diff --git a/src/wormhole_transit_relay/server_tap.py b/src/wormhole_transit_relay/server_tap.py
index b0a8b27..0ac04e7 100644
--- a/src/wormhole_transit_relay/server_tap.py
+++ b/src/wormhole_transit_relay/server_tap.py
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ from . import transit_server
 from twisted.internet import reactor
 from twisted.python import usage
 from twisted.application.internet import StreamServerEndpointService
-from twisted.application.service import MultiService
 from twisted.internet import endpoints
 
 LONGDESC = """\
@@ -27,19 +26,24 @@ second matching side never appeared (and thus 'waiting_time' will be null).
 If --blur-usage= is provided, then 'started' will be rounded to the given time
 interval, and 'total_bytes' will be rounded as well.
 
-If --stats-json is provided, the server will periodically write a simple JSON
-dictionary to that file (atomically), with usage since last reboot. This
-information is *not* blurred (the assumption is that it will be overwritten on
-a regular basis, and is aggregated anyways). The keys are:
+If --stats-file is provided, the server will periodically write a simple JSON
+dictionary to that file (atomically), with cumulative usage data (since last
+reboot, and all-time). This information is *not* blurred (the assumption is
+that it will be overwritten on a regular basis, and is aggregated anyways). The
+keys are:
 
 * active.connected: number of paired connections
 * active.waiting: number of not-yet-paired connections
 * since_reboot.bytes: sum of 'total_bytes'
 * since_reboot.total: number of completed connections
 * since_reboot.moods: dict mapping mood string to number of connections
+* all_time.bytes: same
+* all_time.total
+* all_time.moods
 
 The server will write twistd.pid and twistd.log files as usual, if daemonized
-by twistd.
+by twistd. twistd.log will only contain startup, shutdown, and exception
+messages. To record information about each connection, use --usage-logfile.
 """
 
 class Options(usage.Options):
@@ -48,9 +52,9 @@ class Options(usage.Options):
 
     optParameters = [
         ("port", "p", "tcp:4001", "endpoint to listen on"),
+        ("blur-usage", None, None, "blur timestamps and data sizes in logs"),
         ("usage-logfile", None, None, "record usage data (JSON lines)"),
-        ("blur-usage", None, None, "blur logged timestamps and data sizes"),
-        ("stats-json", None, None, "record usage since-reboot"),
+        ("stats-file", None, None, "record usage in JSON format"),
         ]
 
     def opt_blur_usage(self, arg):
@@ -58,11 +62,8 @@ class Options(usage.Options):
 
 
 def makeService(config, reactor=reactor):
-    s = MultiService()
-    t = transit_server.Transit(blur_usage=config["blur-usage"],
-                               usage_logfile=config["usage-logfile"],
-                               stats_json_path=config["stats-json"])
-    s.setServiceParent(t) # for the timer
     ep = endpoints.serverFromString(reactor, config["port"]) # to listen
-    s.setServiceParent(StreamServerEndpointService(ep, t))
-    return s
+    f = transit_server.Transit(blur_usage=config["blur-usage"],
+                               usage_logfile=config["usage-logfile"],
+                               stats_file=config["stats-file"])
+    return StreamServerEndpointService(ep, f)
diff --git a/src/wormhole_transit_relay/test/common.py b/src/wormhole_transit_relay/test/common.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6404532
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/wormhole_transit_relay/test/common.py
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+# no unicode_literals untill twisted update
+from twisted.application import service
+from twisted.internet import defer, task, reactor
+from twisted.python import log
+from click.testing import CliRunner
+import mock
+from ..cli import cli
+from ..transit import allocate_tcp_port
+from ..server.server import RelayServer
+
+class ServerBase:
+    def setUp(self):
+        self._setup_relay(None)
+
+    def _setup_relay(self, error, advertise_version=None):
+        self.sp = service.MultiService()
+        self.sp.startService()
+        self.transitport = allocate_tcp_port()
+        # need to talk to twisted team about only using unicode in
+        # endpoints.serverFromString
+        s = RelayServer("tcp:%s:interface=127.0.0.1" % self.transitport,
+                        advertise_version=advertise_version,
+                        signal_error=error)
+        s.setServiceParent(self.sp)
+        self._relay_server = s
+        self._rendezvous = s._rendezvous
+        self._transit_server = s._transit
+        # ws://127.0.0.1:%d/wormhole-relay/ws
+        self.transit = u"tcp:127.0.0.1:%d" % self.transitport
+
+    def tearDown(self):
+        # Unit tests that spawn a (blocking) client in a thread might still
+        # have threads running at this point, if one is stuck waiting for a
+        # message from a companion which has exited with an error. Our
+        # relay's .stopService() drops all connections, which ought to
+        # encourage those threads to terminate soon. If they don't, print a
+        # warning to ease debugging.
+
+        # XXX FIXME there's something in _noclobber test that's not
+        # waiting for a close, I think -- was pretty relieably getting
+        # unclean-reactor, but adding a slight pause here stops it...
+        from twisted.internet import reactor
+
+        tp = reactor.getThreadPool()
+        if not tp.working:
+            d = defer.succeed(None)
+            d.addCallback(lambda _: self.sp.stopService())
+            d.addCallback(lambda _: task.deferLater(reactor, 0.1, lambda: None))
+            return d
+            return self.sp.stopService()
+        # disconnect all callers
+        d = defer.maybeDeferred(self.sp.stopService)
+        wait_d = defer.Deferred()
+        # wait a second, then check to see if it worked
+        reactor.callLater(1.0, wait_d.callback, None)
+        def _later(res):
+            if len(tp.working):
+                log.msg("wormhole.test.common.ServerBase.tearDown:"
+                        " I was unable to convince all threads to exit.")
+                tp.dumpStats()
+                print("tearDown warning: threads are still active")
+                print("This test will probably hang until one of the"
+                      " clients gives up of their own accord.")
+            else:
+                log.msg("wormhole.test.common.ServerBase.tearDown:"
+                        " I convinced all threads to exit.")
+            return d
+        wait_d.addCallback(_later)
+        return wait_d
diff --git a/src/wormhole_transit_relay/test/test_transit_server.py b/src/wormhole_transit_relay/test/test_transit_server.py
index acdca61..304fbde 100644
--- a/src/wormhole_transit_relay/test/test_transit_server.py
+++ b/src/wormhole_transit_relay/test/test_transit_server.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ from twisted.internet import protocol, reactor, defer
 from twisted.internet.endpoints import clientFromString, connectProtocol
 from twisted.web import client
 from .common import ServerBase
-from ..server import transit_server
+from .. import transit_server
 
 class Accumulator(protocol.Protocol):
     def __init__(self):
diff --git a/src/wormhole_transit_relay/transit_server.py b/src/wormhole_transit_relay/transit_server.py
index 92265a5..417f74d 100644
--- a/src/wormhole_transit_relay/transit_server.py
+++ b/src/wormhole_transit_relay/transit_server.py
@@ -188,7 +188,7 @@ class TransitConnection(protocol.Protocol):
         self.factory.recordUsage(self._started, "errory", 0,
                                  total_time, None)
 
-class Transit(protocol.ServerFactory, service.MultiService):
+class Transit(protocol.ServerFactory):
     # I manage pairs of simultaneous connections to a secondary TCP port,
     # both forwarded to the other. Clients must begin each connection with
     # "please relay TOKEN for SIDE\n" (or a legacy form without the "for
@@ -221,11 +221,13 @@ class Transit(protocol.ServerFactory, service.MultiService):
     MAXTIME = 60*SECONDS
     protocol = TransitConnection
 
-    def __init__(self, db, blur_usage):
+    def __init__(self, blur_usage, usage_logfile, stats_file):
         service.MultiService.__init__(self)
-        self._db = db
         self._blur_usage = blur_usage
         self._log_requests = blur_usage is None
+        if usage_logfile:
+            self._usage_logfile = open(usage_logfile, "a")
+        self._stats_file = stats_file
         self._pending_requests = {} # token -> set((side, TransitConnection))
         self._active_connections = set() # TransitConnection
         self._counts = collections.defaultdict(int)
@@ -264,10 +266,11 @@ class Transit(protocol.ServerFactory, service.MultiService):
     def recordUsage(self, started, result, total_bytes,
                     total_time, waiting_time):
         if self._log_requests:
-            log.msg("Transit.recordUsage (%dB)" % total_bytes)
+            log.msg(format="Transit.recordUsage {bytes}B", bytes=total_bytes)
         if self._blur_usage:
             started = self._blur_usage * (started // self._blur_usage)
             total_bytes = blur_size(total_bytes)
+        if self._usage_logfile
         self._db.execute("INSERT INTO `transit_usage`"
                          " (`started`, `total_time`, `waiting_time`,"
                          "  `total_bytes`, `result`)"