Ben Fried

Earlier this week, Ken Archer at Greater Greater Washington posted this revealing graphic showing the relationship between the amount of driving we do in the United States and the death toll on our roads. Even as conventional traffic safety techniques have made driving less deadly, the rise in miles driven knocked back those improvements. It wasn't until our collective mileage flattened out that safety gains could be fully realized. Thousands of lives were saved when the growth in driving came to a halt.

Yesterday marked the 20th anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act, the landmark law that set federal standards to make public places universally accessible. Two decades later, the ADA has improved access for millions, but in many places, the spirit of the law seems lost on those who shape the streets.

Pittsburgh area residents are reeling from the news this week that their transit agency, the Port Authority of Allegheny County, may cut 35 percent of its total service in January -- and raise fares -- unless the state of Pennsylvania can come up with new funding for transportation. The massive amputation would come on top of a 15 percent cut three years ago, reducing the transit network to a shadow of its former self.

One of the stories that's been percolating all week on the Streetsblog Network stars Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in a new role: urban cyclist. On Saturday, Villaraigosa was riding in a bike lane on Venice Boulevard (his first bike trip as mayor), when a cab driver cut him off, forcing him to brake suddenly and fall off his bike. Many advocates for better cycling conditions, including Streetsblog LA's Damien Newton, wondered whether the broken elbow Villaraigosa suffered might prompt the mayor to tackle street safety problems with more urgency.

Tacoma resident Evan Siroky got a rude reminder of what's in Washington State DOT's project pipeline yesterday, reading in the local paper that officials are looking to revive plans to extend state route 167 as a limited access highway. The new highway segment would reach the Port of Tacoma, and Siroky writes on member blog Tacoma Tomorrow that it's being sold, in part, as a boon for freight movement, though most of its impact will be to induce more driving and sprawl.

Editor's note: Our search for a national reporter to take over Streetsblog Capitol Hill wouldn't be complete without putting out a call to the audience with the greatest passion for livable streets and sustainable transportation policy -- our readers.

Lots of reaction from Streetsblog Network members to yesterday's big transit grant announcement. They're thrilled in Fort Worth and Cincinnati, where the FTA distributed the maximum $25 million for new streetcar lines. They're disappointed in D.C., where the request to fund a streetcar segment linking up with Metro lines was denied. When a billion dollars worth of requests are put forward for $130 million in grant money, not every good proposal will make it through.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and FTA chief Peter Rogoff announced the winners of $293 million in competitive grants for bus and streetcar projects today. The biggest chunks of funding will help build streetcar projects in Cincinnati, Charlotte, Fort Worth, and St. Louis, as well as rapid bus corridors in New York and Chicago. All told, the funding will be distributed among 53 projects, chosen from more than 300 applicants.

We've got an update today on a storyline we've been following for months: The Ohio Department of Transportation's refusal to build a path for biking and walking when they replace Cleveland's I-90 Innerbelt Bridge. Back in December, cyclists rallied to urge the DOT to include such a path, which would create a direction connection to downtown. In the face of ongoing pressure from local activists, as well as Congressman Dennis Kucinich and Senator Sherrod Brown, DOT chief Jolene Molitoris has continued to stonewall the idea.

Last week, USA Today reported rather gleefully that the U.S. gas tax has never been lower. Having remained unchanged at 18.4 cents per gallon since 1993, American drivers are now paying half as much in inflation-adjusted gas taxes, per 1,000 miles driven, that they did in 1975. We can pretty much forget about investing in new and expanded transit systems -- or even just holding up our bridges -- as long as this is the case.