Ryan Westrom

Quite the milestone! I think micromobility is here to stay.

@JonHaidt At this point, it’s so clear that any place that has NOT banned phones in school is derelict in their duties. I imagine there will be a lot more such bans added this summer (Good! Better late than never.) Does anyone have a good map showing where bans are in place?

Phone free schools cause --increased laughter in hallways --very loud lunchrooms --increases in books checked out of school library

When simulation becomes the norm, it weakens the human capacity for discernment. As a result, our social bonds close in upon themselves, forming self-referential circuits that no longer expose us to reality. We thus come to live within bubbles, impermeable to one another. Feeling threatened by anyone who is different, we grow unaccustomed to encounter and dialogue. In this way, polarization, conflict, fear and violence spread. What is at stake is not merely the risk of error, but a transformation in our very relationship with truth.

Can’t wait for my favorite TV event of the year tonight. Everyone’s favorite stars finding their spots under the brightest lights. #SelectionSunday #MarchMadness

@wmataGM @Capitals I could definitely watch videos of Metro floor cleaning on a loop. Oddly satisfying, for sure.

After we do Metro floors we use the Zamboni to clean the ice @Capitals games!

In the state of Wyoming in the USA lies a real hydrological oddity. It's a small stream (creek) that is thought to be the only one of very few examples in the world. It is placed so precariously and perfectly that it's hard to believe it is able to exist. 1/n

Good reporting here from @KelseyTuoc in @TheArgumentMag about why Waymo remains stuck in regulatory limbo in D.C., unable to provide passenger service. She even got a set of proposed options @DDOTDC floated for @MayorBowser, but nothing has yet been done: theargumentmag.com/p/red-states-g…

@Teslaconomics “…if the system works the way Elon has described it for years” is doing a lot of work here. The old adage—if something sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t—comes to mind.

I plan on owning my own Tesla Robotaxi fleet one day. And the more I run the numbers, the more I realize this new business could become one of the most powerful income opportunities I've ever seen. This is how I'm thinking about it. Based on many analyst models and Tesla’s long-term vision, a reasonable base case assumption is about ~$30,000 per year in net profit per Robotaxi to the owner. This is after things like Tesla’s platform fee, charging, tires, maintenance, insurance, and cleaning. Of course, the network is still early and Tesla is just beginning to roll this out in pilot programs in a few cities, so there’s no official real-world owner earnings yet... but using reasonable assumptions around utilization, pricing per mile, and operating costs, the math starts to get really interesting. If one Robotaxi can earn around $30,000 per year, here’s what a fleet might look like: • $100,000 per year → about 4 Robotaxis • $500,000 per year → about 17 Robotaxis • $1,000,000 per year → about 34 Robotaxis It may sound a bit crazy at first, but when you break it down, it starts to make more sense. These vehicles could potentially drive 50,000 to 100,000+ miles per year in high demand areas. If the economics land somewhere around $0.25-$0.50 profit per mile after all costs, you end up right around that ~$30k per vehicle per year range. And remember, the Tesla’s Robotaxi network is going to work a lot like Airbnb for cars. You add your vehicle to the network, Tesla handles the software, routing, payments, and rider experience, and they take a platform fee (often modeled around 25-35%). The owner keeps the rest after operating costs. Another thing that makes this interesting is the expected cost of the vehicles themselves. Tesla has talked about the purpose-built Cybercabs costing roughly $25k-$30k and Elon told me production is starting in 1 month! If that’s even close to reality, a fleet capable of generating around $1 million per year could theoretically cost somewhere around $850k-$1M in vehicles. That ROI is pretty freakin good! Now to be clear, none of this is guaranteed. I'm just thinking out loud and sharing it with you... a lot still depends on regulations, how fast unsupervised FSD scales, demand in each city, insurance costs, and how Tesla structures the network. But if the system works the way Elon has described it for years, owning a Robotaxi fleet could become one of the most powerful forms of passive income I've ever seen. And I plan on sharing the numbers with everyone on 𝕏 when the day comes. Personally, that’s why I’m paying such close attention. Bc one day, owning a fleet of autonomous Teslas working for me 24/7 might be the modern version of owning a rental property, except instead of tenants, you’ve got robots driving people around all day while you sleep. This next book of Tesla is going to be so exciting!

@AnthonyEsolen I would include Joseph Conrad (who wasn’t even a native speaker).

I'm no great fan of the short story, but if I had to rank the top 10 in English, here it is: 1. Flannery O'Connor 2. Nathanael Hawthorne 3. Herman Melville 4. Jack London 5. Edgar Allan Poe 6. Mark Twain 7. Eudora Welty 8. Charles Dickens 9. Stephen Leacock 10. G. K. Chesterton

Truly shocking: Pedestrian deaths have surged 75% since 2010! 7,500+ lives killed annually. This WaPo report confirms a national safety crisis & a clarion call to action. It's why I do what I do. washingtonpost.com/business/inter…

@Empty_America Millennium Park google.com/imgres?imgurl=…

What is the most attractive environment in the USA built primarily after WWII? Perhaps the San Antonio Riverwalk? It incorporates old buildings for sure but in general the entirely thing was brought to its current form after WWII.

A postscript to this thread. @espn's Bradford Doolittle discusses this very topic in an article on the process unfolding for the new Royals stadium: espn.com/mlb/story/_/id… I was affirmed to see that their 'urbanity' ranking of ballparks lined up very closely to mine.

What do you think?

Kinda shocked that in this day in age surface parking is still planned around a new stadium. Do no other owners look at the revenue Cubs owners generate from around the stadium and consider that potential?

@the_transit_guy I often say, I love the city. And I love the country (grew up there). It’s the in between I struggle with. Yet, we’re probably in the minority as a majority of Americans live in that in between.

I think having a balance between the city and the country is an amazing (and privileged) thing to experience.

I’m excited to share our new @Nature paper 📝, which provides strong evidence that the walkability of our built environment matters a great deal to our physical activity and health. Details in thread.🧵 nature.com/articles/s4158…

@drantbradley Reminds me of the Jesse White Tumblers. chicago.suntimes.com/entertainment-…

Love this! Getting more and more boys into gymnastics is a great movement. It's crazy to me that the county government run gym refused to let boys learn gymnastics. The program is "Girls Only."

@aaron_renn @jakedell73 Worth noting the work @sacredspacesdc (sacredspacesconservancy.org) is doing in this space.

Rev. Jake Dell (@jakedell73) of the First Congregational Church of Woodbury, CT joins me to talk about this battle to reclaim historic churches and church property. x.com/i/broadcasts/1…

Particulate matter local air pollution from road transport is much less due to petrol exhaust than most people think. More is due to brake, tyre, and road wear. This means the effects of electrifying the car fleet in local air pollution are smaller than one might have wished.

🚨 GIVEAWAY 🚨 I'm giving away a Ballpark Atlas hat to a lucky user. Like, repost, & follow me for a chance to win. The winner will be announced on Wednesday. Good luck!

Beautiful. The power of community. washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2025…

With the NBA playoffs upon us, a nice reminder of the game’s beauty at all levels. @atlasobscura atlasobscura.com/articles/oaxac…