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

• Our friends at Translinked posted this video of an Italian subway stop disguised as a typical Japanese station.
• One of our @TransLink followers tweeted this interesting post from Transport for London. It’s part of a campaign called Travel Better London – “Transport for London has teamed up with London poets to help make travelling around the capital better for everyone.”
• Check out the finalists for the Audi Urban Future Award 2014 – the winner was announced on January 6, 2014!
• Passengers stop a gun robbery on a Seattle bus.
• Jakarta Globe reports that municipal officals in the city must use public transit on Fridays.
• What a concept, a train that never stops! See the video from China.
• A seasonally appropriate project in Chicago to illustrate application of newly-adopted, complete-streets, design guidelines using… gingerbread.
• Love those papier-mache heads! – from a colleague at SkyTrain.
• See images of before and after transit innovations in Santiago! Low cost ways to decrease congestion in the subway stations.
• Did you hear that in November Starbucks launched its first on board train store in Switerland. Is Canada next?
• Here is a neat photo history of bus shelters in Vancouver.
• Our Australian neighbours had a cool contest to find the ‘Voice of the Tram’ for the Gold Coast Light Rail System in 2014. Check out the winning voice!
• Here is a video demonstrating an experimental crosswalk traffic signal in Germany – you can play a game of Ping-Pong while waiting at a crosswalk.
• Could transparent LCD buses be the future of transit?
• Would you pay your subway fare with recyclable materials? Beijing introduces recycling banks at subway stations.