Welcome to your Transit Unplugged News Minute, where we cover the biggest headlines in the transit industry.

Last week, the American Public Transportation Association held a fly-in in Washington D.C. where transit agency leaders and advocates met with over 75 members of Congress and staff, urging them to not cut the funding levels to public transit and passenger rail. Source: APTA

The University of North Texas Economic Research Group validated that transit oriented development is good for cities. The project proved that TODs in the vicinity of Dallas Area Rapid Transit stations brought in nearly $1B in direct spending and 11k jobs in a two-year period. Source: DART

There are a couple of fun things to note this week. First, watch out for seafaring shenanigans on Thursday which is Talk Like a Pirate Day. In previous years, Brisbane, Australia converted one of their buses into a pirate ship for the day. Source: Wikipedia

And this Sunday is World Car-Free Day. California's Riverside Transit is offering free rides to commemorate the occasion. Source: Riverside Transit