Ben Fried

Hello Streetsblog readers, here's the latest word on our end-of-year pledge drive. With the contributions pouring in, we're rounding the home stretch more than three-quarters of the way to our goal of raising $60,000 by the end of the year. Can you help put us over the top?

Here's a rather alarming update from Jef Nickerson at Greater City Providence, who alerts us to one of the not-so-imaginative responses to the current fiscal distress affecting many American cities. Providence is selling its streets:

One of the interesting developments to come out of the National Association of City Transportation Officials "Designing Cities" conference (currently in its second day) was the announcement of a wide-ranging new design guide to be released next year. NACTO's "Urban Streets Design Guide" will show how streets of every size can be re-oriented to prioritize transit, safe walking and biking, and public activity.

At last night's presidential debate in Nassau County, the best opening for Barack Obama and Mitt Romney to talk about transportation policy came when undecided voter Phillip Tricolla asked the following question of the President:

Derrick Jackson: Boston Needs to Muster the Will to Adopt Congestion Pricing (Globe) U.S. Auto Industry Predicts Return to Pre-Crash Size By 2016 (NYT Mag) After T-SPLOST Defeat, Georgia Gov Focuses on Interchange Project, Rules Out New Rail Funding (AJC) This Fall, Houstonians Can Vote to Actually Spend All Transit Tax Dollars on Transit (Texas … Continued

The Bloomberg administration has abruptly ruled out the possibility of tearing down New York's lightly-trafficked Sheridan Expressway and replacing it with mixed-use development, jobs, and parks. Neighborhood advocates and electeds from the Bronx are vowing to fight the decision, which they say fails to follow through on the comprehensive analysis the city promised to conduct as part of a $1.5 million federal TIGER grant.

We're rounding the final turn in our spring fundraising campaign, and thanks to hundreds of generous donations to Streetsblog and Streetfilms the finish line is within sight. Just $3,500 in donations this week and we'll reach our goal of raising $30,000 by June 1. Your support enables us to produce high-impact content making the case for livable streets and green transport. So if you haven't given yet, no more holding back -- now's the time to contribute. The pledge drive ends Friday at midnight.

We interrupt our regularly scheduled blogging for a quick pep talk. Thanks to our generous and supportive readers, Streetsblog and Streetfilms are almost halfway to our goal of raising $30,000 by June 1. We've got two weeks left to raise $17,000 -- help us reach that target so we can keep making the case for designing cities and towns around people, not cars.

Thanks to everyone who's stepped up and chipped in for our spring pledge drive. Your donations are helping us keep the lights on at Streetsblog and Streetfilms so we can deliver high-quality reporting, commentary, and videos covering the movement for safe streets, effective transit, and livable cities.

One of the most talked-about presentations at this week's National Bike Summit came from Jason Gaikowski, director of sales for the Bloomington, Minnesota-based wholesale distributor Quality Bicycle Products. Over the last several years, QBP has ramped up its employee health and wellness program, which includes incentives to bike to work. At a time when most employers are grappling with rising insurance premiums, a study by the company's health insurance provider, HealthPartners [PDF], suggests the program has helped reduce QBP's health care costs and increase employee productivity.