Andrew Bowen (he/him)
KPBS reporter covering housing, transit and local politics in San Diego. Union shop steward. Creator and host of Freeway Exit, a podcast about freeways. Gaily homosexual.
I run @sdtrafficdeaths.bsky.social.
kpbs.org/podcasts/freeway-exit
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- The bike counters on 30th Street logged maybe 1% of the San Diego cyclists who rode in memory of Alex Pretti today. www.kpbs.org/news/quality...
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- San Diego installed bike lanes on a busy commercial street in North Park in 2021. Ridership jumped 67% the next year. Now, 4 years later, bike and scooter trips on 30th Street have hit another record high. Foot traffic and business activity is also booming. www.kpbs.org/news/quality...
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- Protest planned in San Diego on Saturday against Rady Children’s Hospital halting gender-affirming care for minors www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2026/01/20/r...
- Reposted by Andrew Bowen (he/him)Tomorrow’s front page of the Minnesota Star Tribune: Jan. 23, 2026
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- Reposted by Andrew Bowen (he/him)The full spiked 60 Minutes CECOT package, clean & subtitled. 1/5
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- Reposted by Andrew Bowen (he/him)really cannot be emphasized enough that bari weiss has literally never done journalism. i don’t mean that in the pejorative sense. i mean that in the “has never performed the job she was hired to do” sense
- Incredible work by San Diego’s Department of Environmental Services. No notes. #trashlanes
- Reposted by Andrew Bowen (he/him)They updated the website today to remove the word "independent" Before (left), after (right)
- Reposted by Andrew Bowen (he/him)SUV driver struck and killed a 15-year-old boy who was attempting to cross Camino Ruiz in Mira Mesa. The intersection is a lawful crossing but has no marked crosswalk. #VisionZero
- Reposted by Andrew Bowen (he/him)Merriam-Webster’s human editors have chosen ‘slop’ as the 2025 Word of the Year.
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- Reposted by Andrew Bowen (he/him)An astonishing percentage of Americans are open to car-free living. The problem isn't attitudes. The problem is the failure to invest in viable options. humantransit.org/2025/12/many...
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- Reposted by Andrew Bowen (he/him)Driver struck and killed a 60-year-old cyclist who was riding on a neighborhood street in Rancho Peñasquitos. #VisionZero
- Reposted by Andrew Bowen (he/him)San Diego Unified’s board will tonight vote on the largest slate of education workforce housing projects ever considered in California. Some are pushing them to ignore a staff recommendation and go even bigger. Tonight, they might vote to do just that.
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- Had a close call on my bike ride home today. Riding downhill, a man cut me off in the bike lane to turn right (even though the light was red and another car was stopped in front of him). I had to slam on my brakes. I shouted at him through his window while he queued. He wouldn’t even look at me.
- Reposted by Andrew Bowen (he/him)We know everyone is asking for your money this month, but here's a twist: We're NOT asking you to donate in December, we're asking you to spread the word. Help the trans people and allies who don't know Assigned Media's reputation for excellence and originality in trans news find us!
- Meanwhile in California, the e-bike incentive program has been unceremoniously dissolved. cal.streetsblog.org/2025/10/30/c...
- since denver launched its e-bike rebate program - the have sold 10,000 e-bikes and reduced an estimated 1,000,000 car trips - replacing millions of VMTs and reducing air pollution there are no climate silver bullets... but damn - e-bikes and e-cargo bikes are close denvergov.org/Government/A...
- Really enjoyed talking with @brooklynspoke.bsky.social and @sgoodyear.bsky.social while they were in San Diego promoting "Life After Cars." They met me in Balboa Park (in the pouring rain!) so we could see, hear and discuss the ways cars have impacted our most precious public spaces. Have a listen!
- Reposted by Andrew Bowen (he/him)Almost half the Waymos on California streets are driving around empty. They're either waiting for the next customer or en route for a pickup. If robotaxis scale, anything close to that level of deadheading would create crushing gridlock. www.thedriverlessdigest.com/p/what-cpuc-...
- On Wednesday, the California Assembly held a special committee meeting on the federal de-funding of public media. I spoke on behalf of @wemakekpbs.bsky.social. Our union is fighting to create and preserve middle-class careers in journalism, and we need everyone's support.
- One of the best things about my neighborhood (University Heights, San Diego) is that sound carries up here from very far away. When the ambient traffic noise is quiet enough, I can hear the chimes of the California Tower in Balboa Park, and the Amtrak train whistles downtown. Very grateful for that.
- Never been particularly proud to be a Wildcat… until now.
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- Big changes are coming to the San Diego Housing Commission's Section 8 voucher program. Years of high inflation in the housing market, plus stagnant federal funding, have dramatically reduced the program's ability to help low-income renters afford housing. My latest: www.kpbs.org/news/economy...
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- Thank you SO MUCH to @nerd4cities.bsky.social for coming to San Diego and for giving Freeway Exit a shoutout in this video! youtu.be/rlpMRyVkqpY?...
- Reposted by Andrew Bowen (he/him)BREAKING: The California Supreme Court has DENIED the University of California's request that it block the release of a 28-page, $1.2-billion fine Trump administration UCLA settlement offer. UC is required to give a faculty group the document today. www.latimes.com/california/s...
- Reposted by Andrew Bowen (he/him)Hi, I'm the ProPublica reporter who's been tracking an unusual stat: U.S. citizens grabbed by immigration agents. I did it because the government isn’t. This is what I found.
- I believe this might be the first serious traffic injury on Pershing Drive since the completion of the Pershing Bikeway. Not entirely clear, but it appears the victim was riding in the southbound painted bike lane, not the separated two-way bike path.
- Man riding an e-scooter down Pershing Drive veered off the road, lost control and hit the ground. He was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries: a brain bleed and fractures to his cheek, ribs, clavicle and shoulder blade. #VisionZero
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- Reposted by Andrew Bowen (he/him)A Statement from NPR’s Editor in Chief on the Pentagon’s Press Policy. Read More: www.npr.org/2025/10/13/g...
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- San Diego is preparing 2 community plan updates impacted by SB79: Clairemont and College. These are my rough sketches of the half-mile radii around trolley stops. Yellow is where the city wanted to keep single-family zoning. Past coverage: www.kpbs.org/news/local/2... www.kpbs.org/news/quality...
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- I went out to the East San Diego County road where the Trump administration revoked a $1.165 million safety grant because they thought the project was "hostile to motor vehicles." After walking around there, it was clear the current design is hostile to *pedestrians.* www.kpbs.org/news/quality...
- I feel pretty comfortable opining on this. In Matthew 25, Jesus tells his disciples that mistreating any person is the same as mistreating God. "... I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me."
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- NPR has earned the ratio here. Would love to see @kellymcb.bsky.social and @poynterinstitute.bsky.social take stock of the replies/quotes and write something about how journalists can get smarter about reporting on street safety.
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- Reposted by Andrew Bowen (he/him)once again, if tylenol caused autism, america would have a better rail system
- I was feeling brave, so I stopped by the window of the first car on my bike. Told the driver this was not a parking space and next time please park in the *free* garage. She gave me a sarcastic “thank you so much” and I went on my way, feeling sad but glad I spoke up.
- Reposted by Andrew Bowen (he/him)Driver struck and killed a 31-year-old woman trying to cross La Jolla Village Dr at Genesee Ave in University City. I highlighted this exact intersection in a video earlier this year. Missing crosswalks force pedestrians into a 10-minute detour (so many jaywalk). www.instagram.com/reel/DH9Qc3h...
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- San Diego: Watch this space. www.kpbs.org/news/local/2...
- SB 79 has the votes!
- MTS has about three years’ worth of reserves, after which it will either need new revenue or have to cut services by more than 20%. On Thursday, MTS board members couldn’t agree on a strategy — specifically, what role fare increases should play in balancing the budget. www.kpbs.org/news/local/2...
- Reposted by Andrew Bowen (he/him)A bill proposed Monday night, just days before the end of the legislative session, would punch a very small hole in a landmark housing law passed earlier this year that appears to apply to one (1) proposed apartment building in the incoming Senate leader's district. calmatters.org/politics/202...
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- San Diego’s Blue Line trolley has ridership numbers that most light rail systems can only dream of. But the Clairemont Drive Station attracts the fewest passengers by far. Why? Because freeway, and because zoning. My latest: www.kpbs.org/news/quality...
- My story on San Diego's plan for single-family zoning near its $2 billion trolley extension has been the top story on our website for close to 24 hours now! Thanks to all who have read and shared 💞🏗️🚋 www.kpbs.org/news/local/2...
- San Diego isn't close to meeting its housing or climate goals. But that isn't stopping it from locking in single-family zoning in a wealthy neighborhood right next to a $2 billion light rail line. My latest: www.kpbs.org/news/local/2...
- They’re burning fossil fuels to create the AI-generated images and words to convince us that fossil fuels and AI are good for us.
- Wow, the KPBS audience really cares about public transit and building housing near it! If this is you, we'd love your support 💞🚋🏗️ kpbs.org/donate
- If you're just looking at ridership data, San Diego's public transit is doing remarkably well. But the agency — like its peers across the country — is facing a looming deficit. Absent new revenue, MTS will have to cut services by 25% in just a few years. My latest:
- Reposted by Andrew Bowen (he/him)Showing children of the future the unacceptable hair rendering on the left to explain why we had to get rid of the rainforest.
- San Diego recently approved a 380-unit development across the street from the Blue Line trolley after more than six years of review by the city and Coastal Commission. If/when it gets built, 26% of the homes would be affordable. www.kpbs.org/news/living/...
