Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In

At Streetsblog Network member blog Planning Pool, this week is being billed as "Fail Week" --a full five days on "information about bad planning, lack of planning, and planning generally gone awry." We can't wait to see what they'll be doing. There's certainly no shortage of potential topics.

Their first fail-related post actually has to do with a success of sorts -- the use of Twitter to highlight problems in transit:

transitFail.jpgOne of the more complicated aspects of Twitter are hashtags. Hashtags are words preceded by the hash symbol, #, like #transitFAIL.The purpose of a hashtag is to organize informtion and people. They areoften used to Tweet about current events, conferences, quotes,activities, memes, and other things. Mashable has a good explanation about how they work.…

One of my favorite planning-related hashtags is #transitFAIL.The purpose of #transitFAIL is to publicize where public transportationfails its customers and users. It’s a particularly effective tool,because you can use SMS messaging or use a web-enabled smartphone toinstantaneously tell the world about how transit just let you down.Some smartphones can even take photos or videos and upload them toTwitter, too.

Smart transit providers will use this feedback to improve theirservice and see where the problems are. I’d like to see transitproviders use Twitter to notify people about service changes or delays,too.

I didn't know about the #transitFAIL hashtag, but it's a good idea (we actually used "transitfail" as a tag in Flickr when we were putting together this user-generated slide show on lousy transit). Some transit agencies are using Twitter for service delays as well -- @NYCTSubwayScoop is an example. Will this ever evolve into standard practice? Should it? Or is the reach too narrow?

If you know of more good transit-related uses of Twitter, drop them in the comments.

Oh, and we're @streetsblog, in case you want to follow us.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Wednesday’s Headlines Are for the Children

From mothers with babies in strollers to preteens on bikes, much of the U.S. is hostile to families just trying to get around without a car.

July 2, 2025

Ambulance Data Reveals That Boston Drivers Are 4 Times More Likely to Run Over Pedestrians From Black Neighborhoods

"Overall, residents of predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods are about four times more likely than residents of predominantly white neighborhoods to be struck as a pedestrian."

July 1, 2025

Tuesday’s Sprawling Headlines

Sprawl seems to be having a moment, but it remains a very shortsighted and environmentally disastrous way to solve the housing crisis.

July 1, 2025

Does Constant Driving Really Make Our Country Richer?

A new study reveals that constant driving is making America less productive and prosperous — and getting people on other modes could help right the ship.

July 1, 2025

This Threatened Toronto Bike Lane Gets More Rush Hour Traffic Than the Car Lane

Toronto leadership claim "no one bikes" on their cities' paths — but the data shows otherwise.

July 1, 2025
See all posts