Eddy Sackinger
@core2idiot.bsky.social
Incremental Transit and urbanism advocate, Firmware Engineer, and queer person (Any/All)
Currently, Raleigh
Formerly, many other places
Currently, Raleigh
Formerly, many other places
I also think we underestimate the amount of civil society that remains in an authoritarian regime. There's an equivalent to the PTA in Russia and there's a transport operator with new metro trains. It's not suddenly you wake up and see a masked person each day, that will take you if you step out.
January 23, 2026 at 7:43 PM
I also think we underestimate the amount of civil society that remains in an authoritarian regime. There's an equivalent to the PTA in Russia and there's a transport operator with new metro trains. It's not suddenly you wake up and see a masked person each day, that will take you if you step out.
I've been navigating Baltimore for the last few days, and it's been interesting to think about their Light Rail system, which was built without Federal New Starts funding, which most agencies use in order to fund their transit project.
"Our politics obsess over money, but seldom over time. Eye-watering numbers for some such project will plaster a newspaper broadsheet, but never costs that are counted in years. A billion dollars is an outrage: A decade is just the government running its due course."
The Tyranny of Tomorrow
Why Government Needs to Stop Wasting Our Time.
everyoneiswelcome.substack.com
January 19, 2026 at 10:02 PM
I've been navigating Baltimore for the last few days, and it's been interesting to think about their Light Rail system, which was built without Federal New Starts funding, which most agencies use in order to fund their transit project.
I have a smartphone; I have a contactless credit card; I don't want to use either to pay my fare. I want to use a branded contactless card. They read quickly and I don't have to be legally liable to keep my phone charged on proof of payment systems.
January 16, 2026 at 1:53 PM
I have a smartphone; I have a contactless credit card; I don't want to use either to pay my fare. I want to use a branded contactless card. They read quickly and I don't have to be legally liable to keep my phone charged on proof of payment systems.
I think Baltimore has an okay idea of using a different naming schema for frequent service and non-frequent service bus routes but the names they choose I believe are too clunky.
January 15, 2026 at 11:05 PM
I think Baltimore has an okay idea of using a different naming schema for frequent service and non-frequent service bus routes but the names they choose I believe are too clunky.
I don't support banning phones in schools and I don't support banning access to social media for under 16s.
I do support defining curated feeds as speech for the person during the curating.
I do support defining curated feeds as speech for the person during the curating.
January 15, 2026 at 10:25 PM
I don't support banning phones in schools and I don't support banning access to social media for under 16s.
I do support defining curated feeds as speech for the person during the curating.
I do support defining curated feeds as speech for the person during the curating.
Reposted by Eddy Sackinger
He moved it behind his BBQ restaurant to keep it from being torn down.
Dream to save historic ‘eyesore’ became BBQ restaurant owner’s 10-year obsession
He moved it behind his BBQ restaurant to keep it from being torn down.
bit.ly
January 12, 2026 at 6:40 PM
He moved it behind his BBQ restaurant to keep it from being torn down.
One big idea for Raleigh, realign the Pigeon House branch to daylight through Nash and/or Moore Square on it's way through downtown Raleigh.
January 10, 2026 at 9:21 PM
One big idea for Raleigh, realign the Pigeon House branch to daylight through Nash and/or Moore Square on it's way through downtown Raleigh.
Raleigh in many ways is an urban archipelago, it's many different districts jockeying for status but the land between them is largely ignored and all of them are speaking so loudly that none of them stand out.
January 9, 2026 at 6:34 PM
Raleigh in many ways is an urban archipelago, it's many different districts jockeying for status but the land between them is largely ignored and all of them are speaking so loudly that none of them stand out.
To have a week long #GoRaleigh detour, with zero communication via GTFS, should be a scandal.
January 9, 2026 at 4:59 PM
To have a week long #GoRaleigh detour, with zero communication via GTFS, should be a scandal.
I don't really believe in democracy peace theory, that democratic countries rarely go to war together, as the mechanism for peace.
But I think I have come to believe that healthy democracies tend to focus domestically, which leads to hesitancy for war.
But I think I have come to believe that healthy democracies tend to focus domestically, which leads to hesitancy for war.
January 7, 2026 at 2:38 PM
I don't really believe in democracy peace theory, that democratic countries rarely go to war together, as the mechanism for peace.
But I think I have come to believe that healthy democracies tend to focus domestically, which leads to hesitancy for war.
But I think I have come to believe that healthy democracies tend to focus domestically, which leads to hesitancy for war.
It's sad to see a transit service shutdown but the money required to make this a meaningful service would have meaningfully decreased other service. I hope that they work on the network to replace it but what it was, wasn't working.
Today, Minneapolis's Northstar Line is shutting down permanently. This video is the one time I rode it - three years ago - along with a discussion of its less-than-ideal bus replacements. youtu.be/XwtyJYZqi6U
My First (and Last) Trip on Minneapolis's Northstar Line
The one silver lining of this thing going away is that it got me to finally edit an over 3-year-old video!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/milesintransit
Twitter:…
youtu.be
January 6, 2026 at 11:14 PM
It's sad to see a transit service shutdown but the money required to make this a meaningful service would have meaningfully decreased other service. I hope that they work on the network to replace it but what it was, wasn't working.
Also I think it's worth asking, if they might be safer individually but making the roads overall less safe. An autonomous car that is more likely to follow the cars around it is fine but if every car is likely to follow the cars around it and one of the cars starts doing something bad 🤷♀️
Sorry, but triumphant claims about autonomous vehicle safety are wildly exaggerated.
It's an open question whether today’s self-driving cars are any safer than those driven by humans.
And if reducing crashes is the goal, that isn’t even the right question.
My deep dive, in Bloomberg 🧵
It's an open question whether today’s self-driving cars are any safer than those driven by humans.
And if reducing crashes is the goal, that isn’t even the right question.
My deep dive, in Bloomberg 🧵
We Still Don’t Know if Robotaxis Are Safer Than Human Drivers
And even if self-driving technology proves to be less dangerous, there are many better ways to improve traffic safety and prevent fatal crashes.
www.bloomberg.com
January 6, 2026 at 8:37 PM
Also I think it's worth asking, if they might be safer individually but making the roads overall less safe. An autonomous car that is more likely to follow the cars around it is fine but if every car is likely to follow the cars around it and one of the cars starts doing something bad 🤷♀️
America is not special. Trams generally are not the greatest investment. Transit needs to be fast, frequent and convenient. Tramways, especially pretty ones, are not fast.
on the issues with how we view the role of tramways in canada (US, too), i am reminded of a very recent paper showing how modal shifts vary by transit mode in european cities, and how much higher they are for cities with metro systems than tram-only systems in larger, sprawling cities
January 2, 2026 at 10:05 PM
America is not special. Trams generally are not the greatest investment. Transit needs to be fast, frequent and convenient. Tramways, especially pretty ones, are not fast.
Reposted by Eddy Sackinger
A message for you all to carry through the year
January 1, 2026 at 6:32 AM
A message for you all to carry through the year
Reposted by Eddy Sackinger
Happy New Year 🎉
This January is filled with ways to build a better Triangle together ❄️🏙️
From our Book Club to a Policy Talk on affordable housing, we have amazing events to ring in the new year 🔔
List of events and RSVP below ⬇️
👉 https://loom.ly/KJkeenw
#raleigh #durham #events #yimby
This January is filled with ways to build a better Triangle together ❄️🏙️
From our Book Club to a Policy Talk on affordable housing, we have amazing events to ring in the new year 🔔
List of events and RSVP below ⬇️
👉 https://loom.ly/KJkeenw
#raleigh #durham #events #yimby
January 1, 2026 at 1:03 PM
Happy New Year 🎉
This January is filled with ways to build a better Triangle together ❄️🏙️
From our Book Club to a Policy Talk on affordable housing, we have amazing events to ring in the new year 🔔
List of events and RSVP below ⬇️
👉 https://loom.ly/KJkeenw
#raleigh #durham #events #yimby
This January is filled with ways to build a better Triangle together ❄️🏙️
From our Book Club to a Policy Talk on affordable housing, we have amazing events to ring in the new year 🔔
List of events and RSVP below ⬇️
👉 https://loom.ly/KJkeenw
#raleigh #durham #events #yimby
I believe that if it weren't for DOGE, the cybertruck would have sold *fine*, not huge sales but not an albatross. We've know Elon was kind of bad for at least close to a decade, people care now because of DOGE.
December 31, 2025 at 12:37 PM
I believe that if it weren't for DOGE, the cybertruck would have sold *fine*, not huge sales but not an albatross. We've know Elon was kind of bad for at least close to a decade, people care now because of DOGE.
I love riding a night train. It's so nice to spend the night or day in bed while on a train but they're horrifically expensive to operate and therefore have to be a slow luxury service. I don't think that there's a large market for slow luxury rail services.
Yes it’s Politico. No I don’t trust them generally. But I spoke to them for this piece about night trains, and they spoke to a bunch of other knowledgeable people too, inc @simplyrailways.bsky.social
www.politico.eu/article/why-...
www.politico.eu/article/why-...
Why Europe’s night-train renaissance derailed
Aging carriages, high costs and reluctant incumbents choked off the night-train revival — even as passengers clamor for more.
www.politico.eu
December 30, 2025 at 11:57 AM
I love riding a night train. It's so nice to spend the night or day in bed while on a train but they're horrifically expensive to operate and therefore have to be a slow luxury service. I don't think that there's a large market for slow luxury rail services.
While I disagree that people financial-ize their time, I agree that most transit agencies are facing brutal financial realities. I also agree that once someone owns a car, they take transit a lot less. Yet more I agree in the problematic nature of "choice" and "captive" riders.
2025 was brutal for US transit. Agencies faced budget deficits, flat ridership, and open hostility from the White House.
I wrote a series of stories outlining ways to help transit endure.
Lesson #1: Whatever you do, don’t cut service. Riders will leave – permanently.
Here are a few others 🧵
I wrote a series of stories outlining ways to help transit endure.
Lesson #1: Whatever you do, don’t cut service. Riders will leave – permanently.
Here are a few others 🧵
The Last Thing US Transit Agencies Should Do Now
Rising costs and widening deficits as pandemic aid runs out are challenging bus and train operators in many cities. But cutting service needs to be a last resort.
www.bloomberg.com
December 27, 2025 at 3:30 PM
While I disagree that people financial-ize their time, I agree that most transit agencies are facing brutal financial realities. I also agree that once someone owns a car, they take transit a lot less. Yet more I agree in the problematic nature of "choice" and "captive" riders.
If trams were free to build and didn't cost any additional upkeep, I would probably be a trams girlie but they don't and they do.
Light Rail is *fine* but there's a reason why the systems that survived the 1950s (outside the Eastern Bloc) on average weren't the trams.
Light Rail is *fine* but there's a reason why the systems that survived the 1950s (outside the Eastern Bloc) on average weren't the trams.
Why I’m Less Excited About Trams Than You youtu.be/JLzkcfGfnDg
Why I’m Less Excited About Trams Than You
YouTube video by Oh The Urbanity!
youtu.be
December 27, 2025 at 2:09 AM
If trams were free to build and didn't cost any additional upkeep, I would probably be a trams girlie but they don't and they do.
Light Rail is *fine* but there's a reason why the systems that survived the 1950s (outside the Eastern Bloc) on average weren't the trams.
Light Rail is *fine* but there's a reason why the systems that survived the 1950s (outside the Eastern Bloc) on average weren't the trams.
One thing, I do feel like AI can hamper my imagination. After using AI for a while, I get used to the adversarial nature of creation it produces, rather than the solitary reflection of using conventional tools.
December 27, 2025 at 1:57 AM
One thing, I do feel like AI can hamper my imagination. After using AI for a while, I get used to the adversarial nature of creation it produces, rather than the solitary reflection of using conventional tools.
The biggest problems facing transit in North America, are political, not technical or financial.
Only Toronto would spend 220 million INT$/km (the cost France or China builds an underground city center metro line) on a tramway that is significantly slower, less frequent and more unreliable than the bus route it replaced.
We raced TTC's Line 6 on a bus and it was so slow we had time to stop for a snack
Toronto's newest transit line debuted on Dec. 7 to brutally bad reviews, and it seems that even a few weeks into service, the TTC has not ironed out …
www.blogto.com
December 23, 2025 at 1:11 PM
The biggest problems facing transit in North America, are political, not technical or financial.
Federal funding at it's best is a force multiplier. Cities build what they would build anyway but a bit nicer and a bit more of it. However looking at the way cities have been acting with a disruption to federal funding, it often looks like they've been building in order to get federal grants.
December 22, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Federal funding at it's best is a force multiplier. Cities build what they would build anyway but a bit nicer and a bit more of it. However looking at the way cities have been acting with a disruption to federal funding, it often looks like they've been building in order to get federal grants.
"What can't we all get along?" Often reads to me as "Why doesn't every one assimilate?"
December 21, 2025 at 5:15 PM
"What can't we all get along?" Often reads to me as "Why doesn't every one assimilate?"
I feel within the democratic establishment there is no concern whether Democrats will vote for democratic candidates, only if republicans will. So there's no desire for intraparty reconciliation, only concern for what looks bad in an inter-party way.
BREAKING: The Democratic National Committee will NOT release its long-awaited autopsy on Trump's 2024 win. The report is completed but Dem leaders decided it could distract from their winning streak, so it will remain secret. Not good.
Details here:
newrepublic.com/article/2045...
Details here:
newrepublic.com/article/2045...
Dem Leaders Decide to Bury Damning Report on Why Trump Won in 2024
The Democratic National Committee has completed its long-awaited analysis on what went wrong in the 2024 campaign. But in a move that will attract intense criticism, it’s keeping the findings secret.
newrepublic.com
December 18, 2025 at 11:41 PM
I feel within the democratic establishment there is no concern whether Democrats will vote for democratic candidates, only if republicans will. So there's no desire for intraparty reconciliation, only concern for what looks bad in an inter-party way.