Image by Susan Sermoneta licensed under Creative Commons.

If cities want to save transit, they need to adapt to new forms of competition and make transferring to a bus or train seamless. Check out these architectural examples of human pettiness from around the world. Portland, Oregon is trying something new to protect a historically black neighborhood.

How to stop transit agency decline: In many cities around the country and the world, public transit is getting competition from all sides. Bikes, scooters, ride hailing, and more now make up a changing ecosystem of transportation. Congestion charging is a solution, but ultimately agencies should focus on helping cities figure out the best ways to get people around with multiple modes on a single pass. (The Economist)

Building out of spite: This piece showcases photos of “spite houses,” which are places that were built to roil the people that lived next door or those that would evict them. There are examples from around the world, but my favorites are the small houses. (Aidan Mac Gill | Guardian)

A local solution for displacement: Portland, Oregon has is a pretty homogenous population — just 5.7% of its residents are black. In order to protect the historically black neighborhood of Albina, a report by a local organization Right 2 Root has proposed a series of interventions that go beyond market-based solutions and is led by citizen activists rather than architects and planners. (Patrick Sisson | Curbed)

Central Park is now carless: After a half century of advocacy, Central Park in New York City is closed to cars. One of the first campaigns for the transportation advocacy groups TransAlt was to rid central park of cars. Incremental improvements had slowed car traffic in the park, but Mayor Bill DeBlasio's recent announcement on Earth Day heralded a complete end. (David Meyer | Streetsblog NYC)

Phoenix (and the world) might never be the same: Alphabet's Waymo is testing self-driving vehicles in Phoenix, and if they succeed the future will be much different than currently envisioned. The auto industry could change from selling cars to individuals to fleet management, while drive-throughs could change to self-driving restaurants. A different future could be in store in ways previously unimagined. (Ed Fin | MIT Technology Review)

Quote of the Week

“People who are participating in the basic income pilot seem to have a renewed sense of hope and are beginning to dream about their futures,” he says. “Personally, I believe basic income will become the preeminent social policy imperative of the 21st century.”

Tom Cooper discussing the positive outcomes that have resulted from a universal basic income test in Hamilton Ontario. (Guardian)

This week's Talking Headways podcast features Stan Wall of HR&A Advisors talking about Transit-Oriented Development and value capture in Washington, DC.