Headway

The word headway is public transit jargon for “the time between buses or trains on the same line”. You could say that it’s the pulse of a transit route.

Headway, this blog, is about improving public transportation. While the most obvious way to improve transit is to provide more of it, that’s an undertaking that usually requires heaps of money and a great deal of political process. However, there are plenty of improvements that a handful of passionate individuals can achieve on a shoestring budget.

How do I know this? Because I’ve watched independent transit sites like Seattle Bus Monster and TrainCheck mushroom up around the web, and I’ve seen the energy that’s built around groups and gatherings like the recent Toronto Transit Camp and the once-vibrant Ground Zero group in Pittsburgh.

Unfortunately, since transit is such a local concern, sometimes it’s difficult for transit hackers and activists to know what their counterparts in other cities have accomplished, and so they aren’t able to learn from the mistakes and achievements of others. I’d like for Headway to become a repository of ideas and case studies that will inspire people to action.

Gripes and critiques about particular transit systems aren’t welcome here—unless they’re the jumping-off point for ideas on how to improve the situation, especially ideas that you want to help achieve. There are plenty of other places you can go to gripe about your bus driver, and hopefully they’re listed in the News & Discussion section for your agency on the Headway Wiki. If not, please create an account there and add your favorites!

Finally, an authorial disclaimer: I’ve worked on a few third-party transit sites myself, most notably Google Transit and buskarma (which some old-timers may know as bus.maya.com). However, the things I write here represent my own opinion, and they shouldn’t be misconstrued as the official views of Google or buskarma or anyone else. I also hope that I won’t be the only author here; if you’d like to contribute to Headway, please drop me a line at joe@headwayblog.com.

So, welcome and—if you run, you can probably catch the next bus!