@rachael@social.ridetrans.it
@rachael@social.ridetrans.it avatar

rachael

@rachael@social.ridetrans.it

I live in Seattle with my family and work in tech. I'm also disabled (mostly deaf & blind on one side). I ride the bus, walk or bike most of the time and I care a lot about our transportation system working for everyone. I spend a lot of my not-work time on local advocacy, family stuff, pottery and our unitarian universalist church. Pronouns: They/them

Note: I have multiple accounts and not posting all topics from one account. This one is for Seattle, urbanism & regional political stuff!

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

Andres4NY, to cargobike
@Andres4NY@social.ridetrans.it avatar

lol. Shelter wouldn't let us take home fosters (in a hard shell carrier) in the because "it's too dangerous". I even deflated the tires a bit for this, for a smoother ride.

So many in , I'm so fucking tired of it.

[for background, every cat I've ever dealt with has been terrified in a car. They hate the speed, and the loud engine/vibrations. It's one of the reasons I started transporting my former cats by bike.]

View of the inside of the box. There's a bag of cat food, a white fuzzy cat bed, a blanket underneath, and room for a cat carrier on top of the cat bed.

rachael,
@rachael@social.ridetrans.it avatar

@Andres4NY um don’t you live in NY?? most folks are going to be carrying via bus or subway and not a car either right??

rachael, to Seattle
@rachael@social.ridetrans.it avatar

Critical quote right up front highlighting the elite corruption in this town: “He [Sloan] texted his complaints to Mayor Bruce Harrell, according to a former city hall employee.

Months later, in July 2023, a deputy mayor and Seattle Parks leader paid Sloan a visit to discuss building a playground at the park, according to the mayor’s spokesperson.” https://artsio.com/@ottsatwork/112447892962573969

rachael, to Seattle
@rachael@social.ridetrans.it avatar

Big mega transportation projects primarily benefiting people who drive just roll along and get most of the money but the projects for non-drivers are often crumbs we’re expected to cheer for and even bigger projects are easily cut when money is tight. Thanks Kimberly for this framing.

https://bsky.app/profile/sheridesabike.bsky.social/post/3kska47zgs22f (screenshot to bluesky thread with permission!)

I know the model. Celebrate the wins and keep on. But the wins are always crumbs, and often the wins we are asked to celebrate are future deliverables that evaporate. Like the waterfront, like the lid, like the way the E Union PBL was executed.
Barbara Bailey, where it's unusual if there aren't cars parked on the plaza. Something mere bollards would prevent. The list is long. I am tired of celebrating crumbs and never getting served an appetizer, let alone a fucking main dish or entire meal.
And, in fact, being promised a main dish and then being served a cold crumb from last week's special that's probably not legal to serve according to health department guidelines. And this is actually a good metaphor because the public health implications are real. As are the climate implications. Etc.

rachael,
@rachael@social.ridetrans.it avatar

I think a lot about the “Seattle Transportation Plan” basically threw out all the work folks have been doing for a decade+ to get some consensus on bike and pedestrian infra that should exist. Imperfect infra but better. There are maps with bike routes that will never exist in any real sense just as there are many many blocks of sidewalks that will only come into being if a big multi-family development happens adjacent. But the roads for people who can drive are already there.

rachael, to random
@rachael@social.ridetrans.it avatar

I never really liked driving and would use a bus or bike as often as was not terribly worse but until 2018 it was an option to drive. My partner often can still drive me places but I too often get so angry when I look up how to get some place and realize I can spend 2-3 times as long to get there or ask my partner or just not go.

Anyway get Anna’s book! Be ready to write your elected officials often after. :)

https://annazivarts.com/

https://social.ridetrans.it/@Nondriver/112411044057267161

Jzimbabwe, to random
@Jzimbabwe@toot.pizza avatar

I was today years old when I tried an (Impossible) for the first time.

Is “burnt” one of the flavor goals for that sandwich?

rachael,
@rachael@social.ridetrans.it avatar

@Andres4NY @Jzimbabwe we’ve found impossible whoppers to be wildly variable. But a little burnt is normal because that’s how whoppers usually are. but a very nice option for a quick satisfying meal.

rachael, to random
@rachael@social.ridetrans.it avatar

I am a very proud parent right now because my kiddo biked herself with me riding nearby to school, locked it herself and then when I came to pickup she wanted to pick the route home — and she picked a decent one and knew where she was going just fine. I wish there were actual bike lanes or trails for more of it because people in cars sometimes behave poorly, but she’s pretty smart and has been walking to/from school fine for a bit.

rachael,
@rachael@social.ridetrans.it avatar

Ironically when she gets to middle school the most direct bike friendly route is much much less hazardous even though it’s three times further away. But that’s bike infrastructure and “planning” for you!

Andres4NY, (edited ) to random
@Andres4NY@social.ridetrans.it avatar

If you're going to claim that ebike subsidies are for "rich white hipsters", I'm just going to block your ass.

rachael,
@rachael@social.ridetrans.it avatar

@Andres4NY if only all the car subsidies were explicit. maybe yearly registration tabs should be sent with a sheet of paper listing all the spending on cars and the externalized costs of crashes etc.

rachael, to Seattle
@rachael@social.ridetrans.it avatar

The city of has a dashboard up for the previous / current transportation levy's achievements. It's using Tableau and is basically an unusable mess (for me at least).

Between this stuff and how budgets are presented (always as this much or less money in particular categories not how much of total budget it is year to year), it's clear the city doesn't want non-experts to understand what's going on. Or at least don't prioritize it.

rachael,
@rachael@social.ridetrans.it avatar

I would summarize the numbers but it would take a while but SDOT claims to have built a total of less than 30 miles of protected bike lanes over 8 years which are largely flex post only with major gaps and often "abandoning" the intersections. But SDOT counts even a quarter mile of "protection" in the miles of protected bike lanes. It's embarrassing.

Paris built over 400 miles of bike facilities (mostly protected or separated) in like 5 years.

rachael,
@rachael@social.ridetrans.it avatar

I'm viewing this page on the city's Levy dashboard: https://public.tableau.com/shared/QPB6D75DY?:display_count=n&:origin=viz_share_link

I can't really read the list of projects very well (too small, contrast) and I can't copy/paste. So I am like okay I'll download. I click the download button and pick PDF. And I get a PDF that looks like this and ... can't even see all the projects in the list.

rachael,
@rachael@social.ridetrans.it avatar

Also I just tried VoiceOver on Mac and the Tableau dashboard is basically entirely unusable in a screenreader as far as I can tell. I can't get it to read anything within the main content / data area.

rachael,
@rachael@social.ridetrans.it avatar

@Andres4NY This is the old levy stuff, not the new one. I was trying to refresh my memory of what they actually did with the old/current levy.

rachael,
@rachael@social.ridetrans.it avatar

I can download a CSV based on this data format but wow that is just ... what?! Why would you structure it this way?!

rachael, to Seattle
@rachael@social.ridetrans.it avatar

ACAB including cops. From Erica Barnett in Bluesky. Screenshotted for those who don’t want to visit. https://bsky.app/profile/ericacbarnett.bsky.social/post/3kpfqh4n76d2l

rachael, to Seattle
@rachael@social.ridetrans.it avatar

Hell yes! Saunatina for council! https://www.thestranger.com/elections-2024/2024/04/02/79452103/lefty-organizer-saunatina-sanchez-launches-challenge-against-tanya-woo-for-city-council

rachael, to Seattle
@rachael@social.ridetrans.it avatar

Some bullshit tech being piloted in San Jose that folks in might want to know about, especially given the city’s seeming excitement for bullshit surveillance police tech. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/mar/25/san-jose-homelessness-ai-detection

rachael, to random
@rachael@social.ridetrans.it avatar

I am reading the Publicola article on the website redesign and just groaning every paragraph. https://publicola.com/2024/02/27/king-countys-baffling-website-redesign-sorta-explained/

rachael,
@rachael@social.ridetrans.it avatar

@Andres4NY Right? Like I assume a lot of the county’s needs are complex with lots of history and weird corner cases but $15m doesn’t even include the staff costs?! And the CMS has a very short life before it will be unsupported?!

rachael, to Seattle
@rachael@social.ridetrans.it avatar

We live in a city where the elected attorney has openly stated she supports forcibly moving people living unsheltered to a warehouse, the mayor and his staff are fine with forcibly making people move (destroying their belongings) even when there’s no shelter, and where public rhetoric frequently dehumanizes anyone who is homeless. It’s not exactly surprising that some absorb those messages and commit horrific assaults. https://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2024/02/police-investigating-new-seattle-hit-and-run-attacks-after-homeless-man-run-over-while-sleeping-on-north-capitol-hill-sidewalk/

rachael, to random
@rachael@social.ridetrans.it avatar

Walking came first. We have corrupted the safety and comfort of walking in our places with car dominance and just ttell people they should drive a car if they don't like it. It is like if after spacesuits and respirator masks were invented we decided it was okay for the air to be dangerous to breath because everyone could just wear a P100. Wait, we did that air pollution part but didn't tell everyone to wear P100s all the time when outdoors.

rachael, to Seattle
@rachael@social.ridetrans.it avatar

The city of is going to start prosecuting graffiti cases again after the Ninth Circuit reversed a lower court ruling. Because prosecuting people for street art is going to improve people’s lives or something. We’re still angry about the destroying a beautiful mural art near us that took multiple days to put up and had been there for years.

https://publicola.com/2024/02/02/new-bite-of-seattle-owner-will-keep-despised-payment-app-city-will-resume-graffiti-prosecutions/?utm_source=pocket_reader

Goose Chase meme with text: Attorney Ann Davison says graffiti costs the city lots of money! How much does the criminal justice system cost the city, Ann?

rachael, to random
@rachael@social.ridetrans.it avatar

social.ridetrans.it is now updated to the latest version of 4.2.5 which fixes a security vulnerability. Thanks @oowm for the quick morning update!

owen, to Seattle
@owen@social.ridetrans.it avatar

lol, Sara Nelson comes out against increasing voter turnout. No doubt she'd be a Republican if she lived in Oklahoma.

"Greater turnout doesn’t necessarily mean a better-informed public when it comes to the issues that impact people’s daily lives most directly, which is the stuff that comes out of City Hall"

https://www.thestranger.com/news/2024/01/30/79364743/council-president-sara-nelson-opposes-effort-to-increase-voter-turnout

rachael,
@rachael@social.ridetrans.it avatar

@Andres4NY @owen @garland Ding ding ding. Her interview with Fincher on Hacks & Wonks was bananas and that was completely public. Every event I’ve heard her speak at in her two runs she said something just incoherent or obviously incorrect or avoiding the issue. But the media and the narratives have all about homelessness and crime — and bullshit “solutions” folks like Nelson had no intention of funding but sound good.

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