TRANSIT JAM EVOLVES INTO PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND POLICY ADVOCACY

TLDR: transitjam.com archived; journalism operations suspended; advocacy on road safety and public space now channelled through transitjam.org

Dear readers,

After years of dedicated independent journalism, Transit Jam is shifting focus from public news reporting to strategic advocacy. Direct engagements with policymakers and institutional leaders are proving the most effective path to achieve faster improvements in road safety and liveable streets.

As a media firm, we broke stories which reshaped the local conversations on road safety. While our mission of “covering every road death in Hong Kong” was sometimes misunderstood as a thirst for gore, over time it grew into a vital archive of systematic analysis – by adding context and patterns to every fatal crash, we revealed the underlying design and policy flaws behind many pedestrian deaths.

We know our rigorous and fair reporting was appreciated by government bodies, transport professionals and community advocates alike. Moving on, we will continue to deepen those relationships behind the scenes, away from the front pages, to help translate our years of insight and data into safer streets. The full Transit Jam news site will remain open here (all stories accessible through transitjam.com/transit-jam-archive) as a permanent public archive.

Separation of church (journalism) and state (advocacy)!

Under Hong Kong’s Newspaper Ordinance (Cap. 268), we are not permitted to use transitjam.com for further updates after deregistering as a newspaper. To be in full compliance (and, in any case, to avoid muddying the journalistic work with advocacy), we will therefore be running all new initiatives through transitjam.org.

And for those interested in parking reform and staying current with public space advocacy, please check out ZAP! – a tool helping pedestrians and drivers report parking hotspots and providing transport officials with crowdsourced data on the types and locations of parking issues. ZAP! is a free web app with no registration or account required.

Thanks for your fantastic and overwhelming support through our newspaper years!

James Ockenden
Founder & editor
Transit Jam