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Twice a year, we change our clocks, and twice a hear we’ll all see multiple versions of the “We should abolish standard (or daylight saving) time!” argument.

FiveThirtyEight’s Can You Make Winter Less Dark? does a great job of demonstrating why neither option might not be the right answer for everyone. You can adjust a few parameters and see how those changes would work for your fellow citizens around the country.

I’ll be sure to link to this as the kvetching starts when we spring forward.

via Flowingdata

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Streetfilms contrasts and compares cycling in Paris and New York City. Care to take a wild guess as to which one is better for pedestrians and cyclists?

New York has come a long way, but there’s so much more that can be done to improve our streets. Paris is a great example of what’s possible. They had to claw back space from street parking and vehicle lanes just like we do. More than anything, it takes political courage.

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This video showcases a US Postal Service system that was developed in the 90s; it’s still going strong:

It’s easy to find all sorts of problems with this system. Users need to undergo weeks of training (many of which won’t make the cut). It’s also not the most delightful UI to look at all day. However, one of the top comments on the video from a former user provides a different view:

…once you learn the rules, applying them becomes automatic and extremely fast. It’s a fun job for the right person.

Farrah Upson

So, while there’s plenty of room for improvement here, but it works pretty well. Something to remember for those of us charged with replacing and improving on these types of systems that were developed 20 or 30 years ago. Don’t assume it’s all terrible by judging the UI based on today’s standards, make sure the good parts aren’t missing from the new and improved system.

via Core77

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Citynerd breaks it down in this video: New York would not be the city it is today if not for the subway.

I agree 100%. So it’s especially troubling to read something like this in an otherwise positive piece about upcoming transit improvements:

One reason big public works projects are hard to execute is that they often take years to complete, making them less appealing to politicians looking to deliver quick, obvious results to constituents and to take credit for a finished project.

Mara Gay

Granted, there are many other issues that make massive public works projects difficult execute. But, the perceived need for our leaders to chalk up quick wins during their terms keeps these projects from even getting started. Stringing together quick wins will not yield the sort of infrastructure improvements needed in this country. We need our leaders to have the foresight and courage to think beyond their next election and into the future.