Brent Finnegan
@brentfinnegan.bsky.social
Posts about the intersection of transportation, climate, housing, and land use. From Harrisonburg, Virginia ("The Friendly City") currently living in Utrecht, NL. https://brentfinnegan.substack.com/
Reposted by Brent Finnegan
Limiting housing construction in walkable central neighbourhoods means pushing more people out to live in car-oriented suburbs.
October 1, 2026 at 10:34 PM
Limiting housing construction in walkable central neighbourhoods means pushing more people out to live in car-oriented suburbs.
Reposted by Brent Finnegan
Translation: Georgians who use a car little or not at all will subsidize heavy drivers even more than they already are.
BREAKING: Georgia Gov. Kemp has just suspended the state's excise tax on fuel for 30 days, taking effect at 12:01am tomorrow. This will reduce gas prices ~33c/gal and diesel ~37c/gal. As this tax is at the wholesalelevel, it will take several days to be passed along.
September 28, 2026 at 11:32 PM
Translation: Georgians who use a car little or not at all will subsidize heavy drivers even more than they already are.
I love doing quick grocery runs with my e-bike & vintage Shenandoah's Pride milk crate combo.
September 28, 2026 at 4:22 PM
I love doing quick grocery runs with my e-bike & vintage Shenandoah's Pride milk crate combo.
Reposted by Brent Finnegan
This is a remarkably lazy argument. Subsidizing cheap gas just guarantees continued car dependency. The true financial anchor dragging down the working class is living in a society where expensive private vehicle ownership is a mandatory tax just to exist.
All these people who are like gas is still too cheap and want it more expensive are nothing but privileged a-holes who want to make poor and working class people suffer
$3.89/gal for gas in Indiana?!
That's too cheap!
Why?
Because the Republican governor Indiana suspended the gas tax again, meaning car culture is not paying it's fair share and the tax payers at large are subsidizing their driving habits.
Sounds like socialism to me. 😂
That's too cheap!
Why?
Because the Republican governor Indiana suspended the gas tax again, meaning car culture is not paying it's fair share and the tax payers at large are subsidizing their driving habits.
Sounds like socialism to me. 😂
September 27, 2026 at 9:14 PM
This is a remarkably lazy argument. Subsidizing cheap gas just guarantees continued car dependency. The true financial anchor dragging down the working class is living in a society where expensive private vehicle ownership is a mandatory tax just to exist.
Reposted by Brent Finnegan
When there's a housing crisis that has gone on for decades, but the tech oligarchs control your entire government with their influence.
September 26, 2026 at 8:18 PM
When there's a housing crisis that has gone on for decades, but the tech oligarchs control your entire government with their influence.
Reposted by Brent Finnegan
An individual in Canada used ChatGPT for eight months to plan one of the country’s worst mass shootings.
Yet, if you listen to politicians and media, the real threat of AI is a fantastical scenario where it might wipe out humans in ten years. They need to stop getting fooled by tech deceivers.
Yet, if you listen to politicians and media, the real threat of AI is a fantastical scenario where it might wipe out humans in ten years. They need to stop getting fooled by tech deceivers.
The media has the AI threat all wrong
Generative AI is harming people today. We don’t need to waste time fantasizing about science fictional scenarios.
disconnect.blog
September 25, 2026 at 5:59 PM
An individual in Canada used ChatGPT for eight months to plan one of the country’s worst mass shootings.
Yet, if you listen to politicians and media, the real threat of AI is a fantastical scenario where it might wipe out humans in ten years. They need to stop getting fooled by tech deceivers.
Yet, if you listen to politicians and media, the real threat of AI is a fantastical scenario where it might wipe out humans in ten years. They need to stop getting fooled by tech deceivers.
Reposted by Brent Finnegan
Americans may not be able to afford to buy a home, but at least they also can’t afford gas or groceries
Mortgage Rates Hit 7% as Iran War Fallout Crushes a Weak Housing Market (Gift Article)
The average rate on a 30-year mortgage in the United States jumped to 7.03 percent, putting pressure on housing affordability.
www.nytimes.com
September 24, 2026 at 5:36 PM
Americans may not be able to afford to buy a home, but at least they also can’t afford gas or groceries
People will read a headline like this and jump immediately to wanting to ban the wrong vehicle.
September 23, 2026 at 9:33 PM
People will read a headline like this and jump immediately to wanting to ban the wrong vehicle.
Plenty of e-bikes (new and used) going for about $1,700.
Consumers hit by one-two punch of oil and rates from Iran war. The estimated bill is $1,700 per household
Consumers hit by one-two punch of oil and rates from Iran war. The estimated bill is $1,700 per household
Rising oil prices and Treasury yields are lifting energy and borrowing costs for U.S. households, pushing consumers to draw more heavily on savings.
cnb.cx
September 17, 2026 at 12:06 PM
Plenty of e-bikes (new and used) going for about $1,700.
But will it get more media attention and online comments than a story about the Broad Street Bullies?
September 8, 2026 at 12:55 PM
But will it get more media attention and online comments than a story about the Broad Street Bullies?
I don't think I could just let that slide. "Hold on, stop the call. WTF was that?"
August 31, 2026 at 7:44 PM
I don't think I could just let that slide. "Hold on, stop the call. WTF was that?"
Reposted by Brent Finnegan
We took traffic laws explicitly designed to manage the deadly physics of multi-ton motor vehicles and applied them directly to bicycles. When your only regulatory tool is a hammer, every vehicle looks like a nail. In cities, bicycles simply shouldn't be governed like cars. It's lazy policy.
August 31, 2026 at 12:17 PM
We took traffic laws explicitly designed to manage the deadly physics of multi-ton motor vehicles and applied them directly to bicycles. When your only regulatory tool is a hammer, every vehicle looks like a nail. In cities, bicycles simply shouldn't be governed like cars. It's lazy policy.
It's easy to see how pathetic this is. What is worse IMO is how common it has become for non-billionaire regular people who also outsource their creative thinking to LLMs.
August 29, 2026 at 7:05 PM
It's easy to see how pathetic this is. What is worse IMO is how common it has become for non-billionaire regular people who also outsource their creative thinking to LLMs.
After living in Utrecht for a year without a car, I would describe my high-cortisol experiences commuting by bike in the US as abusive. It's the difference between living peacefully in a house, vs. when the loud, angry drunk comes home. It's unnecessary and unacceptable.
I think folks who ride for transit or on busy roads know this on a deep level. Every complaint about helmets or rolling stop signs or riding two abreast or empty bike lanes or entitled riders is pure misdirection. The core issue: They don't want riders on the road. The entitlement claim is batshit.
August 29, 2026 at 3:59 PM
After living in Utrecht for a year without a car, I would describe my high-cortisol experiences commuting by bike in the US as abusive. It's the difference between living peacefully in a house, vs. when the loud, angry drunk comes home. It's unnecessary and unacceptable.
Reposted by Brent Finnegan
“Dutch people cycle an average of 2.6km each per day. If this pattern was replicated worldwide, annual carbon emissions would drop by 686 million tonnes.
This mammoth figure exceeds the entire carbon footprint of most countries, including the UK, Canada, Saudi Arabia and Australia.” @euronews.com
This mammoth figure exceeds the entire carbon footprint of most countries, including the UK, Canada, Saudi Arabia and Australia.” @euronews.com
Cycling like the Dutch would slash the world’s carbon footprint
If everybody cycled like the Dutch, we could offset the UK or Australia’s entire carbon footprint.
www.euronews.com
August 29, 2026 at 6:15 AM
“Dutch people cycle an average of 2.6km each per day. If this pattern was replicated worldwide, annual carbon emissions would drop by 686 million tonnes.
This mammoth figure exceeds the entire carbon footprint of most countries, including the UK, Canada, Saudi Arabia and Australia.” @euronews.com
This mammoth figure exceeds the entire carbon footprint of most countries, including the UK, Canada, Saudi Arabia and Australia.” @euronews.com
Only 4% of adults who ride bikes in the Netherlands wear a helmet. Helmets protect the skulls of riders who fall off their bikes. A styrofoam hat is no match for a 4,000 pound metal vehicle moving at 45+ MPH. The difference between the US and NL is whose safety and convenience is prioritized.
August 27, 2026 at 7:12 PM
Only 4% of adults who ride bikes in the Netherlands wear a helmet. Helmets protect the skulls of riders who fall off their bikes. A styrofoam hat is no match for a 4,000 pound metal vehicle moving at 45+ MPH. The difference between the US and NL is whose safety and convenience is prioritized.
The last time Harrisonburg, Virginia had passenger rail service was in 1948. Blue Ridge Rail is forming a new coalition seeking to bring it back in the 21st century.
brentfinnegan.substack.com/p/what-would...
brentfinnegan.substack.com/p/what-would...
What would it take to bring passenger rail service back to Harrisonburg?
Blue Ridge Rail is seeking 500 local residents to submit public comments in favor of including Harrisonburg on the DRPT Statewide Rail Plan by September 21.
brentfinnegan.substack.com
August 27, 2026 at 11:40 AM
The last time Harrisonburg, Virginia had passenger rail service was in 1948. Blue Ridge Rail is forming a new coalition seeking to bring it back in the 21st century.
brentfinnegan.substack.com/p/what-would...
brentfinnegan.substack.com/p/what-would...
Riding an e-bike is cheating, but driving a car instead is fine.
August 26, 2026 at 12:35 PM
Riding an e-bike is cheating, but driving a car instead is fine.
Practically every local news headline about an "e-bike crash" fails to contextualize whether the person on the bike crashed into something or someone, or were hit by a car. The majority are the latter. Cars kill people.
www.yahoo.com/news/us/arti...
www.yahoo.com/news/us/arti...
Cars And Trucks Still Kill E-Bike Riders The Most, Says The Actual Data
Nearly 55% of e-bike-related deaths were caused by crashes involving cars and trucks. By contrast, only 6% involved pedestrians.
www.yahoo.com
August 26, 2026 at 10:30 AM
Practically every local news headline about an "e-bike crash" fails to contextualize whether the person on the bike crashed into something or someone, or were hit by a car. The majority are the latter. Cars kill people.
www.yahoo.com/news/us/arti...
www.yahoo.com/news/us/arti...
Reposted by Brent Finnegan
Turns out when you add bus lanes you can massively improve transit quality and speed!
[Live footage from Seattle! For reference: seattletransitblog.com/2025/07/12/r...
[Live footage from Seattle! For reference: seattletransitblog.com/2025/07/12/r...
Holy shit we’re flying like a bat out of hell. #Acceler8
August 25, 2026 at 2:13 PM
Turns out when you add bus lanes you can massively improve transit quality and speed!
[Live footage from Seattle! For reference: seattletransitblog.com/2025/07/12/r...
[Live footage from Seattle! For reference: seattletransitblog.com/2025/07/12/r...
Drivers can ignore speed limit laws but they can't ignore the laws of physics.
August 25, 2026 at 9:13 AM
Drivers can ignore speed limit laws but they can't ignore the laws of physics.
This is so common that it hasn't even been a month since the last #CarIntoBuilding in Harrisonburg.
www.whsv.com/2026/08/24/c...
www.whsv.com/2026/08/24/c...
August 24, 2026 at 10:47 PM
This is so common that it hasn't even been a month since the last #CarIntoBuilding in Harrisonburg.
www.whsv.com/2026/08/24/c...
www.whsv.com/2026/08/24/c...
VDOT is spending $336+ million to add one lane in each direction for six miles of I-81 through #Harrisonburg. A jackknifed truck that blocks 2 lanes will also block 3 lanes. "One more lane" is DOT's answer for every traffic issue, but it doesn't fix the problem of monomodal transportation systems.
August 24, 2026 at 5:53 PM
VDOT is spending $336+ million to add one lane in each direction for six miles of I-81 through #Harrisonburg. A jackknifed truck that blocks 2 lanes will also block 3 lanes. "One more lane" is DOT's answer for every traffic issue, but it doesn't fix the problem of monomodal transportation systems.
E-bikes don't only reduce carbon emissions, they save money.
From British Columbia, encouraging findings about the impact of e-bike rebates:
"E-bike rebate recipients reduced their weekly travel costs by 12% after 1 year of ownership and had a net increase to their physical activity during travel by 14%."
doi.org/10.1016/j.ur...
"E-bike rebate recipients reduced their weekly travel costs by 12% after 1 year of ownership and had a net increase to their physical activity during travel by 14%."
doi.org/10.1016/j.ur...
August 24, 2026 at 5:38 PM
E-bikes don't only reduce carbon emissions, they save money.
Reposted by Brent Finnegan
A leading killer of children in the US is cars and particularly SUVs.
First day of school, first SUV driver blowing a stop sign with multiple families attempting to cross
August 24, 2026 at 2:22 PM
A leading killer of children in the US is cars and particularly SUVs.