Page was last updated on 11/04/2023.
If this is your first time visiting the Global Transit Guidebook (referred to hereinafter as the Guidebook or GTG), please know that while you’re more than welcome to join in on the discussion (both here & across my social media channels), please carefully read through & adhere to the following rules at all times. The GTG site & my social media channels are moderated, meaning that I – or a moderator – must approve anything & everything that gets commented on. So any comments that we find to be inappropriate or offensive is subject to deletion.
While most of you should know what to and what not to say here, some still need to be told the specifics. So here’s a few:
- Please be respectful to me, my moderator team, and one another. I know that there will be times where we may have a debate on specific issues, but it is expected of everyone to follow the Golden Rule & provide constructive criticism when disagreeing with someone. Recently, I’ve been witnessing people lashing out against one another with personal attacks & insults, as well as those who just want to be plain mean in general. We will not tolerate this kind of behavior.
- Please no solicitation of goods and services. My website, blog, & social media channels are not a Craigslist, so please don’t make it a Craigslist. Other non-transit related material posted to my site comments & social media channels are subject to heavy scrutiny and deletion by my moderator team and I.
- When contributing transit photos and videos to my site or social media channels (including Facebook groups), please be sure that you’ve noted the source. There’s a lot of copyright infringement going on & I strive to minimize the chances of having any material on my site by which the original source isn’t mentioned.
- Posting poll questions of any kind in my Facebook groups are subject to heavy scrutiny & deletion by my moderator team & I. This is because such questions have led to members in other groups engaging in trolling behavior. Poll questions may occasionally be posted by a moderator or I if the question fits in line to a particular transit-related topic that is being covered through my blog or in the news media.
- When joining my Facebook groups – including The First Responder Vehicle Lounge by HARTride 2012 – please be sure that your Facebook profile includes basic information so that my moderator staff & I can identify you. We do prefer that a profile photo be visible to lessen the likelihood that we are letting in a bot/spam account. While we understand that some people may not be comfortable with making some info visible on social media due to the heightened risk of hackers, we also have to reduce the risk of allowing bot/spam accounts & trollers into the groups. Some bot/spam accounts unfortunately contain very little info in the profile so that one may think they’re a real person that is using a legitimate account, but in reality is a spammer or troller.
- And above all, please obey all local, state/provincial, and federal laws. We don’t want to get into trouble because of someone else’s actions.
- Please keep your comments clean – meaning no foul language or sexual content. The Guidebook (including social media channels) can be accessed by anyone, anywhere, anytime, so it is important that we try to keep an atmosphere that is warm & inviting to everyone so that we can interact in harmony. Please refrain from posting any transit-related content that may be considered as extremely graphic – such as train collisions. While it is one thing to see photos of the trains involved, we don’t necessarily want to see graphic images of the people involved.
- Transit-related photos that contain graffiti are subject to heavy scrutiny and deletion by my moderator team and I. Historical photos (anything dating back prior to 2010) containing graffiti may be allowed without issue though.
- Additionally, some of my followers & group members are currently employed by transit agencies & such that. So please refrain from posting anything that could endanger anyone’s job or career.
- While I strive to keep a non-partisan/non-political tone on my site, the fact that transportation is being treated as a political football in many countries (especially here in the US) is very disturbing. Therefore, it can be easy to suddenly get into political discussions on my site & social media channels.
- However, I urge that everyone please refrain from posting comments or content that show support or opposition to a particular political belief, candidate, or official, as such conversations often go downhill very fast. Bottom line is, transportation should be a non-partisan & non-political matter, period, and I would like to keep this type of tone maintained here. To add on, please, no posts or comments endorsing or fundraising for any political candidates. The Guidebook is not a place to do those sort of activities. While I’ve made some of my political endorsements known in the past, via my Disclosures page, my personal endorsements does not mean in any way that my website as a whole has made an endorsement.
- I do however, wholeheartedly support independent, non-partisan transportation advocacy groups whose aim is to advocate for better transportation options for everyone – such as the Sunshine Citizens & Pittsburghers for Public Transit.
Those who choose to repeatedly violate these guidelines are subject to being suspended (or permanently banned) from posting here. Same thing will occur if any member of my Facebook groups are caught repeatedly violating these same guidelines.
With these rules in mind, please know that I do try to respond to any comments as quickly as I can. But because I do have a day job & other obligations, I may not be able to respond back right away.
I thank you for your understanding & cooperation on these matters.
The Global Transit Guidebook 
One thought on “Community Rules”