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If a City is going to operate a multimodal transportation system, then it helps to understand the motivations of people who continue to choose personal cars for their short trips. Bicycle advocates often talk about this in terms of bike trips not taken because of a lack of quality infrastructure. Survey after survey shows that many people opt out of cycling because of gaps in the bike lane network, busy intersections to cross, or other real or perceived pain points. And case study after case study shows that when cities create comfortable and convenient bike infrastructure, more people choose to ride bikes. Theres a similar issue with public transportation that urbanists seem afraid to talk about: If people feel unsafe using the subway or local bus, theyll find another way to reach their destination. {"blockType":"creator-network-promo","data":{"mediaUrl":"","headline":"Urbanism Speakeasy","description":"Join Andy Boenau as he explores ideas that the infrastructure status quo would rather keep quiet. To learn more, visit urbanismspeakeasy.com.","substackDomain":"https:\/\/www.urbanismspeakeasy.com\/","colorTheme":"blue","redirectUrl":""}} The feeling might come from witnessing violence on the subway, from knowing their city has decriminalized shoplifting, or from trying to explain to their kids why a person on the bus is yelling at strangers. If people dont feel safe and secure on public transit, theyre going to do what they can to opt out. Safe systems Theres no easy answer to this issue, but it doesnt help anyone to pretend like perceived safety is exaggerated. Or worse, to act like these fears are just part of some kind of suburban conspiracy against city living. A safe systems approach to transportation involves enforcement, and that makes some urbanists and city planners uncomfortable post-2020. I get ityou dont want the boys in blue dragging someone into a squad car for not paying a $2 fare. But the average American is aware of stories much more disturbing than a teenager hopping a subway turnstile. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, transit system homicides increased 50% from 20202024 compared with the previous five-year period (20152019), along with an 80% rise in assaults. In August 2025, Iryna Zarutska was murdered while riding the light rail in Charlotte, North Carolina. Ridership on the light rail and the local bus has been down since. The thing is, a multimodal transportation system is much safer than one that prioritizes automobile trips at the expense of other modes. But most people dont know that because the news doesnt broadcast the 100+ people who lose their lives in preventable traffic crashes every single day. Case study In New York City, 2025 marked a turning point for subway safety. Governor Kathy Hochul announced that subway crime was on track to reach its lowest levels in 16 years (excluding the pandemic era). Accounting for surging ridership, the rate of major crimes per million riders fell to 30% lower than in 2021 and comparable to pre-pandemic lows. Felony assaults dropped sharply in the second half of the year (down 16% from 2024 overall). MTA rider surveys showed perceived safety climbing dramaticallyfrom 57% of customers feeling safe in January 2025 to a record-high 71% by November 2025. This improved sense of security helped drive post-pandemic ridership records, with subway usage up nearly 8% for the year. Safer than cars Public transit remains far safer than the alternative most people default to: driving personal cars. Transit trips are about 10 times safer per passenger-mile than car trips, with far lower rates of traffic fatalities and injuries. Transit-oriented communities also see about one-fifth the per-capita crash risk overall, thanks to reduced vehicle miles traveled and safer speeds. The sooner we talk openly about the real and perceived issues surrounding public transit, the better. The worst thing to do is downplay the topic out of fear that people might start sharing stories about perceived safety and crime. Do you want more people to take the bus? Use the subway? Share rides with strangers? Then ask people who drive everywhere about transit trips not taken and take lots of notes. {"blockType":"creator-network-promo","data":{"mediaUrl":"","headline":"Urbanism Speakeasy","description":"Join Andy Boenau as he explores ideas that the infrastructure status quo would rather keep quiet. To learn more, visit urbanismspeakeasy.com.","substackDomain":"https:\/\/www.urbanismspeakeasy.com\/","colorTheme":"blue","redirectUrl":""}}
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If you’re planning to hit up a movie over the long weekend, you’re in luck. Going to the theater will be a bit cheaper for two days, as long as you believe popcorn is a must-have movie accessory. That’s because Cinemark, in partnership with Lowes, is celebrating National Popcorn Day, which falls on Mon. Jan. 19, with a reprise of last year’s Bring Your Own Bucket (BYOB) event. To celebrate, select Cinemark theaters will let you bring a bucket (any bucket) to fill to the brim on the 18th and 19th for just five bucks. And yes, they really mean any bucket. Per the announcement, Cinemark says, “Get creative with itany container can be a bucket, including a Lowes 5-gallon blue bucket. And just for bringing in your Lowes bucket, youll get a FREE medium popcorn when you buy any medium fountain drink.” That’s up to 400 ounces of delicious buttery popcorn for a total steal. According to some social media users, they were able to snag the deal last year without even seeing a movie. One TikTok user, @BanesaSilva, posted a video last year for National Popcorn Day. In it, she brings a massive pot and the theater fills it with popcorn without question. “Let’s go home! Movie night!” she says, joyfully, at the end of the clip. Other users on TikTok proved that, when you’re asking Cinemark, “bucket” is a highly flexible term. One user showed up with a rolling cooler, which the theater happily filled. Others showed up with large shopping backs and storage containers to hold mounds of the salty snack. Needless to say, when Cinemark says “get creative” with your bucket, they really seem to mean it. So, don’t hold back. Anything can be a bucket with a little imagination (and a big appetite). Still, bringing a Lowe’s blue 5-gallon might be the ticket to the ultimate reward. Those who do will be exempt from the 400-ounce limit. So, if your appetite (or your family’s) is endless when it comes to popcorn, that may be the most desirable route to go. Plus, customers who bring in the Lowe’s buckets will be gifted popcorn coupons (valid from Feb. 1 to Feb. 26). Of course, the event wouldn’t be complete without movie-goers sharing their wild and wonderful buckets online for all to see. Therefore, the theater chain is asking everyone to tag @Cinemark in their BYOB posts.
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I told myself I wont check emails until I check off my one thing to do for the day. I couldnt do it. I always reach for the phone in the morning. Willpower wasnt enough. The brain is wired to take the path of least resistance. Fighting it every day with willpower wont work. These days I use systems. I work with rituals. I get my most important tasks (MIT) done between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. I schedule my MITs the night before. And get straight to work at the scheduled time. Ninety percent of the time at the same place. Ive done it for so long, I do it on autopilot now. My three-hour block means no motivation required. Im not relying on willpower to stay productive. Im depending on a system that nudges me in the right direction. Goals are about the results you want; systems are the processes you actually follow. Your goal might be to write a book. The system is open the laptop at 7 a.m. and write 200 words before you start your other tasks. Systems make good habits stick. They take away unnecessary mental decisions. So you can focus on your meaningful tasks. If your schedule or environment is designed to support your habits, you are likely to follow through. For example, you dont wake up and give yourself a motivational speech before you brush your teeth. You dont look for hacks to make it stick. You just do it. Same bathroom. Same sink. Same routine. The system runs you. No willpower or motivation required. Your brain hates decisions Now apply that to the things you struggle with. Writing. Exercising. Saving money. Eating well. Notice the pattern? Those areas usually have no clear or intentional default. They rely on you feeling like it. Thats where things fall apart. Your brain loves defaults. It hates decisions. Every decision costs energy. By noon, youve already burned through most of it deciding what to wear, what to reply, what to ignore, what to worry about. So when you say, Ill think about it later, youre just waiting to borrow energy you wont have. Designing systems or rituals can be applied to almost anything. From batching similar tasks, blocking distractions on purpose to arranging your workspace in a specific way. Systems dont just help productivity. Want to sleep better? Define your ideal bedtime. Dim the lights, hide the blue light devices. The same principle applied to investing. Automate the transfer the minute it gets to your savings. Want quality connection with the people you love? Pre-schedule time with them. Dont hope youll feel like it. Systems are the invisible things we put in place to take back control of the direction of our lives. Willpower can only nudge you so far. If you want lasting change, real work, better life experiences, you need systems. Set them up, tweak or upgrade them, and let them do what they do best: make your life efficient and meaningful. Your future self will thank you. The minute you notice systems at work, you will wonder why you havent been applying them all those years. Its like realizing most of your day isnt driven by motivation at all. Its driven by defaults. Starting is everything Systems dont make you better. They make starting easier. And starting is everything. The people who seem disciplined usually have just engineered fewer points of failure. They dont rely so much on motivation. They depend on structure. Even creativity works with systems. The myth is that structure kills freedom. In reality, structure creates it. When you remove distractions and decisions, your mind has space to play. Thats why so many artists swear by boring routines. Same walk. Same workspace design. Same start time. They are protecting their creative space. If you keep failing at something, the problem probably isnt you. Its the setup. Dont blame yourself for not thriving in environments designed to distract, stress, and fragment you. Design better systems to support the habits you want to start. Put the phone away from sight to do deep work. If your phone sits next to your laptop while you work, you will check it. You cant willpower your way out of a notification. Put it in a drawer. Or disable the notifications. Put the book on the pillow to start a reading habit before bed. Your future self will find it there, a clear next action. Automate the bill. Get the running gear ready the night before. Every time you have to ask yourself, Should I work out now? you give yourself an out. When you have a system, the answer is already Yes. And your environment is designed to support the new habit. If my system fails, I dont get mad at myself. I get curious. What needs adjusting? Are there too many steps? I tweak my structure and try again. We all respond to cues daily. Systems put them to work for you. You are more likely to be disciplined if you design better structures for your week, both at work and at home. Design beats willpower. Every time. You dont need more motivation. You need fewer decisions. Want a challenge? Pick one area in your life. Now, design a new system for it so your brain does the hard work automatically. Start tiny. Start ridiculously small. But start.
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