Links and tidbits is our semi-regular roundup of interesting fodder about transportation from the last week or so. If you have links to contribute, put them in the comments, or email us.

 

• As a fellow transit user, I can sympathize with others when they are delays on the SkyTrains. But what if it was something cute and fluffy? Two kittens Arthur and August were resced after shutting down the subway service in Brooklyn. Read the news article here.

 

• The blog Everyday Tourist shares some transit tales of some interesting places in various cities. Very cool!

 

• The new 96 B-Line in Surrey launched its first day of service on September 2. Buzzer readers Chris Cassidy (chsscassidy) and Eric Webster (TranslinkBuses) kindly shared their great photos with us. Thank you Chris and Eric!

 

• Artists and photographers alike sometimes find inspiration in the most mundane of places: Singapore-based photographer Weilun found an interest in capturing photographs of commuters just as they are stepping on or off a train.

 

• Cartoon Network is taking over! Taiwan High Speed Rail has the world’s first Cartoon Network themed train. A friend who visited Taiwan recently also snapped a few shots of a train with a PowerPuff Girl theme. (Photo credit to Alice Fei)

 

      

• TransLink’s Compass Card is currently undergoing beta testing and there are also many other systems in major cities around the world using smartcard-based transit passes. The Sesame Ring could take this to the next level: instead of a card, simply swipe the machine with this funky ring on your finger!

 

• What is the most bizarre thing you have seen on the transit system? In Manhattan, transit users were rather bewildered to board a Queens-bound N train and see a dead shark, lying under the blue seats.

 

• Motion graphics artist Ezra Istiroti created this amazing video called “The Symphony of Vancouver”, which features sounds unique to Vancouver. Which sounds from our transit system can you hear?