stasis has become America's spoils system, and it can't go on.

Politicians like

are the reason that America is becoming a do-nothing country that subsidizes the status quo, at great cost to those of us looking for a future in our cities. After such a strong start,

@WAHouseDems

have been such a huge disappointment.

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Ryan Packer

@typewriteralley

Mar 28

And the Leavitt amendment, removing all local bus service from the transit-oriented development bill, just passed.

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Daniel Heppner

@Danielhep

Mar 27

Interesting, and concerning, perspective on the advance of AI tools like GPT.

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Peter Nixey

@peternixey

Mar 26

I'm in the top 2% of users on StackOverflow. My content there has been viewed by over 1.7M people. And it's unlikely I'll ever write anything there again. Which may be a much bigger problem than it seems. Because it may be the canary in the mine of our collective knowledge. A… Show more

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Daniel Heppner

@Danielhep

Mar 27

I don't think grade separation of Link is really the solution here. Advocates should be focusing on the car lanes. Lower driver speeds, reduce crossings, reduce lanes, improve sightlines. This will make MLK a better space for local residents and people riding through on trains.

Cars crashing in front of Link trains two days in a row. People injured. Thousands of riders delayed. SDOT's recently announced safety project won't solve this without a government that acknowledges the actual problem on MLK, which is drivers going too fast and bad road design.

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Sound Transit -

@SoundTransit

Mar 27

Heads up: Link trains are currently turning back at Columbia City and Othello due to a collision between a train and passenger vehicle at Dawson St. First responders are on the scene. More details to follow as we get them but be prepared for delays.

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Do Washington state transit agencies advocate for themselves at the state level (or, at any level?) like California ones too?

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BART

@SFBART

Mar 25

So are we "broke"? Right now, no. Will we be? Maybe, for our operating budget. Is this a BART-only issue? No, all Bay Area transit agencies face this operating shortfall and the "fiscal cliff" at the moment. This is why Bay Area transit, not just BART, is asking for State help

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We can't afford to lose transit

The state budget must #savetransit

Learn More

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Daniel Heppner Retweeted

Wes Mills

@oowm

Mar 24

Just a reminder, Transit Riders Union, The Urbanist, and Seattle Subway are having a Boost Transit Social Hour this Tuesday, 6pm at Optimism. If you are interested in more transit (or want to find out if I really do look like Pusheen), come out!

eventbrite.com

Boost Transit Now Social Hour

Meet other transit advocates, find out ways to get involved, and brainstorm ideas to boost transit service.

Daniel Heppner

@Danielhep

Mar 24

Happy to advertise this to my followers now that I have claimed mine. 😅

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The ORCA Card

@TheORCACard

Mar 23

Woohoo! Special ORCA cards to celebrate the new RapidRide H Line are now available.

twitter.com/KingCountyMetr…

Daniel Heppner

@Danielhep

Mar 24

In fact, the system already supports this functionality at, I believe, some Metro stations and some Metrobus lines.

The #MexicoCity integrated mobility fare card system is gearing up to accept open loop payments, which means being able to tap Visa and MasterCard on the fare readers to pay the fares (among the lowest transit fares in the world- $0.20 for a ride). ORCA card when?

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Guido J. Enríquez Pérez

@Guido_Enr

Mar 24

Que gusto me da que por fin el corredor TRIOXA ya tiene lectores de #TarjetaMI. Igual que la mayoría de lectores en otros corredores, tienen la posibilidad de aceptar tarjetas bancarias pero esto aún no ha sido habilitado (probé con mi tarjeta y me comentó el operador lo mismo).

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Daniel Heppner Retweeted

Stair Daddy

@holz_bau

Mar 24

every day this just becomes more and more prophetic 'After a decade of debate, I am excited to finally start work on a safe and superior corridor that will improve mobility in this region' -bruce harrell (on the 99 tunnel)

thestranger.com

Bruce Harrell’s Climate Plan Is Just a Bunch of Words Strung Together

His claim that we are going to “defeat” climate change is a sign that he clearly hasn’t contended with the seriousness of the problem.

Daniel Heppner

@Danielhep

Mar 22

This option is not so bad, since it would allow Line 3 to potentially be fully automated since it's completely separate from existing infrastructure.

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Erica C. Barnett

@ericacbarnett

Mar 22

NEW: Alternative North-South @soundtransit rail proposal from @KccClaudia, which would preserve the "spine" from Lynnwood to Tacoma and preserve access between South Seattle and Chinatown/ID station. soundtransit.org/st_sharepoint/

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Daniel Heppner Retweeted

Oran (sanjorn.com)

@oranv

Mar 22

I just wrote a letter: Build 4th Avenue Station in CID, Build Midtown Station, Help the CID Thrive. Write yours here:

actionnetwork.org

Build 4th Ave in CID Station, Build Midtown Station

Sound Transit may not keep promises that Sound Transit 3 made to the region’s voters in 2016. Sound Transit 3 was approved by nearly 70% of Seattle voters and 58% of King County voters, promised to...

Daniel Heppner

@Danielhep

Mar 20

The actual routing changes are quite good, though. The planners did a good job, but I think we should be pushing back against the zero sum game instead of accepting that increasing service without simultaneously cutting it elsewhere is impossible.

This service change proposal: - Appears to reduce frequency of routes 10 and 12 to half-hourly (overlapping section is every 15), half current frequency. - Eliminates route 47, a trolleybus line, permanently eliminating part of our trolleybus network.

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jseattle

@jseattle

Mar 20

With RapidRide G starting on Madison in 2024, Metro planning changes to Routes 10, 11, 12, and final elimination of the 47 capitolhillseattle.com/2023/03/with-r

I’ve seen a few people miss the bus because they were waiting at now closed stops. In one case the GTFS showed the stop as being on the wrong side the intersection, where a now closed stop is.

The H line is great! It has pretty solid stretches of bus lanes, ridership is high, and stop spacing is surprisingly decent. The biggest issue is that construction in the southern bit of the line isn’t done, and some stops are in the wrong spots on GTFS.

@KingCountyMetro